Built from your stories · played by your community
The daily crossword built from your own headlines.
Localcross turns your news stories into a daily puzzle — and the clues link back to your articles, so readers dig into your reporting to solve it. More pageviews, more recirculation, more signups. We host it, we run it, and the game's ads pay you a share — never a cut of your own ad revenue.
Today · from your front page ↗
- 1 Named in this morning's lead on the new bridge (easy)
- 5 Buried in the city-council recap — read to find it (med)
- 6 Related to the spring-flooding feature (hard)
- 7 From the high-school sports roundup ↗
How it works
Your stories become a daily game.
No developer. No puzzle construction. No servers. We handle all of it.
1
We start with your news
Pull stories automatically from your feed — by the categories you choose, daily, weekly, or monthly — or hand-pick the articles you want featured.
2
We build the puzzle
AI finds the thread across your stories, balances easy-to-hard clues so every article is represented, and QA's it for accuracy.
3
Readers read to solve
Clues link back to your articles, so players dig into your reporting for the answers — driving pageviews, recirculation, and email signups.
Every puzzle mixes three kinds of clues — words from the headline (easy), from inside the article (medium), and related but not stated (hard) — so every difficulty pulls readers deeper into your coverage.
The flywheel
A game that sends readers into your journalism.
Most games pull readers away from your stories. Localcross does the opposite — because the puzzle is built from your articles and the clues link back to them, every play is a doorway back into your reporting.
It grows your audience
Capture emails and newsletter signups as people play — building the first-party audience every publisher is fighting for.
Local by construction
Made from your own coverage, every puzzle is inherently your community and your voice — never a generic syndicated grid.
Revenue on several fronts
Your own pageview and ad lift, newsletter growth, a share of the game's ads that we pay you, and a sponsor slot you can sell.
Simple, honest pricing
Pricing that respects a newsroom budget.
Flat monthly plans, sized to your audience, plus a custom tier for groups. No setup fee. No per-play charges. The game's ads pay you a share — we never touch your own ad revenue.
Hyperlocal
- Up to 100K monthly pageviews
- A daily crossword built from your stories
- Fully hosted, one-line embed
- We pay you a share of the game's ads
- Sell your own sponsor slot
Regional
- 100K–1M monthly pageviews
- Everything in Hyperlocal
- Full ad control — keep our ads (and your share) or run your own
- Priority support
Metro
- 1M+ monthly pageviews
- Everything in Regional
- The share we pay you grows with traffic
- Onboarding & priority support
Networks & groups — multi-property publishers and the truly large get custom pricing and white-glove onboarding. Let's talk.
No setup fee · no usage charges · cancel anytime. The game runs its own ads; we pay you a share — your own site's ad revenue stays entirely yours.
Questions
Good questions, straight answers.
Where do the puzzles come from?
Your own stories. Localcross pulls from your news feed — automatically, by the categories you choose, on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule — or you hand-pick the articles. AI builds a themed, balanced puzzle and QA's it for accuracy.
How does a crossword grow my audience?
Two ways. The clues link back to your articles, so players read your reporting to solve — driving pageviews, recirculation, and longer sessions. And Localcross captures emails and newsletter signups as people play, growing your first-party audience.
Do you take a cut of my own ad revenue?
No — it's the opposite. We never touch the ads on your site or what they earn. The only ads involved run inside the game; those are ours to sell, and we pay you a share of what they earn — a check every month.
Do players have to log in or give an email?
You choose. Let anyone play freely, ask for an email (with a newsletter opt-in they can uncheck), or require a login — whatever fits your audience-growth strategy.
What if my game gets popular — or bots hit it? Will my bill spike?
No. Pricing is flat and we never charge per play, so a viral day or bot traffic can't run up your bill. More real plays just mean a bigger check from us for the game's ads.
Can I run my own ads instead of yours?
Yes. On Regional and up you get full ad control: keep our programmatic (and the share we pay you) or switch it off and run your own stack. On every plan you can sell your own rotating sponsor slot.
Give your town its daily crossword.
Built from your stories. Played by your community. Live in minutes.