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I'm working on an app which is a Word Puzzle. Player has to arrange about 10 words in correct order to solve it. I have two options to build it:

  1. Give user feedback (right or wrong) when he has put each word
  2. Give user feedback (right or wrong) when he has put all words

In first option, the player gets quick feedback (as early as putting first word). But it is easy to brute-force the puzzle and hence the difficult of the game is low. In second option, the player has to wait for long time (until he/she puts all words). But the puzzle is difficult to brute-force and the difficulty of the game is high. I'm not sure which option should I choose?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Why not do both, and use that as difficulty levels? Each word could be easy, all words could be hard. Any combination of the two could be medium. Its a little more coding, but gives the user a greater choice of how they prefer to play. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 8, 2016 at 23:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @MichaelPickett: Thanks for the comment. That provides a new dimension to the game. I'm thinking about using combination of these two says. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 9, 2016 at 17:50
  • \$\begingroup\$ You could also try the route used by the classic password-guessing game Mastermind, where you tell the player how many words are in the right order, but you don't tell them which ones. The player can still brute force this, but from an initial unordered state they need to be a bit more scientific in what they try and how they interpret the results. Adding a golf-like score based on how many times they moved a word also helps discourage excess brute force and promote strategic play. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 19, 2016 at 4:59

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There are a few options I'd suggest here. I'm assuming some sort of drag and drop UI since you say "arrange".

First, there is a third alternative in only showing when words are in the right order. So Word1 and Word2 are in order relative to themselves, but maybe they're in Spot3 and Spot4 respectively. Perhaps you lock the two as a single unit to move now.

Second, as the comment above suggest, use both and give the player a difficulty option.

Third, combine all of these options but only make them available in response to the player's interaction. The simplest implementation of this would be to enable the easier options after a certain number of failed attempts.

If you are collecting any metrics on your game, you may find a certain number of failures before people quit playing on average. Then you can time these easier mechanics to come into play before that point.

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