Whittle
Games
word game
SHOW HN2025
How HN took it
11 positive, 18 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 7 critical, out of 39 comments about the project. Thread score +0.15.
Execution: 1 for, 5 againstDesign: 1 for, 2 againstIdea: 3 for, 0 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
Fun and addictive word game
From 4 comments
This game is awesome. I have no other feedback other than I had a lot of fun.
kipukun on HNI had much more fun than anticipated. Nice work! Sharing with some friends
strongpigeon on HNInteresting concept. I enjoyed it, has something to it.
skurtcastle on HNLove the concept and execution! After finishing today’s I am going backwards to play the archive :) If anyone else likes simple but fun word games, I made one for iOS here:…
jzting on HN
Good UX and clever concept
From 2 comments
Cool, the description reminded me a bit of my word game https://gramjam.app, but after playing they're pretty different. I like your UX!
jessecoleman on HNGood game! Nice little touches on the website too like the tray at the bottom and the header click easter egg.
dylanhouli on HN
Objections
No win state or victory feedback; unclear when puzzle is finished
From 3 comments
Fun! I was a bit confused at the end because there's no "victory" state or indication. I think I was expecting it to give me a new word pair once I got to the end, or tell me…
duncancarroll on HNI didn't understand what you were saying at first, but it turns out that you have to click to remove the final, single letter before the "you won" screen shows. And I agree it…
teach on HNI didn't realize that I was supposed to get to 0, but just trying to get as many words as possible. I got down to 'a' and reset, it would be nice if just getting to a 1 letter…
yobananaboy on HN
Puzzles Aug 1 and Aug 4 were unsolvable due to invalid dictionary words
From 3 comments
Is it always possible to go all the way down to a single letter? I'm working on August 4, and it's proving challenging
teach on HNAugust 4 is not solvable with the given wordlist. There is no way to get to a word below 3 letters ("set")
ipsento606 on HNHi, this is OP! Thank you to everyone for pointing this out, you are not crazy-- these puzzles were impossible after I removed some invalid words from the dictionary. I had…
babel16 on HN
Unclear UI: letters not obviously clickable, unlabeled tabs, no hover effects on desktop
From 2 comments
Nice! You definitely have something there. I would love a dictionary lookup. I'd expect a big part of the strategy to be working backwards from the possible 1/2 letter words, but…
jsnell on HNFeedback: I wasn’t sure what to do in the initial game state. It wasn’t obvious that the letters could be “clicked” directly. In a similar word game [0] (also posted on HN…
pimlottc on HN
Crashes on load after an update
From 2 comments
I like the idea of it; though I think the latest update (around puzzle solveability?) may have broken the game as I'm unable to begin in any browser I've tried: ``` Uncaught…
davidsojevic on HNCrashes for me under Firefox and Chromium. ``` Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'puzzleLog') ```
hackyhacky on HN
Requests
Hint feature
From 3 comments
I’m stuck on that one too! Got 100% of all possible words but cannot figure out how to reduce to zero. A “show hint” feature would be nice when you’re stuck.
spadros on HNReally fun! Could use a hint function though. I got %100 of all words on Aug 4 but still have not found a way to get it down to zero letters. If anyone has figured it out please…
spadros on HNThanks! I've been thinking about adding a hint function for a while, but not sure what form I want it to take. Also, Aug 4 was broken-- please try again for a new, solvable…
babel16 on HN
Dictionary lookup
From 1 comment
Nice! You definitely have something there. I would love a dictionary lookup. I'd expect a big part of the strategy to be working backwards from the possible 1/2 letter words, but…
jsnell on HN
Give up button to lock in daily result
From 1 comment
There should be an “I give up” button to let you finish the game and be locked into that result for the day. I like the idea, there’s just something about the UX that’s weird to…
unnamed76ri on HN
Respect prefers-color-scheme
From 1 comment
Please respect `:prefers-color-scheme`.
kps on HN
Share button fix on desktop
From 1 comment
Hey! I absolutely love it! I wanted to share the results with my partner but it looks like the share button doesn't work on the PC? (Firefox 141.0, Linux)
fao_ on HN
Questions
Is every puzzle always solvable down to one letter?
From 2 comments
Is it always possible to go all the way down to a single letter? I'm working on August 4, and it's proving challenging
teach on HNYes, 1 August and 4 August have me stumped. Interestingly it says I have discovered 100% of words on 1 August, but I wasn't able to whittle it down to 0. I'm not sure if that…
NoboruWataya on HN
Why does removing h from 'rat he' not give 'rate'?
From 2 comments
When I remove "h" from: rat he It doesn't accept "rate" as a correct word. What am I doing wrong?
busymom0 on HNI ended at: rat he I remove "h" but it doesn't accept "rate" as a correct word. Am I missing something?
busymom0 on HN
Alternatives named
Shrinkle (shrinkle.org), a similar shrinking word game
From 2 comments
WOW, we had a similar idea: https://www.shrinkle.org https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44714167 Great work!
onion92 on HNFeedback: I wasn’t sure what to do in the initial game state. It wasn’t obvious that the letters could be “clicked” directly. In a similar word game [0] (also posted on HN…
pimlottc on HN
Wordle
From 1 comment
Congrats on your imminent acquisition by the New York times (a'la Wordle)
werds on HN
Gramjam
From 1 comment
Cool, the description reminded me a bit of my word game https://gramjam.app, but after playing they're pretty different. I like your UX!
jessecoleman on HN