Wordichi: Devlog #1
United States
Washington DC
Wednesday, Sep 9, 2026
Welcome to the first Wordichi devlog.
Wordichi is a free browser-based word game that combines several types of word puzzles with a shared progression system. Instead of opening a collection of unrelated mini-games, the player creates a Wordichi and develops it by playing.
Your Wordichi has its own name, appearance, level, experience, health, hunger, happiness, and energy. Completing games earns experience and coins, unlocks new rooms and skills, and helps the same character progress across every available game mode.
The project started as a single word-guessing game, but it gradually grew into a larger platform. At the moment, Wordichi has three complete and playable types of games:
Word Guess
Crossword
Word Minesweeper
All three can be played directly in a browser without downloading a client.
Word Guess is the original Wordichi game mode.

The goal is to discover a hidden word before the player runs out of guesses or time. After each attempt, the letters are marked to show whether they are in the correct position, somewhere else in the word, or not present in the answer.
Players can choose words from four to eleven letters. Shorter rooms are easier to enter and complete, while longer words require more experience, stronger vocabulary, and more careful deduction.
The rooms are not only separated by word length. They also have different level requirements, energy costs, rewards, timers, and penalties. This gives players a reason to move gradually from short words to more difficult challenges instead of immediately jumping into the longest room.
Word Guess also includes unlockable skills. A player can reveal a letter, remove incorrect possibilities, receive an extra guess, extend the timer, protect an attempt, or request a clue. Skills use coins, so deciding when to use one is part of the game.
There are also daily Word Guess rooms. Every player receives the same word for that day and word length, making it possible to compare attempts, completion time, and results with other players.
Crossword offers a different pace.

Instead of trying to solve one hidden word, the player works through a connected grid using individual clues. Every answer affects other answers, so discovering one word can reveal letters that make several other clues easier.
Crossword currently includes mini, easy, and hard puzzle categories.
Mini crosswords are designed for short sessions. They have smaller grids and can be completed quickly when the player only has a few minutes.
Easy crosswords provide a more relaxed puzzle with accessible clues and enough intersections to help players recover when they do not immediately know an answer.
Hard crosswords are intended for players who want a longer and more demanding challenge. The clues require more thought, and progress depends on combining vocabulary knowledge with letters discovered elsewhere in the grid.
I wanted Crossword to feel connected to Wordichi rather than existing as a separate page with no effect on the rest of the game. Crossword progress contributes to the same character and reward loop used by the other modes.
Word Minesweeper is the newest of the three game types.

It combines a word search with some of the risk and board-reading mechanics of Minesweeper. Words are hidden inside a grid of letters, but the board also contains dangerous cells.
The player searches for words by selecting connected letters. Suspected mines can be marked with flags, allowing the player to plan a safer route through the board.
Finding a valid word clears progress from the board, while opening the wrong cell can cost a life. The player must balance searching for visible letter patterns with interpreting the information around unexplored cells.
Word Minesweeper currently has easy, medium, and hard difficulty levels. Difficulty changes the board, the number of hidden words, the number of mines, and the amount of risk involved in completing the game.
This mode took Wordichi beyond traditional word guessing. It still rewards vocabulary and pattern recognition, but it also adds positioning, uncertainty, and decisions about which part of the board is safe to investigate next.
The main idea behind Wordichi is that the three games should feel different without becoming disconnected.
A player might begin with a short Word Guess room, continue with a mini crossword, and then attempt a Word Minesweeper board. The rules change, but the rewards continue developing the same Wordichi.
Winning games provides experience and coins. Experience increases the Wordichi’s level, while coins can be spent on useful skills. Higher levels unlock more difficult rooms and additional gameplay options.
Playing also consumes energy and affects the Wordichi’s condition. The player can feed it, let it rest, keep it happy, and restore its health. These systems create a longer progression loop around the individual puzzles.
I did not want the character to be a decorative avatar that appears only in a menu. Its level, condition, skills, and available rooms are tied directly to the games.
Wordichi can be opened and played without creating an account.
Guest players can choose a Wordichi and begin playing in the browser. This was important because a word game should be easy to try without forcing the player through a registration form first.
Creating an account allows progress to be saved more permanently, including the player’s Wordichi, levels, coins, skills, statistics, and daily game results.
The current version supports multiple languages, with separate words and puzzle content prepared for each supported language.
Wordichi runs as a browser game with a Go backend and a JavaScript-based frontend.
The server is responsible for important game state and validation. Hidden words, active rooms, timers, results, rewards, and progression cannot simply be trusted to the browser.
This became especially important with Word Minesweeper. The server needs to generate and preserve the board, validate selected letters, handle mines and flags, apply skills, and determine whether the game has been completed or failed.
The project has grown considerably since the first Word Guess prototype. Adding Crossword and Word Minesweeper required creating game systems that could have completely different rules while still using the same player, Wordichi, reward, and progression data.
The three main game types are now playable, but there is still a lot I want to improve.
Upcoming work will focus on adding more puzzle content, improving the balance of rewards and skills, polishing the interface, expanding player statistics, and making it easier to move between the different games.
I also want to continue improving Word Minesweeper. Because it combines two familiar ideas in an unusual way, small changes to board generation, mine placement, word selection, and difficulty can have a large effect on how fair and enjoyable a round feels.
This first devlog is an introduction to the current version of Wordichi. Future posts will go deeper into individual systems, development decisions, technical problems, new game mechanics, and changes made after player feedback.
Wordichi is available to play at:
Feedback is welcome, especially about which of the three game modes feels strongest, whether the shared progression makes the games more engaging, and which parts of the first-time player experience need improvement.