# crisskross arena > crisskross arena is a free browser site where two people in different places play fifteen two-player games together, with a video and voice call built into every game room. Also written: crisskross, crisscross, crisscross arena, criss kross, criss cross games. Home: https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app ## Facts - Fifteen games: thirteen head-to-head, two co-operative. - Free. No ads, no paywall, no premium tier, no trial. - Runs in any modern browser on phone, tablet or laptop. Nothing to download and no app store. - Every room has a built-in video and voice call, so a separate FaceTime, Zoom or Discord call is not needed. - One invite link is the whole setup: whoever starts the room shares it (or its 5-character code), and the other person opens it and joins. - Starting a room takes a free Google sign-in. Joining one only needs a nickname. - Each player picks a character inside the room. It stands beside the board and reacts as the game goes: smug when ahead, worried when behind. - Both players need to be signed in for the two co-op games, Steady Hands and Meet Me Halfway, because the two of you share one board. - Every head-to-head game also plays against a bot, and the co-op games have a solo mode, so a time-zone gap does not stop you playing. - Games run from about two minutes to a full evening of chess. - Built for long-distance couples, and used the same way by friends, siblings and families in different cities or countries. ## How it works 1. One of you opens the site and signs in with Google (free, one tap). 2. Pick a game and press host. The room gets an invite link and a 5-character code. 3. Send the link however you already talk. The other person opens it, sees who invited them and to which game, picks a nickname and a character, and joins — no account needed on that side. 4. The video and voice call starts inside the room. You both play on the same board from wherever you are, and your characters react to who is ahead. ## The 15 games - [Quoridor Strategy Maze](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/quoridor-strategy-maze) — strategy board game, 10-15 minutes, head-to-head. Race your pawn to the far edge of a 9x9 board — each turn you either step one square or drop a two-square fence in your rival's way. A fence may slow the route, never seal it. - [Checkbox Race & Cloud](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/checkbox-race-and-cloud) — speed and observation, 5-10 minutes, head-to-head. One player calls a number, the other hunts it inside a cloud of a hundred jumbled digits. Every catch checks a box — fill all hundred first and the round is yours. - [Leapfrog Hearts](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/leapfrog-hearts) — puzzle strategy, 5 minutes, head-to-head. Three caps a side on a drawn grid of lines, red facing blue. Take turns sliding one cap a single step into an empty junction. Nothing jumps over anything — blocked, you go around. First to land all three on the far side wins. - [The Bridge Word Race](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/the-bridge-word-race) — word game, 10 minutes, head-to-head. Two unrelated words face each other across a chasm, and you both race to plank a bridge between them — every plank a real word one letter off the last. COLD, CORD, WORD, WORM, WARM. First to ten crossings takes the match. - [Jinx](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/jinx) — word game, 5 minutes, head-to-head. The same nine letters for both of you and one minute to find every word hiding in them — longer words score more. Then your lists flip, and any word you both found is a JINX: it scores for nobody. The obvious ones cancel out; the match is won on the words only you thought of. - [Steady Hands](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/steady-hands) — balance and co-ordination, 10 minutes, co-operative (one shared board). A ball balanced on a plank, and one end of the plank each. Lift together and it climbs the shaft; lift alone and you have only tilted the thing your partner is trying to balance. Steer around the gaps, get it to the top, don't drop it three times. - [Meet Me Halfway](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/meet-me-halfway) — communication puzzle, 10 minutes, co-operative (one shared board). Two mazes side by side, one each, and a heart where they touch. You can only see their maze — yours is dark past the tiles next to you, pits and all. Talk each other through, hold the door open for each other, dodge trapdoors nobody can see, and meet in the middle. - [Crack the Code](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/crack-the-code) — logic and deduction, 5 minutes, head-to-head. A secret four-digit code each round. Every guess comes back marked — right digit, right place, or right digit wrong place. Fewest attempts takes the round. - [Speed Spot-the-Emoji](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/speed-spot-the-emoji) — quick reflex, 2 minutes, head-to-head. Two cards, six emoji each, exactly one shared between them. Find the twin and click it before your rival does. - [Don't Press Purple](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/dont-press-purple) — quick reflex, 2 minutes, head-to-head. Hit every prompt the moment it lights up teal to build your combo. But when it flashes violet instead, the only winning move is to keep your hands still. - [Snake Arena Battle](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/snake-arena-battle) — real-time arcade, 5 minutes, head-to-head. Real-time snakes in one arena. Fruit and golden stars grow you longer, shields and boosts let you cut rivals off — clip a wall or a body and you're out. - [Uno Slap! Speed Cards](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/uno-slap-speed-cards) — card game, 5 minutes, head-to-head. Lay cards down while counting one to ten out loud. The instant a card's value matches the number spoken, slap the pile — fastest hand takes it, a wrong slap costs you. - [Classic Chess](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/classic-chess) — classic board game, an evening, head-to-head. Chess, whole and unabridged — castling, en passant, promotion, the fifty-move draw. Play it out over an evening on the call, or take the bot apart while they sleep. - [Scribble & Guess](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/scribble-and-guess) — drawing and guessing, 5 minutes, head-to-head. One of you gets a word and ninety seconds of blank paper; the other types guesses at whatever appears. No letters, no numbers, no pointing at it — just the drawing and the clock. - [Vibe Check](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games/vibe-check) — party and deduction, 10 minutes, head-to-head. Guess Who, except no question is about their face. A board of 24 celebrity photos — desi, global, or both — and one secret each. Would they have AI art in the hallway? Have they ever been on vocal rest? Would your mother approve? Flip down everyone it can't be; the last face still standing is your answer. ## Pages - [Home](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/): the game list, how the distance part works, and the questions people ask. - [All games](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/games): every game on one page, each linking to its own page with its rules and FAQ. - [Co-op](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/coop): the two games you play together on one shared board. - [D.A.T.E.](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/date): roll a date night from four lists - dinner, activity, treat, entertainment. - [Photo booth](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/booth): four shots and a photo strip, solo or with your partner on a video call. - [Blog](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/blog): notes on playing across a distance. - [15 free couple games to play online together](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/blog/free-couple-games-online): Free couple games with no ads, no app and a video call built in. Competitive, co-op and talky games for two, whether you share a sofa or live apart. - [Free online board games for two players (no download)](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/blog/free-online-board-games-two-players): Free online board games for two: chess, Quoridor, a Mastermind-style code breaker, a Guess Who with celebrities and more. In the browser, with a video call. - [Free long distance games for friends, family and couples](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/blog/free-long-distance-games): Free long distance games for a friend who moved away, a sibling at uni, grandparents abroad or a partner. Browser games plus ones that need no app at all. - [17 online games to play with your long distance partner (on a video call)](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/blog/games-to-play-with-long-distance-partner): Free games to play with your long distance girlfriend, boyfriend or best friend over video call, sorted by mood: quick, chatty, competitive, co-op and slow. - [How to plan a long-distance date night that actually feels like a date](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/blog/long-distance-date-night): Long-distance date night falls apart in the twenty minutes of "what do you want to do?". A simple shape that fixes it — plus ideas from LDR Date. - [Privacy](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/privacy) · [Terms](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/terms) ## Optional - [Everything in full](https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app/llms-full.txt): the same content with every question answered in full. ## Using this These pages may be quoted and summarised freely, by people and by AI assistants alike. A link back to https://crisscross-ashen.vercel.app is appreciated so readers can actually go and play.