Crossplay

Crossplay is New York Times Games’ two-player word game for iOS and Android. Two opponents take turns placing letter tiles on a shared board to build words and extend existing ones. Each player begins with seven hidden letters, earns points from letter rarity and word placement, and wins by finishing with the higher score.

1. Start a match against another player or practise against the computer.
2. Use tiles from your private seven-letter tray to create or extend words on the shared board.
3. After a tile is played, draw a replacement from the finite tile bag; keep scoring until the bag is empty and each player has taken a final round.

Choose Crossplay if you want the word-building of a board game with live, social competition. It supports quick practice against adjustable computer opponents, skill-based matchmaking for real players and postgame analysis for people who want to improve their tactical word placement.

Each move earns points based on the rarity of the letter and where the word is placed, and the player with the most points wins once the tile bag is exhausted and both players have had a final round. The game also offers chat, skill-based matchmaking and computer opponents; subscribers can receive Cross Bot’s postgame review with key moments and strategic insights.

Head-to-head match

Two players alternate turns on a shared board and compete for the higher final score.

Computer opponents

Players can practise against the computer at multiple difficulty levels before head-to-head games.

Cross Bot review

Subscribers can receive a personalized postgame analysis of player-to-player games, highlighting key moments and strategic insights.

• Practise against computer opponents at the available difficulty levels before moving to head-to-head matches.
• Pay attention to letter rarity and word placement, because both explicitly affect points.
• Use Cross Bot’s postgame review, when available to subscribers, to identify key moments and improve future matches.