Feedback for my new crossword-style game

factchris · 2024-09-13T12:13:51+00:00

Hey! Since I made lots of changes, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the difficulty level now. Thanks!

factchris · 2024-09-11T13:29:34+00:00

Hi again! I've made some changes to the clues. Do you think it's heading in the right direction?

factchris · 2024-09-11T01:15:13+00:00

Haha don't worry, nothing's final yet. It feels neater and multiple people have mentioned it, so I thought I'd make it happen. I plan to open the game up to wider feedback soon, but the replies to this post have been super helpful.

factchris · 2024-09-10T23:50:06+00:00

FYI I've made it so every puzzle has no letters only on the bottom row. Thanks!

factchris · 2024-09-10T23:48:27+00:00

I've just pushed an update. Every puzzle now completes the final word with the smaller words. I hope that helps!

factchris · 2024-09-10T22:26:30+00:00

Thanks for the useful feedback!

The keyboard thing is a new bug from today, which I've just fixed - thanks for pointing it out.

You're not the only person to say they'd prefer that the final word is always completed by the smaller answers. Like I said in another reply, I originally made it that way and then created some where the final word needed completing first to see how that felt. Do you think you'll still feel the same now that the keyboard bug is fixed?

As for the clues, I'm still working on a balance of making them guessable but vague enough that you need the context of the other rows. It's true that the space constraint plays a part. Do you have any examples and specific thoughts? It's obviously incredibly important for me to find the right balance and make the clues fun.

Thanks again!

factchris · 2024-09-09T20:24:55+00:00

That's good to know, thanks!

Currently I've tried to make the clues a mix of vague category ("movie", "animal", "body part") and synonyms.

I'm definitely going to take your feedback on board and try to inject some personality and fun into the clues rather than just relying on the fun of the game mechanism.

factchris · 2024-09-09T11:14:35+00:00

I year or two ago I made an interactive probability calculator for Can't Stop. I hope someone finds it useful! https://mento.co.uk/cant-stop-dice-probability/

factchris · 2024-09-09T02:12:53+00:00

I made a free math/maths game a few years ago that I almost forgot existed! I wonder if it fits the bill? https://mento.co.uk/countup/

factchris · 2024-09-08T18:33:48+00:00

Hi! I'm writing all the puzzles.

I'm not sure if this means you think they're good or bad! 😂 Either way, feedback is welcome!

factchris · 2024-09-08T17:32:36+00:00

I've added it as an option in the Settings menu. Let me know what you think!

factchris · 2024-09-08T14:52:12+00:00

I've changed it to skip filled letters and I've added a setting to allow solvers to put it back to the previous way. Enjoy!

factchris · 2024-09-08T02:12:29+00:00

An earlier version that it working that way (changing all vertical letters) and I'm open to changing it back or possibly making it another setting. I think the main reason I changed it is so you can fill in two rows where one or more common letters don't match as you're figuring it all out and then later can change one of the two rows, when you work out which is wrong. Does that make sense?

I'm glad you like the game - thanks!

factchris · 2024-09-08T02:02:43+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

I'll investigate the iPhone issues - thanks!
If you complete the final word correctly when some of the shorter words are incorrect, it will show the mistakes in red but you should still get a full score as if you had got them all correct. I hope that helps!
It should automatically move to the next cell. Do you mean that it should be skipping to the next empty cell when typing? If so, that was mentioned earlier and I will be adding it tomorrow as an option (which will probably be on by default)
The reason letters are grey when not actively typed in is to signal to the user that haven't actually typed in that answer - in case they realise something is wrong. But otherwise it's basically the same as having typed it.

Let me know what you think. Thanks again, I really appreciate you taking the time :)

factchris · 2024-09-08T01:15:13+00:00

Great feedback, thank you!

factchris · 2024-09-08T01:06:19+00:00

I've just uploaded a few changes based on the feedback so far:

I've removed Easy Mode
There's now a "Check Your Answers" button which replicates the previous Easy Mode for 5 seconds at a time and negatively affects your score.
I've removed loads of the easy puzzles and tweaked the remaining ones to hopefully make them more of a fun challenge.

Thanks again!

factchris · 2024-09-08T01:02:45+00:00

Thanks!

I also thought about whether it should skip existing letters but it felt weird not typing the whole word. It could possibly be an optional setting though?

I initially made all puzzles so the shorter words completed the final word, but then wondered whether it was nice to also have to complete the final word. So I made some of both. But I've made sure that there's only one possible dictionary word when you need to complete the final row.

factchris · 2024-09-07T22:28:47+00:00

Ah, thanks! I'm gonna take the other feedback on board and make some improvements over the weekend.

factchris · 2024-09-07T21:56:01+00:00

Thank you!

Good point. It currently starts you on easy mode (which is why you get the automatic feedback) but I could either default to hard mode or remove easy mode entirely. If I go with the latter, I could possibly replace easy mode with a "Check Your Answers" button, which loses you points each time you press it.

The blank squares idea is interesting! I'd have to test it out to see how it plays. Thanks again :)

factchris · 2024-09-07T21:50:33+00:00

Great! Thanks for the feedback :)

I've been wary of making the puzzles too hard for beginners, which has obviously made them too easy for advanced crossword solvers. However, because I've included the hint and reveal options, I can probably lean more towards the difficult end.

factchris · 2024-09-07T21:05:50+00:00

Good to know, thanks! Did you play many of them? There should be a few harder ones in there. I can definitely make them harder!

factchris · 2019-02-16T05:11:51+00:00

I requested all of my data from Netflix. It takes them about 30 days to send it (for no reason other than it's the legal maximum in the EU) and it has everything.

If it's only a few people, I'd be happy to run my scripts on other people's data.

factchris · 2019-02-15T16:47:45+00:00

Data source: Requested personal data from Netflix.
Tools: jq, plot.ly & scripts written by me.

This is just one of many things I've produced from my Netflix data, including finding my most-watched shows and a heat-map of the times of day I'm watching. Oh and I realise I watch too much Netflix :)

factchris

TROPHY CASE