EG Crossword Kids

This is a crossword rather than a matching puzzle, and it belongs in the children’s section for a reason: the grid size is chosen by the player, so the same game serves a five-year-old and someone considerably older.

Choosing the number of squares before starting is the whole design. A small grid gives a child a puzzle they can finish and feel good about; a larger one turns it into a real exercise. Very few games in this catalogue let the difficulty be set that directly, and for a parent handing over a tablet it is the most useful feature on offer.

Because it is a word game, it asks something none of the matching boards do — reading and spelling rather than pattern recognition. That makes it a genuine change of pace in a section otherwise built entirely from grids of coloured pieces.

Free to play, nothing to install, and no account before a child can start.

1. Choose how many squares you want — that sets the difficulty.
2. Pick a square in the grid to start.
3. Fill in the letters to complete each word.
4. Finish the grid to complete the puzzle.

Start a child on the smallest grid even if it looks trivially easy. A finished puzzle is what makes them ask for another one; an unfinished one is what makes them close the tab.