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Show HN: 18 Words

18words.com

241–250 of 384 posts

Re: Show HN: 18 Words

#241

BUG: I guessed "LATER", but it said - wrong and mentioned "ALERT". The only fix I would make is to ensure that all possible words with scrambled characters make sense. LATER and ALERT are both correct, for text "A E R T L"

One of my winning words was “BAITH” which google tells me is scottish haha. Is this intentional OP? Oh it was supposed to be Habit…

Yeah I got Baith too, I have no idea what that is, I just guessed it because, you know, it looks like it’d fit as a rare English word.

Re: Show HN: 18 Words

#243
post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If an uneducated acquaintance of yours was about to name their newborn child "Adolf", would you interject that this name might not be such a great idea?

there's a big difference between Adolf and whatever esoteric garbage this is

This "esoteric" garbage is the catchphrase of white nationalists globally.

So it's about as esoteric as white nationalism is. For example, members of the current US administration know it/believe it.

Re: Show HN: 18 Words

#244

Thanks everyone for the feedback! Two questions 1. For a version without the timer what would you like to happen if you are just completely stuck on a word? Hints to reveal letters or skip the word? 2. For those who like the timed version would you prefer to continue when you miss a word and then get a final score out of 18?

First, this is fantastic! Really fun.

I really like everyone's idea of finding some way of letting the player play all 18 words. Either count up time, and use total time as the score (while allowing pausing). Or else just count the total score at the end, and if someone fails a word it's reduced from the score. So you got 16/18 word or something.

Re: Show HN: 18 Words

#245
post #244

Thanks everyone for the feedback! Two questions 1. For a version without the timer what would you like to happen if you are just completely stuck on a word? Hints to reveal letters or skip the word? 2. For those who like the timed version would you prefer to continue when you miss a word and then get a final score out of 18?

First, this is fantastic! Really fun. I really like everyone's idea of finding some way of letting the player play all 18 words. Either count up time, and use total time as the score (while allowing pausing). Or else just count the total score at the end, and if someone fails a word it's reduced from the score. So you got 16/18 word or something.

Also, Zanagrams is really fun too!

Re: Show HN: 18 Words

#246

The timer makes it not enjoyable for me. It seems necessary to the game design and I’m not being negatively critical. Just sharing an additional perspective. I’ve been playing Zanagrams and the ability to hide the clock really improved my enjoyment of that game. If I could magically get a feature by request, it would be to give me infinite time even if that meant my score came with an asterisk. Maybe just call it Rel…

It seems so odd to me to have a word unscrambling game and have everyone shouting for the timer to be removed.

I grew up with this: https://youtu.be/UaOLkwtG-Ak?t=12 If anything it should be more intense and have music!

Re: Show HN: 18 Words

#247
Loved it. I would change the timer from text (which I'm constantly reading as it changes) to a progress bar or set of dots which don't require thinking. Also I would use 3 strikes instead of one you're out, because a single miss isn't really representative. (similarly, any valid word should work.) Letter display order can offer clues but seems random. Perhaps vowels on top row, then consonants on bottom, in alphabetic order? Would love a hard mode for multi-lingual (latin-text) speakers to use multiple languages.

Re: Show HN: 18 Words

#248

Beautifully done! Simple, elegant, and how in the unholy hell do I not know how to spell "photo"?? I anticipate the NY Times will buy you out and I am very jealous

I guessed HOPTO and PHOOT but none of them worked unfortunately

Re: Show HN: 18 Words

#249

Thanks everyone for the feedback! Two questions 1. For a version without the timer what would you like to happen if you are just completely stuck on a word? Hints to reveal letters or skip the word? 2. For those who like the timed version would you prefer to continue when you miss a word and then get a final score out of 18?

Keep the timer, but after 30 seconds, deduct a point, after 60 seconds show an option to reveal the word / give up.

Re: Show HN: 18 Words

#250

Thanks everyone for the feedback! Two questions 1. For a version without the timer what would you like to happen if you are just completely stuck on a word? Hints to reveal letters or skip the word? 2. For those who like the timed version would you prefer to continue when you miss a word and then get a final score out of 18?

Personal take:

I immediately liked the game and was inspired to try multiple days,

my single biggest frustration was that once a day is attempted, it's locked, and, you can't continue after a single failure.

The "single point of failure" having heavy consequences would likely make me bounce off and not return.

Might I suggest an alternate design to try:

Keep the incentive to speed, but reduce the punishment.

Proposal:

Score is points-per-word as a function of time to complete.

With a non-linear asymptomic point curve.

Bonus for very fast, long tail decreasing from 1.x points to 0.x, after 30s you get 0 points...

...but critically you are not loocked out of the game and can take as long as you like.

Bonus for caching this state so you can return later

There are variations, e.g. a total time budget for all words... perhaps you retain a sense of tier, with players able to select a "league" which gives higher reward for fastest responses but more quickly drops you to zero for the rest of the game...

You can still have a leader board (implicit or explicit) where points are fungible.

You could even then have a "no stress" league which gives a flat 0.25 points per success with no timer at all or something.

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