Flexle — a daily word puzzle built from scratch, with a growing social layer.
A native iOS word game with its own word-validation engine, a hint economy, and a full friends-and-groups social system — all backed by a lightweight, self-managed backend.
The problem / idea
Word games are one of the most crowded categories on the App Store, but most daily-word titles stop at the puzzle itself. The idea behind Flexle was to build a genuinely well-made core game, then extend it into something people play with friends rather than alone — without turning it into a bloated, ad-heavy experience.
My role
Solo design and development, end to end — game design, UI, the Swift codebase, backend setup, and ongoing App Store maintenance and updates.
Design & development work
The core game runs on a bundled 60,000+ word list, so validation works instantly offline with no API dependency. On top of that:
- A hint system with tracking that carries through into shareable result images
- Drag-and-drop letter entry with a dedicated "fill known" assist
- A full backend migration to add accounts, friends, groups and league tables
- Email verification and transactional email for account features
- Ad integration that respects the player — no tracking, environment-aware display
Technology
Outcome & current status
Flexle is live on the App Store and under active development, with the most recent milestone being a complete friends-and-social feature set — player profiles, friend requests, groups, league tables and verified accounts.
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