The rating system has now been installed in the following games: 

Adders
Diamond Slide
Entrapment (available only if you play "Hardest" difficulty level)
One to Ten
Quadratic Rush
Trio Match
Word Funnel (available only if you play multi-level games)
Word Spin
Zap!

When you look at the game options for each of these games, you will notice that there is an option labeled "Use the rating system." This option is currently checked, and can't be unchecked. Soon you will have the option to turn ratings on and off, depending on whether you want to play "just for fun" or want your games to count toward your rating.

One player asked: "Will you be able to change that option AFTER you start a game?" And the answer to that question is: "No! Because if you could do that, you could unfairly boost your rating by shutting off the rating system any time you were having a bad game!"

Some changes are being made to the game message window.  These changes can currently only be seen in the game Word Flash.  Play a game and you'll see somewhat different style message box.

How is this message box different from the old version?

1. It matches the size and shape of the game window, and is positioned directly over it, regardless of the size/shape of your display device.
2. It does not prevent you from accessing other areas of the page. (In other words, you can scroll up and click a menu at the top if you want to, which was not possible with the old style message).
3. It more closely matches the style of the game you are playing.
4. It has an auto-countdown feature for windows that are temporary in nature. (Notice what happens when you type an incorrect word in Word Flash - the window has a countdown timer in the upper right corner, and disappears after 3 seconds). 

Just as with the old style message box, you can close this one to reveal the board underneath.  However, this message box is not draggable; it is tied to the game window.

More features will be added to this message box (like the "other destinations" drop down).  Eventually, this style window will be used in other situations as well - it'll be the count-down window between levels of Zap!, as well as the message box for game information in Adders, Trio Match, and other games that have to provide feedback during the game.

In the old version of Word Spin, there was a scoring system which used data from multiple games to assign you a rating compared to other players.  The rating is designed to show overall consistency in game play.   The math of the rating system is fairly simple.  Your last 50 games are examined, and the outliers (highest and lowest scores) are removed, and then the remaining scores are combined to create a single number representing your overall performance.

The new site will also have the rating system, and the rating system will be used in multiple games.  You will have a rating for Word Spin, Diamond Slide, Adders, Zap!, Quadratic Rush and Trio Match, and possibly other games on the site will have rating systems added.

The rating system will work just a little bit differently on the new site; it will actually be a reflection of your ability relative to other players with ratings.  The math is a little bit more complex than it was on the old site, but the end result of the calculations will be:

• A rating of 1000 is average
• A rating of 1200 means that you are the best player on the site.
• Your numerical rating will fluctuate even when you aren't playing, based on the games of other players.  For example, if you have a rating of 1100, and everyone else is getting better at the game while you aren't playing, your rating will decrease toward the average mark.

For now, ratings are NOT being displayed, but as of today, the site is collecting the data it needs to calculate your rating, so be sure to play these games lots, so you can develop your rating!

Update - Apr 10

As of this morning, when you play games that support the rating system, when you finish a game, the game-over screen will either tell you your current rating, or it will tell you how many more games you have to play to establish your player rating.

Good evening,

I just wanted to let everyone know that you no longer have to go back to the old site to get to the dev version; if you're not logged in at the dev version (theproblemsite.net) you'll be able to see a page with a login link in the upper right corner.  Log in with the same credentials you use at the old version of the site.

Also, if you click on your name in the upper right corner, you can log out, and you can also modify your profile.  Note that there are checkboxes, when you modify your profile, to add yourself to some mailing lists, depending on what you're interested in keeping up-to-date on!

If any of these features don't work properly for you, please drop me a note in the community forum.

Thanks,
Douglas Twitchell
TPS Admin

One comment we've often gotten about the games is that while they are fun to play, they aren't very "colorful".

That's true.  They aren't.  For many people, excessive color gets to be a distraction.  And we don't want to distract.

However, we will be experimenting with some different backgrounds for the game windows, just for a little visual attraction.  For example, this morning, if you play any of the games, you'll find they look something like this:

The background image is fairly low-contrast, so hopefully it will not prove to be much of a distraction for players.

At the moment, all the games have this same background, which is math-and-technology themed.  That isn't great for word games, so we'll be exploring other possible backgrounds as well.

Do you like it?  Does it distract you?  Drop a note in the forum with your thoughts; we'd like to hear from you!