Shattered Crosswords AR Game

As part of the move into spatialized journalism, The New York Times decided to translate their ubiquitous crossword ‘mini’ game into AR. Below is the initial exploration done for the game (and its future sequential iterations throughout 2021). Each iteration houses a new board, clues, and words, that matches the respective mini released that day.

Read more about the process of creating the game on the NYT R&D site.

BETA LAUNCH

The next version of the Shattered Crosswords game, now includes delightful intro and outro animations to better instruct the user on how the game works, and have a better payoff once it’s solved.

ALPHA launch

Shattered Crosswords brings The Times' signature word game into 3D space. Players solve clues by spinning broken crossword pieces in augmented reality. Words reveal when players find the right vantage.

Progress, Prototypes & Explorations

Press

Credits

Production: The New York Times, R&D

Program Manager: Caroline Cox-Orrell
Technical Producer: Paula Ceballos
3D/Immersive Editor: Noah Pisner
Project Manager: Justin Baek
CD / Product Designer: Lian Chang
Engineers: Or Fleisher, Nicholas Bartzokas, Ellen Lo, Jeffrey Gray
Creative Technologist: Lydia Jessup
Designers: Miles Peyton, Evan Grothjan
Game Maker: Sam Von Ehren