Creating “Ordgissaren”: A Swedish Word Guessing Game

I’m excited to share my latest weekend project – a Swedish word guessing game called “Ordgissaren” (The Word Guesser) that I managed to build in just a few hours!

The Inspiration

Word games have always been a favorite pastime of mine, and I noticed a lack of quality word puzzles specifically designed for Swedish speakers. I wanted to create a simple daily word challenge that embraced the unique characteristics of the Swedish language with its special characters (å, ä, ö) and distinctive vocabulary.

A Quick Development Sprint

What surprised me most was how quickly this project came together. With a clear vision and some focused coding, I was able to go from concept to working prototype in just a few hours of dedicated work.

Building the Swedish Word List

The foundation of any good word game is its dictionary. I needed five-letter Swedish words that were:

• Common enough to be recognized by most players
• Diverse in their letter patterns and structures
• Free of obscure terms that would frustrate casual players

I started with a basic Swedish dictionary and wrote a simple script to extract suitable five-letter candidates. After some filtering, I had a solid collection of words to power the game.

Supporting Swedish Characters

One of the most important aspects was properly incorporating å, ä, and ö into the keyboard layout and game logic. These aren’t just accented versions of other letters but completely distinct characters in the Swedish alphabet, and the game needed to treat them accordingly.

Simple User Interface

For the interface, I went with a clean, minimalist design featuring:

• A grid for displaying guesses and feedback
• A custom keyboard with Swedish characters
• Simple color-coding to indicate correct and misplaced letters

Technical Implementation

The game uses straightforward web technologies:

• HTML5, CSS3, and vanilla JavaScript for the frontend
• Local storage for saving player progress
• A randomization algorithm for daily word selection

I deliberately kept the technology stack simple to focus on getting a working version out quickly.

Quick Testing & First Impressions

Before sharing it more widely, I had a few Swedish-speaking friends try the game. Their initial feedback was encouraging:

• The inclusion of å, ä, and ö created an authentically Swedish experience
• The difficulty level felt appropriate for casual play
• The game was intuitive enough that no extensive instructions were needed

Looking Forward

While I built the initial version in just a few hours, I already have ideas for enhancements:

• Statistics tracking to monitor player progress
• Additional difficulty modes
• Themed word collections

Try It Yourself

If you speak Swedish or are learning the language, give Gissa Ordet a try! It’s completely free to play, with a new word published daily.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions for improvements. Lycka till! (Good luck!)