Wow, this post blew up! Thank you everyone for all the helpful feedback. I’ve just deployed a few updates:
- Added a short playable tutorial for new players to learn how the game works.
- Added a timer below the grid. You can hide this in the settings if you don’t want the extra pressure!
- Fixed some bonus words based on your recommendations.
I also made a bonus HN themed puzzle as a thanks for all the feedback - https://zanagrams.com/hackernews
PUpurple-leafy4 小时前
Congratulations on your launch! It’s cool seeing all the word games on here taking off
SRsrdjanr22 小时前
Tutorial was great! And I would like the option to give up.
MEmega_dean10 小时前
If it was really an “HN themed puzzle”, all the letters would be A or I and the minimum word length would be 2.
I’m kidding of course - great game!
HAharrisi21 小时前
A hint would maybe be good. You could highlight the first letter and a direction, for example.
The share functionality could be improved. Sharing the score and time to the specific puzzle would be nice.
Also I came back to this thread to comment that this is the most engaging, fun, and satisfying word puzzle game I've maybe ever played. My only complaint is that there aren't more puzzles!
Thanks for the fun :)
ONoneeyedpigeon19 小时前
Wow, I found the Hacker News one way easier than normal (01:15). I'm devouring these, though—every day you release one, I'll play it!
PGpgt19 小时前
Very cool! Idea: show the definition of the word when you find it, so you can learn new words.
(edit: ah, I see they are shown later)
NInicbou21 小时前
The playable tutorial is brilliant. It's a very fun game, well done!
JAjasonpeacock1 天前
It’s basically Ribbit from Puzzmo, which is fine because reimplementations let you experiment with different gameplay.
https://www.puzzmo.com
ABabound1 天前
Came here to say this, Ribbit is a lot of fun, and Puzzmo in general is a really solid site.
DPdpfu1 天前
Nice game! I found 20 words.
I was a bit stunned by the concept of "bonus words". I found that every word should count. Also because some words are just plural forms (e.g. stroke+s), so kinda cheep?!
Keep ups the good work!
FRfrotaur1 天前
I think the board (and disappearing letters) are made with a list of words in mind. Thus, to complete the puzzle (dissolve all letters) you cannot count the bonus words as they were not accounted when creating the letter graph.
STstevage1 天前
"bonus words" are often obscure or embarrassing in some way, so you're not required to find them to win
CRcryptoboy22831 天前
https://zanagrams.com/puzzles/5.json
SCscamdrill1 天前
This was definitely a challenge until I figured out how it works. I originally was confused by the connections and started off embarrassingly slow, but once I got a few words and letters started to disappear, I was able to power through it pretty quickly. A solid game. Suggest adding a timed option so users can brag/compare/share their time.
SUsumul1 天前
I enjoyed this and loved the minimal UI, good copywriting, and tasteful animations. My brain gets a little bit stuck on words that I can see but aren’t valid because of a missing connection, but I get that this is one of the main points of the puzzle. Anyway, great job!
SESeyoS011 小时前
Love the design and would love a french version !
NDNDlurker1 天前
Cool game. Snus isn't in the word list btw
Found six bonus words.
AEaevv1 天前
https://squaredle.app/
BRBrendinooo19 小时前
Was gonna say, reminded me a lot of Squaredle!
DHdhosek18 小时前
1:40 with (I think) two bonus words. It would be nice to have bonus words counted at the end. Maybe some way of setting a score based on time plus bonus words.
DHdhosek18 小时前
1:25 with one bonus word on the HN special. I saw that the bonus words are highlighted in orange in the final word list so yes, it was two on the first puzzle.
IKiku1 天前
Great puzzle! Is there a way to give up and see all the answers?
After 20 minutes or so still have 8 words to find. (Not a native English speaker.)
JLjllyhill1 天前
+1 for this. Also not a native speaker and can't for the life of find the two last words in the #5
JLjllyhill21 小时前
Damn it, it was the longest word I've already found in plural form :/
Not sure this is good puzzle design to be honest
POpompomsheep20 小时前
Thanks for the feedback. Do you think finding plural should automatically find the root word as well?
ROrootlocus20 小时前
I would try to generate puzzles that don't involve plurals at all.
It happened twice that the word I missed was the plural of a word I already found. After finding a word I don't follow it again so finding the plural happened by accident twice, and it felt cheap.
ACacrophiliac1 天前
I'm stuck. Does that mean I chose the wrong word earlier and used up an essential letter? Does the sequence of word guesses matter? Is there an Undo feature so I can back up and try a different order of guesses? Can I get a hint? Is there a way to give up and see the solution (order of word guesses)?
PFpfg_1 天前
You're not stuck, the board only removes letters and connections that are not used by any other word (probably excluding "bonus words"). So the word(s) you're missing are still on the board.
No hint feathre though, the hints are the letters going away. You'll probably have to use a scrabble search or something.
POpompomsheep22 小时前
This was helpful feedback thank you. I've tried to make this more clear with a new tutorial and updataed instructions
BLblfr1 天前
Gemini can solve them if you need a hint or want to give up and see the solution.
OLollybee22 小时前
How is the puzzle generation? can you fully automate generating good puzzles or do you tune them by hand?
I really enjoyed this, and hope to continue doing so.
POpompomsheep22 小时前
I have it semi automated but I've found they need to be manually reviewed to make fun puzzles.
Basically I start with an 8, 9 or 10 letter word as the core of the puzzle. I then have a generator add random letters and paths around this until it makes a grid with a good number of valid words.
I then run the words though GPT 5.5 which scores them on how "common" the word is to the average person. This is very subjective as everyone has very different vocabularies.
I then manually decide which words to include as core required words or bonus words.
Finally the puzzle is tested by my wife and mum to see if it is "fun" or it goes in the bin haha.
OLollybee21 小时前
That is how I imagined it. It felt there must have been some human element. I appreciate your effort.
Initially I thought I would feel cheated and the solution must require knowledge of some obscure scrabble player only words. I was pleased the solutions felt honest. For that reason I don't think you should offer an option to give up and reveal the answers.
SUsummarybot18 小时前
I found #6 unnecessarily difficult. While I personally really enjoy puzzles, primarily logic ones and spelling ones, this melted my brain. Maybe you could add a "hint" button that shows you which letter is the starting letter for a word in the remaining to-be-found list.
DHdhosek18 小时前
If you see a letter with only one line coming from it it’s either the last or first letter of a word.
JCjcuenod1 天前
Having made a word game myself[0], this was highly entertaining! Thanks :)
What dictionary are you using?
[0] https://jcuenod.github.io/phrase-maze-poc/
EMem-bee1 天前
the score should include how many bonus words you found (out of how many there were in total) and instead of time it should count how many tries you made because technically you could brute force this and try all combinations. counting each try would eliminate that (for anyone trying to get a high score)
QUquuxplusone1 天前
You might make a wrong guess add a little penalty time to the clock.
I agree that the "share" representation should include the number of bonus words found. Or just the triple of "total words / tries / wall-clock time."
It would also make sense to share some kind of metric for "how early did you find the longest word."
UNunknown22 小时前
[deleted]
BUbutlike19 小时前
The instructions are unclear for my input device. I'm on a macOS webkit browser, and I have to click each individual letter, _then click one last time after all letters are highlighted_ to mark the work as found. This falls way outside of the directions "Drag Play to start."
ONoneeyedpigeon19 小时前
You can just click the first letter, then drag through the rest. When I moved from mobile to desktop, I also thought it was click-only, but dragging works in Chrome and Safari.
POpompomsheep19 小时前
Hmm I'm also macOS webkit and can drag no problem. Are you using Safari?
It is also possible to tap each individual letter like you described as an alternative control method but I've found dragging to be more intuitive so is the standard control.
On desktop you can also type the letters with your keyboard ;)
IKiKlsR1 天前
Pretty fun, took me about 10 minutes but found 24 words 10 of them bonus. This was #5 for future viewers.
Edit: welp, spent another 15 mins and managed to solve the previous 4. Currently whipping up a custom version for myself that gives a new set of words related to a theme on each solve, love it.
ALalmara1 天前
Fun! I like how the puzzle naturally gets easier as you solve it. How do you decide which words to include?
POpompomsheep1 天前
Thanks. I use a combination of AI to first score the words by obscurity and then manually decide which ones to include based on this score and my own judgement.
I then manually test each of the puzzles and throw out any that I feel weren't "fun" to solve for whatever reason
评论
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Wow, this post blew up! Thank you everyone for all the helpful feedback. I’ve just deployed a few updates: - Added a short playable tutorial for new players to learn how the game works. - Added a timer below the grid. You can hide this in the settings if you don’t want the extra pressure! - Fixed some bonus words based on your recommendations. I also made a bonus HN themed puzzle as a thanks for all the feedback - https://zanagrams.com/hackernews
Congratulations on your launch! It’s cool seeing all the word games on here taking off
Tutorial was great! And I would like the option to give up.
If it was really an “HN themed puzzle”, all the letters would be A or I and the minimum word length would be 2. I’m kidding of course - great game!
A hint would maybe be good. You could highlight the first letter and a direction, for example. The share functionality could be improved. Sharing the score and time to the specific puzzle would be nice. Also I came back to this thread to comment that this is the most engaging, fun, and satisfying word puzzle game I've maybe ever played. My only complaint is that there aren't more puzzles! Thanks for the fun :)
Wow, I found the Hacker News one way easier than normal (01:15). I'm devouring these, though—every day you release one, I'll play it!
Very cool! Idea: show the definition of the word when you find it, so you can learn new words. (edit: ah, I see they are shown later)
The playable tutorial is brilliant. It's a very fun game, well done!
It’s basically Ribbit from Puzzmo, which is fine because reimplementations let you experiment with different gameplay. https://www.puzzmo.com
Came here to say this, Ribbit is a lot of fun, and Puzzmo in general is a really solid site.
Nice game! I found 20 words. I was a bit stunned by the concept of "bonus words". I found that every word should count. Also because some words are just plural forms (e.g. stroke+s), so kinda cheep?! Keep ups the good work!
I think the board (and disappearing letters) are made with a list of words in mind. Thus, to complete the puzzle (dissolve all letters) you cannot count the bonus words as they were not accounted when creating the letter graph.
"bonus words" are often obscure or embarrassing in some way, so you're not required to find them to win
https://zanagrams.com/puzzles/5.json
This was definitely a challenge until I figured out how it works. I originally was confused by the connections and started off embarrassingly slow, but once I got a few words and letters started to disappear, I was able to power through it pretty quickly. A solid game. Suggest adding a timed option so users can brag/compare/share their time.
I enjoyed this and loved the minimal UI, good copywriting, and tasteful animations. My brain gets a little bit stuck on words that I can see but aren’t valid because of a missing connection, but I get that this is one of the main points of the puzzle. Anyway, great job!
Love the design and would love a french version !
Cool game. Snus isn't in the word list btw Found six bonus words.
https://squaredle.app/
Was gonna say, reminded me a lot of Squaredle!
1:40 with (I think) two bonus words. It would be nice to have bonus words counted at the end. Maybe some way of setting a score based on time plus bonus words.
1:25 with one bonus word on the HN special. I saw that the bonus words are highlighted in orange in the final word list so yes, it was two on the first puzzle.
Great puzzle! Is there a way to give up and see all the answers? After 20 minutes or so still have 8 words to find. (Not a native English speaker.)
+1 for this. Also not a native speaker and can't for the life of find the two last words in the #5
Damn it, it was the longest word I've already found in plural form :/ Not sure this is good puzzle design to be honest
Thanks for the feedback. Do you think finding plural should automatically find the root word as well?
I would try to generate puzzles that don't involve plurals at all. It happened twice that the word I missed was the plural of a word I already found. After finding a word I don't follow it again so finding the plural happened by accident twice, and it felt cheap.
I'm stuck. Does that mean I chose the wrong word earlier and used up an essential letter? Does the sequence of word guesses matter? Is there an Undo feature so I can back up and try a different order of guesses? Can I get a hint? Is there a way to give up and see the solution (order of word guesses)?
You're not stuck, the board only removes letters and connections that are not used by any other word (probably excluding "bonus words"). So the word(s) you're missing are still on the board. No hint feathre though, the hints are the letters going away. You'll probably have to use a scrabble search or something.
This was helpful feedback thank you. I've tried to make this more clear with a new tutorial and updataed instructions
Gemini can solve them if you need a hint or want to give up and see the solution.
How is the puzzle generation? can you fully automate generating good puzzles or do you tune them by hand? I really enjoyed this, and hope to continue doing so.
I have it semi automated but I've found they need to be manually reviewed to make fun puzzles. Basically I start with an 8, 9 or 10 letter word as the core of the puzzle. I then have a generator add random letters and paths around this until it makes a grid with a good number of valid words. I then run the words though GPT 5.5 which scores them on how "common" the word is to the average person. This is very subjective as everyone has very different vocabularies. I then manually decide which words to include as core required words or bonus words. Finally the puzzle is tested by my wife and mum to see if it is "fun" or it goes in the bin haha.
That is how I imagined it. It felt there must have been some human element. I appreciate your effort. Initially I thought I would feel cheated and the solution must require knowledge of some obscure scrabble player only words. I was pleased the solutions felt honest. For that reason I don't think you should offer an option to give up and reveal the answers.
I found #6 unnecessarily difficult. While I personally really enjoy puzzles, primarily logic ones and spelling ones, this melted my brain. Maybe you could add a "hint" button that shows you which letter is the starting letter for a word in the remaining to-be-found list.
If you see a letter with only one line coming from it it’s either the last or first letter of a word.
Having made a word game myself[0], this was highly entertaining! Thanks :) What dictionary are you using? [0] https://jcuenod.github.io/phrase-maze-poc/
the score should include how many bonus words you found (out of how many there were in total) and instead of time it should count how many tries you made because technically you could brute force this and try all combinations. counting each try would eliminate that (for anyone trying to get a high score)
You might make a wrong guess add a little penalty time to the clock. I agree that the "share" representation should include the number of bonus words found. Or just the triple of "total words / tries / wall-clock time." It would also make sense to share some kind of metric for "how early did you find the longest word."
[deleted]
The instructions are unclear for my input device. I'm on a macOS webkit browser, and I have to click each individual letter, _then click one last time after all letters are highlighted_ to mark the work as found. This falls way outside of the directions "Drag Play to start."
You can just click the first letter, then drag through the rest. When I moved from mobile to desktop, I also thought it was click-only, but dragging works in Chrome and Safari.
Hmm I'm also macOS webkit and can drag no problem. Are you using Safari? It is also possible to tap each individual letter like you described as an alternative control method but I've found dragging to be more intuitive so is the standard control. On desktop you can also type the letters with your keyboard ;)
Pretty fun, took me about 10 minutes but found 24 words 10 of them bonus. This was #5 for future viewers. Edit: welp, spent another 15 mins and managed to solve the previous 4. Currently whipping up a custom version for myself that gives a new set of words related to a theme on each solve, love it.
Fun! I like how the puzzle naturally gets easier as you solve it. How do you decide which words to include?
Thanks. I use a combination of AI to first score the words by obscurity and then manually decide which ones to include based on this score and my own judgement. I then manually test each of the puzzles and throw out any that I feel weren't "fun" to solve for whatever reason