All Podcasts / Freakonomics Radio / 675. Has the New York Times Become a Games Company?
Freakonomics Radio
Freakonomics Radio

675. Has the New York Times Become a Games Company?

May 15, 2026 • 57m

Summary

⏱️ 9 min read

Overview

Stephen Dubner explores the world of games in the first episode of a new recurring series, examining why play is valuable for adults, how games function as systems of meaning, and how the New York Times transformed itself through gaming. The episode features game designer Eric Zimmerman discussing game design philosophy and the 'ludic century,' alongside New York Times executives explaining their successful pivot to becoming a major games publisher through acquisitions like Wordle and original creations like Connections.

The Cultural Value of Play and Games

The episode opens with a riddle about play—something celebrated in childhood but often dismissed in adulthood. Social scientists have proven that play contributes to cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being. Games, defined by philosopher Bernard Suits as 'the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles,' mirror life itself with their constraints, uncertainty, and trade-offs. According to the American Time Use Survey, playing games is our second-favorite leisure activity after watching TV.

  • Play contributes to cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children according to widely cited studies
  • Bernard Suits defined game playing as 'the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles' in his 1978 book The Grasshopper
  • Playing games is America's number two leisure activity, with watching TV at number one
" The voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles, which, to me at least, could sound like a definition of life itself. "
" Once you become an adult, I feel there's a lot of pressure to put away childish things. I've come to think that's a mistake. "

Eric Zimmerman's Journey from Art to Game Design

Game designer and NYU professor Eric Zimmerman traces his path from childhood games with his father—logical riddles and physical play—through art school studying high modernist painting to eventually pioneering game design education. His background in both formal visual theory and postmodern conceptual art shaped his approach to understanding games through their essential structures while recognizing their cultural impact. Zimmerman designed Diner Dash, one of the biggest casual computer games of the early 2000s.

  • Zimmerman's father played logical deduction games and physical wrestling games called 'Monzo' with him before passing away when Eric was five
  • He created his first game in fifth grade about the digestive system, where players were food particles trying to get 'pooped out the butt'
  • Studied painting at University of Pennsylvania under high modernist teachers who believed 'there are no ideas in art'
  • Game designers make rules, not code or graphics—they design the structure of the experience
" My teachers in art school would say things like there are no ideas in art. Fine art is about line, color, and composition. "

📚 6 more sections below

Sign up to unlock the complete summary with all insights, key points, and quotes

Listen on Apple Podcasts More Episodes from Freakonomics Radio