apterous.org

About apterous

Okay, how did we get here?

apterous was designed and developed by Charlie Reams, starting in June 2008 and continuing until, well, around about now. Charlie had been a dedicated Countdown fan since 2002 and felt it was finally time for people to have somewhere to play the game online. He just didn't think he'd still be doing it two decades later.

Jon O'Neill invented many fundamental ideas in the design of apterous, such as the "Attack" formats, conundrum buzzing, numbers methods, and also put his own hard-earned cash into getting the first server online. It's fair to say that apterous would probably never have existed without his contribution.

Much of the current design was undertaken by Matt Morrison, who overhauled a lot of wonky styling choices made by the less aesthetically gifted. He also designs other websites that aren't such a mess to begin with.

The official theme music heard in the game is an original composition by Phil Reynolds. Phil is an actor, performer, writer and other things like that probably. He also does an excellent line in audiobooks.

Many other people contributed to early testing and basic concepts, especially Kirk Bevins and Ben Wilson. And literally hundreds of people have suggested dictionary updates and corrections, run tournaments, proposed new ideas as tickets, filed bugs, and discussed and voted on the many proposals and refinements. It would be impossible to name everyone single one of you, but all of these contributions are gratefully received.

So to all of the above, and to all our players and subscribers over the years... thank you!

In memoriam

Over nearly two decades of online play, we've lost some great friends along the way. We salute their contribution to making the site what it is today.

David Barnard left us in 2022 at a very young age. He spent over a decade as an apterous player, completing over 25,000 games, and many people shared fond memories of his time with us. RIP David.

Phil Collinge was a passionate apterous and Countdown fan for many years until he passed away in 2020. He received a posthumous Spoon of Awesome by overwhelming majority and left a significant gift to the site in his will, which paid for a new server that supported many more players for several years. RIP Phil.

Peter Lee was an incredibly long-standing player and online Countdown fan, and he received a posthumous Spoon of Awesome for his many contributions over the years. RIP Peter.

Vik Shah was a well-known player in the Countdown community, and did make the occasional appearance on apterous. He passed away in 2025 at the age of 51. RIP Vik.

Howard Somerset was a legendary senior player of apterous and Countdown in general, and we loved his games (and lifts from the station) in the early days of this site as he became one of the first players to receive a Pro Rank. He passed away in 2020 after a few years away from the community. RIP Howard.

Cyril Topher (real name Christopher Dahl) was a much-loved apterous player and rugby fan before he passed away in 2023. Many players shared great memories of his play, and his humour, and contributed towards a very successful JustGiving fund for the Rob Burrow Appeal. RIP Christopher.

Stewart Wintle was a popular player and friend to many others, and he passed away in 2022 aged just 28. Many players contributed to crowdfund his funeral expenses and he is much missed. RIP Stewart.