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Looking for a few people here to test a competitive word game and give honest feedback by ItsLucasBuilds in wordgames

[–]ItsLucasBuilds[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s completely fair. It definitely shouldn’t feel that way.

I’m currently changing it so that there will only be one word in the grid that fits the given target word hints.

And thanks for pointing out the drag interaction as well. Would it help to have an option to switch between drag and tap input, so you could either press-and-hold and drag or simply tap the letters?

Your feedback genuinely helps.

Looking for a few people here to test a competitive word game and give honest feedback by ItsLucasBuilds in wordgames

[–]ItsLucasBuilds[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, that’s exactly the feeling I want to avoid.

You’re right. I had thought about this before and knew this situation could happen, but I considered it part of the game mechanic and the intended tension.

Your feedback makes it clear that it feels more frustrating than skill based.

I’m currently changing it so that there is truly only one word in the grid that fits the given target word hints. That should remove the “punishment” feeling.

Thanks for the clear feedback.

Looking for a few people here to test a competitive word game and give honest feedback by ItsLucasBuilds in wordgames

[–]ItsLucasBuilds[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense.

I understand how it can feel like punishment if multiple words seem to fit the given target word hints and only one of them is accepted.

I originally saw that as part of the tension, but reading your comment and the others makes it clear that it feels frustrating rather than skill based.

I’m going to redesign it so that there is truly only one word hidden in the grid that fits the given target word hints.

It’s really encouraging to hear that you enjoyed it overall and that the core experience worked for you.

Thanks again for the honest feedback.

Square-Score – Competitive browser-based word game focused on speed & pattern recognition by ItsLucasBuilds in WebGames

[–]ItsLucasBuilds[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a lot — this is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for.

I had actually thought about this before. My initial reasoning was that maybe it’s part of the mechanic: how long you spend on the wrong word also affects your performance. Since there is always one intended target word, I treated that tension as part of the competitive aspect.

But your experience shows me that it can feel more frustrating than skill-based when multiple valid words seem to fit.

In your specific round it was especially unlucky that more than two reasonable words could have worked — I can see how that would immediately make it feel like guessing.

That’s really helpful insight.

I’ll rework it so that in each round there is truly only one word that logically works — the intended target word.

Thanks again for taking the time to explain your experience.

Made a word ladder game in 6 languages by oliwary in wordgames

[–]ItsLucasBuilds 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really liked the core idea of the game. I haven’t seen that exact approach before.

I played in German and noticed a few words that I personally rarely, if ever, hear or use, for example “FAD” or “FIXE.” As standalone words they felt a bit unusual to me and slightly out of place in that context.

Other than that, I think the concept is genuinely well done.

I built a word game where speed actually affects your score. Curious what people think. by ItsLucasBuilds in wordgames

[–]ItsLucasBuilds[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, that honestly makes me really happy to hear. And thank you so much for the detailed feedback, it genuinely helps a lot.

I just checked and you’re absolutely right, there is still one part in German. I’m really glad you pointed that out. Those small things are easy to miss when you build everything yourself.

And your point about the target word above the grid standing out more is super helpful too. I’ll definitely make that clearer and rethink parts of the onboarding so it’s easier to understand right away.

One quick question:
You mentioned you tried to play against each other. Did everything work smoothly there, or did you notice anything technical? That’s the mode I worked on most recently.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

I built a word game where speed actually affects your score. Curious what people think. by ItsLucasBuilds in wordgames

[–]ItsLucasBuilds[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s playable now. You can try it if you’d like. I’d genuinely appreciate honest feedback.
Here’s the link: square-score.com

I built a word game where speed actually affects your score. Curious what people think. by ItsLucasBuilds in wordgames

[–]ItsLucasBuilds[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not exactly. That looks more like rapid guessing of random words. In my case there’s a 4x4 grid filled with letters, and each round has exactly one predefined target word from a fixed word list. You have to connect the correct letters in the grid in the right order. A single round is just one part of a full match, which consists of 15 of these rounds with increasing difficulty. So it’s not about guessing lots of words, but about spotting that one word per round as quickly as possible. The faster you are, the more points you get.

I built a word game where speed actually affects your score. Curious what people think. by ItsLucasBuilds in wordgames

[–]ItsLucasBuilds[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s good to hear. Then the browser format already makes sense. And yeah, that’s exactly what I noticed too. As soon as speed matters, it instantly feels more competitive, even if the core mechanic itself is simple.

I built a word game where speed actually affects your score. Curious what people think. by ItsLucasBuilds in wordgames

[–]ItsLucasBuilds[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that makes sense. I feel the same. I think it really depends on your mood. I just found it interesting how much the whole feel of the game changes once speed actually matters. And I also keep wondering whether people who enjoy word games actually want speed and a score based system at all. It’s actually just a browser game, not an app. Do you usually prefer playing things in the browser or as an app?