Grandma's Word
Games
word game
SHOW HN2024
454points
150comments
#85of 3,515 in 2024
Top 3%of 2024 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
33 positive, 36 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 24 critical, out of 97 comments about the project. Thread score +0.17.
Execution: 6 for, 8 againstIdea: 7 for, 4 againstDesign: 2 for, 4 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clean, well-commented code
From 3 comments
Reading the code is a joy. I love seeing different approaches to what we all take as givens, such as design.css rather than style.css, or the usage of an `else if (1 == 1)`…
doytch on HNI wish that your grandmother had been on the team I worked with. It's rare to see clear code with meaningful comments.
kwhitefoot on HNThe javascript is pretty clean and well commented
iKlsR on HN
Simple, good execution
From 2 comments
I like it, pretty simple concept, good execution. I have to admit though, narrowing down a word purely by alphabetization can take a good while. Perhaps letting the player know…
sphars on HNGood gameplay! The one strong suggestion I have is to limit the word list to a category that uses common words. I had to resort to look at the word list dictionary in the console…
midnitewarrior on HN
Objections
Alphabetical sorting bugs after guesses
From 4 comments
There is some bug in the sorting, because it sorted “vol” after “volatile” for me. It seems to depend on some previous state, though, because I couldn’t reproduce it in a new…
layer8 on HNI had a similar issue. Void sorted before Vogue. Breaks the game totally as far as I can tell.
boxed on HNAmazing game. I felt in some scenarios the alphabetical order was incorrect (in my example I got Victory before Very), but very enjoyable!
anoncow on HNIs this a bug? https://i.imgur.com/b5HqHeA.png Vodka should not be below voice.
thrdbndndn on HN
Word list includes obscure words
From 2 comments
Good gameplay! The one strong suggestion I have is to limit the word list to a category that uses common words. I had to resort to look at the word list dictionary in the console…
midnitewarrior on HNThis was my problem too. If there was a scoring system, it might make sense to buy letters against your score, to help you forward once you're stuck. I got stuck. What the heck…
sverhagen on HN
Does not work well on phones
From 2 comments
It doesn’t work on phone, sigh
ValleZ on HNIn the spirit of helping a fellow programmer debug some things: If you guess a word that isn’t in the dictionary, the text box looks like it’s cleared but my phone’s (iPhone)…
cornstalks on HN
Authenticity of grandma authorship doubted
From 4 comments
Maybe I've been ruined by the internet, but a grandma didn't write this.
x86a on HNCheck the source. No chance a grandma wrote this
efilife on HNThis just doesn't sound real.
allanren on HNThis website was likely not made by a 70 year old grandma judging by how it was promoted on reddit.…
NavinF on HN
Requests
Add hint function
From 2 comments
Great game! I would love a hint function though, as I honestly got stuck.
edvards on HNThis was my problem too. If there was a scoring system, it might make sense to buy letters against your score, to help you forward once you're stuck. I got stuck. What the heck…
sverhagen on HN
Add an I give up button
From 1 comment
Please for the love of God add an “I give up” button T_T
kcrwfrd_ on HN
Show word length or locked-in letters
From 2 comments
I like it, pretty simple concept, good execution. I have to admit though, narrowing down a word purely by alphabetization can take a good while. Perhaps letting the player know…
sphars on HNWould adding an indicator of how many letters I've gotten correct / "locked in" be fun? I don't know if I'm supposed to be trying a new 2nd or 3rd letter after V.
TheJoeMan on HN
Limit to common words or categories
From 1 comment
Good gameplay! The one strong suggestion I have is to limit the word list to a category that uses common words. I had to resort to look at the word list dictionary in the console…
midnitewarrior on HN
Questions
Is the grandma story genuine
From 3 comments
Looks like this person is fake and got banned on Reddit. Now trolling here https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1enuhw5/comment/lh955kp/
rammer on HNHuh. OP's only two comments on HN are both in connection with someone named (go figure) puzzledpenguin
notfed on HNThis website was likely not made by a 70 year old grandma judging by how it was promoted on reddit.…
NavinF on HN
Is the word the same each day
From 2 comments
Is it always the same word? My word is between Vodka and Vomit :D
Fannon on HNIt’s like wordle: different word every day and everyone gets it. At least that’s what the text says once you get it.
icambron on HN
Alternatives named
Wordle
From 2 comments
I hope Grandma has some analytics hooked up to see all the traffic coming in! A small bug report: the "Share score" button on macOS Safari doesn't offer "copy" as an option for…
shepmaster on HNCool game! I got it but it took a while. Suggestions, limit to 5 chars and use a Wordle-like interface so your phone can’t suggest words. I could see this being a legit NYT game.
listless on HN
Betweenle
From 1 comment
Very nice game! If you like this, check out https://betweenle.com. Betweenle is based on the same game logic, but gives you very useful visual clues along the way.
liberix on HN
Semantle
From 1 comment
It's subjective how rewarding it is but you can definitely guess the word if you know, well, words, by doing a binary search and narrowing down the first letters. I have an…
yosefk on HN
Guess the Game
From 1 comment
I hope Grandma has some analytics hooked up to see all the traffic coming in! A small bug report: the "Share score" button on macOS Safari doesn't offer "copy" as an option for…
shepmaster on HN