Show HN: Truncate, a word-based strategy game

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

An open-source word-based strategy game called Truncate is drawing praise for its original “Scrabble meets strategy” mechanics, but many players find its combat rules and onboarding steep compared to casual word games. Feedback centers on improving clarity and ergonomics: clearer written rules alongside the long tutorial, better visual indication of valid/invalid words, easier dictionary access, and optional attack-outcome previews or tutor modes. Players also highlight issues with the idiosyncratic dictionary, letter distribution, and AI behavior, while still seeing strong potential and replay value in the core design.

Overall Reception

  • Many find the game original and compelling (“Scrabble meets Risk”), with several reporting getting “hooked” after a few games.
  • Others bounce off quickly, describing it as “insanely hard”, “more frustrating than fun”, or losing interest due to ergonomics and rule complexity.
  • Several think it has “huge potential” and could even work as a physical board game.

Rules, Complexity & Tutorial

  • Battle rules (valid/invalid words, “weakest link” losing whole attacks, defender +2 advantage, towns counting as one-letter words) are widely seen as non-intuitive and hard to predict.
  • Multiple commenters want:
    • A concise rules page instead of only an interactive tutorial.
    • Attack-result previews or at least “you’re going to lose this battle” warnings.
    • Clearer battle logs that explicitly list which rules and word lengths decided the outcome.
  • Others push back, arguing previews should be limited to an optional “tutor mode” so experienced play still rewards rule mastery and tactical blunders.
  • Some suggest more interactive, puzzle-like tutorial segments and an “advanced” tutorial for special cases.

Dictionary Quality & Visibility

  • Dictionary is a major pain point:
    • Missing expected words/plurals and some British spellings.
    • Accepting obscure or slangy 2–3 letter words.
    • Perceived US-English bias.
  • Many want:
    • On-board highlighting of valid vs invalid words.
    • Easier dictionary access: hotkeys, ESC-to-close, auto-focus search, not covering the board, or persistent side panel.
    • Optional auto-check of newly formed words.
  • The authors describe using an intersection of Wordnik’s games list and SCOWL, plus Wiktionary for definitions, and are open to curation, reporting, and expansion.

UI / UX Feedback

  • Requests include:
    • Board rotation for easier reading, especially of opponent’s words.
    • Better animations for tile draws and battles.
    • Undo support and preventing no-op swaps (e.g., swapping identical letters).
    • Cleaner resign dialog wording.
    • Tile organization, keyboard shortcuts, and right-click word lookups.
  • Some find the puzzle boards too cramped; others like the constrained mid-board slog as part of the strategy.

Platform & Miscellaneous

  • Game is fully open source; license being set to MIT.
  • iOS Lockdown Mode breaks it due to WebAssembly; native app is being considered.
  • Multiplayer exists via room codes; players request matchmaking and discovery.
  • Interest expressed in non-English dictionaries and physical/DIY tile-play variants.