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Crossword Jam

During my tenure at Playsimple games, I have worked on 40+ features on a live, large-scale mobile word game called "Crossword Jam". My work spans engagement systems, monetization features, live-ops loops, content design, economy tuning, UX improvements, and retention mechanics..

 

Crossword jam is currently one of the top 5 word games in the Google Play store and App Store. As the sole game designer collaborating closely with the product team, I have contributed significantly towards the development of multiple key features in addition to roadmap prioritization, scoping, feature design, UX/Art/Animation direction, establishing creative team delivery pipeline.
 

A notable achievement was improving LTV by 1.5x, driving a 1.8x increase in revenue and 2x DAU in two years. This stemmed from crafting engaging gameplay informed by data-driven insights, which allowed me to learn and grow on my ability to innovate and collaborate for impactful outcomes.

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Below is a consolidated overview of the core design areas I contributed to across 2022–2025.

Game Design Work Summary​
1. Economy & Monetization Systems

I contributed to multiple high-impact monetisation features, primarily focused on IAP optimization, rewarded video strategy, and economy balancing.
My work included:

  1. Pricing & value tuning (IAP-to-coin ratios, no-ads pricing, decoy anchoring packages).

  2. Designing new deal structures (lightning deals, limited-time offers, personalised mini-store updates).

  3. Standardizing and restructuring all store packages for consistency and clarity.

  4. Expanding rewarded video based systems (W2E fixes, coin jar, rewarded placements in puzzle UI).

  5. Creating surfacing logic for purchase nudges, exit pop-ups, and session-based triggers.

Focus areas: competitive benchmarking, economy balance, surfacing logic, progression tuning, UX clarity.

monetisation.webp

2. Engagement Systems & Core Feature Design

I worked on several systems designed to increase gameplay depth and player motivation:

  1. Streak systems (streak medals, streak shields) and their reward logic.

  2. Re-engagement loops with escalating goals, rewards, and flow revisions.

  3. New puzzle mechanics (Frenzy Jam, Level Difficulty Tagging, Event Specific Boosters).

  4. Event systems (River Race / Turbo Turtles, Wordmaster ladder system).

  5. Session structure improvements (Outro flow cleanup, unified LLP+Outro redesign).

Focus areas: progression curves, system logic, trigger rules, reward structures, surface timing, economy impact.

​3. Retention Mechanics & Player Lifecycle Design

I designed both early-game and late-game retention drivers:

  1. FTUE overhaul (copywriting, UX flows, competitor deconstruction).

  2. Return User Gifts & long-lapse reactivation rewards.

  3. Puzzle Clear Streak (Bronze/Silver/Gold tiers + failure cases).

  4. Event lighthousing to help players anticipate available features/events.

  5. Login system design (Google Play, Gmail, restore logic).

Focus areas: lifecycle mapping, FTUE clarity, habit formation, long-term progression.

4. Collections, Meta Systems & Long-term Goals

I contributed to long-term engagement features that give players goals beyond core gameplay:

  1. Collection Book system (reward unification, UX direction, meta-progression).

  2. Pets system, inspired by wordscapes (16+ pets, activities, timers, reward loops, appointment mechanics, secondary currencies, rarity, duplicates logic).

  3. Inventory separations (Ladybug inventories, logic, priority rules).

  4. Quest System Improvements (Quest schedules, Cyclic logic, Quest variety types and priority system, secondary currencies and rewards)

  5. Battleship minigame (Puzzle design, progression tuning, Art/UX/Animation Direction)

Focus areas: meta-progression, collection systems, appointment mechanics, UX flows, art/animation direction and guidance.

6. Design Documentation & Specification Ownership

For every feature I owned, I delivered complete design specifications, including:

  1. Objectives & problem statements

  2. Scope (MVP / V2)

  3. Vision & anti-vision

  4. UX flows & UI breakdowns

  5. Copywriting

  6. Core logic & rules

  7. Puzzle content (where applicable)

  8. Notifications, sounds, haptics

  9. Dashboard Runtime logic

  10. Experiment design & variants

  11. Edge case handling

  12. Schematic diagrams & flowcharts for clarity

I worked closely with engineering and QA to capture all runtime cases, edge cases, dependencies, and technical scenarios.

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7. Competitive Benchmarking & Market Trend Analysis

Across nearly all features, I conducted:

  1. Deep competitor teardowns

  2. Pricing benchmarks

  3. Engagement loop comparison

  4. FTUE & UX pattern studies

  5. Meta-system benchmarks (pets, streaks, collections, events)

  6. Trend tracking across top studios and global casual market leaders using data.ai and sensor tower

This allowed us to design features aligned with current market standards while adding our own differentiators.
 

In summary My Design contribution involved:

Systems Design

Progression systems, reward loops, monetization logic, streak mechanics, event design, appointment mechanics, collection systems, surfacing logic, tuning & economy work.

Feature Design

UI/UX flows, pop-ups, store updates, new puzzle mechanics, FTUE changes, visual polish.

Live Ops & Meta

Event loops, re-engagement structures, daily/weekly progression, notifications, player lifecycle design.

Product Thinking

Benchmarking, trend analysis, problem statements, scoped delivery, goal alignment, experimentation (A/B), KPI orientation.

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