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Codenames App, or my biggest project so far

103 points by Tomte 2y ago

unsnap_biceps 2y ago
I loved playing codenames with friends and this much care into the app has convinced me to purchase it and give it a go.
thfuran 2y ago
I wish whoever invented Achievements had done something else instead.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
  Sometimes they are fun, like in Portal. But I saw the remake of Shadow of the Colossus had achievements for killing the colossi, and it really fucks up the mood of the game.
  - aspenmayer 2y ago
    I agree with you completely regarding achievements. In SotC they feel especially jarring. I’m glad I still own my original copy. You can apparently disable notifications for achievements on consoles and in Steam, which would potentially help this somewhat if you know to do it beforehand.
- thr3000 2y ago
  What would fix the model IMO are mutually exclusive achievements, and the ongoing addition thereof. Only travel down the achievement paths that are fun to you. Avoid the others or you might get locked out of some future fun ones.
  - zeroonetwothree 2y ago
    That seems even worse
- zeroonetwothree 2y ago
  The secret is to just ignore them unless they seem fun. Going for 100% is miserable
- ClassyJacket 2y ago
  Why's that? I used to mainly game on the 360 and I've never particularly found them a hindrance to my enjoyment, or thought game designs were being altered negatively for their sake - despite not being really much into getting them myself. Do you have some examples of games that have been made worse by the inclusion of achievements? Now, in game purchases, on the other hand...
joeevans1000 2y ago
Awesome work!
Upvoter33 2y ago
Codenames is awesome, and this was a neat read.
lifeisstillgood 2y ago
So there was an episode of “The rest is entertainment” and Richard Osman was saying that TV quizzes are killing the “most watched” lists - but no-one has figured out how to monetise and make that killer app, This one seems a good try - the mechanic where people trying to solve a daily puzzle are actually building the larger questions is interesting and speaks to the scaling problem. Long may Only Connect rule us :-)
- Kiro 2y ago
  > TV quizzes are killing the “most watched” lists What is this referring to? What TV quizzes and what "most watched" list?
  - shrikant 2y ago
    I was a bit puzzled initially by the phrasing as well, but I've listened to that podcast episode and what parent commenter means is that quiz shows in the UK (like Only Connect, Mastermind, etc.) are doing really well in the TV ratings.
    - cr125rider 2y ago
      I’m from the US as well and haven’t heard of this trend. Classic game shows however are all household names: Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, The Price is Right, Jeopardy, and of course Who Wants To Be A Millionaire which captivated the entire country whenever it was on in the last 90s. The first one to make it to 1 million in price money was incredible.
- senkora 2y ago
  Slightly off-topic: Are there any Americans here are able to follow along and guess the answers when watching Only Connect? Genuinely curious. I’m usually pretty good at quiz competitions, but the few times I’ve watched Only Connect I haven’t known anything at all. I think the questions might rely on shared British cultural knowledge that I don’t have. I want to like it but it isn’t as engaging for me when I don’t know anything, and I’m wondering if that is just me or a common experience. Could just be a skill issue :)
chrisweekly 2y ago
I'm stoked to try this! Codenames is an all-time favorite of mine (and my "game night" friends).
mathgeek 2y ago
As someone who has coded up really barebone versions of Codenames a few times for remote team apps, love the look of this official one!
softienigga 2y ago
[flagged]
russ 2y ago
Haven’t played Codenames in a long while, but made this 8 years ago to play with family and friends on TVs. Right in time for the holidays! demo: https://dsa.github.io https://dsa.github.io code: https://github.com/dsa/dsa.github.io https://github.com/dsa/dsa.github.io
- j_bum 2y ago
  Amazing! Thanks for sharing
  - russ 2y ago
    You got it! Hope you have some fun with it. :)
zeroonetwothree 2y ago
Installed it and already it’s very fun. Great game.
bearincar 2y ago
[dead]
cr125rider 2y ago
Great write up! Thanks for posting about the process. I’ve really enjoyed Codenames and own a few different variants. Great job!
michaelbarton 2y ago
I always thought it would be interesting to try and make an AI. player for code names based on word embeddings since that would be a good use case of “semantically closely related words” also if you enjoy code names I recommend: decrypto, skull, and modern art
silenced_trope 2y ago
This looks great!
kubb 2y ago
I just checked and this app costs 5 dollars with no in-app purchases. For all the development that went into it, for the online features, translation to almost 50 languages… And Apple gets to keep 20% of that? Mobile pricing is messed up.

103 points by Tomte 2y ago

I loved playing codenames with friends and this much care into the app has convinced me to purchase it and give it a go.

thfuran 2y ago

I wish whoever invented Achievements had done something else instead.

01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
Sometimes they are fun, like in Portal. But I saw the remake of Shadow of the Colossus had achievements for killing the colossi, and it really fucks up the mood of the game.
- aspenmayer 2y ago
  I agree with you completely regarding achievements. In SotC they feel especially jarring. I’m glad I still own my original copy. You can apparently disable notifications for achievements on consoles and in Steam, which would potentially help this somewhat if you know to do it beforehand.
thr3000 2y ago
What would fix the model IMO are mutually exclusive achievements, and the ongoing addition thereof. Only travel down the achievement paths that are fun to you. Avoid the others or you might get locked out of some future fun ones.
- zeroonetwothree 2y ago
  That seems even worse
zeroonetwothree 2y ago
The secret is to just ignore them unless they seem fun. Going for 100% is miserable
ClassyJacket 2y ago
Why's that? I used to mainly game on the 360 and I've never particularly found them a hindrance to my enjoyment, or thought game designs were being altered negatively for their sake - despite not being really much into getting them myself. Do you have some examples of games that have been made worse by the inclusion of achievements? Now, in game purchases, on the other hand...

joeevans1000 2y ago

Awesome work!

Upvoter33 2y ago

Codenames is awesome, and this was a neat read.

lifeisstillgood 2y ago

So there was an episode of “The rest is entertainment” and Richard Osman was saying that TV quizzes are killing the “most watched” lists - but no-one has figured out how to monetise and make that killer app, This one seems a good try - the mechanic where people trying to solve a daily puzzle are actually building the larger questions is interesting and speaks to the scaling problem. Long may Only Connect rule us :-)

Kiro 2y ago
> TV quizzes are killing the “most watched” lists What is this referring to? What TV quizzes and what "most watched" list?
- shrikant 2y ago
  I was a bit puzzled initially by the phrasing as well, but I've listened to that podcast episode and what parent commenter means is that quiz shows in the UK (like Only Connect, Mastermind, etc.) are doing really well in the TV ratings.
  - cr125rider 2y ago
    I’m from the US as well and haven’t heard of this trend. Classic game shows however are all household names: Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, The Price is Right, Jeopardy, and of course Who Wants To Be A Millionaire which captivated the entire country whenever it was on in the last 90s. The first one to make it to 1 million in price money was incredible.
senkora 2y ago
Slightly off-topic: Are there any Americans here are able to follow along and guess the answers when watching Only Connect? Genuinely curious. I’m usually pretty good at quiz competitions, but the few times I’ve watched Only Connect I haven’t known anything at all. I think the questions might rely on shared British cultural knowledge that I don’t have. I want to like it but it isn’t as engaging for me when I don’t know anything, and I’m wondering if that is just me or a common experience. Could just be a skill issue :)

chrisweekly 2y ago

I'm stoked to try this! Codenames is an all-time favorite of mine (and my "game night" friends).

mathgeek 2y ago

As someone who has coded up really barebone versions of Codenames a few times for remote team apps, love the look of this official one!

softienigga 2y ago

[flagged]

russ 2y ago

Haven’t played Codenames in a long while, but made this 8 years ago to play with family and friends on TVs. Right in time for the holidays! demo: https://dsa.github.io https://dsa.github.io code: https://github.com/dsa/dsa.github.io https://github.com/dsa/dsa.github.io

j_bum 2y ago
Amazing! Thanks for sharing
- russ 2y ago
  You got it! Hope you have some fun with it. :)

zeroonetwothree 2y ago

Installed it and already it’s very fun. Great game.

bearincar 2y ago

[dead]

cr125rider 2y ago

Great write up! Thanks for posting about the process. I’ve really enjoyed Codenames and own a few different variants. Great job!

michaelbarton 2y ago

I always thought it would be interesting to try and make an AI. player for code names based on word embeddings since that would be a good use case of “semantically closely related words” also if you enjoy code names I recommend: decrypto, skull, and modern art

silenced_trope 2y ago

This looks great!

kubb 2y ago

I just checked and this app costs 5 dollars with no in-app purchases. For all the development that went into it, for the online features, translation to almost 50 languages… And Apple gets to keep 20% of that? Mobile pricing is messed up.