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u/sjxjfkrnn1259

r/nytpips r/solitaire
▲ 8 r/nytpips

What makes a puzzle satisfying?

Lately I've seen a lot of comments from people about the nyt puzzles not really doing it for them. And ultimately, instead of hijacking a thread, thought i'd get some feedback!

So - blankly: what are you specifically after from a hard puzzle?

When I build the puzzles for my dotio app, I typically focus on ensuring that everything is locally deducible, and that each puzzle has at LEAST 1 semi-obvious starting point. Then, any forks/branching points go somewhat deep (3-5 moves before you're blocked) But I've equally found this to be super subjective; NYT pips have some puzzles that APPEAR entirely random, and I find it really hard to feel satisfaction when I've solved it; or when i try other pip puzzle games; they've felt like its just a pure randomisation? But its clear that people also enjoy this style of puzzle. So; what works for you?

Full transparency: any suggestions or thoughts people have, I will attempt to improve dotio with!

reddit.com
u/sjxjfkrnn1259 — 1 day ago
▲ 4 r/solitaire

Favourite Solitaire game apps/features?

Heya all,

I've built a few games and I'm now putting together a collection of solitaire games with a daily angle; each day gives you a seeded hand in both an easy and a hard variant, so everyone's playing the same deal.

For version 1- I'm starting with the classics: Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid and TriPeaks, then expanding from there. The plan is to keep it premium and pay-once; no ads, no subscriptions. Essentially keeping it similar to my other developed games like dotio (domino logic puzzle - https://playdotio.com).

Before shipping this, though, I wanted to check in and poll the community: what are the quality-of-life features you cant live without / wish your current favourite game includes?

I've been lurking the forums a while, pulling ideas, but given how passionate the community is with solitare; figured I should be direct!

Thanks so much!

u/sjxjfkrnn1259 — 19 days ago
▲ 6 r/nytpips

dotio's daily puzzles are now free on the web, no app needed

Hey everyone! Quick update!

A lot of people have said they want more daily pips-style puzzles than just the NYT daily - because of this; I've ported all of dotio's daily challenges onto my website! Three fresh puzzles every day, free in your browser, no download, no signups!

https://playdotio.com/daily

To stay fair to the app's leaderboards, the web puzzle is 1 day behind, but this means you can see how you stack up against others and where you would have ranked!

I've tried to replicate the app as closely as I can on the web, including the various quality of life features. BUT it's not quite as polished as the actual app, so if you spot anything weird, tell me and I'll get it fixed!

The other thing I wanted to gauge interest on: I'm working on a playground where you can create your own puzzles. The idea is that the best community-made puzzles get folded into the actual daily loop, so one day everyone is playing YOUR puzzle. If that sounds fun, let me know and I'll post here when it lands!

As always, I'm all ears for feedback, ideas, or bugs. This community is the whole reason dotio exists :)

u/sjxjfkrnn1259 — 23 days ago
▲ 7 r/nytpips

dotio update: daily rankings, friends, 1600 new puzzles. What should 1.5 add?

Hey everyone,

Its been a busy stretch on dotio so I just wanted to pop back in with an update. Basically all of this comes from comments in this sub, and private messages / emails, so just wanted to report back!

Recent stuff:

  • Daily rankings and percentiles, so you can see where you placed against every player that day; now with custom usernames!
  • A Daily Hub with a live leaderboard, plus friends & private groups
  • Sort & shuffle toolbar
  • Added additional language support for 6 new languages
  • 1,600 new puzzles across Expert and Hard (library is past 4,800 now)
  • Readability tweaks for Expert puzzles

Also finally fixed a few long-standing bugs and glitches that were really hard to track down, so thank you to everyone who kept reporting them!

Looking ahead to 1.5:

  • What's painful or rough about the app right now?
  • Anything from NYT Pips you wish dotio had?
  • New modes, QOL ideas, anything else?

Drop whatever comes to mind. I'd rather build what people actually want than guess!

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/dotio-domino-logic-puzzles/id6757383411

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.leoncross.dotio

playdotio.com

Thanks!

u/sjxjfkrnn1259 — 3 months ago