A downloadable game

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A 4 Letter Word Game Exclusively for Playdate

You are a code breaker who stumbles across a nifty little device that spits out coins every time you solve a four-letter code. Sounds simple enough! As your wealth grows, so do the questions: Where did this device come from? Who made it? What happens if you keep playing, or worse yet, if you walk away from it all?

You are the key to breaking the loop.


Do you like word games with hours of gameplay spread across bite-sized puzzles?

CodeWordPlay is a challenging four-letter word game exclusively for Playdate, a beautiful little handheld console with a crank created by the fine people at Panic. Except CodeWordPlay is a little more than that. Is it a little like Wordle? Yes. Is it also nothing like Wordle? Also yes. It doesn't have any of the dirty four letter words you're thinking of, but it might have best, word, game, play, date and other great four-letter words in it.

CodeWordPlay features challenging timer-based modes as well as a relaxed, timer-free mode where you may crack codes at your own pace.

CodeWordPlay has a couple of unlockable items and plenty of surprises. By the end you’ll agree this game is *very* unique, and not like other word games. CodeWordPlay is a great complement to the Playdate's Season 1 games.

Want to check it out first? Download the CodeWordPlay demo today for free!


CodeWordPlay features:

  • more than 400 levels
  • 10 unlockable pieces of gear
  • yes, this is a word game with an equipment system
  • 10 pieces of loot (aka achievements)
  • yes, this is a word game with achievements
  • 3 modes, including a timer-free relaxed mode
  • pick-up-and-play gameplay
  • I prefer set-down-and-get-down gameplay but that hasn't caught on
  • existential dread
  • a few fun surprises

CodeWordPlay FREE Demo features:

  • 20 levels
  • A sneak peek at the game's first items and achievements

How to play

Here's a quick overview on how to crack the codes in CodeWordPlay, straight from the in-game tutorial:


CodeWordPlay was developed by Mike Suszek, former video games writer for Joystiq, former licensing manager for Out of the Park Baseball and Franchise Hockey Manager and independent games and crowdfunding consultant.

Special Thanks: Thank you to Robin Mayorga for help with testing! Check out Robin's Playdate game, Flip Flop, on itch!

StatusReleased
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(7 total ratings)
Authormikesuszek
GenrePuzzle
TagsCasual, Playdate, puzzle-game, puzzler, relax, Relaxing, spell, word, Word game, Wordle
Average sessionA few seconds
LinksHomepage, Twitter

Purchase

Buy Now$4.00 USD or more

In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $4 USD. You will get access to the following files:

CodeWordPlay v1.3 - FULL GAME 204 kB

Download demo

Download
CodeWordPlay - DEMO 96 kB

Development log

Comments

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(1 edit)

I'm at the FINAL puzzle and I must say I also loved the story so far. Great job! I cannot wait to see if I can REALLY complete the game, after already reaching 100%
EDIT: uhmmmmm....  :-D 

Haha, thank you for playing and letting me know you enjoyed it, it means a lot!

Hi, I spent a night playing this and I am already at Code 60, with no intention to stop. Congrats for this great game, one of my favorites ever on the Playdate - and I love when I can use the crank to input faster!

I found a little bug: if I use the Pocket Watch in the very few seconds, the game crashes. Is it only me?

Thank you for the kind words, I love that you’re enjoying it!


First I’ve heard of that bug, which mode are you playing on? I’ll investigate it!

I'm playing Chill mode.

with Arrows as code clues, if that's useful. (I doubt it, but you never know)

how do you get past the first level? This game makes no sense with the arrows or math 

The codes are four-letter words, and the clues between each letters shows how far apart the letters are alphabetically. The tutorial uses "REEL" as an example, in which "R" is 13 letters above "E" (hence R 13> E) and "E" is 7 letters less than "L" (so, E <7 L). Some people do a little trial and error, some start with  the first letter and count up and down the alphabet, the tactic I prefer is finding what would be the "lowest" letter in the code word and working around that, starting with the letter A in that place and counting up and down using the clues until the correct word forms. I hope that helps, thank you for checking out my game!

(+1)

Finished this a few days ago and really enjoyed the creative writing and the simple fun of the puzzles, which start out challenging but become more of a zen trance by the end. 

Of course my one complaint was that I wished it had crank controls so I didn't have to tap through all the letters, and I see you added it in the latest update! Something to look forward to on a replay at least. 

Thanks for the great game and looking forward to whatever might come next!

Awesome, thank you so much! First time I've heard anyone say they finished the game (I'm assuming you got through the story, you mean).

I definitely wish I'd sorted out crank controls to begin with, it seemed so simple but the workaround didn't occur to me until I was working on one of my next games. This has been a great learning opportunity for me and will help me moving forward.

Thanks again, you made my day!

Story and full completion of all puzzles and achievements! Clearly I was a bit hooked..

Thanks again, this sort of creative blend of genres and strange ideas with a lot of personality is exactly why I bought a Playdate. 

(+1)

I’m already worried about the quick draw 10 times in a row in the game’s images. Can levels be replayed or progress reset? Otherwise it would be possible to finish all 400 without achieving it?

And if the levels are always the same and replayable, replaying the first 10 would render it trivial and not much of an achievement. 

I know I could try the demo but those levels may not work the same way as the levels in the paid game, so I wanted to ask you here. 

Thanks for reaching out, it's a totally fair question! I'll try to put your mind at ease.

There's a couple things that will make this achievement pretty easy over the course of the game. First, I would recommend Chill mode, as the timer is much longer than Normal mode and as a result, more forgiving. There's no penalty for switching modes, you get the same rewards as you would Normal mode. Hit "B" on the title screen to change that in the options menu.

Next, over the course of the game you'll unlock gear that will make that achievement (loot), as well as others, easier to unlock. In fact, the  very first item (pocket watch) is very helpful to keep the quick solves rolling. And keep in mind that a quick solve doesn't need to be flawless, so if you use up two of your guesses in short order to solve a code quickly, that's cool!

Truth be told, when I developed this game, as I got used to the puzzles I was worried it would be too easy. Hearing from a few who struggled early on opened my eyes to a few things that v.1.1 of the game addresses and hopefully makes things easier. As with any puzzle game, like sudoku, once you learn the patterns and what to look for, you may find yourself solving codes in 10 to 15 seconds. After all, every code is a 4 letter word, so it's kind of like Wordle, except fast (at least that's what I was going for). If you need any pointers along the way, don't hesitate to reach out!

As for the demo, I took 20 words and set (most) of them aside specifically for the demo, so it works just like the game. It's actually possible to unlock and purchase an item and unlock an achievement or two in the demo, but it's really a small flavor of the full game. Without the secrets, of course. The only difference is I haven't updated the demo to v.1.1 yet, so it doesn't have Chill mode in it.

Thanks again for taking interest in my game, I hope you have a great holiday!

(+1)

I've been pining for word games on Playdate, and this one is really innovative. Fun! A bit like Wordle with a time limit and powerups,

(+1)

So many puzzles!