I Built a Free Puzzle Generator That Supports 8 Languages — Here's What I Learned

Last year I started building PuzzleGenio — a free online puzzle maker for crosswords, word searches, sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, and more. What began as a simple weekend project turned into a platform with 20+ tools supporting 8 languages. Here's what I learned along the way. ## Why Puzzles? Teachers, parents, and event planners constantly search for "free crossword maker" or "printable word search generator." The existing tools are either paywalled, riddled with ads, or stuck in 2005 UI. I saw a gap. The core idea: one URL = one tool = one keyword. Each puzzle maker is a standalone page that works as both a functional tool AND an SEO landing page. Users generate their puzzle, customize it, and download a print-ready PDF — all on the same page, no signup required. ## Tech Stack Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript next-intl for i18n (8 locales: en, zh, de, es, fr, pt, it, id) Client-side generation — puzzles are generated in the browser, no server load PDF export — vector-based PDFs usi