You already have the app: tap the link
The invite link opens My Senpai Crossword straight into the shared puzzle.
New in My Senpai Crossword · Together mode
Solve a Japanese crossword with a friend, live. One grid, two phones.
Together mode is the two-player mode in My Senpai Crossword: send a link or a 6-character code, and you and one friend fill in the same JLPT N5–N1 crossword at the same time, each on your own phone, watching the other's letters appear as they type. No sign-up, no Japanese keyboard: you both type answers in romaji.
Free. Both players need the app. Or try a two-player round right here first.
iPhone: Together mode arrives with the next App Store update. It is live on Android now.
- 2 players per puzzle
- Letters sync in about a second
- 6-character invite code
- Android and iPhone together
- Rejoin for 7 days
Waiting for a friend…
0:00
Tap a clue or a square to pick a word.
Type the reading in romaji and it turns into kana: sa → さ, tsu → つ.
Your friend うみ Umi has the link.
Take the across words. Umi starts on the down words. Her word gets a purple outline, and her letters arrive while you type.
Solved together with うみ Umi
0:00
In the app, the real puzzle is 20×20 and your friend is a real person.
A 5×5 demo with a simulated friend, built for this page. App puzzles are 20×20 and generated from JLPT word lists.
How two-player mode works
Invite, join, solve. Three steps, two phones.
One player hosts and sends the invite. The other joins from the link or the code. From then on you share one grid, one clock and one set of hints.
Invite a friend
Tap Invite on a practice puzzle. You get a link and a 6-character code to send. How to invite
Your friend joins
They tap the link, or type the code into Enter code, and land in your puzzle with every letter you have filled in. How to join
Solve it together
Both of you type at once. Each letter shows up on the other phone in about a second, and you can see which word your friend is on. How the game plays
Step 1
How to invite a friend to your crossword
You can invite from inside a puzzle or from the dashboard. Either way you get the same two things: a link and a code.
From a puzzle you are solving
- Open a practice puzzle at any JLPT level, N5 to N1.
- Tap Invite at the top of the puzzle screen. The sheet Solve this one together opens.
- Tap Share to send the link through any chat app, or Copy code to paste the 6 characters wherever you like.
Your friend gets the puzzle exactly as it is now, letters and all, so you can start alone and call in help halfway.
From the dashboard
On the Together card, tap Invite a friend. The app makes a fresh puzzle and opens the invite sheet as soon as it is ready.
- Practice puzzles onlyThe daily puzzle can't be shared, so your streak stays your own.
- A code you can read aloud6 characters, shown as two groups of three. It never uses 0, O, 1 or I, so nobody mixes them up.
- Waiting is fineUntil your friend arrives, the puzzle screen shows Waiting for a friend… and you can keep solving.
- Lost the code?While you wait, tap the Waiting for a friend… chip at the top of the puzzle to see the code and link again.
Step 2
How to join a friend's crossword game
There are three ways in. All of them end in the same place: your friend's grid, open on your phone.
No app yet: tap the link anyway
The link opens a short page with the code and a button to Google Play or the App Store. Install, open the app, and the dashboard shows You have an invite with the code filled in. Tap Join.
Only have the code: type it
On the Together card tap Enter code, type the 6 characters or tap Paste, then Join. Lowercase and spaces are fine.
Pick a nickname, once
The first time you play together, you choose a nickname from 24 Japanese words, such as さくら Sakura, うみ Umi or ほし Hoshi. There is no name to type and no account to create, so your friend only ever sees the word you picked.
さくら Sakuraうみ Umiそら Soraゆき Yukiもみじ Momijiほし Hoshiつき Tsukiにじ Niji
If the code doesn't work
The app tells you why in plain words and keeps the code so you can try again: the puzzle may already have two players, or it may have expired after 7 days without a move.
What joining costs
Joining uses your one free puzzle with a friend for the day. If you have used it, you can watch a short ad to join, or remove the limit with Unlimited. Full details below.
Step 3
How the two-player game plays
It is the same crossword you know: English clues, JLPT answers, romaji that turns into kana as you type. The difference is that someone else is typing too.
See where your friend is
The word your friend is on gets an outline in their colour, with a small dot on the square they are typing. You can split the grid without both working on the same word.
Live, about a second
Every letter you type appears on your friend's phone within about a second, and theirs on yours. Both phones always settle on the same grid.
One shared clock
The timer belongs to the puzzle, not to a player. You can pause, but the clock keeps running for your friend.
Hints for both of you
Reveal a character, reveal a word or check your answers: whatever one player uses shows up on the other phone too. Reset is switched off in a shared puzzle, so no one can wipe the other's work.
Quick messages, no chat
Tap your friend's name at the top of the puzzle to open five fixed messages. Nothing else can be typed or sent:
- Another one?
- Yes
- Not now
- Nice!
- Stuck here
Know when they are there
A small notice tells you when your friend joins, leaves or comes back, for example Umi joined or Umi is back.
Leaving and coming back
Tap Back whenever you like. The app says You left the puzzle. Your friend can keep going. Later, tap Rejoin on the Together card to step back into the same grid, with everything your friend filled in meanwhile. Rejoining is free, and the puzzle stays saved for 7 days after the last move.
Finishing, and the next puzzle
When the last word goes in, both phones show Solved together with your friend's nickname and your shared time. Tap Another one? and your friend gets Yes or Not now. If they say yes, a new puzzle opens in the same room for both of you, with no new link to send. Each new puzzle counts as a puzzle with a friend for both players (see free plays).
| Shared with your friend | Stays yours |
|---|---|
| The grid and every letter in it | Your daily puzzle and streak |
| The clock | Pausing (the clock runs on for them) |
| Where each of you is typing | Your solo practice puzzles |
| Hints, reveals and answer checks | Your theme and keyboard settings |
| The JLPT level of the puzzle | Your nickname, picked once |
Free plays
One free puzzle with a friend, every day
Puzzles with a friend have their own daily allowance, so playing together never eats into your solo practice.
| What | Free each day | After that |
|---|---|---|
| Puzzle with a friend | 1 | Watch a short ad to join your friend's puzzle, or buy Unlimited once |
| Practice puzzles (solo) | 3 | Unlimited removes the daily limit |
| The daily puzzle | 1, always | Never counts against the limits |
| Rejoining a puzzle you are in | Always free | No limit |
Unlimited and Ad-Free are one-time purchases in the app, not subscriptions. Prices are shown in the app and the store for your country.
Who plays together
A Japanese study game for two
Solving with someone turns vocabulary review into a short, shared game. Each clue still makes you produce the Japanese word yourself, and that kind of recall practice is linked to better long-term memory than rereading (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006).
Study partners
Two learners at the same JLPT level split the grid and compare the words each of them knew.
Tutor and student
A teacher invites a student to an N5 or N4 grid and watches which words come easily and which need a hint.
Friends far apart
One puzzle a day with a friend in another city or country, on Android or iPhone.
FAQ
Two-player crossword questions
Can you play My Senpai Crossword with a friend?
Yes. Together mode in My Senpai Crossword lets two players solve the same Japanese crossword live, each on their own phone. You type into one shared grid, and your friend's letters appear on your screen within about a second.
How do I invite a friend to a Japanese crossword?
Open a practice puzzle in My Senpai Crossword and tap Invite, or tap Invite a friend on the Together card on the dashboard. The app gives you a link and a 6-character code; send either one with Share or Copy code.
How does my friend join the game?
Your friend taps the invite link, which opens the shared puzzle in the app. They can also open the Together card, tap Enter code and type the 6 characters. Before the first game they pick a nickname from a list of 24 Japanese words.
Does my friend need the app to play?
Yes. Two-player mode runs in the My Senpai Crossword app on Android and iPhone, not in the browser version. If your friend does not have the app, the invite link sends them to Google Play or the App Store, and the code is waiting when they open the app.
Can Android and iPhone players solve a crossword together?
Yes. An Android player and an iPhone player can share one puzzle, as long as both have My Senpai Crossword version 1.0.43 or later.
How many people can play one puzzle?
Two. Each shared puzzle has one host and one friend, so every letter on the grid belongs to one of you.
Is the two-player crossword free?
Yes. You get one free puzzle with a friend each day, on top of the free daily puzzle and 3 practice puzzles. After that you can watch a short ad to join your friend's puzzle, or remove the limit with the one-time Unlimited purchase. Rejoining a puzzle you already started is free.
Can we chat while we solve?
There is no free-text chat. You send one of five quick messages instead: Another one?, Yes, Not now, Nice! and Stuck here. Nothing else can be typed or sent.
What happens if one of us leaves the puzzle?
The other player can keep solving. Tap Rejoin on the Together card to go back in; the grid stays saved for 7 days after the last move.
Can we solve the daily puzzle together?
No. Together mode uses practice puzzles. The daily puzzle stays a solo puzzle, so it keeps counting toward your own streak.
Which JLPT level is a shared puzzle?
A shared puzzle uses the level of the puzzle the host invited from, anywhere from N5 to N1. Both players see the same grid and the same English clues.
Send the first invite today
Install the app, open a practice puzzle and tap Invite. Your first puzzle with a friend is free every day.
Sources: Roediger, H. L., and Karpicke, J. D. (2006), "Test-Enhanced Learning", Psychological Science 17(3); JLPT level summary, Japan Foundation and JEES (jlpt.jp). App facts as of version 1.0.43, October 2026.