Crossover
Slide your pieces through the diamond to the far bar. Best of 3 boards.
Crossover is a two-player abstract strategy game where each player slides one piece per turn along the lines to an empty point, aiming to get every piece across to the far bar. Block your rival's lanes while opening your own.
Both teams have to squeeze past each other through one narrow neck, so every slide either opens a lane or blocks one. Get all your pieces onto the far bar first and your home tray fills with your colour.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- Best of 3 boards
- Length
- About 90 seconds to 3 minutes
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Crossover: quick rules
About 90 seconds to 3 minutes at the default 3 pieces, best of 3; up to about 6 minutes at 9 pieces, best of 5. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1Take turns sliding one piece along a line to an empty point.
- 2Get all your pieces onto the far bar to win the board.
- 3If your rival can't move, you win the board.
- 4The loser starts the next board.
Crossover rules
Setup
- The phone lies flat between you. Each player's pieces start on the bar at their own end.
- The board is a diamond: your bar, a narrow neck point, a middle row, your rival's neck and your rival's bar. With 6 or 9 pieces each, two or three diamonds sit side by side, joined through the middle row.
- Who starts the first board is picked at random, and on a rematch the player who lost starts. After that, the loser of each board starts the next one.
- A 3-2-1 countdown starts every board.
Turns
- On your turn, slide one of your pieces along a line to the next point. The point must be empty.
- You can move in any direction, backwards too.
- There are no captures, no jumps, no dice and no passing.
Winning a board
- Get all your pieces onto the far bar and you win the board.
- If your move leaves your rival with no legal move, you also win the board.
- The match is 1 board, best of 3 or best of 5, and ends as soon as one player has a majority.
Ties and replays
- A board with no winner after a long move limit (30 moves per piece each, so 90 at 3 pieces) is replayed: it doesn't count, and the other player starts the replay.
- A match never ends drawn.
Hints against the bot
- Playing the bot, you can spend 20 coins on your turn for a hint. It rings the best piece and where it should go for 2 seconds, without moving it.
- One hint per turn. There are no hints against a friend, online or in a tournament.
Board sizes
- Quick (3 pieces)
- One diamond, 11 points. The default.
- Classic+ (6 pieces)
- Two diamonds joined through the middle row, 22 points.
- Long (9 pieces)
- Three diamonds, 33 points, for a longer game.
Tips to win at Crossover
- 1Get a piece through the neck early. Whoever controls the narrow neck point decides who can pass.
- 2Before each slide, check what it opens for your rival. A move that frees their lane can lose you the race.
- 3Count moves: if your rival is about to run out of legal moves, a single blocking slide wins the board outright.
- 4Stepping backwards is allowed and sometimes best, to unblock your own piece or keep a lane shut.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- On your turn, every piece that can move has a dashed ring. Tap one and it lifts, and the points it can reach pulse.
- Tap a pulsing point to slide the piece there. Tap another of your pieces to switch, or the same piece again to put it down.
- Either player can touch the board, but only the mover's pieces respond.
- The board is locked for a moment after each move and during the bot's turn.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Pieces each | 3 Quick (default)6 Classic+9 Long | Sets the board size: one, two or three diamonds. |
| Boards | 1 SingleBest of 3 (default)Best of 5 | How many boards decide the match. |
| Streak flame | On (default)Off | Extra. Win boards in a row and a flame with the count shows on your dock until you lose one. No effect on the rules. |
| Blitz 10 s turns | OnOff (default) | Extra. Each human turn gets 10 seconds; if the time runs out, a random legal move is played for you. Nobody forfeits. |
Play Crossover against the bot
The bot plays Blue and sees only the board. It looks for the move that brings its pieces closest to the far bar while leaving you the fewest moves, and takes a few moments to think before each slide.
Easy
Plays a random move more often than not, so it wanders and leaves lanes open.
Normal
Usually takes the move that gets it furthest, looking only at its own move, with the odd random slide.
Hard
Also checks your best reply, so it won't hand you a crossing or a block. It slips on very rare occasions.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- PlannedOnline play for Crossover is planned, not available yet. Today you play a friend on one phone or the bot.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it is always 3 pieces each, best of 3, with Blitz off, and hints are off.
- Hints
- Stuck against the bot? A hint lights up the strongest move for a few coins. Never with a friend, online or in a tournament.
Coming soon
- Online play. Play Crossover against a friend online, with a turn timer and reconnect. Planned, not available yet.
How it feels
- A wooden lift when you pick a piece, and a glide and tap as it slides, with a ripple where it lands.
- A soft chime as each piece reaches the far bar and a slot in your home tray fills.
- A short jingle and a glow when a side crosses, or a thud and a shake when a side is stuck.
Accessibility
- Each side owns an end of the board, and selection and destinations are shown with rings and pulses, not colour alone.
- One finger and two taps a move, with large touch areas on every point.
- There is no clock on a turn unless you switch on Blitz.
Crossover questions
Take turns sliding one of your pieces along a line to an empty point. The first player to get every piece onto the far bar wins the board, and leaving your rival with no legal move also wins it.
Yes. Lay the phone flat between you: each player's pieces and dock are at their own end, with the far side turned to face the far player.
Yes. The bot plays on Easy, Normal or Hard, and you can buy a hint with coins on your turn.
The first board's starter is picked at random. After that, whoever lost the last board starts the next one.
No. A board with no winner after the long move limit is replayed with the other player starting, so a match never ends drawn.
Not yet. Online play for Crossover is planned, not available yet. Today you play a friend on one phone or the bot.
Play Crossover on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
