QUINA

What QUINA does

Quina is a solo-developed Progressive Web App that hosts a strategic word-deduction puzzle game. Players attempt to identify a secret five-letter code word in ten guesses, receiving after each guess a clue indicating only the count of correct letters and the count of correctly positioned letters (without revealing which letters are which). The product offers two core modes — a once-daily Daily Word puzzle drawn from the Expanded word set, and an Unlimited mode with three word-set difficulty tiers (Basic, Expanded, Pandemonium) and an optional Chaos Mode that seeds games with four random-letter guesses. A four-part tutorial, statistics tracking, and a 25-award achievement system sit alongside user preferences for theme, motion, sound, and vibration.

The application is built as a Nuxt-based PWA, with PWA assets now generated via PWABuilder.com after a 2022 migration away from the Nuxt PWA module. Game state is persisted in local browser storage only — there are no user accounts, no cloud sync, and no third-party analytics (removed in v2.0.4). An optional paid version is published on the Google Play Store for Android, though the developer notes the price cannot be modified; a Ko-Fi donation link is surfaced in the FAQ as the primary support channel. No formal marketing, sales function, or institutional backing exists.

The business is entirely bootstrapped by individual developer Josh Collinsworth (who also works at Flywheel), with no funding rounds, employees, partnerships, or enterprise customers disclosed. Quina's GTM is pure product-led growth: a free, fully unlocked web experience discoverable at quina.app, distributed organically through built-in social sharing of Daily results. The customer base consists of individual casual word-puzzle players and Wordle-adjacent audiences seeking a more strategically demanding variant, served globally with no geographic restrictions.

Name

QUINA

Legal name

Josh Collinsworth

Website

https://quina.app

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Quina is a solo-developed free Progressive Web App offering a strategic five-letter word-deduction puzzle game with daily and unlimited modes, serving individual consumers globally through organic word-of-mouth and donations-based support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Free web app: Full-featured web application available for free at quina.app with all game modes, word sets, and features unlocked by default. No paywalls or premium upgrades required to access any gameplay content.
2. Google Play Store purchase: Optional paid version available on Google Play Store. The developer notes they cannot change this as it was previously set. This is a one-time purchase model for mobile users.
3. Donations via Ko-Fi: Optional donation support available through Ko-Fi link in the FAQ for players who want to financially support the developer.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Quina is a strategic five-letter word deduction game delivered as a free Progressive Web App at quina.app. Players attempt to identify a secret code word within ten guesses, receiving after each guess a clue that states only how many letters are correct and how many are in the correct position, requiring logical deduction rather than letter-by-letter feedback. The game offers Daily Word (one puzzle per day) and Unlimited modes, three word pools of varying difficulty (Basic, Expanded, Pandemonium), and an optional Chaos Mode modifier.

Product overview

Quina is a single web-based word puzzle game offering two primary play modes: Daily Word (a single daily challenge) and Unlimited (unrestricted play with configurable options). The core product is a strategic deduction game where players identify a five-letter code word in ten guesses using positional clues. Unlimited mode features optional Chaos Mode and three word difficulty tiers (Basic, Expanded, Pandemonium). Supporting features include a four-part tutorial, a stats and awards system tracking 25 achievements across modes, and user preferences for display and audio settings. No separate modules, add-ons, or platform extensions exist.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Quina Word Game A strategic five-letter word deduction game available as a free Progressive Web App for individual players. Players guess a secret code word in ten attempts and receive clues indicating how many letters are correct and how many are in the correct position.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Word Master: Unlimited-play Wordle variant with broader word lists; closest direct overlap to Quina's Unlimited mode with the Pandemonium-style expanded dictionary.
• Hello Wordl: Independent Wordle variant allowing variable word length; shares the free, browser-based, single-developer PWA distribution pattern with Quina and competes for the same post-Wordle audience.
• Squabble: Multiplayer Wordle variant where players attack each other's words; competes for the same word-puzzle audience with a more competitive/social framing than Quina's solo strategic deduction.
• Wordle (The New York Times): The defining daily five-letter word puzzle that Quina explicitly positions against in its FAQ. Same core loop (guess a five-letter word, receive clues) but with different clue mechanics; same target audience of casual daily puzzle players.
• Mastermind (digital implementations): Classic code-breaking deduction game where clues reveal positional matches; the conceptual ancestor of Quina's strategic-deduction mechanic and serves the same deductive-reasoning itch.
• Lewdle: Variant of Wordle using restricted/profanity-leaning word lists; targets the same daily-puzzle enthusiast and is built as a similarly lightweight web game with single-developer origins.

Broad incumbents

• Scrabble GO (Mattel163): Official digital version of the classic Scrabble board game with a large publisher and marketing budget; broader word-game audience overlap but very different gameplay (turn-based multiplayer, anagrams).
• Wordscapes (PeopleFun): Top-grossing mobile word puzzle with crossword-style mechanics and heavy monetization; competes for the same daily word-puzzle session and ad-spend attention as Quina but on iOS/Android native stacks.
• NYT Games (The New York Times): Subscription bundle including Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, and the daily Crossword; competes for the daily-puzzle habit and has the marketing and bundling power Quina lacks as a standalone single-developer product.
• Words With Friends (Zynga): Established mobile word game with a large installed base and live-ops/monetization scale; competes for the same casual word-puzzle mindshare but with a Scrabble-style multiplayer model rather than Quina's solo deduction.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about QUINA