Welcome to the EV Puzzles user manual
Everything you need to create and publish crosswords, word search puzzles, two original strategy/board games — Checkered Force and Dots and Boxes — and branching, scored Interactive Quizzes, on your WordPress site — no coding required.
EV Puzzles gives any WordPress site the same kind of daily-puzzle engagement feature that large newsrooms use to bring readers back: crosswords, word search puzzles, an original single-player strategy game called Checkered Force, the classic pencil-and-paper game Dots and Boxes, and Interactive Quizzes (EVQ) — a branching, scored quiz builder for learning content and assessments. Everything in this free version is fully functional — unlimited puzzles, AI-assisted or fully manual word list creation, real Gutenberg blocks, and built-in plays/completions tracking, with no account required.
The only thing the free version adds to your pages is a small “Puzzles powered by Entreveloper” credit link shown under each puzzle.
What you'll need
- WordPress 6.7 or later, PHP 8.1 or later.
- The EntGenAI companion plugin, installed and active. EV Puzzles requires it — it's what talks to your chosen AI provider.
- An API key from OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google Gemini, or a self-hosted Ollama install — only if you want AI-assisted word lists. Everything can also be built by hand, with no AI at all.
Guide contents
Install both plugins and connect an AI provider (optional).
The foundation of every crossword and word search: manual, AI-prompted, or generated from an article.
Turn a word list into a playable crossword grid.
Same word list, a different puzzle type, with grid size and direction options.
An original 1-player-vs-AI strategy game — no word list needed.
The classic pencil-and-paper game — vs. AI or local 2-player.
A branching, scored quiz builder — scenes, questions, and score-based navigation.
Embed any saved puzzle using real Gutenberg blocks.
What your visitors see and can do with each puzzle type.
See plays and completions for every puzzle, right in wp-admin.
Common questions, answered.