Hintly

Inspiration The project was inspired by a love for classic word puzzles and the daily ritual of brain teasers. I wanted to combine the logic of deduction-based games with the helpful context of traditional crosswords. My goal was to create a quick, engaging experience that encourages players to test their vocabulary and start their day with a small mental win.

What it does Hintly is a daily word-guessing game where players solve three secret words using provided hints and pre-filled starting letters. Players have three attempts per word and receive color-coded feedback to narrow down the correct spelling. The game tracks accuracy and speed, allowing the community to compare scores.

How I built it I developed the game using a flexible word-validation engine and a responsive UI designed for quick text entry. The core logic handles the state of multiple words simultaneously and manages the color-based feedback system (green, yellow, and gray) in real-time. I also built a scoring algorithm that balances the number of attempts used with the time taken to complete the full challenge.

Challenges I ran into One of the primary challenges was creating a hint system that was helpful without being too obvious. I had to balance the difficulty by carefully choosing which letters to pre-fill for the user. Technically, ensuring that the daily word reset worked consistently across different time zones required careful implementation of the game's internal clock and data management.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of I’m proud of the intuitive feedback loop; the combination of hints and color clues makes for a very satisfying "lightbulb moment" when a player finds the word. I also successfully implemented a clean, distraction-free interface that works well on both mobile and desktop, making it easy for anyone to join the daily challenge.

What I learned This project taught me a lot about the nuances of word-based game design and how to provide enough information to keep a player engaged without removing the challenge. I also gained experience in state management for multi-stage puzzles and refined my skills in creating competitive scoring systems that feel fair to all players.

What's next for Hintly I plan to get feedback from the community on the game

Built With

• devvit
• gamemaker
• typescript