DUOPUZZLE · A LANGUAGE-LEARNING GAME

A language,
pieced back into life.

Learn with real subway maps, city maps and words you actually use every day — recognize station names on Tokyo's Yamanote Line, piece together maps on the New York subway, and write out a word by hand from a picture. No word lists to memorize: you play, and it sticks.

  • 68 content packs
  • 12 per set — small bites
  • 4 interface languages
  • 0 data collected

HOW IT PLAYS

Three ways to practice, all rooted in the real world

Base map of Tokyo あさくさ しんじゅく しぶや

Map puzzles

On real maps of Tokyo, New York, Hong Kong and Osaka, piece station and place names back where they belong. Every station comes with a note that helps you remember it, and famous landmarks get their own illustrations — remember a place, and you remember a word.

すし みず ねこ train manzana
Picture matching · Falling pairs · Memory match

Picture matching

The words all come from daily life: food, the body, stations, weather, inside and outside the home. Match pictures to words, catch the falling ones and pair them up. Words you miss go to the Mistake Garden — they come back a few days later for another round, until you get them right.

Look at the picture and write the word
スカイツリーTokyo Skytree · trace first, then from memory

Review cards + dictation

Words you've learned become review cards: flip one over and it reads itself aloud, and tapping ☆ saves it into a set for review. The back of a card can switch to dictation — no peeking at the answer; write the word out by hand, scored character by character.

PACKS

Start with the subway at your doorstep — end up with a language

Everyone gets their own profile and picks the language they want to learn — Japanese, English or Spanish. The interface comes in Chinese, Japanese, English and Spanish. Packs download on demand, so they don't fill up your phone.

Tokyo Station illustration

Tokyo rail lines

30 stations + 22 landmarks · every station has its own note

Shibuya Crossing illustration

Shibuya · Shinjuku · Asakusa

Landmark illustrations with station names — learn the city before you go

Tokyo Tower illustration

New York / Hong Kong / Osaka subways

Wherever you live, start with your own city

Satellite view of Japan

Japan's 47 prefectures

Piece together all of Japan on a satellite map

60+ more packs on the way

Falling food words, the body, kanji food shapes, China's provinces, countries of Asia, world history… 68 packs in total, and new ones keep coming from what everyone votes for.

Vote for the next pack on the forum →

HIGHLIGHT · HANDWRITING DICTATION

Recognizing isn't knowing.
Writing it is.

Dictation is where DuoPuzzle gets serious: no answer to peek at, no options to tap — you write the word out, character by character, with a finger or an Apple Pencil. Every character is scored, so you can see exactly which one needs work.

Made for foldables

On iPhone Duo, unfold it: writing fills one whole side, with hints and scores on the other, neither in the way. On a regular phone it's just as roomy.

Trace first, then dictate

New words are traced once with the guide on, then written from memory — a character you miss doesn't disappear; it comes back until you write it right.

Everyone writes their own

Each profile has its own progress: kids write kana, grandma writes big characters, dad crams travel Japanese — no one gets in anyone's way.

JOIN THE BETA

In beta now — come help us find the flaws

DuoPuzzle is still in TestFlight beta. Our house rule: ask in the morning, and we'll try to ship it the same afternoon. One sentence from you can be in that night's build.

👨‍👩‍👧 Parents

Families learning words and maps with their kids — your child picks up language inside the puzzles, and you can see what they've learned.

👵 Grandparents

Grown-ups who want a few phrases of Japanese or English for a trip — big type, a gentle pace, no account to create. Open it and play.

🧳 Adult learners

Heading to Japan, New York or Hong Kong? Learn the places on the map first, so you arrive already oriented.

  1. 1

    Install TestFlight

    Download Apple's free TestFlight app from the App Store.

  2. 2

    Tap a link to join

    Tap any entry button below, accept the invite, and install DuoPuzzle.

  3. 3

    Make a profile and play

    Create a profile for yourself (or your kids, or your parents), pick the language to learn, and you're off.