Learn English words with science, not willpower
Crossword Battle is a free vocabulary game for adults learning English, from A1 to C1. It is built on the study methods research rates highest, and it turns them into quick crossword races you will want to play again tomorrow.
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Science and play, together
Most learners know what works: test yourself, come back to words later, fix your mistakes. Few keep it up, because flashcards are dull and easy to put off. Crossword Battle does the science for you and makes it a game, so learning new words stops being a chore you postpone.
The science
Recall, not rereading
Every clue makes you pull a word from memory, which strengthens it more than reading it again.
Roediger and Karpicke, 2006
Spaced repeats
Words come back across races, further apart as you learn them, which beats cramming for long-term memory.
Cepeda et al., 2006
Learning from a miss
Trying, missing, then seeing the answer teaches more than being shown the answer first.
Kornell, Hays and Bjork, 2009
Instant feedback
Your mistakes, spelling included, are shown right after each race, while they still matter to you.
Metcalfe, 2017
The game
Easy to start
A race takes a few minutes. No lesson to prepare and no list to work through, just press Play.
Something to win
Race to fill the grid first, earn stars and climb the ranks.
Progress you can see
A count of the words you have learned that only goes up, and every word you have met on one page.
A reason to come back
The words you missed are waiting for a rematch in your next race.
A review of dozens of studies found that gamification improves learning, motivation and behaviour (Sailer and Homner, 2020).
How a race works
Race
You get a small crossword with clues in plain English. Fill in as many words as you can before the clock runs out.
Review
After the race you see every word you missed, with its meaning and an example sentence.
Meet them again
Missed words come back in your next races until you solve them. Learned words return later so they stay learned.
Your spelling, tracked
Type a word wrong before you get it right, and the game notices. You see your spelling next to the correct one, and your words page keeps a record of your slips, so the mistakes you repeat are easy to spot.
Your level, found by playing
There is no placement test. Your first races find your level, and the game keeps adjusting as you improve. You can also choose a level yourself.
Practise your own words
Type words, paste a list or a text, or take a photo of a page. The game picks out the words and adds them to your next races.
At a glance
- Built on research-backed learning methods: recall, spacing and feedback
- English vocabulary from beginner to advanced, CEFR levels A1 to C1
- Clues are a plain definition with an example sentence
- Short races that grow as you get stronger
- Missed words come back until you know them
- Spelling mistakes tracked, so you see the ones you repeat
- Runs in the browser on a phone, a tablet or a computer
- Google sign-in, no password
- Free to play
- English only for now
Read more about how it works, or see the questions people ask.