Meet the 9-year-old with a producer credit on an Osmo game

Before Priyanka Toshniwal came onboard to Osmo as a group product manager, her son Aaryan knew the company well. 

He had been gifted Genius Kit from Santa Claus and then Detective Agency from a friend. At the time, his favorite part was that since it was in the “educational” bucket, he was allowed to spend as much time as he wanted playing them.

So when Priyanka decided to take a job with Osmo, Aaryan – then 6 – became quickly well-versed on the perks. 

“I heard you get (a discount) on the games and I would get every single Osmo game,” he said. 

Soon, Aaryan, now 9,  became a play tester on the Math Wizard line, heading into the office with his mom occasionally to provide feedback to Osmo employees working on Potions and then Secrets of the Dragons. 

Eli Kosminsky, a game developer who works on Math Wizard, remembered Aaryan’s excitement the first time he came to the office to test a game. “He played the game all the way through, and we always ask kids at the end, ‘if you could change one thing about the game, what would you change?’ He had a ton of ideas, some of which we were already working on, so I took him back to my desk to show him the new features and he was very excited.”

Aaryan’s feedback, in fact, was so good that he received a producer credit on Secrets of the Dragons. He said he didn’t want to boast about it too much but he did happily tell his grandparents and other family members the news. “I was just really happy,” he said. “I don’t know anyone not part of Osmo that got a credit on a game.”

“He just hands down played the game more than any other kid and his enthusiasm made everything easier,” Eli added. “Definitely a worthy producer!”

While Aaryan isn’t sure if building games like the ones we do at Osmo is in his future (he says he needs to work on his coding first), he has built a few other games including one that involves maneuvering ping pong balls around a pad and another meant for his little brother that’s inspired by Snakes and Ladders. 

“It feels awesome and encouraging to have your child be able to participate in your work and interact with your colleagues,” Priyanka said. “Since Aaryan knows and understands the products I work with, it is always great when he walks into my home-office and is able to give his opinion. 

“Some of our best game engineers have mentioned that they really value his feedback, and consider him a good play tester, this makes me proud, both as a mom and an Osmo employee!”