Astraware
Astraware is a UK indie mobile game studio developing daily puzzle, word, and casual games (Sudoku, Crosswords, Kriss Kross, CodeWords, Solitaire, Casino, and more) for iOS, Android, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble NOOK devices, monetized through in-app purchases, the Puzzles Plus subscription, and advertising.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersNewcastle Under Lyme, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Astraware does
Astraware is a privately held UK mobile game studio (Astraware Limited, company number 3940683) headquartered in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Founded in 1998 as a successor to Astrasoft (1993), the company develops and distributes a portfolio of casual puzzle, word, card, and casino games for iOS, Android, Amazon Appstore, and Barnes & Noble NOOK devices, with distribution and payment processing handled entirely through Apple, Google, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Fortumo. Its catalogue includes Sudoku Of The Day, Crosswords, Kriss Kross, Acrostic, CodeWords, Number Cross, Wordsearch, Wordoku, A-to-Z, Solitaire, Mahjong, Casino, and Board Games, supported by cross-platform social and cloud integrations (GameCenter, iCloud, Facebook, Google+) and shared daily-puzzle infrastructure that delivers four new puzzles per day, weekend specials, and global leaderboards. The Sudoku Of The Day product features a built-in puzzle generator capable of producing billions of puzzles across difficulty levels, along with a smart hints system that teaches without revealing answers.
Astraware's business model is product-led and consumer-facing. The free tier is supported by advertising (mediated via Fyber and Appodeal, plus occasional sponsored surveys), while the Puzzles Plus subscription across puzzle games removes ads and unlocks additional content for a recurring fee. One-off in-app purchases cover extra puzzle packs and features, and the studio occasionally takes on bespoke development work for other companies. The customer base is a long tail of casual mobile puzzle players, with the Barnes & Noble NOOK HD/HD+ device bundle (Crosswords pre-installed) cited as a notable enterprise-style anchor generating tens of thousands of loyal daily players. The studio's stated cumulative user base exceeds one million players across iPhone, iPad, and Android.
The company was acquired by Kansas City-based Handmark in 2008 and spun back to its founders, David Oakley and Howard Tomlinson, in January 2010. By 2014 it had restructured to a two-person founder-led development team, retaining its portfolio, brand, and operating experience while outsourcing ancillary functions (customer support via Freshdesk, mailing list via MailChimp, email via Google, ad mediation via Fyber/Appodeal). Astraware holds no external institutional investors and operates as a founder-controlled private limited company, with no public listing or disclosed funding history.
Astraware firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Astraware
- Legal name
- Astraware Limited
- Website
- https://astraware.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Astraware is a UK indie mobile game studio developing daily puzzle, word, and casual games (Sudoku, Crosswords, Kriss Kross, CodeWords, Solitaire, Casino, and more) for iOS, Android, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble NOOK devices, monetized through in-app purchases, the Puzzles Plus subscription, and advertising.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Astraware industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Mobile Puzzle Games
- NAICS
- Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (45912), Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Board Game & Puzzle Specialty Retailers (CRALALAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Sweepstakes/Free-to-Play & Social Poker Apps (MPAEAEAD)
Keywords
Where Astraware is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Newcastle Under Lyme
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Astraware business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- In-App Purchases: Selling extra puzzle packs, extra features, and content packs within games
- Puzzles Plus Subscription: Subscription offering to get all puzzles ad-free, providing recurring revenue
- Advertising: Free puzzles supported by advertisements shown before or after gameplay, or through sponsored surveys that earn in-game credits
- Custom Development Work: Occasional (rare) custom development work for other companies
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free with ads - Daily puzzles available at no cost supported by advertising |
| Subscription | Monthly | Puzzles Plus Subscription - Ad-free access to all puzzles |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | In-App Purchases - Extra puzzle packs and content |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Astraware product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Astraware develops and publishes its own mobile puzzle, word, and casual casino games for iOS, Android, and Barnes & Noble NOOK devices, monetized through in-app purchases, advertising, and the Puzzles Plus subscription service. The company has been operating since 1998 and focuses on creating daily-puzzle and strategy titles tailored for touch-screen mobile and e-reader form factors.
Product overview
Astraware is a mobile game developer specializing in puzzle and word games for iOS and Android devices. The company operates a portfolio of individual game apps that share a common platform infrastructure: daily puzzles with global leaderboards, offline puzzle packs available for in-app purchase, and a Puzzles Plus subscription model for ad-free play. Core products include Sudoku Of The Day (award-winning with built-in puzzle generator), Crosswords, Kriss Kross, Acrostic, CodeWords, Number Cross, Wordsearch, Wordoku, A-to-Z, Solitaire (12 classic games in one pack), and Casino. The games feature daily challenges, weekend specials, and Anytime Puzzle streams for offline play. Revenue is generated through in-app purchases (puzzle packs, extra features), Puzzles Plus subscriptions, and advertising-supported free play.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Sudoku Of The Day Daily mobile sudoku game for iOS, Android, and NOOK players who enjoy fresh puzzles every day.
- Astraware Crosswords Touch-screen crossword puzzle game for casual mobile players who want daily or on-demand crosswords.
- Astraware Kriss Kross Word-fit / Kriss Kross puzzle game designed for touch-screen mobile play.
- Astraware Codewords Cryptic-style codewords puzzle game for mobile puzzle enthusiasts.
- Astraware Acrostic Acrostic-style word puzzle game for mobile devices.
- Astraware Wordsearch Touch-screen word-search puzzle game for casual mobile players.
- Astraware Wordoku Letter-based sudoku variant (Wordoku) for mobile puzzle fans.
- Astraware Number Cross Numeric crossword-style logic puzzle game for mobile play.
- Astraware A-to-Z Alphabet-tracing / A-to-Z word puzzle game for mobile devices.
- Astraware Poker (AstraPoker) Touch-screen poker casino-style game for mobile devices.
- Astraware Mahjong Tile-matching mahjong game adapted for touch-screen mobile play.
- Astraware Solitaire Touch-screen solitaire card game for mobile devices.
- Astraware Board Games Multi-game mobile app bundling classic board games for touch-screen play.
- Puzzles Plus subscription Subscription service that unlocks extra daily puzzles across Astraware's catalog and removes in-app advertising.
Companies that use Astraware
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Astraware technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
Feature3 records
Astraware partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.
- HandmarkmajorHandmark, a US company based in Kansas City, acquired Astraware in 2008. Astraware continued to run as an independent studio in the UK until it was spun off as a separate company in January 2010
- FreshdeskcoreFreshdesk provides customer support system with robust security to handle support tickets and customer inquiries
- ApplecoreApple processes all in-app purchases for iOS games through the App Store, handling payment processing and distribution
- Google PlaycoreGoogle Play processes in-app purchases and distributes Astraware games to Android users
- AmazoncoreAmazon Appstore distributes Astraware games and processes in-app purchases for Amazon device users
- Barnes & NoblecoreBarnes & Noble bundles Astraware games (particularly Crosswords) with NOOK HD and HD+ devices, with tens of thousands of loyal daily players
- FortumominorFortumo provides payment processing services for in-app purchases
- PopCap GamescoreAstraware developed Bejeweled and Zuma for iPod portable media players in conjunction with PopCap Games
- Sandlot GamescoreCollaborated on bringing Westward and Tradewinds 2 to iPhone and iPod touch, games featured on iTunes App Store front page
- Pazzazz GamesminorCollaborated on GTS World Racing and Hellfire games for iPhone and iPod touch
- Digital EelminorAstraware published Weird Worlds, an award-winning space adventure game, for iPad
- Spidermonk EntertainmentminorAstraware helped publish Down 4 The Count, a multi-touch boxing game, on iPhone App Store
- Microsoft Carbonated GamesminorAstraware developed Hexic and Mozaki games for Microsoft's Carbonated Games studio
- ACCESSminorAstraware became a Charter Member of ACCESS Connect Ecosystem Global Partner Program to promote mobile Linux
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Astraware competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- MobilityWare: MobilityWare is a mobile game studio specializing in solitaire, casino, and casual card games across iOS and Android — directly overlapping Astraware's Solitaire and Casino titles in both product category and freemium distribution model.
- PlaySimple: PlaySimple develops mobile word and puzzle games (notably Wordscapes) using a daily-puzzle cadence and global leaderboards — a near-identical mechanic to Astraware's daily puzzle portfolio and a primary competitive threat in the same audience.
- Mag Interactive: Mag Interactive is a publicly listed Swedish mobile puzzle studio (WordBrain, Ruzzle) with the same daily-puzzle, word-game focus and freemium subscription model as Astraware — comparable in product, audience, and monetization approach.
- Wooga: Wooga (owned by Playtika) develops mobile puzzle and casual story games such as June's Journey and Pearl's Peril — a direct peer in mobile puzzle game development with similar target demographics.
- Tactile Games: Tactile Games is a Danish mobile puzzle studio (Lily's Garden, Wildscapes) producing match-3 and puzzle games with similar casual audience and freemium business model to Astraware's daily puzzle portfolio.
Broad incumbents
- Big Fish Games: Big Fish Games operates a large portfolio of mobile and PC casual puzzle, hidden-object, and card games — historically a channel partner with Astraware (PC Games Channel, 2007) and a broader incumbent in the same casual gaming category.
- PopCap Games: PopCap Games (now EA) created Bejeweled, which Astraware co-developed for iPod — directly comparable as a casual mobile puzzle publisher, though operating at significantly larger scale with broader portfolio and studio support.
- King Digital Entertainment: King (Activision Blizzard) operates Candy Crush and a portfolio of mobile puzzle games serving the same casual daily-puzzle audience as Astraware, but at vastly larger scale with sophisticated live-ops and UA.
- Zynga: Zynga is a major mobile casual game publisher (Words With Friends, Zynga Poker) operating across word, puzzle, and casino categories — overlapping Astraware's word-puzzle and casino game lines as a broad incumbent.
- Jam City: Jam City is a mobile casual game studio (Cookie Jam, Disney Mirrorverse) developing puzzle and match-3 titles in adjacent categories to Astraware's puzzle portfolio, with a broader IP-licensed approach.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Astraware social profiles
Digital presenceAstraware financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Astraware leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Astraware funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Astraware M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Astraware
What does Astraware do?
Astraware develops and publishes its own mobile puzzle, word, and casual casino games for iOS, Android, and Barnes & Noble NOOK devices, monetized through in-app purchases, advertising, and the Puzzles Plus subscription service. The company has been operating since 1998 and focuses on creating daily-puzzle and strategy titles tailored for touch-screen mobile and e-reader form factors.
Is Astraware a public or private company?
Astraware is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Astraware founded?
Astraware was founded in 1998. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Astraware based?
Astraware is headquartered in Newcastle Under Lyme, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Astraware make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. In-App Purchases are the primary driver. The others are puzzles Plus Subscription, advertising and custom Development Work.
Who are Astraware's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are MobilityWare, PlaySimple, Mag Interactive, Wooga and Tactile Games. Broad incumbents are Big Fish Games, PopCap Games, King Digital Entertainment, Zynga and Jam City.
Does Astraware have an API?
No public API is recorded for Astraware.
What industry is Astraware in?
Astraware's product category is Mobile Puzzle Games. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRALALAA, Board Game & Puzzle Specialty Retailers, with a secondary code of MPAEAEAD, Sweepstakes/Free-to-Play & Social Poker Apps. Its NAICS code is 45912 and its SIC code is 5945.