Crosstographer
Free · play online in your browser, no download
A crossword dungeon crawler made in a weekend: map a locked-down starship on foot, then chain the crossword clues hidden in its corridors to escape.
Official site nicklesimba.itch.io, verified Nov 3, 2026. The developer's own itch.io page (nicklesimba), linked from its official Texas Game Jam 2026 submission page.
Where to play
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- Play free — itch.ioitch.ioEarly access · Listed as “Prototype” on itch.io; patched build since 11 Oct 2026Free
Plays in the browser on itch.io. No download.
Browser (no download) · Desktop · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
About Crosstographer
Crosstographer is a crossword-themed dungeon crawler: you explore a locked-down starship on foot, mapping corridors that form a crossword grid, and chain together the clues hidden in them to escape. On the solution pad the arrow keys or a right-click move the view of the crossword. The four-person team Banana Moon Studios made it over a weekend for Texas Game Jam 2026 (theme: Chain Reaction), run by EGaDS!, the game development society at the University of Texas at Austin, where it placed 12th of 108 entries in People's Choice, from 4 ratings. The game page says it was programmed using Claude Code and that no AI was used for the gameplay, level design, writing, artwork or music: Nikhil Simha is credited with the concept, direction, level design and programming direction, Riya Jaldu with the art, Jiahui Shen with the puzzle design and writing, and Owen Norton with the music. A keybind bug that could softlock progress was patched after judging, on 11 Oct 2026. Made with GameMaker; free in the browser or as a Windows download on itch.io.
How it was built
Partially verifiedThe itch.io page: “This game was programmed using Claude Code. No AI was used in the process of creating gameplay, level design, writing, artwork, or music.” In a reply on the jam page, Nikhil Simha (nicklesimba) says coding with AI, “which to be clear was the only place AI was used”, helped the developer go much faster, though it still took two sleepless nights. Nikhil Simha is credited with programming direction. No model is named.
- DeveloperDeveloper's reply on the jam submission page: coding with AI “(which to be clear was the only place AI was used)” helped the developer go way faster. The submission answers No to both the AI art and the AI music disclosure statements. — itch.io (Texas Game Jam 2026, hosted by EGaDS!)
Made in GameMaker over the jam weekend by a team of four. Claude Code did the programming under Nikhil Simha's programming direction; the concept, level design, puzzle design, writing, art and music were made by the team without AI, per the itch.io page. External assets are credited in the game's credits roll, per the jam submission.
- Engine / framework
- GameMaker
- Languages
- Not disclosed
- Team size
- 4 peopleOfficialitch.io (Texas Game Jam 2026, hosted by EGaDS!)
- Initial build time
- Over a weekend (Texas Game Jam 2026, 26 to 28 Sep 2026)Officialitch.io (EGaDS!)
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“This game was programmed using Claude Code. No AI was used in the process of creating gameplay, level design, writing, artwork, or music.”Verification notes: Gameplay, credits and AI use from the developer's itch.io page (updated 11 Oct 2026, 15:55 UTC; status Prototype; HTML5 plus a Windows download dated 2026-09-28; made with GameMaker; AI disclosure ticks AI Assisted and Code); team size, AI disclosures, placement and the developer's reply from the official Texas Game Jam 2026 submission page; jam dates, theme and organiser from the jam page, all re-read on 6 Nov 2026. The jam ran from 26 Sep 2026, 01:00, to 28 Sep 2026, 02:00 (as shown on the jam page, UTC), with 108 entries; the game was submitted 35 minutes 54 seconds before the deadline, which is recorded as its release date. Its result is 12th in People's Choice (score 4.250 from 4 ratings), the only criterion shown. The team names come from the itch.io credits; the jam submission lists four team members. The note about the softlock patch is dated 10/11/2026 on the page, read as 11 Oct 2026, the page's update date. The game script of the browser build was checked for calls to AI services and none were found. itch.io shows no rating and no download count. Location is not stated. We did not play the game.
Development history
Texas Game Jam 2026 starts (01:00 UTC); the theme is Chain Reaction.
Officialitch.io (EGaDS!)Submitted to the jam 35 minutes 54 seconds before the 02:00 UTC deadline.
After judging, a patched version fixes a keybind bug that could softlock progress.
Developeritch.io- After the jam
Places 12th of 108 entries in People's Choice (from 4 ratings).
Game performance
Each figure measures something different — concurrent players, owners, downloads and sales are never interchangeable and are never added together. Labels show where each number comes from.
itch.io
Free in the browser (HTML5) or as a Windows download (55 MB).
Not publicly available: itch.io rating, Gross revenue.
Reviews & rankings
Not yet reviewed by our editors.
Not currently ranked.
Sources
| Source | Type | Published | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crosstographer by nicklesimba itch.io | Store page | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Crosstographer for Texas Game Jam 2026 (submission and results) itch.io (Texas Game Jam 2026, hosted by EGaDS!) | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Texas Game Jam 2026 itch.io (EGaDS!) | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Official game page (language check) nicklesimba | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
