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Show HN: Word Slicer – browser word game (follow-up, looking for feedback)

3 points by NoArcher888 1y ago

I shared Word Slicer here a while back — it’s a free, ad-free, browser-based word game where you try to find 5 words in 5 minutes. Since then I’ve been improving it (daily challenge archive, cleaner UI, better stats), and I’d love more feedback from the HN crowd. In particular, I’m interested in thoughts on the gameplay flow, design/UX, and what would make it more engaging.

palmfacehn 1y ago
I found myself trying to drag the vertical bars initially. It took awhile to discover that I could simply click the letter to select it. Unfortunately I am tutorial averse.
- NoArcher888 1y ago
  Did you play on mobile or desktop?
  - palmfacehn 1y ago
    Desktop
    - NoArcher888 1y ago
      Got you. I have added that to my backlog. Thanks for the feedback.
glaucon 1y ago
I hope this helps with feedback. After having pressed "learn to play" I got to the bit "Give it a try and form the word E N D" but the UI was frozen . I then selected "Exit how to play" but that left the URL unchanged so I was sent back to the start of the tour. This is on Firefox on Windows.
- NoArcher888 1y ago
  oh, not good. Thanks for the feedback, it really helps. One question: did you try to drag the slider with the mouse or did you press the letters "E", "N" and "D"?
  - glaucon 1y ago
    Almost certain that I was using the mouse. I just went and tried to do the same thing again and it worked as expected. This may be due to you having made changes but if you haven't there was something else I was going to mention which may be relevant. When I started the 'How to play' section on the first occasion I got the 'Would you like cookies with that?' dialog which I responded to before starting the 'How to play'. When the 'How to play' behaved oddly I did just wonder whether it was somehow related to the cookies dialog. The reason I mention this is because having gone back to try it today I was, understandably, not prompted by the cookies dialog so (just maybe) the 'how to play' getting stuck is related to the cookies dialog ? Just an idea.
wordglyph 1y ago
I'm on Android and I'd like to be able to slide the letter selector. But when I was coding https://WordGlyph.xyz https://WordGlyph.xyz I found implementing that feature to select the stick challenging.
- NoArcher888 1y ago
  Thanks for the question and the feedback! On Android and iOS the sliders should be draggable up and down — did that not work on your phone? On desktop it’s click-only for now, but I’ve added dragging there to my backlog.
ekorbia 1y ago
I also found myself trying to drag the bars. Is dragging supposed to work on desktop? If not, I would clarify that in the "How to play" instructions. What dictionary are you using? I tried a couple of words like 'acing' and 'awing' that should work?
- NoArcher888 1y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. Dragging doesn’t work on desktop right now, only clicking, but I’ve added drag support to my backlog. On the words: Word Slicer focuses on base or dictionary forms. The list includes common nouns (like river), verbs (like dance), and adjectives (like bright). You’ll find wide but not wider, for example — which is why words like acing or awing don’t register.

3 points by NoArcher888 1y ago

palmfacehn 1y ago

I found myself trying to drag the vertical bars initially. It took awhile to discover that I could simply click the letter to select it. Unfortunately I am tutorial averse.

NoArcher888 1y ago
Did you play on mobile or desktop?
- palmfacehn 1y ago
  Desktop
  - NoArcher888 1y ago
    Got you. I have added that to my backlog. Thanks for the feedback.

glaucon 1y ago

I hope this helps with feedback. After having pressed "learn to play" I got to the bit "Give it a try and form the word E N D" but the UI was frozen . I then selected "Exit how to play" but that left the URL unchanged so I was sent back to the start of the tour. This is on Firefox on Windows.

NoArcher888 1y ago
oh, not good. Thanks for the feedback, it really helps. One question: did you try to drag the slider with the mouse or did you press the letters "E", "N" and "D"?
- glaucon 1y ago
  Almost certain that I was using the mouse. I just went and tried to do the same thing again and it worked as expected. This may be due to you having made changes but if you haven't there was something else I was going to mention which may be relevant. When I started the 'How to play' section on the first occasion I got the 'Would you like cookies with that?' dialog which I responded to before starting the 'How to play'. When the 'How to play' behaved oddly I did just wonder whether it was somehow related to the cookies dialog. The reason I mention this is because having gone back to try it today I was, understandably, not prompted by the cookies dialog so (just maybe) the 'how to play' getting stuck is related to the cookies dialog ? Just an idea.

wordglyph 1y ago

I'm on Android and I'd like to be able to slide the letter selector. But when I was coding https://WordGlyph.xyz https://WordGlyph.xyz I found implementing that feature to select the stick challenging.

NoArcher888 1y ago
Thanks for the question and the feedback! On Android and iOS the sliders should be draggable up and down — did that not work on your phone? On desktop it’s click-only for now, but I’ve added dragging there to my backlog.

ekorbia 1y ago

I also found myself trying to drag the bars. Is dragging supposed to work on desktop? If not, I would clarify that in the "How to play" instructions. What dictionary are you using? I tried a couple of words like 'acing' and 'awing' that should work?

NoArcher888 1y ago
Thanks for the feedback. Dragging doesn’t work on desktop right now, only clicking, but I’ve added drag support to my backlog. On the words: Word Slicer focuses on base or dictionary forms. The list includes common nouns (like river), verbs (like dance), and adjectives (like bright). You’ll find wide but not wider, for example — which is why words like acing or awing don’t register.