Show HN: Schema – A daily word puzzle with conserved 14-segment "mass" (opens in new tab)

(play-schema.com)

1 pointsregnodon2mo ago1 comments

I built SCHEMA because I wanted a word puzzle that feels like constraint solving instead of guessing. Each letter is a 14-segment glyph; the total number of lit segments across the whole word is conserved ("mass"), and you move segments between letters until you match a hidden target word.

Every puzzle is generated and filtered to avoid ambiguous states: you’re given invariants (segment totals + exact-move PAR + geometric clues) so the target can be deduced rather than brute-forced.

I’d appreciate feedback on:

- Mobile "Precision Mode" (touch UX for slot/segment edits)

- Difficulty scaling (does "Hard" feel fair, or spiky?)

- Onboarding clarity (do the invariants click quickly?)

1 comments

regnodonOP2mo ago

Extra details for anyone interested:

- letters are 14-segment bitmasks

- moves transfer individual segments under a hand-cap

- PAR is the exact required number of placements to go from start to target word

- clue tiers disclose geometric facts (counts of diagonals/verticals/horizontals, center spines, etc.)

The puzzle generator simulates candidate counts and rejects puzzles that don’t collapse to a single possible solution given the constraints.

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