Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle • Hacker News Board

Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle

#1

Post by DamnInteresting » Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 2:42 PM UTC

Hi everybody. I occasionally make little browser-based games, and this is my latest attempt. It's not quite done, but it's quite playable (note: it does include audio):

https://www.omiword.com/

This has been my occasional tinker target for ~5 years now, starting in the early days of Covid. The objective is to drag letter tiles within certain boundaries to spell four common American-English words.

It hasn't got ads or anything, it's just supposed to be fun for its own sake. If people happen to like it, I might add an option for folks to make a small, one-time payment to unlock access to the archive.

I'm happy to hear any feedback, or about any shortcomings that you might discover.

Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle
omiword.com

Re: Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle

#2

Post by smallerfish » Sat, Apr 12, 2025, 2:22 AM UTC

I gave up on the puzzle because it was too hard for my end of the week brain.

But, a couple of UX suggestions:

a) It shouldn't be possible to drop tiles on the grid outside of the word boundaries

b) Dropping one tile on another should swap their positions.

With both of these implemented, it'd make it easier to move all of the letters onto the grid and then try different options, without too much fiddling.

Re: Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle

#3

Post by 0xEF » Sat, Apr 12, 2025, 2:38 AM UTC

I like it, will play again. It felt challenging but not impossible.

Will there be consideration for other languages in the future?

I agree with the other commentor's suggestions on the UI.

Re: Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle

#4

Post by psolidgold » Sat, Apr 12, 2025, 2:39 AM UTC

Pretty fun and challenging! That Q really had me stumped for a bit. May I suggest removing the audio all together or making it mute by default? It was a bit startling. Otherwise, good stuff!

Re: Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle

#5

Post by cpfohl » Sat, Apr 12, 2025, 2:42 AM UTC

Well done. That was tricky and fun.

Re: Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle

#6

Post by jodacola » Sat, Apr 12, 2025, 2:44 AM UTC

smallerfish wrote: post #2

I gave up on the puzzle because it was too hard for my end of the week brain. But, a couple of UX suggestions: a) It shouldn't be possible to drop tiles on the grid outside of the word boundaries b) Dropping one tile on another should swap their positions. With both of these implemented, it'd make it easier to move all of the letters onto the grid and then try different options, without too much fiddling.

Along these lines, I suggest throwing the letters in random order on the word boundaries for the player instead of forcing us to do it.

Dragging the letters to the word spots was the first thing I did to start visualizing, which was busy work I found no value in doing.

Otherwise, interesting and challenging!

Re: Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle

#7

Post by rtliu » Sat, Apr 12, 2025, 2:53 AM UTC

Quick and fun and well polished. The audio and visual fx are satisfying. Nice!

Re: Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle

#8

Post by mintplant » Sat, Apr 12, 2025, 2:58 AM UTC

smallerfish wrote: post #2

I gave up on the puzzle because it was too hard for my end of the week brain. But, a couple of UX suggestions: a) It shouldn't be possible to drop tiles on the grid outside of the word boundaries b) Dropping one tile on another should swap their positions. With both of these implemented, it'd make it easier to move all of the letters onto the grid and then try different options, without too much fiddling.

I agree with B but disagree with A. Allowing dropping tiles outside of the word boundaries lets you arrange your "workspace" for thinking, like placing multiple candidate letters next to the spot where they might appear in the word. It could be useful to have tiles that are dropped within the word boundaries highlighted in some way to distinguish them, though.

My UX feedback: it isn't clear that the icon on the top-right opens up some instructions. Perhaps replace with the more standard question-mark in a circle?

Re: Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle

#9

Post by drhodes » Sat, Apr 12, 2025, 3:00 AM UTC

You did a great job, the game is very polished .. (the misspelling feature!). The cross word constraint makes it a bit easier than the regular Jumble.

Re: Show HN: Omiword – A daily, sector-based word puzzle

#10

Post by gundmc » Sat, Apr 12, 2025, 3:19 AM UTC

smallerfish wrote: post #2

I gave up on the puzzle because it was too hard for my end of the week brain. But, a couple of UX suggestions: a) It shouldn't be possible to drop tiles on the grid outside of the word boundaries b) Dropping one tile on another should swap their positions. With both of these implemented, it'd make it easier to move all of the letters onto the grid and then try different options, without too much fiddling.

I noticed on mobile (Chrome on Android) when I tried to drag one of the tiles on the left boundary, my browser executed the page back action instead. You should be able to override this behavior with JavaScript by intercepting the default. I think this is one of the rare cases where that would be appropriate!