PUZZLE25
Version 0.4.0
Major UI Updates
July 20, 2026
18 Puzzles
To longtime fans, the UI will look different this week. Ultimately I decided that systemic changes were needed to make mobile functional and aesthetic. Also built into these changes was the acceptance that I was probably going to move beyond a single journal/machine, so there's now a "Bookcase" where you can find other books in the future.
The journal now displays in an inline frame rather than a new window. This was essential for mobile versions as popups are clunky and awkward in the mobile interface. I also had to condense/remove many UI elements for mobile display. It was interesting learning about the modern approaches here, scaling up text while scaling down everything else requires thoughtful development and flexible layouts.
This week I plan to do the Graveyard, a little funsie screen where it will randomly find some players who haven't played in a month and are therefore "Dead". This is a web 1.0 homage and reminds me of sites like NeoPets that had many fun little UI elements like this.
Should have 2-3 more puzzles out this week as well. Getting close to 25 which I expect will be the end of "Chapter 1". Not 100% sure what that will look like yet. I'm gonna have some extra journal pages to burn as well.
Until next week!