Parseword declares itself as “tricky” and yup - it is. It’s a word puzzle game where elements involved may be part of the solution or a tool to transform other elements (gives Baba Is You vibes,...
Parseword declares itself as “tricky” and yup - it is. It’s a word puzzle game where elements involved may be part of the solution or a tool to transform other elements (gives Baba Is You vibes, if you’ve played that).
The goal is to find a related word, a counterpart to the concept proposed; let’s say “risk” for example.
Alongside that word, you can see other blocks: “beat”, “without” and “a”. Every block can be substituted with a synonym, or it may be combined with other blocks to form other words or, critically, apply a word’s meaning to another block! Following our example: if we select all 3 blocks, turns out that “Beat without a” is “Bet”! The solution to our puzzle.
This example just scratches the surface of the realm of possibilities this system has.
The tutorial is excellent and does a much better job at explaining the game than me, give it a shot!
Would you say it's particularly representative of cryptic crosswords? Some discussion in the other comments is about its merit as a cryptic crossword training tool, and I was wondering what your...
Would you say it's particularly representative of cryptic crosswords? Some discussion in the other comments is about its merit as a cryptic crossword training tool, and I was wondering what your thoughts on that were?
All the wordplay elements present are standard techniques in cryptic crosswords, and it also includes the notion of one of the words in the phrase being the “clue”. It’s certainly intended to be a...
All the wordplay elements present are standard techniques in cryptic crosswords, and it also includes the notion of one of the words in the phrase being the “clue”. It’s certainly intended to be a cryptic crossword trainer that makes the puzzles more accessible. I’m a fan!
I never knew about this kind of crosswords before encountering this game and tbh, I always failed to enjoy any kind of crosswords that wasn’t the cryptography ones (no definitions, each cell has a...
I never knew about this kind of crosswords before encountering this game and tbh, I always failed to enjoy any kind of crosswords that wasn’t the cryptography ones (no definitions, each cell has a number, same number = same letter).
First the Americans came for Lingo Then they came for Only Connect Word Walls Then they came for cryptic crosswords… Jokes aside this is a fun take on cryptic clues! I hope it gets some people...
First the Americans came for Lingo
Then they came for Only Connect Word Walls
Then they came for cryptic crosswords…
Jokes aside this is a fun take on cryptic clues! I hope it gets some people into a puzzly pastime that’s infamously hard to learn.
Puzzling aside, where I'm really a novice, I like the web design. It's all got the right amounts of pleasing audio cues and tiny animations that just make everything feel really responsive.
Puzzling aside, where I'm really a novice, I like the web design. It's all got the right amounts of pleasing audio cues and tiny animations that just make everything feel really responsive.
I wish it was a bit easier and responsive to explore the options every word gives, and I’m a bit frustrated by the fact that I keep switching “Undo “ and “Reset”, but that’s on me. I agree, it’s...
I wish it was a bit easier and responsive to explore the options every word gives, and I’m a bit frustrated by the fact that I keep switching “Undo “ and “Reset”, but that’s on me. I agree, it’s very well made. I find game UIs to be especially tricky so definitely props to him! This looks and feels like something planned out quite well.
The header says it's on Daily Puzzle #43, but I'm not seeing any way to access previous day's puzzles. Seems like a weirdly limiting choice, unless they're planning to monetize the archive down...
The header says it's on Daily Puzzle #43, but I'm not seeing any way to access previous day's puzzles. Seems like a weirdly limiting choice, unless they're planning to monetize the archive down the road. It would be a great way to practice if it were available.
edit: I tried the contract form and they were kind enough to reply!
Hi Jordan, thanks for playing!
We don't currently have this available but we will be discussing, as it's a request we are getting a lot of. Thanks!
This is a clean little game- and a lot of fun to figure out. It feels like cryptic crossword! The ability to tap around and experiment helps you learn the different functions, which is one of the...
This is a clean little game- and a lot of fun to figure out. It feels like cryptic crossword! The ability to tap around and experiment helps you learn the different functions, which is one of the reasons I never much got into cryptics. I might keep an eye on this.
No, but if there's a reason it won't catch on, it's likely the same reason to be that if you send it to family and friends, they aren't going to be interested in it, if that's something that makes...
No, but if there's a reason it won't catch on, it's likely the same reason to be that if you send it to family and friends, they aren't going to be interested in it, if that's something that makes the game more enjoyable for people.
As a game developer myself (including a GOTY) I want as many people a possible to play my games. In that respect, I'd be very surprised if the creator of this made it and released it and didn't...
As a game developer myself (including a GOTY) I want as many people a possible to play my games. In that respect, I'd be very surprised if the creator of this made it and released it and didn't want it to catch on. Financially he might not need it to catch on, but releasing it to the public signals the desire is for it to catch on. I hope that answers your question.
I think that's just an inherent property of cryptics. You need to just know how clues are constructed before you can even start, and that means knowing the ways that words are manipulated as well...
I think that's just an inherent property of cryptics. You need to just know how clues are constructed before you can even start, and that means knowing the ways that words are manipulated as well as all of the indicator words and phrases that tell you to do those manipulations.
Not that I'm trying to justify this, I remember how hard it was to get started with cryptics because I didn't know the vocabulary. I just don't think there can be a version of this that has an on-ramp that isn't a lot of tutorialising. The tutorials they do have are quite good, and I kind of wish there were more that I could send to non-cryptic friends to have them learn that vocab.
I'll dig in later because I can't make too much sense after the tutorial and five minutes at work but it started clicking! I like it because it doesn't require vocabulary as much as context.
I'll dig in later because I can't make too much sense after the tutorial and five minutes at work but it started clicking! I like it because it doesn't require vocabulary as much as context.
Wow, I really needed this! I've always been curious about getting into cryptic crosswords but the barrier just feels too high and overwhelming. This is the perfect way to ease in with just enough...
Wow, I really needed this! I've always been curious about getting into cryptic crosswords but the barrier just feels too high and overwhelming. This is the perfect way to ease in with just enough handholding that I don't immediately close the laptop.
Very neat! I've tried a few times to get into cryptic crosswords, but always felt like I was missing something and never had much fun with them. This seems like a more structured take on the idea...
Very neat! I've tried a few times to get into cryptic crosswords, but always felt like I was missing something and never had much fun with them. This seems like a more structured take on the idea which I could latch on to.
Yeah I'm similarly not a fan of them generally. I like a good crossword clue with a clever little pun or a ? on it so you know it's a cheeky answer. But cryptics and I are not friends. This was a...
Yeah I'm similarly not a fan of them generally. I like a good crossword clue with a clever little pun or a ? on it so you know it's a cheeky answer. But cryptics and I are not friends.
This was a great teacher though so I'll have to keep trying it.
The way the operators transform the words feel a lot like functional data transformation pipelines. Some of the operations you do in-game are literally just map/filter/reduce. It feels like a...
The way the operators transform the words feel a lot like functional data transformation pipelines. Some of the operations you do in-game are literally just map/filter/reduce. It feels like a weird recommendation, but if you enjoy this game you might have fun learning clojure
Ahh I see now, thanks! Now that you pointed it out I remember another game Word Factori thats even more explicitly like functional themed lol, so check it out sometime The website for clojure is...
Ahh I see now, thanks! Now that you pointed it out I remember another game Word Factori thats even more explicitly like functional themed lol, so check it out sometime
The website for clojure is actually so delightful I might actually have to go and learn it with how fun it seems
Parseword declares itself as “tricky” and yup - it is. It’s a word puzzle game where elements involved may be part of the solution or a tool to transform other elements (gives Baba Is You vibes, if you’ve played that).
The goal is to find a related word, a counterpart to the concept proposed; let’s say “risk” for example.
Alongside that word, you can see other blocks: “beat”, “without” and “a”. Every block can be substituted with a synonym, or it may be combined with other blocks to form other words or, critically, apply a word’s meaning to another block! Following our example: if we select all 3 blocks, turns out that “Beat without a” is “Bet”! The solution to our puzzle.
This example just scratches the surface of the realm of possibilities this system has.
The tutorial is excellent and does a much better job at explaining the game than me, give it a shot!
Would you say it's particularly representative of cryptic crosswords? Some discussion in the other comments is about its merit as a cryptic crossword training tool, and I was wondering what your thoughts on that were?
All the wordplay elements present are standard techniques in cryptic crosswords, and it also includes the notion of one of the words in the phrase being the “clue”. It’s certainly intended to be a cryptic crossword trainer that makes the puzzles more accessible. I’m a fan!
I never knew about this kind of crosswords before encountering this game and tbh, I always failed to enjoy any kind of crosswords that wasn’t the cryptography ones (no definitions, each cell has a number, same number = same letter).
Apparently there’s a lot of overlap tho!
First the Americans came for Lingo
Then they came for Only Connect Word Walls
Then they came for cryptic crosswords…
Jokes aside this is a fun take on cryptic clues! I hope it gets some people into a puzzly pastime that’s infamously hard to learn.
We can blame the Welsh for this one.
Puzzling aside, where I'm really a novice, I like the web design. It's all got the right amounts of pleasing audio cues and tiny animations that just make everything feel really responsive.
I wish it was a bit easier and responsive to explore the options every word gives, and I’m a bit frustrated by the fact that I keep switching “Undo “ and “Reset”, but that’s on me. I agree, it’s very well made. I find game UIs to be especially tricky so definitely props to him! This looks and feels like something planned out quite well.
The header says it's on Daily Puzzle #43, but I'm not seeing any way to access previous day's puzzles. Seems like a weirdly limiting choice, unless they're planning to monetize the archive down the road. It would be a great way to practice if it were available.
edit: I tried the contract form and they were kind enough to reply!
That’s nice! The only issue I have with the game is that I have to wait a day to play another round, but I guess that’s also a plus.
This is a clean little game- and a lot of fun to figure out. It feels like cryptic crossword! The ability to tap around and experiment helps you learn the different functions, which is one of the reasons I never much got into cryptics. I might keep an eye on this.
It's cool but the fact that it requires so much Tutorial and onboarding means that I think it won't really catch on.
Does it have to catch on?
No, but if there's a reason it won't catch on, it's likely the same reason to be that if you send it to family and friends, they aren't going to be interested in it, if that's something that makes the game more enjoyable for people.
As a game developer myself (including a GOTY) I want as many people a possible to play my games. In that respect, I'd be very surprised if the creator of this made it and released it and didn't want it to catch on. Financially he might not need it to catch on, but releasing it to the public signals the desire is for it to catch on. I hope that answers your question.
I think that's just an inherent property of cryptics. You need to just know how clues are constructed before you can even start, and that means knowing the ways that words are manipulated as well as all of the indicator words and phrases that tell you to do those manipulations.
Not that I'm trying to justify this, I remember how hard it was to get started with cryptics because I didn't know the vocabulary. I just don't think there can be a version of this that has an on-ramp that isn't a lot of tutorialising. The tutorials they do have are quite good, and I kind of wish there were more that I could send to non-cryptic friends to have them learn that vocab.
Meh. Doesn't feel very rewarding to complete personally
Yeah, I feel like I just have to randomly fuck around a bit too much to find the solution. Lot of it is not that intuitive.
I'll dig in later because I can't make too much sense after the tutorial and five minutes at work but it started clicking! I like it because it doesn't require vocabulary as much as context.
For me, this is probably too much effort, but I can see some people loving the heck out of it!
Wow, I really needed this! I've always been curious about getting into cryptic crosswords but the barrier just feels too high and overwhelming. This is the perfect way to ease in with just enough handholding that I don't immediately close the laptop.
Very neat! I've tried a few times to get into cryptic crosswords, but always felt like I was missing something and never had much fun with them. This seems like a more structured take on the idea which I could latch on to.
Yeah I'm similarly not a fan of them generally. I like a good crossword clue with a clever little pun or a ? on it so you know it's a cheeky answer. But cryptics and I are not friends.
This was a great teacher though so I'll have to keep trying it.
This is actually pretty fun. Reminds me a lot of functional programming!
oo functional programming? How so?
The way the operators transform the words feel a lot like functional data transformation pipelines. Some of the operations you do in-game are literally just map/filter/reduce. It feels like a weird recommendation, but if you enjoy this game you might have fun learning clojure
Ahh I see now, thanks! Now that you pointed it out I remember another game Word Factori thats even more explicitly like functional themed lol, so check it out sometime
The website for clojure is actually so delightful I might actually have to go and learn it with how fun it seems
Thanks for the rec, I'll check it out! And yeah, it's a fantastic book. Probably the most fun I've had learning a language.