Word Search (C++)

A terminal-based word search game written in modern C++ (C++23) using the FTXUI TUI library.

Find hidden words on a board, track your score and time, and save your progress to continue later.

Features

• Multiple difficulty levels and themes (picked when starting a new game)
• Live progress panel (words found, total time, score)
• Keyboard and mouse support
• Save & Continue: quit during a game and resume later
• JSON file format for saving and loading progress (via nlohmann/json)

Prerequisites

• A C++23 compatible compiler
  • Linux/macOS: GCC 14+ or Clang 16+
  • Windows: MSVC 19.36+ (VS 2022)
• CMake 3.30 or newer
• Git

CMake pulls FTXUI automatically if the project uses FetchContent; otherwise install it via your package manager or fetch it as a submodule.

Build and run

First, make sure you have all the prerequisites installed.

Then, clone the repository and run the following commands:

Linux / macOS

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

cmake --build build -j

cd build && ./word-search

Windows

cmake -S . -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64

cmake --build build --config Release

.\build\Release\word-search.exe

How to Play

• New Game: create a player and board, then pick a theme.
• Enter guesses:
  • Type the word and its starting coordinates (X, Y).
  • Choose the orientation from the menu.
  • Press Enter to submit.
• Scoring:
  • Correct word: +10
  • Incorrect word: −5
• Save & Quit:
  • Use the “Save & Quit” button to exit to the main menu; progress is saved to data/save.json.
  • From the main menu, choose “Continue Game” to resume.

Tips:

• Tab / Shift+Tab: move focus between inputs and buttons.
• Arrow keys: navigate menus.
• Enter/Space: activate focused item.
• Mouse: click inputs, menus, and buttons (if your terminal supports it).

Troubleshooting

• If you see a blank screen or no input focus, try pressing Tab to cycle focus.
• If the binary doesn’t run, ensure your terminal supports the required features (truecolor, mouse events) and that you’re running from the correct working directory (so the data/ folder is found).
• Reconfigure with -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug if you need debug symbols.

License

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