LexiGuess

A web game that challenges players to guess words using hints from Wikidata lexemes.

What is this?

LexiGuess fetches random words (lexemes) from Wikidata, hides some letters, and asks players to guess the complete word. Hints come from Wikidata's structured data - part of speech, language, definitions.

Current status: Working prototype with basic gameplay, pending actively development under a Wikimedia Rapid Grant.

How to play

1. The game fetches a random word from Wikidata
2. Some letters are replaced with blanks (e.g., "h_pp_")
3. Use hints (language, part of speech) to guess the word
4. Submit your guess and see if you're right
5. Score points for correct guesses with fewer hints

For developers

Quick start

1. Clone the repo
2. Open index.html in a browser
3. Start playing (no build needed)

The game runs entirely in the browser using:

• HTML/CSS/JavaScript (no frameworks)
• SPARQL queries to Wikidata Query Service
• Toolforge hosting planned

Key files

• script.js - Main game logic and SPARQL queries
• style.css - All styling (needs mobile optimization)
• index.html - Game interface

Development notes

The current SPARQL query fetches random lexemes with their lemmas and basic data. This needs optimization for better word selection.

Example query (simplified):

SELECT ?lexeme ?lemma WHERE {
  ?lexeme a ontolex:Lexeme; dct:language wd:Q1860; wikibase:lemma ?lemma.
}
LIMIT 1

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.