Crosstographer
Welcome to CROSSTOGRAPHER: a crossword themed dungeon crawler made over the course of a weekend for the 2026 Texas Game Jam!
Map a locked-down starship on foot, then chain the crossword clues hidden in its corridors to escape! Created by Banana Moon Studios.
This game was programmed using Claude Code. No AI was used in the process of creating gameplay, level design, writing, artwork, or music.
DEVELOPER NOTES:
- KNOWN BUG: Don't press the TAB key while playing the game! It opens a leftover debug view that I forgot about. This affects both the browser version and the Windows download. Uploads are locked during the game jam judging period, so I can't update the game right now. A patched version is ready and will go up as soon as judging ends. The game is completable start-to-finish as-is. (9/28/26)
- NOTE: In the solution pad, you can use the arrow keys or right click to adjust which part of the crossword is in view.
BANANA MOON STUDIOS
- Nikhil Simha - Original Game Concept, Director, Level Design, Programming Direction
- Riya Jaldu - Lead Artist
- Jiahui Shen - Puzzle Design and Writing
- Oɫen (Owen Norton) - Music
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Comments
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had a great time playing this!! takes a second to get the hang of it but the crosswords are rewarding and the atmosphere is great, music is particularly good. plenty of clues i didn't know lol but could figure out easily with other clues, which is the hallmark of a good crossword. good work!
Not that I expect much from Claude Code, but: when I got to the second area, the grid was already filled in ad green. (Even before I explored all of it.) Worse, because it was already filled in, the computer refused to authenticate me, and it's not like I could go and fill in the grid.
It's not a bad idea, using corridors as a crossword grid, but in addition to the fact that it literally doesn't work, the clues are king of awkward. Of course, I can't see them now, because the game reset after three authentication failures, but I recall that cluing "keys" as "things used in 5A" wasn't terrible except that 5A was literally "what you do with a key", which kind of provides the exact answer. And the second area's clues were very video-game oriented; cool if you know it, but not great if you're coming in with just generalized knowledge and have no idea who Sly is or what VAs are.
Thank you for trying this game and thanks for providing feedback! Sorry about the bug you encountered; it wasn't related to the usage of Claude Code but rather a leftover debug view that I forgot about. If you try playing this game, DON'T PRESS THE TAB KEY!
Uploads are locked right now due to the game jam judging period, so I can't update the game yet. A patched version is ready and will go up as soon as judging ends. The game is completable start-to-finish as-is, though I'd definitely have liked to spend more time on QA.
Things like the 5A clue were meant to introduce players to the mechanics of the game, so I tried to keep the first maze beginner-friendly. I'd like to polish this gameplay concept further in the future, maybe with more exploration. For a weekend of dev time, I'm quite happy with how much we were able to bring this concept to life!