Node.js multiplayer website - need help switching from App Platform to Kubernetes

I’ve been using the App Platform for a bit and have been really liking them, but I’ve been meaning to switch to something more scalable like Kubernetes.

I’ve read a lot about it and just have a couple questions before I ultimately make the leap.

My setup uses a master process which spawns many worker processes. The workers are the “game servers” - where all the game logic happens. The master process just handles user management, this process knows where each user is when I need to connect two players together who are on different game servers.

1. When I make Pods, should they run the “master” process which spawns a bunch of workers, or should one Pod just run one of the “workers”?

2. How will Pods communicate with one another? It seems like Redis is required somehow, but I’m not too sure. (and if Redis IS required, would DigitalOcean Managed Redis make it easier, or would just installing Redis be better?)

3. I use Nginx as a reverse proxy that connects users to one of the “workers” in my setup. Is there a strategy to connect users to the Pod with the least load? Or at least to a random Pod?

If you could help it would mean a lot, thank you for reading :D