Vexillologist
Games
quiz game
SHOW HN2023
Vexillologist
A simple world flags game, my first web dev project as a beginner
billywojcicki.github.io238points
131comments
#210of 3,109 in 2023
Top 7%of 2023 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
25 positive, 34 neutral or asking, 7 mixed, 18 critical, out of 84 comments about the project. Thread score +0.08.
Design: 12 for, 10 againstExecution: 3 for, 7 againstIdea: 7 for, 0 againstPerformance: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Polished, good-looking design, including the spinning globe background
From 4 comments
Despite any mild clunkiness in the actual game (which has been thoroughly covered in other comments, so I won't repeat it), I just wanted to say this is a really nice looking…
agentwiggles on HNLove it, absolutely love the scrollable earth behind as well!
themoonisachees on HNThis is really really well done! Awesome work!
HanClinto on HNWhat a stunning project, it's beyond a beginner result. It's polished and fun to play. Excellent work!
xupybd on HN
Fun and addictive, good for learning flags
From 3 comments
I'm on a Macbook/Firefox with my resolution scaled up a bit and I didn't realize the answers were being displayed at all until I zoomed the page to 80%. Scrolling does not work.…
Timpy on HNThis is fantastic and highly addictive! My only suggestion (as others have said) would be to indicate the CORRECT flag's name clearly and give the user a chance to absorb it…
dtagames on HNNicely done! 11 mins 4 seconds with 97% accuracy (my apologies to some smaller caribbean and pacific islands for forgetting your flag, and for mixing up whether Indo or Singapore…
smcl on HN
Impressive for a beginner's first project
From 2 comments
Well executed! Just as a suggestion, incorrect answers could be displayed more prominently so one has more visual feedback about what to learn. Does not look like a beginner's…
pantulis on HNExcellent! If this is really a "beginner" project -- you have a very bright future. Kudos! If you care to, it would be great to see your learning approach / experience / git repo…
albert_e on HN
Objections
Layout does not fit smaller or zoomed screens; bottom row gets cut off
From 5 comments
It crops up for me (and doesn't allow me to scroll down) so I couldn't see the feedback of whether it was correct or not.
franciscop on HNon my 1366 x 768 screen I cannot see the bottow row, only the first - hope it helps here is a screenshot : https://i.imgur.com/Jx1qyNF.png - I'm running MX Linux
BaudouinVH on HNBottom two options don't show on my screen. I am on 1920x1080 with 150% scaling
belinder on HNI can't use the page on my Samsung S20: Your current dimensions are not supported It sure looks like it's rendering just fine: https://imgur.com/a/zwzyCx6
snozolli on HNThis is what I see: https://0x0.st/oFPu.png The bottom row gets cropped. Resolution is 1366x768. Let me know if you need additional info. The UI looks great though!
stefncb on HN
Feedback on wrong answers is unclear and disappears too quickly
From 4 comments
Well executed! Just as a suggestion, incorrect answers could be displayed more prominently so one has more visual feedback about what to learn. Does not look like a beginner's…
pantulis on HNWhen I answer incorrectly, it tells me I selected some totally other country incorrectly.
kyberias on HNIt says "Learn the flags..." But doesn't give me the correct answer when I'm wrong, so I can't learn.
FatActor on HNThis is fantastic and highly addictive! My only suggestion (as others have said) would be to indicate the CORRECT flag's name clearly and give the user a chance to absorb it…
dtagames on HN
Outdated Mississippi and Afghanistan flags
From 3 comments
Awesome little project! I went through the US state flags and found that you are using the old Mississippi flag. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Mississippi
rement on HNThe official Afghanistan flag did also change. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Afghanistan
darekkay on HNWrong flag for Afghanistan, recently famously updated
readney on HN
Requests
Show the correct flag and country name more prominently after a wrong answer
From 4 comments
Well executed! Just as a suggestion, incorrect answers could be displayed more prominently so one has more visual feedback about what to learn. Does not look like a beginner's…
pantulis on HNIt's a wording problem, quick fix. Instead of: You answered (nation) flag incorrectly! Have it be like: You guessed (nation), but the correct answer was (nation)! Absolutely it…
RajT88 on HNYup, to add to the other comments here: "You answered [right answer] incorrectly!" is confusing, it should be "Sorry! The right answer was [right answer]!" Looks great though,…
pschuegr on HNIf you could also show the flag in the message, so that I can associate them again, that would really improve retention!
pbiggar on HN
Filters for subsets of countries, such as continent, population or Spanish-speaking
From 3 comments
Nice. I thought I was pretty good at country flags, but it turns out I'm not :) For practice, it might be nice to have some filter options where it only shows you flags from a…
insane_dreamer on HNNot bad. I think it could be nice if there was possibility of mode with just more or lesser known flag. Like only countries with > 1 million population or 20 or more percentile…
Hitton on HNIdea: I'd like to be able to select only countries who speak spanish to practice my knowledge of latinoamerica.
simlevesque on HN
Fewer answer choices option
From 2 comments
My daughter is a huge fan of flags so we'll be doing a lot of trying this out! Any way you can configure the number of possible answers? I think 10 options is a bit much (as a…
r00fus on HNYes 4 -5 would be most common i think
albert_e on HN
Leaderboard or multiplayer mode
From 2 comments
This needs a leaderboard!
flyinglizard on HNadd a leaderboard and a party game mode (live small group competitive sessions) and you'll really have a stew going
swyx on HN
Reverse mode choosing a flag for a given country
From 1 comment
There should be a reverse version also, with a nation in top and choose a flag below
anonair on HN
Questions
How was the randomization of flag order implemented
From 1 comment
Is the order randomized at the start? I keep getting runs of almost-alphabetical countries starting with A, B, or C when I restart.
rdlw on HN
Which resources the maker used to learn web dev
From 1 comment
Congrats! This is great. What resources are you using to learn web dev? I ask because I'm also a beginner.
spookybones on HN
Alternatives named
Anki flag decks
From 2 comments
I recommend Anki. I've been learning flags (and capitals etc) ~1 year ago. After a few months break I have finished this game with a 97% accuracy (missed 5 countries). I would…
darekkay on HNCheck out the Ultimate Geography deck [1]. It's open-source and highly customizable. Use the following filter to learn just flags: ``` "deck:Ultimate Geography" "card:Flag -…
darekkay on HN
Geo Challenge by Playfish
From 1 comment
Oh boy, this takes me back to Playfish's Geo Challenge. Man, that game was fun...
x-complexity on HN
Kahoot
From 1 comment
Nice, reminds me of kahoot
quickthrower2 on HN