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Show HN: Multiplayer game to help non-native English speakers improve vocabulary

67 points by abhas9 9y ago

Hi HN, My friend and I just launched a vocabulary quiz game. It's a two Player Game where you challenge your opponent with a word and answer their challenge question. Whoever gets the highest score in a round of 5, wins. Currently, words are from Barron's 333 most essential GRE wordlist to help students preparing for the standardized test. You can check out the game at: [Play Store] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.buildmyvocab.greenglishgame https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.buildmyvoc... or [Hybrid web app in Ionic - Please allow some time to load] https://buildmyvocab.in/wordsgame https://buildmyvocab.in/wordsgame We would love to hear feedback from you guys.

theoneone 9y ago
Well done. A 5 star game from me(web version). A few features that came in my mind immediately : - login system for keeping track of my games and score - ranking system - a timer for answering a question. Once again good game/app.
- abhas9 9y ago
  Thanks for your valuable feedback. We are glad that you enjoyed it. We want to test the user engagement with a very minimum product first. All these features are in our mind. You can expect the timer in the upcoming release :)
fragger 9y ago
Seems really helpful.
- abhas9 9y ago
  Thanks.
rohanrath 9y ago
Makes learning so much fun. Would be really helpful for folks!
- abhas9 9y ago
  Thanks :)
DanBC 9y ago
I like it! I think I'd like a summary at the end of words I got wrong.
- abhas9 9y ago
  That's a cool suggestion. I think that will definitely be a useful addition. -Thanks
  - alexleegk 9y ago
    It would be great if the summary had all the 5 words, so that I can review their definitions at the end. Some of my correct answers could have been educated guesses, but I'd still like to learn the definitions of those words.
kunal16890 9y ago
Awesome game, learn while you play!. Interesting themes.
vipulyaara 9y ago
Awesome. Seems really cool. Gamification makes it fun :D
csours 9y ago
If this is backed by a list of words and definitions, it seems easy to expand to other languages and subjects. Do you have any plans to do this? If you have two friends right next to each other one could start a game, and share it via QR code on screen.
- abhas9 9y ago
  Yup - we have plans to expand it to other languages and cover more useful word lists. The QR Code option will definitely be a nice addition, though we have code sharing feature in android app over WhatsApp and other available apps.
macp 9y ago
Cool! It would be great if we could post short messages to the other player + have a timer for the answers.
- abhas9 9y ago
  noted :) Thanks for the feedback.
drewmol 9y ago
Good design, simple interface, fun to play. I see you are trying to keep it feature minimal at first. My thought after I finished a game: I would like to send a message to opponent, say good game, and let them know I'm a native English speaker.
- abhas9 9y ago
  Thanks for your comments. Agree, chat feature between players would be interesting. Are you aware of any libraries for this? Something like intercom which allows integrating chat between players in an easy plug to play manner?
  - drewmol 9y ago
    I'm not, haven't done much mobile dev, but maybe someone else will chime in?
edwilson 9y ago
i like this game. some ui effects will helpful for web
- abhas9 9y ago
  Happy to know that you liked it. This is the first basic release. Native Android UI is a little better than the hybrid web app. We will definitely work on the UI in the coming version.
kyriakos 9y ago
Really nice. Only used the web version. As a non native English speaker I learned a couple of words too.
- abhas9 9y ago
  Thanks. Such comments really help us to stay motivated :)
mobilio 9y ago
It's great game! I would like to see share to social networks after game. Also "social logins".
- abhas9 9y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. Android version has a share feature which allows you to share the generated code with your friends. Additionally, a feature to share score/game result will be fairly easy to implement and helpful.
another-dave 9y ago
Nice! Even as a native speaker it's fun :) Would love a French version too
- abhas9 9y ago
  Thanks :) We are thinking of integrating Quizlet. Quizlet has very rich content. Eg. https://quizlet.com/1321499/essential-french-vocabulary-flash-cards/ https://quizlet.com/1321499/essential-french-vocabulary-flas... It can add a lot of flexibility to the game and our users will be able to challenge each other on a variety of themes.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
franciscop 9y ago
So happy to do 5/5 as a non-native speaker! Tips: it is obviously for mobile, but for computer it is almost unusable. Max-widths and all, then `cursor: pointer` for the answers would go a long way. Also, a chat or a way to play another game with the same person would be nice.
- abhas9 9y ago
  Thanks :) Happy to know that you liked it. We will definitely work on these changes to fix the experience for people using it on the desktop. As you said, max-width, cursor: pointer and may be a loader will be the way forward.
j_s 9y ago
Anything out there for English-only homes to help their toddlers learn other languages, specifically Chinese and/or Spanish?
- abhas9 9y ago
  I don't know if it exists but my friend and I are thinking of making a VR app to help toddlers learn their first 100 words in a foreign language. Our idea is to use 360-degree images with annotations to teach words using Google cardboard or any other VR device. There is a rich dataset of 360-images by MIT[1] if anyone is interested in taking up this project. [1] http://people.csail.mit.edu/jxiao/SUN360/ http://people.csail.mit.edu/jxiao/SUN360/
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - 6t6t6t6 9y ago
    For some reason the idea of putting a VR visor to a toddler is unsettling to me. Maybe I am getting old...
    - sourcesmith 9y ago
      The Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR Health & Safety documents state that they should not be used by children under the age of 13. Same for the Google Daydream and Sony states that their VR is not for use by children under the age of 12.
jhanschoo 9y ago
Dang, you beat me to the proof-of-concept. I'm building a somewhat similar app over my summer :3 I hope it will be as well received as yours!
sujal99 9y ago
Helpful. Thanks for not having advertisements in the app.

67 points by abhas9 9y ago

theoneone 9y ago

Well done. A 5 star game from me(web version). A few features that came in my mind immediately : - login system for keeping track of my games and score - ranking system - a timer for answering a question. Once again good game/app.

abhas9 9y ago
Thanks for your valuable feedback. We are glad that you enjoyed it. We want to test the user engagement with a very minimum product first. All these features are in our mind. You can expect the timer in the upcoming release :)

fragger 9y ago

Seems really helpful.

abhas9 9y ago
Thanks.

rohanrath 9y ago

Makes learning so much fun. Would be really helpful for folks!

abhas9 9y ago
Thanks :)

DanBC 9y ago

I like it! I think I'd like a summary at the end of words I got wrong.

abhas9 9y ago
That's a cool suggestion. I think that will definitely be a useful addition. -Thanks
- alexleegk 9y ago
  It would be great if the summary had all the 5 words, so that I can review their definitions at the end. Some of my correct answers could have been educated guesses, but I'd still like to learn the definitions of those words.

kunal16890 9y ago

Awesome game, learn while you play!. Interesting themes.

vipulyaara 9y ago

Awesome. Seems really cool. Gamification makes it fun :D

csours 9y ago

If this is backed by a list of words and definitions, it seems easy to expand to other languages and subjects. Do you have any plans to do this? If you have two friends right next to each other one could start a game, and share it via QR code on screen.

abhas9 9y ago
Yup - we have plans to expand it to other languages and cover more useful word lists. The QR Code option will definitely be a nice addition, though we have code sharing feature in android app over WhatsApp and other available apps.

macp 9y ago

Cool! It would be great if we could post short messages to the other player + have a timer for the answers.

abhas9 9y ago
noted :) Thanks for the feedback.

drewmol 9y ago

Good design, simple interface, fun to play. I see you are trying to keep it feature minimal at first. My thought after I finished a game: I would like to send a message to opponent, say good game, and let them know I'm a native English speaker.

abhas9 9y ago
Thanks for your comments. Agree, chat feature between players would be interesting. Are you aware of any libraries for this? Something like intercom which allows integrating chat between players in an easy plug to play manner?
- drewmol 9y ago
  I'm not, haven't done much mobile dev, but maybe someone else will chime in?

edwilson 9y ago

i like this game. some ui effects will helpful for web

abhas9 9y ago
Happy to know that you liked it. This is the first basic release. Native Android UI is a little better than the hybrid web app. We will definitely work on the UI in the coming version.

kyriakos 9y ago

Really nice. Only used the web version. As a non native English speaker I learned a couple of words too.

abhas9 9y ago
Thanks. Such comments really help us to stay motivated :)

mobilio 9y ago

It's great game! I would like to see share to social networks after game. Also "social logins".

abhas9 9y ago
Thanks for the feedback. Android version has a share feature which allows you to share the generated code with your friends. Additionally, a feature to share score/game result will be fairly easy to implement and helpful.

another-dave 9y ago

Nice! Even as a native speaker it's fun :) Would love a French version too

abhas9 9y ago
Thanks :) We are thinking of integrating Quizlet. Quizlet has very rich content. Eg. https://quizlet.com/1321499/essential-french-vocabulary-flash-cards/ https://quizlet.com/1321499/essential-french-vocabulary-flas... It can add a lot of flexibility to the game and our users will be able to challenge each other on a variety of themes.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

franciscop 9y ago

So happy to do 5/5 as a non-native speaker! Tips: it is obviously for mobile, but for computer it is almost unusable. Max-widths and all, then `cursor: pointer` for the answers would go a long way. Also, a chat or a way to play another game with the same person would be nice.

abhas9 9y ago
Thanks :) Happy to know that you liked it. We will definitely work on these changes to fix the experience for people using it on the desktop. As you said, max-width, cursor: pointer and may be a loader will be the way forward.

j_s 9y ago

Anything out there for English-only homes to help their toddlers learn other languages, specifically Chinese and/or Spanish?

abhas9 9y ago
I don't know if it exists but my friend and I are thinking of making a VR app to help toddlers learn their first 100 words in a foreign language. Our idea is to use 360-degree images with annotations to teach words using Google cardboard or any other VR device. There is a rich dataset of 360-images by MIT[1] if anyone is interested in taking up this project. [1] http://people.csail.mit.edu/jxiao/SUN360/ http://people.csail.mit.edu/jxiao/SUN360/
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- 6t6t6t6 9y ago
  For some reason the idea of putting a VR visor to a toddler is unsettling to me. Maybe I am getting old...
  - sourcesmith 9y ago
    The Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR Health & Safety documents state that they should not be used by children under the age of 13. Same for the Google Daydream and Sony states that their VR is not for use by children under the age of 12.

jhanschoo 9y ago

Dang, you beat me to the proof-of-concept. I'm building a somewhat similar app over my summer :3 I hope it will be as well received as yours!

sujal99 9y ago

Helpful. Thanks for not having advertisements in the app.