Show HN: I built a word game. My mom thinks it's great. What do you think?

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall reception

  • Many players found the game fun, polished, and lightweight, with several saying it could become part of their daily word-game routine.
  • Others thought it was too simple or derivative (essentially just themed anagrams), with limited long-term challenge.

Gameplay & difficulty

  • Core mechanic: unscramble 5 themed 5-letter words under a time limit.
  • Some puzzles (especially the “professional sports teams” day) were widely seen as very easy, with people finishing in under 30 seconds.
  • Several users said the theme clue makes solutions too obvious and suggested hiding the theme or adding a second “meta” layer (e.g., hidden word across answers).
  • Repeated plurals and multiple valid anagrams (e.g., STONE/NOTES, PILLS/SPILL) frustrated players when only one was accepted.

Timer & competitiveness

  • The timer is polarizing:
    • Fans enjoy the speed/leaderboard potential and the “quick daily challenge” feel.
    • Detractors dislike any countdown in “thinky” games, find it stressful, and some quit as soon as they saw it.
  • Multiple suggestions: make timing optional or count-up only; add a “Start” button; allow a “give up” button instead of waiting for timeout; show percentiles/leaderboards for those who care.

Vocabulary, categories & localization

  • Complaints about US-centrism, especially starting with American sports teams; some players don’t know or care about them.
  • Proper nouns (e.g., brand and game names) confused people who assumed standard “no proper nouns” word-game rules. Many urged removing or clearly signaling them.
  • Dictionary behavior annoyed users when valid words were rejected as “not a valid word” simply because they weren’t the target answer.

UI/UX & input

  • UI is widely praised for being clean and fast, including on low-powered phones.
  • Frequent requests:
    • Keyboard input on desktop; drag-and-drop or less finicky tapping on mobile.
    • Fix missed/“out-of-order” taps and accidental deselection when tapping letters twice.
    • Backspace per-letter (not just clear-word).
    • Clearer onboarding: automatic instructions on first visit; “Build your word here” label confused people.
    • Easier navigation between days (arrows, clearer calendar, indicators for completed days).
    • Show correct answers when time expires and allow hints.

Technical & account issues

  • Some layout problems on certain mobile setups and a client-side error on older hardware were reported.
  • Creating an account after playing could reset puzzle state; URL manipulation allows “future” puzzles.
  • Several suggested avoiding logins entirely and using local storage/cookies for streaks.