Why NYT’s Connections makes you feel bad

Connections The new daily game at the New York Times is called Connections, and I’ve seen a few people comment that they just don’t like it as much as Wordle or Spelling Bee. That the d…

Raph Koster takes a look at Connections, the new daily puzzle at the New York Times, and delves into the design consideration of puzzles and puzzle games to explain why this one is perhaps less well-received than its predecessors like Wordle.

I found this very interesting, and it pulled into the light a lot of things I had only experienced as instinctive reactions. (Including how I felt about the similar earlier Red Herring.) (Plus I felt a bit vindicated by the fact that one of the things Koster calls out is one of my favorite hobby-horses: the game punishes you for trying to learn.)