Conceptually, I really like this. Congratulations on getting it out there, and thank you for sharing.
The implementation confuses me though.
It's not clear at first that all "games" (though I would think it's rounds of a single game, not distinct games) are available rather than this being some kind of daily challenge.
The instructions are very drawn out and repetitive. There's no reason the Welcome, Background, and Rules couldn't be on one screen. The Mission page should just be merged with Rules.
The time limit seems pointless given that you get to see the text before the game starts. You could just write your text in Notepad using as much time as you want. I would either get rid of the timer (greatly preferred) or stop showing the text in advance (if you must).
It's not clear what other rules (AI?) are being used to judge whether a response is valid, so when you get marked invalid even though you're using all the required terms, it's not clear what you're supposed to do to make it valid.
It would be nice to be able to review the Background section of the instructions while writing.
After completion, you see your response compared to a target, but you can't see the original anymore to compare target vs original to see how the target improved on the original.
From my quick reading of the source (jquery/not minified, so it was easy to scan through) valid is just the having all the required terms and a minimum length based on the round.
Great concept, good job on shipping. I think you put in the right level of polish for a Show HN to get good feedback. I would expect a fancier set of valid/scoring for it to be worth a paid service.
I agree on combining the intro screens, I would want maybe 2 clicks max before being in the game (especially once I've already understood the general concept). I like the timed aspect, it in a way made me actually play, I probably would have just left if it wasn't timed.
This might be silly, but I think the game "experience" itself could also be more fun in terms of personality. It's obviously a more adult target than say math blaster, but I wonder if there isn't still room for some whimsy with a character, a mission or something. Maybe you play as some sort of freelance copy editor at computer in a work from home virtual room or something, and you are getting emails to an inbox, and once you open an email/level you have to respond to it in a certain time, and that makes your boss unhappy/happy etc. All the same mechanics you already have. If you can determine some sort of score maybe it goes to points or money or something, then you can do silly stuff like buy a virtual cat bed for your cat or plant for your desk, or something silly like that as you progress. Basically, more game like/more gamified.
Yeah, the time limit doesn't serve much of a purpose beyond creating some playful pressure.
> It's not clear what other rules (AI?) are being used to judge whether a response is valid, so when you get marked invalid even though you're using all the required terms, it's not clear what you're supposed to do to make it valid.
> It would be nice to be able to review the Background section of the instructions while writing.
> After completion, you see your response compared to a target, but you can't see the original anymore to compare target vs original to see how the target improved on the original.
Very cool app, but just wanted to agree with OP that I wasn't a huge fan of the timer. Writing is an anxiety provoking activity for most people, and adding a timer can make it more so ( or at least it did for me).
Thank you for this! I enjoyed the exercises. Speaking for myself, I liked the pressure of the timed task.
An enhancement I'd like is being able to scroll in the editor box when "Show required" is enabled. Right now, the latter overlays the editor and hides much of the text until it's disabled (possibly a small-screen problem - mine is 768px height).
The implementation confuses me though.
It's not clear at first that all "games" (though I would think it's rounds of a single game, not distinct games) are available rather than this being some kind of daily challenge.
The instructions are very drawn out and repetitive. There's no reason the Welcome, Background, and Rules couldn't be on one screen. The Mission page should just be merged with Rules.
The time limit seems pointless given that you get to see the text before the game starts. You could just write your text in Notepad using as much time as you want. I would either get rid of the timer (greatly preferred) or stop showing the text in advance (if you must).
It's not clear what other rules (AI?) are being used to judge whether a response is valid, so when you get marked invalid even though you're using all the required terms, it's not clear what you're supposed to do to make it valid.
It would be nice to be able to review the Background section of the instructions while writing.
After completion, you see your response compared to a target, but you can't see the original anymore to compare target vs original to see how the target improved on the original.