About Countdown Studio
Countdown Studio is a faithful, offline-capable web recreation of the iconic British TV game show Countdown. Originally broadcast on Channel 4, Countdown challenges contestants to find the longest word from a set of randomly drawn letters, reach a target number using arithmetic operations, and solve a nine-letter anagram (the Conundrum). Countdown Studio brings all three game formats to any browser, with no installation required.
What We Offer
- Solo Practice — Individual players can practice Letters, Numbers, and Conundrum rounds at their own pace. The built-in Dictionary Corner solver automatically checks whether a word can be formed from the drawn letters and validates it against the official Countdown dictionary. Career stats are tracked across sessions for registered users.
- Dual-Screen Live Stage Versus Mode — Organisations, schools, and event organisers can run a full Countdown game show experience with a dedicated host control panel and one or more audience display screens synced in real time over WebSocket. The host device drives the round; display screens show the board and timer to the audience.
- Offline-Capable PWA — A service worker caches all game assets after the first visit, so games can run without an internet connection. This makes Countdown Studio suitable for classrooms and venues with unreliable Wi-Fi.
- Multiple Themes — Choose from Classic Blue, Dark Slate, and High Contrast themes to suit your display environment.
Who It Is For
Countdown Studio is designed for fans of the TV show who want to practice at home, teachers who use Countdown as a classroom activity to build vocabulary and mental arithmetic, corporate event organisers who need a polished team-building game show format, and developers who want to study a real-world PWA + WebSocket application.
Technology
The application is built with TypeScript, React, and Vite for the frontend, and an Express.js
+ Node.js server with PostgreSQL for authentication and career data. Real-time synchronisation
uses a custom JSON protocol over WebSocket (wss://). Authentication uses scrypt
password hashing, JWT-signed session tokens with a 7-day TTL, and optional Google OAuth.
Roles are scoped: individual accounts get solo practice, organization
accounts can host and display live sessions, and admin accounts have full access.
Machine-Readable Resources
- llms.txt — Agent instructions, when-to-use guidance, and API reference
- sitemap.xml — Full page index for crawlers
- GET /api/health — Server status and active room stats (JSON)