Is fair matchmaking actually bad design? And how exactly did gaming companies fumble the bag when it came to the army of PhD psychologists they employ?

We talk:

• Sweepstakes, social casino, velocity, and why most players never cash out

• Why Wordle feels flat to some designers and why elegance is not the same as progression

• Surveys as UX, not truth machines, and how to extract signal without lying to yourself

• Compensating differentials, handicaps, and why 50 percent win rates kill progression

• Bots, deception, and whether games are magic shows or fraud