Words with Myself

Background

A word game that allows users to make scores during a 60 second session by forming words given a 4x4 grid of random letters with point values according to Scrabble conventions (Scrabble letter distribution).

I will be using the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary to check the veracity of submitted words. The selected letters will:

• change to green for every tile selected
• change to red if they don't constitute a valid word
• flashes to pink if they do constitute a valid word
• change to blue if they are already a submitted word

Functionality & MVP

• Board logic and rendering
• Board pieces
• Dictionary lookup and initializing when the page loads
• Start
• Play again -> reset board, scoreboard, timer
• Mouse event handling
• Timer
• Scoreboard
• High Scores
• Modal to input name into High Scores List
• An About modal describing the rules of the game
• A production README

Wireframes

This app will consist of a single screen with a game board, game controls, and nav links to the Github, my LinkedIn, my AngelList, and my personal website. Game controls will only include a Start button and an About button.
On top of the grid, there will be a timer, a scoreboard, and the Start and About buttons. On the left, there will be high scores. On the right, there will be the words already made during the current session.

Architecture and Technologies

This project will be implemented with the following technologies:

• JavaScript for game logic,
• jQuery to handle mouse events, and initial lookup of dictionary when page loads
• CSS and HTML to handle rendering and styling,

In addition to the entry file, this project will include these scripts:

board.js: this script will handle the logic for creating the board

game.js: this script will handle the game logic behind the scenes.

score.js: this script will handle scoreboard logic

timer.js: this script will handle the timer logic

tile.js: this script will include the letters object and the logic involved with tile pieces

leaderboard.js: this script will include the logic of the high score list

submitted_words.js: this script will include the logic of the list of submitted words

Implementation Timeline

Day 1:

Goals for the day:

• Setup all necessary Node modules, including getting webpack up
• Install a word-list library
• Write a basic entry file
• Write the bare bones of all scripts outlined above
• Write the board.js file

Day 2:

Goals for the day:

• Implement word validation
• Implement scoring system
• Implement game timer
• Implement user controls

Day 3:

Goals for the day:

• Create button for Start/Play Again, About Modal, High Score Input Modal
• Style

Bonus features

• Add 2 blank tiles and logic behind using them
• Add bonuses the user can use after point milestones