DownAcross
Plays in the browser · iPhone app in development

A crossword you solve together.

Two to eight people, one grid, no turn order and no clock. Every square keeps the colour of whoever filled it, so you can see at a glance who has been carrying the puzzle.

How big a puzzle
How hard

Been sent a code? Join a puzzle

Four players, one grid. Colour is who filled the square, not who owns it.

Brandon Jenn Hilary Ashley

Built for people who like each other

Most word games make you race. This one only asks you to finish.

Nobody undoes your work

A square holding the right letter settles and stops taking edits, so a teammate cannot wipe out a corner by accident.

Credit is never taken back

Landing the last letter of an answer credits it to you and keeps it there, even if somebody later breaks the word through a crossing.

No clock, no turns

Solve one in ten minutes or leave it open for a week. Run several puzzles at once with different groups.

How it plays

Four steps, and the third one is the whole game.

  1. Start a puzzle

    Pick a size and get a six character join code.

  2. Share the link

    It opens the puzzle in a browser, with no app and no account. Everyone who joins picks up their own colour.

  3. Type

    Tap a square to select it, tap again to flip between across and down.

  4. Finish it

    The scoreboard counts answers landed. That is the only competition.

The app is still coming

Everything above works in a browser today, on a phone as well as a laptop. The iPhone app is in development for iOS 17 and later, and it sits on the same boards: a code started here opens in the app, and one started in the app opens here.

Coming to the App Store

Tell somebody

It is a better game with four people in it than with one, and a link is the whole invitation: no app to install and no account to make on either end.