Fix the off-screen issue. Now the previous stuck stick will be reset to the original place on your next drag. Thanks for pointing this out. And you probably need to refresh the browser to see the new update
Fix the integer overflow issue. Now your share link will only the first puzzle, the other two puzzles are invalid thus won't be shown any more. If you don't see any changes, you may need to refresh the browser to see the latest version.
Thank you for sharing your story. Actually I didn't read any physical books to learn js and css, I learned both of them online and practicing them in my hobby projects, practicing is the only way that helps me finally grasp concepts of a programming/language and improve my coding skills using that specific language. I started learned css and js 17 years ago on https://www.w3schools.com, I decided to learn css just because I found it was so cool you can change the style of your website completely by replacing your css file with a different one. But later I used Java more frequently than other languages for 5 years due to my job need, and naturally I almost forgot all what I learned about js and css skill. It was around 2013/14 that js picked up my interest again due to the hit of nodejs at that time, so I turned to online to learn js again, this time learned it on https://javascript.info, yeah there are many resources to learning things, maybe nowadays people prefer LLMs, it's totally fine, just find the one that suits you. But remember you don't need to finish all those topics or concepts before you start your own project. Practices make your skill better if not perfect. Use those resources as references, you don't have to learn it chapter by chapter, everyone has different learning style. Programming is a long journey (and what any things else are not?), let your passion guides you, let you interest/hobby be your best teacher :) Best wishes ~
yeah, the solver behind Mathstick is pretty much like what you described: building the problem + solution simultaneously, besides you also need to collect the multiple solutions for the same question and information for further classifying the difficulty of a puzzle.
Just like "hand-made" pizza used as a response to the rise of frozen, factory-produced pizza and to establish authenticity against fast-food chains. Maybe "hand-made" will be used to emphasize a app/software is made by human rather than being vibecoded or completely AI generated in the future. Also, if you use the Puzzle Maker to create your own puzzle, it becomes a "hand-made" puzzle :)
Thanks for trying this out. I'll fix the off-screen issue later.
I created this game because of an old news my wife shared with me, it was about The New York Times bought the Wordle game. I was then surprised that such a simple, old-style game caught the attention of a big company. I said "I'd rather play a matchstick puzzle", and it was that moment that inspired me to create a free online version with all the puzzles procedurally generated by my own hand-made solver (I like the sound of this :D). Personally, I like moving one and only one matchstick to solve a puzzle rather than 2 or 3 sticks, also I don't like those tricky solutions like negative number, rotation trick and etc. although they could be a very creative solution and let you think outside the box sometimes, IMO, it is just not elegant and sometime distracting to encourage people to think in a systematic way.
thank you and glad you love it, those books are more than enough.
As for the css part, I would suggest you start by building the layout for the desktop first. Once the desktop version looks good, use media queries to adjust the design for mobile and tablet sizes.
As for js and html part, think in Components: Instead of one giant file, break your code into "modules" or "components". In my matchstick game, I built the "Puzzle Display" as a standalone component. This allowed me to reuse the exact same code for the main game, the puzzle creator, and the shareable play pages.
For specific effects or tricky logic, Google and LLMs (like ChatGPT) are great resources. Avoid "copy-pasting" code you don't understand. Always try to deconstruct how a solution works before adding it to your project. Use these tools as teachers, not just shortcuts.
Most importantly, enjoy what you are doing. Let me know if you need more info, I'm more than happy to help. Good luck to your coding journey.
Thanks, I used to do something like that when I made a tabletop like card maker using three.js + angular 8, but it has been a long time ago, I need to catch up with the details how to implement it with angular v21 since it is almost a completely new framework compared to the old versions
Highly recommend y'all try playing with the Puzzle Maker first! It’s a great way to get a feel for the shape of numbers and the different moves you can make.
I personally found this 'learn-by-doing' approach really helps me understand the patterns before I tackle the harder levels.
Same as my first version, you can earn sticks to unlock the next level and the challenges get harder as you progress. With the newly added Puzzled Maker, you can now create your own matchstick puzzles and generate a shareable link to stump your friends :)