At a Glance
- Crossplay is the New York Times’ first two-player word game, available on iOS and Android.
- It has been played more than 4 billion times in 2025, adding to the Times’ already massive puzzle portfolio.
- The game offers real-time competition, chat, and an AI post-game analysis called Cross Bot.
Why it matters: The launch expands the Times’ digital gaming reach and introduces a new way for players to compete against friends or strangers.
The New York Times’ Games department has long been a powerhouse in the online puzzle world, with titles such as Wordle, Connections, and Spelling Bee drawing billions of players. On Wednesday, the company announced its newest offering, Crossplay, a mobile app that brings a Scrabble-style experience to a two-player format.
Launch and Context
The Times’ Games head, Jonathan Knight, described Crossplay as an “ambitious expansion” of its current game lineup. In a press release, Knight said, ‘Our players already come to us every day for smart, original word games, and Crossplay builds on that foundation by introducing real-time competition and social play in a way that shares the joy of classic word games, but is designed to be unique.’ The app is free to download and is part of a portfolio that includes the highly popular Wordle, Connections, and Spelling Bee.
Wordle was purchased from its developer Josh Wardle nearly four years ago and was played more than 4 billion times in 2025. Connections, launched in 2023 by Wyna Liu, attracted more than 1.6 billion plays that same year. The Times reported that “players around the world solved more than 11 billion puzzles across New York Times Games last year.”
Gameplay Overview
Crossplay is designed to feel familiar to anyone who has played Scrabble. Players take turns adding letter tiles to a shared board, earning points based on letter rarity and board bonuses. The game includes:
- A standard 15×15 board with premium squares.
- Letter tiles that vary in point value.
- A chat function that lets opponents communicate during play.
While the core mechanics mirror Scrabble, the Times claims several differences in layout, point allocation, and tile design. A representative for the New York Times Games section said that Crossplay “differs from Scrabble in layout, points and tiles.”
Comparison to Similar Games
Scrabble, invented by Alfred Mosher Butts in 1931, has inspired numerous knockoffs over the decades. Notable examples include:
- Scrabulous, a Facebook app that ran for two years before Hasbro and Mattel sued.
- Words with Friends, a multiplayer computer game with its own point system.
David Clamage, a puzzle-solver and content creator who goes by Rangsk on YouTube, described Crossplay as “feels like an unusual addition” to the Times’ suite. He noted, ‘It’s entering an already crowded marketplace of similar head-to-head word games, and it doesn’t benefit from either the shared daily experience or the NYT’s strong puzzle creation, editing and testing resources.’ Clamage added that “as a content creator, it’s harder to create content around a game when players are not all reacting to the same daily puzzle.”
Features and Player Experience
In-Game Chat
Players can send messages to each other during a game, adding a social layer that is absent in many solo word games.
AI Assistance
Crossplay includes a feature called Cross Bot that provides post-game analysis. After a match, the AI highlights key moments and offers strategic insights, helping players improve.
Matchmaking and Multiplayer
The app can host up to 30 concurrent games. Opponents are matched based on skill level, and players can challenge friends, family, or random opponents from the global pool.
Market Position
Crossplay enters a space already populated by established titles. While the Times boasts a strong daily puzzle brand, critics argue that the lack of a shared daily challenge may limit the game’s appeal. Nevertheless, the company’s track record of high-traffic games suggests that Crossplay could capture a significant share of the word-game market.
Key Takeaways
- Crossplay is the Times’ first two-player word game, free on iOS and Android.
- The game builds on the Times’ puzzle legacy, adding real-time competition and chat.
- It offers AI-driven post-game analysis through Cross Bot.
- Reception highlights a crowded market and the absence of a daily puzzle, but the Times’ brand strength may offset these concerns.
The launch marks a notable expansion of the New York Times’ digital gaming strategy, potentially reshaping how players engage with word-based challenges.
References
- Jonathan Knight, New York Times Games head.
- David Clamage (Rangsk), puzzle-solver and content creator.
- New York Times press release (Wednesday).
