Video Game Crossword Puzzle to Print or Solve

Press New puzzle for a video game vocabulary crossword, easy, classic or hard, tied to no game.

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Video Game Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

This grid is wider than a phone screen, so it scrolls sideways. It prints whole.

Tap a square, and its clue shows here.

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Down

Type in a square and the next one takes over. Tap the same square again, or press Space, to switch between Across and Down. Arrow keys move around the grid, Enter goes to the next clue, and a clue takes you to its squares.

Print gives 2 pages on Letter or A4: the puzzle with its clues, then the answer key. The squares print 9 mm wide. For a PDF, choose Save as PDF in the print window.

A share link holds the puzzle number and these settings, nothing you typed.

Answer key: Video Game Crossword

1H2C3P4IXELO5JNANOVLSYE6TUTORI7ALSNHLRTTBECIOA8RA9CARTRIDGEDKYSE10QPU11SAVEEW12MISSIONT

Across 3 PIXEL · 6 TUTORIAL · 9 CARTRIDGE · 11 SAVE · 12 MISSION

Down 1 HEALTHBAR · 2 CONSOLE · 4 INVENTORY · 5 JOYSTICK · 7 ARCADE · 8 RESPAWN · 10 QUEST

Next step Find gaming words in a word searchScramble your own list of words

All 60 clues

Show all clues and answers

Easy 20

  • Bonus Extra points for doing something well
  • Boss Tough enemy at the end of a stage
  • Button Small thing you press with your thumb
  • Coin Shiny round money you collect by running into it
  • Gem Shiny jewel to collect
  • Jump Leap over a gap or onto a ledge
  • Key Item that opens a locked door
  • Level One stage of a game; beat it to move to the next
  • Lives Tries you have left; lose them all and it is game over
  • Maze Puzzle of twisting paths with one way out
  • Pause Stop the action for a moment
  • Power-up Item that makes you stronger for a while
  • Reset Go back to the very beginning and try again
  • Score Your number of points
  • Screen Glass panel where the game shows up
  • Shield Item that blocks attacks
  • Start Menu choice that begins a new game
  • Team Group of players on the same side
  • Timer Clock counting down how long you have left
  • Win Beat the game or the other side

Classic 20

  • Arcade Hall of pay-to-play game cabinets
  • Avatar Figure that represents you in a game
  • Cartridge Plastic case that held an old game
  • Character Hero or villain in a story or game
  • Checkpoint Spot partway through a stage where you restart after a fall
  • Console Box that plugs into a TV to run games
  • Controller Handheld device with a pad and triggers
  • Graphics Pictures and animation of a game
  • Headset Headphones with a microphone for talking to teammates
  • Health bar Strip that shrinks when you take damage
  • Inventory List of the items you are carrying
  • Joystick Lever you tilt to steer
  • Mission Task you are sent to complete
  • Pixel One tiny dot of light on a display
  • Platform Ledge you land on
  • Quest Long adventure with a goal to reach
  • Respawn Come back to life after being knocked out
  • Save Keep your progress so you can come back later
  • Sprite Small moving 2D picture in an old-style game
  • Tutorial Opening lesson that teaches the controls

Hard 20

  • Achievement Badge earned for doing something special
  • Cooldown Wait before you can use an ability again
  • Cutscene Short movie that plays between parts of the action
  • Easter egg Secret joke or item hidden by the makers
  • Emulator Program that lets one machine run another machine's games
  • Esports Video games played as organized competitions
  • Frame rate How many images the display draws each second
  • Glitch Small error that makes a game act strangely
  • Hitbox Invisible shape that decides whether an attack lands
  • Latency Delay between your action and the game's response online
  • Leaderboard Ranked list of the best scores
  • Multiplayer Mode in which several people play together
  • Open world Big map you can explore freely in any order
  • Patch Update that fixes errors
  • Sandbox Mode where you build freely with no set goal
  • Server Computer that hosts an online match
  • Side-scroller Game in which the view moves left or right as you go
  • Speedrun Race to finish a whole game as fast as possible
  • Stealth Sneaking past enemies without being seen
  • Walkthrough Step-by-step guide to finishing a game

How this list was compiled: 60 clues written for this site in three levels: easy, classic and hard. Every answer is a general gaming word. No game, character, console maker or company is named, and the puzzle is not tied to any game. No clue was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

This video game crossword uses only general gaming words, from Coin and Boss to Cooldown and Hitbox, so it is tied to no game, character or company. It is a vocabulary crossword in three levels.

Read the full guide

Three levels

Easy has Level, Lives, Pause and Shield, with the word bank a good idea. Classic has Joystick, Checkpoint, Respawn and Cartridge. Hard has Speedrun, Frame rate, Latency and Easter egg, the hidden secret kind.

Print or solve

Print gives Letter or A4 with the answer key last. Choose All to mix the three levels in one grid. On screen, tap a square and type.

  • For a reluctant reader, start with Easy and the word bank on; the words are ones they already say every day.

Questions and answers

Does the video game crossword name any games?

No. Every answer is a general gaming word, so no game, character, console maker or company appears. It works the same whatever a child plays.

What ages is it for?

Easy suits ages 7 to 9, Classic ages 9 to 12, and Hard teens and adults who play. These bands are our judgement, not a published standard.

Is there an answer key?

Yes. Every print ends with the answer key on a sheet of its own, and Show all clues and answers, under the puzzle, lists all 60 clues with their answers.

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