Letter Trail

A word puzzle game where players must find words that contain a generated letter sequence in order.

Quick Start

http-server is required for loading data/* files.

1. Verify Node.js is installed:

node -v

2. Run http-server on port 3000 (no install needed):

npx --yes http-server . -p 3000

3. Open:

• http://127.0.0.1:3000/index.html

Optional: install globally if you prefer:

npm install -g http-server
http-server . -p 3000

You can also host the folder on GitHub Pages or any static host.

Game Rules

1. The game generates a random letter sequence.
2. You must enter a valid word/name that contains all letters in that exact order.
3. Score is based on Scrabble letter points plus a length bonus.
4. You can submit unlimited guesses.
5. Wrong guesses are tracked and show fuzzy-match closeness as a percentage.
6. Show All Solutions reveals all valid answers and meanings.
7. After revealing all solutions, input is locked until New Game.

Features

• Theme selection:
  • English dictionary
  • Pokemon names
  • Country names
  • Capital city names
• Default letter count: 4 (selectable 2 to 6)
• User preference persistence:
  • Selected theme and letter count are stored in localStorage (letterTrailPrefs:v1)
• Live tile feedback:
  • Matching letters turn green as you type
  • Submit is enabled only when all letters are matched in order
• Guess-result feedback:
  • Input border + icon only (✓ accepted, ✕ rejected)
  • Wrong guesses still show fuzzy similarity in the Wrong Words list (XX% matched)
• Wrong guess feedback:
  • Highest fuzzy similarity to any solution (e.g. 72% matched)
• Cached datasets in localStorage with 7-day TTL
• Dictionary fallback validation:
  • Uses local 65k dictionary first
  • If a dictionary word is not found locally, it checks Dictionary API and caches valid misses
• Responsive layout (desktop + mobile)

Data Sources

• Local static datasets:
  • data/english_65k.txt
  • data/countries_un_observers.json
  • data/capitals_un_observers.json
• Pokemon names:
  • https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon?limit=2000
• Dictionary meanings fallback:
  • https://api.dictionaryapi.dev/

Country Dataset Scope

• Country list uses a sovereign-focused set:
  • Includes independent=true
  • Excludes XK (Kosovo)
  • Includes PS (Palestine)
• This avoids territory-style entries such as Antarctica in country mode.

Project Files

• index.html: game markup
• styles.css: game styles
• script.js: game logic and interactions
• data/english_65k.txt: stable local English dictionary (65,000 words)
• data/countries_un_observers.json: curated country dataset
• data/capitals_un_observers.json: curated capital city dataset
• README.md: project documentation

Notes

• Opening index.html via file:// can fail because browsers block local fetch() for dataset files.
• First load can take longer while datasets are loaded and cached.
• If network requests fail for online checks, use New Game to retry.