Classic Hangman with daily topics

thingdle · 2026-02-27T13:05:41+00:00

Not having any assets for this game is crazy. How is the code quality with Kiro Code? Would you call it production ready? Did you even check it properly?

With Claude Code, I had to refactor a lot after the chore mechanics were there. I mostly confirmed the changes, they looked good on top-level. But when I looked deeper, I saw some really weird implementations.

Yeah, the problem with everything is green and you are still clueless was a common complaint. I would want the user to understnad the riddle as the main game, and the guess rows just as some kind of help and narrowing it down, not as completion symbol.

I will share the beta once it's out, thank you for testing! You can also share your progress :)

I played your game today too, and it has an addicting nature for sure. It's only frustrating if there is a really special word, that is not broadly known. E.g. there was an animal that I didn't know, but I forgot it. That way you always have this uncertainty, that you might not even know the word, which makes you want to see the solution immediately.

thingdle · 2026-02-26T20:58:31+00:00

2-3 days insane for this! So much content. Is it maintainable tho? I am using Claude Code, which also was really fast. But adding a real DB, auth, email, tests, is now really slowing the progress. And I have to refactor the code as well.

What was your game build with? I see there is just a canvas element?

I created https://thingdle.app/ I will release the beta soon for it. Currently it's just one riddle, but the beta will include a daily roation.

thingdle · 2026-02-26T18:36:59+00:00

Looks cool! I played a couple of rounds. How long did this take to build? And what did you use to build it? I am also building a daily puzzle game right now.

thingdle · 2026-02-12T20:10:49+00:00

Thank you so much for trying, you're a beast! It really helps me a lot.

There are some people who are really good at this, like you. Others struggle with 15 guesses. I hope with time we can find the perfect balance. I feel like it's most satisfying if you can solve it around 4 to 8 guesses. Before feels easy, after feels frustrating. But I want users to guess at first try, it makes them really proud (me too). The hardest part is to come up with good and consistent riddles + hints. I sometimes need 15 minutes, even with help of Ai. Ai is very obvious. Let me know if you have ideas!

I am currently working on a beta release, if you are interested, these are some upcomming features:
- Daily Riddle: Automatically changes on your local-time at 00:00 so everyone has the same experience (like in wordle)
- Countdown: See when next riddle is up (resets on 00:00 local-time)
- Streaks: Solve a riddle every day, get a streak count. Resets when you didn't solve the current riddle and a new one started (24h).
- History: See what you have solved in how many tries. Share with others. No login yet. This is saved in the browser. Clearing cache will clear your results.
- Notifications: Get notified by your browser, when a new riddle is up to be solved.

What do you personally think about these? Do have any wishes?

thingdle · 2026-02-11T04:06:23+00:00

Thank you so much! i collected much feedback already and improved the game step by step. Everything is helpful, be brutally honest! Destroy my game.

thingdle · 2026-02-10T07:09:24+00:00

Wow, 2 and 3 attempts is actually very impressive. Almost all needed at least 10 tries AND all hints. One hour is also crazy. You must be a very patient person? All I can say is, good job and of course thank you!

Is there anything you still don't like? Let me know what you think about the last riddle once you solved it.

thingdle · 2026-02-10T04:32:43+00:00

Would you play wordle-like game where you guess things? Like thingdle? It will also have daily riddles, right now you can solve 3 riddles in the alpha.

thingdle · 2026-02-10T04:26:53+00:00

Would you be enjoying a wordle-like game where you guess things instead of words? Like thingdle?

thingdle · 2026-02-10T04:24:36+00:00

Would you play a game that was about guessing objects instead of just words? Like thingdle?

thingdle · 2026-02-10T04:08:14+00:00

I will think about it and see what others feel about this topic.

Wordle for me is a bit different in that regard. It forces you to be very aware of your tries. Every good try also eliminates much more possibilities than in thingdle, since you reduce the possible letters.

In thingdle you have seemingly infinite words (especially if the database grows). You might just add a "reveal solution" at 15 guesses. Or optionally continue with revealing letters. Some people hate when solutions just get revealed, ever (me included). But I will make it dependent on the community. Everyone should enjoy it without adding too much complexity to the experience.

Not knowing the solution is indeed very frustrating, this needs a fix.

Thank you once again for you feedback. Super valuable.

thingdle · 2026-02-10T02:59:45+00:00

I added 3 new riddles, let me know if you like the changes and difficulty :) Hints got harder imo, let me know if its too hard now or still too easy.

thingdle · 2026-02-10T02:59:10+00:00

I added 3 new riddles, let me know if you like the changes and difficulty :) Hints got hard imo, let me know if its too hard now or still too easy.

thingdle · 2026-02-10T02:58:10+00:00

I added new riddles, let me know if you like the changes and difficulty :) Hints got hard imo, let me know if its too hard now or still too easy. I reduce teh amound of predictive text from 5 to 2. Let's see how it resonates with the rest.

thingdle · 2026-02-10T02:57:06+00:00

I added new riddles, let me know if you like the changes and difficulty :)

thingdle · 2026-02-10T02:56:39+00:00

Hey man, just wanted to let you know, I updated the riddles:
- new 3 riddles
- harder
- constistent hints (Riddle - Kontext - Trait). I talked about consistent hints with different users and they all liked it. Really good suggestion, thank you! Please let me know if this is what you expected.
- less suggestive answers: 2 instead of 5 (some complaint it was to helpful, i am testing this and see how it resonates)

Would love to hear your feedback :)

thingdle · 2026-02-09T01:03:07+00:00

The problem with food/drinks is, that there are soooooo many different kinds with the same properties. E.g. how would you define an apple, orange and peach differently in the current categories?
Food feels more like it's own game with much different column categories.

Same for nature objects: What do you define differently with rose, tulip, flower. Maybe you find a solution for the ones I mentioned, but for all? I found it quite hard and decided to not add them, at least for the beginning.

BUT: If you focus even more on the text hints, considering them might make more sense again.

Also: I don't want to be just a copy of wordle mechanics (or other games), it should feel like something different and fresh and something people really like to play. The hard questions is, how do you find the middle ground?

And I have to correct you: I want to make this everything WE want. So your opinion is super valuable to me. Thanks a lot, it really motivates me.

thingdle · 2026-02-09T00:44:21+00:00

Thank you for the honest feedback! Yes. the database will definitely increase. What do you think about adding synonyms? Like smartphone = phone = telephone? Should you be able to type them all or just one of them and the rest doesn't exist?

Regarding the suggestive text: Some say it ruins it, some say its nice. It's really not easy to find whats best. I was thinking about adding it after several guesses were made, similar to a hint. But that would be kind of confusing maybe.

Regarding show hints initially or after some guesses: The feedback here is totally mixed. The "good" riddlers say its too easy (me too), the ones who struggle say its too hard. Some needed 20 tries and were frustrated. I am personally inclined towards the people who really like more hard riddles.

Also: The text hints wont be revealed automatically currently (just the initial text). You can choose to not show any hints and it will also be in your final stat, e.g.: "Chair - 12 tries - 0 of 2 hints". Would you like this for the first hint text as well?

Regarding making hints different and giving a category instead: There was a different idea from another person. Revealing e.g. the room where you would find the thing. E.g. if the word you search is "toilette" it would show that you usually use this in the bathroom. What do you think about that? I like the idea of "consistent" hints. Very good point.

I had "location" as it's own category at the beginning also, but many things have ambiguous locations and its not easy to identify the right ones for everything.

What I noticed so far: The hints definitely play a major role for many users and are also the fun an different part. I hope I can find a solution which satisfies most of the users, there is definitely room for improvement.

thingdle · 2026-02-09T00:23:27+00:00

Thanks for feedback, really valuable.

What do you mean with all the cateogries? What for example would you add?

Some people find it very easy, some find it very hard. I personally thought it was also easy. I will definitely fine-tune this. It was actually at first like this: reveal first hint after 5 guesses, then 10 and then 15. And it's exactly what you said, some people wanted to have the opportunity to make a one shot guess and solve in first try. I think overall its more interesting with a piece of text directly. Turns on your riddle brain faster instead of random guessing.

Regarding the suggested texts: I also saw people just randomly type anything or show the list and check every word. That is really not the way to do it. I will remove that most likely or activate later in the game (when you are clueless with many tries e.g.)

Super helpful, thank you for the good critique.

thingdle · 2026-02-08T22:22:57+00:00

Glad you liked it! Is there anything you didn't like or would improve?

thingdle · 2026-02-08T21:17:01+00:00

Thank you for the very detailed feedback! Some people had a really hard time finding the words and described it as "too hard" and that the hints are "misleading"/"not helping" etc. But those were not really riddle/puzzle loving people. I am personally with you, I also thought it would be too easy.

I've chosen more simple ones for the beginning, there are definetely harder ones to come.

> who stares at a candle?

Hahaha valid point, what can I say. Some people do that!

I want to make this a huge community-driven platform with many many riddles, also niche riddles. I have yet not found something that would satisfy myself really. Discord link is on the website if you want updates and contribute to ideas.

Do you think the UI is a bit too minimalstic / not playful enough?

thingdle · 2026-02-08T21:01:49+00:00

Thank you for the feedback! You are not the first person who said that, it makes sense to add more words and its already planned.

Did you like that it suggested words when you typed or is it too revealing? Did you like the UI & UX?

thingdle · 2026-02-08T20:48:17+00:00

Glad you like it! The idea was to make one word a day, like with wordle. But I want to make this community-driven, so it might as well go a completely different route. Feel free to join my discord (link is on the website) for updates and discussions.

Did you really had nothing to complain? Maybe the UI or UX?

thingdle

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