Here we go with the 3rd step of Wordle tutorial series.
In first step I showed you how to handle keyboard input and result management.
In second step we saw how to add a virtual keyboard.
Now it’s time to design the game field and add some improvements to the virtual keyboard itself, this way:
Use the keyboard to write the word. You can play with your physical keyboard, using Backspace to delete the last letter, Enter to submit the word or Space to restart the game with a new randomly picked word.
You can see the word to guess in the console. If you are reading this post with a mobile device, you can play directly with the prototype at this link.
Let’s have a look at the assets used in the prototype:

bigfont.fnt and bigfont.png: respectively the XML information and the image of the big font.
bigkey.png: a sprite sheet containing Enter and Delete keys.
box.png: sprite sheet the box where to write the each letter of the word.
font.fnt and font.png: respectively the XML information and the image of the small font.
key.png: sprite sheeet of the virtual keyboard key.
words.json: the list of allowed words.
And this is the completely commented source code of the prototype, split in one html file, one css file and nine TypeScript files:
index.html
The web page which hosts the game, to be run inside thegame element.
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <link rel = 'stylesheet' href = 'style.css'> <script src = "main.js"></script> </head> <body> <div id = "thegame"></div> </body> </html>
style.css
The style sheet of the web page
* { padding : 0; margin : 0; } body{ background : #ffffff; } canvas { touch-action : none; -ms-touch-action : none; }
gameOptions.ts
Configurable game options
// CONFIGURABLE GAME OPTIONS export const GameOptions = { // number of rows, that is the amount of tries to guess the word rows : 6, // vertical position of the first row, starting from the top of the screen firstRowY : 150 }
main.ts
This is where the game is created, with all Phaser related options.
// MAIN GAME FILE // modules to import import Phaser from 'phaser'; import { PreloadAssets } from './preloadAssets'; import { PlayGame } from './playGame'; // object to initialize the Scale Manager const scaleObject : Phaser.Types.Core.ScaleConfig = { mode : Phaser.Scale.FIT, autoCenter : Phaser.Scale.CENTER_BOTH, parent : 'thegame', width : 700, height : 1244 } // game configuration object const configObject : Phaser.Types.Core.GameConfig = { type : Phaser.AUTO, backgroundColor : 0xffffff, scale : scaleObject, scene : [PreloadAssets, PlayGame] } // the game itself new Phaser.Game(configObject);
preloadAssets.ts
Here we preload all assets to be used in the game, such as the JSON object with all words, the images and the bitmap fonts.
// CLASS TO PRELOAD ASSETS // this class extends Scene class export class PreloadAssets extends Phaser.Scene { // constructor constructor() { super({ key : 'PreloadAssets' }); } // method to be execute during class preloading preload(): void { // this is how we preload a JSON object this.load.json('words', 'assets/words.json'); // preload images this.load.spritesheet('key', 'assets/key.png', { frameWidth: 70, frameHeight: 90 }); this.load.spritesheet('bigkey', 'assets/bigkey.png', { frameWidth: 105, frameHeight: 90 }); this.load.spritesheet('box', 'assets/box.png', { frameWidth: 100, frameHeight: 100 }); // this is how we preload a bitmap font this.load.bitmapFont('font', 'assets/font.png', 'assets/font.fnt'); this.load.bitmapFont('bigfont', 'assets/bigfont.png', 'assets/bigfont.fnt'); } // method to be called once the instance has been created create(): void { // call PlayGame class this.scene.start('PlayGame'); } }
playGame.ts
Main game file, where we handle input and result management.
// THE GAME ITSELF import KeyboardKey from './keyboardKey'; import { GameOptions } from './gameOptions'; import { GameGrid } from './gameGrid'; // possible word states: // perfect, when the letter is in the right position // correct, when the letter exists but it's not in the right position // wrong, when the letter does not exist enum letterState { WRONG = 1, CORRECT, PERFECT } // keyboard layout, as a string array, each item is a row of keys // > represents Enter // < represents Backspace const keyboardLayout : string[] = ['QWERTYUIOP','ASDFGHJKL','>ZXCVBNM<']; // this class extends Scene class export class PlayGame extends Phaser.Scene { // array with all possible words words : string[]; // string where to store the current word currentWord : string; // string where to store the word to guess wordToGuess : string; // variable where to store game width gameWidth : number; // main game grid gameGrid : GameGrid; // virtual keyboard, as an array of KeyboardKey instances virtualKeyboard : KeyboardKey[][]; // constructor constructor() { super({ key: 'PlayGame' }); } // method to be executed when the scene has been created create() : void { // set gameWidth to actual game width this.gameWidth = this.game.config.width as number; // store JSON loaded words into words array this.words = this.cache.json.get('words'); // at the beginning, current word is empty this.currentWord = ''; // pick a random word to guess this.wordToGuess = this.words[Phaser.Math.Between(0, this.words.length - 1)].toUpperCase(); // let's display somewhere the word to guess console.log(this.wordToGuess); // initialize virtual keyboard this.virtualKeyboard = []; // loop through keyboardLayout array keyboardLayout.forEach((row : string, index : number) => { // initialize virtual keyboard row this.virtualKeyboard[index] = []; // determine position of key sprites // some values are still hardcoded, and need to be optimized let rowWidth : number = 70 * row.length; let firstKeyPosition : number = (this.game.config.width as number - rowWidth) / 2; // loop through string for (let i : number = 0; i < row.length; i ++) { // get the i-th character let letter : string = row.charAt(i); // add the keyboard key this.virtualKeyboard[index][i] = new KeyboardKey(this, firstKeyPosition + i * 70 - (letter == '>' ? 35 : 0), 900 + index * 90, row.charAt(i)); } }); // add the game grid this.gameGrid = new GameGrid(this, GameOptions.rows, (this.gameWidth - 540) / 2, GameOptions.firstRowY); // waiting for keyboard input this.input.keyboard.on('keydown', this.onKeyDown, this); } // method to process a key pressed onKeyDown(e : KeyboardEvent) : void { // store key pressed in key variable var key : string = e.key; // if the key is space, restart the game if (key == ' ') { this.scene.start('PlayGame'); return; } // backspace if (key == 'Backspace') { this.updateWord('<'); return; } // regular expression saying "I want one letter" const regex = /^[a-zA-Z]{1}$/; // letter a-z or A-Z if (regex.test(key)) { this.updateWord(key); return; } // enter if (key == 'Enter') { this.updateWord('>'); } } //method to be called each time we need to update a word updateWord(s : string) : void { switch(s) { // backsace case '<' : // if the word has at least one character, remove the last character if (this.currentWord.length > 0) { // remove last current word character this.currentWord = this.currentWord.slice(0, -1); // call gameGrid's removeLetter method this.gameGrid.removeLetter(); } break; // enter case '>' : // if the word is 5 characters long, proceed to verify the result if (this.currentWord.length == 5) { // if the word is a valid word, proceed to verify the result if (this.words.includes(this.currentWord.toLowerCase())) { // at the beginning we se the result as a series of wrong characters let result : number[] = Array(5).fill(letterState.WRONG); // creation of a temp string with the word to guess let tempWord : string = this.wordToGuess; // loop through all word characters for (let i : number = 0; i < 5; i ++) { // do i-th char of the current word and i-th car of the word to guess match? if (this.currentWord.charAt(i) == tempWord.charAt(i)) { // this is a PERFECT result result[i] = letterState.PERFECT; // remove the i-th character from temp word tempWord = this.removeChar(tempWord, i); } // i-th char of the current word and i-th car of the word to guess do not match else { // loop through all character of the word to guess for (let j : number = 0; j < 5; j ++) { // do i-th char of the current word and j-th car of the word to guess match, // and don't j-th char of the current word and j-th car of the word to guess match? if (this.currentWord.charAt(i) == this.wordToGuess.charAt(j) && this.currentWord.charAt(j) != this.wordToGuess.charAt(j)) { // this is a correct result result[i] = letterState.CORRECT; // remove the i-th character from temp word tempWord = this.removeChar(tempWord, j); break; } } } } // loop through all result items and compose result string accordingly result.forEach((element : number, index : number) => { // get letter position in our virtual keyboard let position : Phaser.Math.Vector2 = this.getLetterPosition(this.currentWord.charAt(index)); // if the key of the virtual keyboard has not already been painted, then paint it. if (parseInt(this.virtualKeyboard[position.x][position.y].frame.name) < element) { this.virtualKeyboard[position.x][position.y].setFrame(element); } }); // reset current word this.currentWord = ''; // call gameGrid's showResult method this.gameGrid.showResult(result); } } break; // a-z or A-Z default : // if the word is less than 5 characters long, remove last character if (this.currentWord.length < 5) { // add the letter this.gameGrid.addLetter(s); // update current word this.currentWord += s.toUpperCase(); } } } // method to get the position the virtual keyboard key, given a letter getLetterPosition(letter : string) : Phaser.Math.Vector2 { // set row to zero let row : number = 0; // set column to zero let column : number = 0; // loop though all keyboardLayout array keyboardLayout.forEach((currentRow : string, index : number) => { // does current row include the letter? if (currentRow.includes(letter)) { // set row to index row = index; // set column to letter position inside current row column = currentRow.indexOf(letter); } }) // return the coordinate as a 2D vector return new Phaser.Math.Vector2(row, column); } // simple method to change the index-th character of a string with '_' // just to have an unmatchable character removeChar(initialString : string, index : number) : string { return initialString.substring(0, index) + '_' + initialString.substring(index + 1); } }
keyboardKey.ts
Custom class for the virtual keyboard key.
// KEYBOARD KEY CLASS import { PlayGame } from "./playGame"; import KeyboardLetter from "./keyboardLetter"; // this class extends Sprite class export default class KeyboardKey extends Phaser.GameObjects.Sprite { // letter bound to the key boundLetter : string; // parent scene parentScene : PlayGame; constructor(scene : PlayGame, x : number, y : number, letter : string) { // different image key according if it's a letter character or '<' or '>' super(scene, x, y, '<>'.includes(letter) ? 'bigkey' : 'key'); // assign parent scene this.parentScene = scene; // assign bound letter this.boundLetter = letter; // set sprite registration point to top, left this.setOrigin(0); // add the sprite to the scene scene.add.existing(this); // set the sprite interactive this.setInteractive(); // listener for pointer down on the sprite, to call handlePointer callback this.on('pointerdown', this.handlePointer); // add a keyboard letter accoring to 'letter value switch(letter) { // backspace case '<' : this.setFrame(0); break; // enter case '>' : this.setFrame(1); break; // normal key default : new KeyboardLetter(scene, x + 10, y + 10, letter, 36); } } // method to be called when the user clicks or taps the letter handlePointer() : void { // call 'updateWord' method on parent scene this.parentScene.updateWord(this.boundLetter); } }
keyboardLetter.ts
Custom class for the letter to be printed on the virtual keyboard key.
// KEYBOARD LETTER import { PlayGame } from "./playGame"; // this class extends BitmapText class export default class KeyboardLetter extends Phaser.GameObjects.BitmapText { constructor(scene : PlayGame, x : number, y : number, text : string, size : number) { super(scene, x, y, 'font', text, size); // add the keyboard letter to the scene scene.add.existing(this); } }
gameGrid.ts
This class manages the grid where players write and try to guess the word.
// GAME GRID import BigLetterBox from './bigLetterBox'; export class GameGrid { // current row where to write the letter currentRow : number; // current column where to write the letter currentColumn : number; // array to store all letter boxes letterBox : BigLetterBox[][]; constructor(scene : Phaser.Scene, rows : number, firstRowX : number, firstRowY : number) { // set current row to zero this.currentRow = 0; // set current column to zero this.currentColumn = 0; // initialize letterBox array this.letterBox = []; // loop from 0 to 4 for (let i: number = 0; i < 5; i ++) { // initialize letterBox[i] array this.letterBox[i] = []; // loop through all rows for (let j : number = 0; j < rows; j ++) { // assign to letterBox[i][j] a new BigLetterBox instance this.letterBox[i][j] = new BigLetterBox(scene, firstRowX + i * 110, firstRowY + j * 110); } } } // method to add a latter addLetter(letter : string) : void { // set the letter at current row and column this.letterBox[this.currentColumn][this.currentRow].setLetter(letter); // increase current column this.currentColumn ++; } // method to remove a letter removeLetter() : void { // decrease current column this.currentColumn --; // unset the letter ant current row and column this.letterBox[this.currentColumn][this.currentRow].setLetter(''); } // show guess result showResult(result : number[]) : void { // loop through all result items result.forEach((element : number, index : number) => { // set letterBox frame according to element value this.letterBox[index][this.currentRow].setFrame(element); // paint the letter white this.letterBox[index][this.currentRow].letterToShow.setTint(0xffffff); }); // increase current row this.currentRow ++; // set current column to zero this.currentColumn = 0; } }
bigLetterBox.ts
Class to mange the big letter box inside game grid
// BIG LETTER BOX import BigLetter from "./bigLetter"; // this class extends Sprite class export default class BigLetterBox extends Phaser.GameObjects.Sprite { // letter to show in the big letter box letterToShow : BigLetter; constructor(scene : Phaser.Scene, x : number, y : number) { super(scene, x, y, 'box'); // set registration point to top left corner this.setOrigin(0); // add the letter box to the scene scene.add.existing(this); // calculate letter box bounds let bounds : Phaser.Geom.Rectangle = this.getBounds(); // assign letterToShow an instance of BigLetter this.letterToShow = new BigLetter(scene, bounds.centerX, bounds.centerY + 8); } // method to set the letter setLetter(letter : string) : void { // tint letterToShow black this.letterToShow.setTint(0); // set letterToShow text according to "letter" argument this.letterToShow.setText(letter.toUpperCase()); } }
bigLetter.ts
Custom class to manage the big letter which appears in the big letter box
// BIG LETTER // this class extends BitmapText class export default class BigLetter extends Phaser.GameObjects.BitmapText { constructor(scene : Phaser.Scene, x : number, y : number) { super(scene, x, y, 'bigfont', ''); // set registration point to center this.setOrigin(0.5); // add the letter to the scene scene.add.existing(this); } }
And the prototype is almost complete I only need to add an options menu and a couple of game modes. Download the source code of the entire project.