Show HN: Word Slicer – browser word game (follow-up, looking for feedback)

[NoArcher888]

I shared Word Slicer here a while back — it’s a free, ad-free, browser-based word game where you try to find 5 words in 5 minutes. Since then I’ve been improving it (daily challenge archive, cleaner UI, better stats), and I’d love more feedback from the HN crowd. In particular, I’m interested in thoughts on the gameplay flow, design/UX, and what would make it more engaging.

[glaucon]

I hope this helps with feedback.

After having pressed "learn to play" I got to the bit "Give it a try and form the word E N D" but the UI was frozen . I then selected "Exit how to play" but that left the URL unchanged so I was sent back to the start of the tour.

This is on Firefox on Windows.

[NoArcher888]

oh, not good. Thanks for the feedback, it really helps. One question: did you try to drag the slider with the mouse or did you press the letters "E", "N" and "D"?

[ekorbia]

I also found myself trying to drag the bars. Is dragging supposed to work on desktop? If not, I would clarify that in the "How to play" instructions.

What dictionary are you using? I tried a couple of words like 'acing' and 'awing' that should work?

[NoArcher888]

Thanks for the feedback. Dragging doesn’t work on desktop right now, only clicking, but I’ve added drag support to my backlog.

On the words: Word Slicer focuses on base or dictionary forms. The list includes common nouns (like river), verbs (like dance), and adjectives (like bright). You’ll find wide but not wider, for example — which is why words like acing or awing don’t register.

[wordglyph]

I'm on Android and I'd like to be able to slide the letter selector. But when I was coding https://WordGlyph.xyz I found implementing that feature to select the stick challenging.

[NoArcher888]

Thanks for the question and the feedback! On Android and iOS the sliders should be draggable up and down — did that not work on your phone? On desktop it’s click-only for now, but I’ve added dragging there to my backlog.

[palmfacehn]

I found myself trying to drag the vertical bars initially. It took awhile to discover that I could simply click the letter to select it. Unfortunately I am tutorial averse.

[NoArcher888]

Did you play on mobile or desktop?