Play Crosswords With Your Friends in Crosswords v2.51 for iOS

With iOS 5, Apple introduced Game Center’s Turn Based multiplayer system. It was appealing as it would allow us to build a better multiplayer word game without having to build a massive infrastructure to support it. After learning the ins and outs of that system in developing Words Play we thought to ourselves: can we use this system with Crosswords to make a multiplayer Crosswords game?

After some debating and thinking we came to the conclusion that Turn by Turn was not the right solution for a game of crosswords. It just didn’t make sense and you’d get a much slower game that took forever to be completed, that is IF you ever finished a game. So we decided if we were to add a Multiplayer mode to Crosswords, it’d have to be real time multiplayer game. It would have to mirror the real life interaction of two people working together on a puzzle.

2. Info Play Buttons iPad

While Game Center does support non-local live multiplayer, we felt the system as it stands wasn’t ideal because you’d just be sending invites to offline players who may not be willing to play at this moment. This is because Game Center doesn’t know when you are playing a game or not. But just because your iPhone or iPad is on, doesn’t mean you’re ready to drop everything and play a game once you get an invite from a friend.

So we felt for real time multiplayer we needed to know that the user was online, or people would be waiting forever for a game. So we built a “Online Status” system layer on top of Crosswords that shows your other Game Center friends who not only owns Crosswords but also those who are currently playing as well. It actually makes player discoverability and game setup much simpler. Now you see a player online playing the same game as you, you can send them an invite to play a puzzle together.

3. Friends List iPad

Instead of building Crosswords Multiplayer into a whole new app, we’ve also decided to make this an add-on for our existing Crosswords game. With the Crosswords Multiplayer add-on you can work on a crossword puzzle with a friend or race them to collect the most points on any given puzzle. As an added bonus, you also won’t have to worry if the player you want to play owns the Multiplayer add-on because actually you can invite anyone who has Crosswords into a game.

4. Matching iPad

The Crosswords Multiplayer add-on pack is available today along with Crosswords version 2.51 and is only $0.99.

6 Responses to “Play Crosswords With Your Friends in Crosswords v2.51 for iOS”

  1. Matthew Knippen Says:

    Very cool add-on Stand Alone! You earned my $0.99. What would be really cool is if you open-sourced your “Online Status” system, so that other games could take advantage of this feature!

  2. Chicago Made Game, Crosswords, Is Free Starbucks App Of The Week! | IGDA Chicago Says:

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  3. DLeichter Says:

    It would be nice to have the option of working on a puzzle, and “sharing” the puzzle with a friend who could work on it whether at the same time or at another time alone.

  4. Glenn Says:

    If your friend already has the full version of Crosswords, you should be able to do this. If not, please send us an email to sales@standalone.com!

  5. Emily M. Says:

    Can I still purchase the multiplayer add-on? Before I purchase the app, I want to make sure I can still play with friends given that it’s version 2.6. I couldn’t find the add-on in the App Store. Please help!

  6. admin Says:

    The add-on is still available (you can purchase it directly in-app by opening a puzzle, then tapping on Info on your iPhone, or the puzzle title on your iPad). However, please note that you can only play multiplayer games with Crosswords Classic users – this add-on is not available in Crosswords for iOS 7.