First developed as a capstone project by computer science students, ThyWordle has seen popularity and success as it enters its second version.
Two Freed-Hardeman University computer science students developed a game last year inspired by the success of Wordle, the daily guess-the-word game that gives players six guesses to come up with the day’s mystery word. The game developed by Freed-Hardeman University students shares a similar premise: guess the daily Bible verse. Now, Kaden King, who originally developed the game along with Dallas Yarnell as their capstone project, made some upgrades to the game thanks to his experience as a full-time software engineer.
According to an article on Freed-Hardeman University’s website, Dr. Kenan Casey, who is an associate professor of computer science at the university, initially helped King and Yarnell develop ThyWordle. Dr. Casey enjoyed the opportunity to help his students bring their idea to life. He was quoted as saying of the experience, “ThyWordle is one of the most successful software projects developed in our capstone course in my 15 years of teaching. The app has had over 6,000 users from over 40 countries since its May 2023 launch. It perfectly represents the distinctiveness of FHU’s academic experience, combining technical skills, the Christian faith and a dynamic learning environment. Projects like this remind me why I love my job and my students.”
Now that King is employed full-time as a software developer, he developed the skills to take their initial version of ThyWordle to the next level. Among the tweaks and improvements King has made to the game include account creation, which allows users to log in and save their game stats and participate in groups, which would be useful for bible study groups or youth groups and people interested in playing against family or friends. Another new feature is the ability to turn on an autofill function to save time needing to type out the name of books again and again.
Of the improvements and the inspiration to continue working on ThyWordle despite now having a full-time career, King said, “This class project – turned personal project – has been a great opportunity to improve my professional skills and learning. It has been amazing to see how many people have loved playing ThyWordle, expressed appreciation for it and suggested improvements for what they would like to see added to the game. Since graduation (May 2023), I’ve specifically been excited for the idea of online accounts, groups and leaderboards driving more users to daily test their Biblical knowledge.” He estimates that the improvements that have just been implemented took him about 80 hours to complete.
The game has had a steady group of users since its beginning. David Pharr, who happens to be an alumni of Freed-Hardeman University, is a minister living in Orlando, Florida. He plays ThyWordle every morning. He said, “I started playing ThyWordle almost every day once I heard about it through a press release from FHU. I enjoyed Wordle, I love FHU and the Bible, so I thought it would be a good combo. I have now made ThyWordle a part of my morning routine. In fact, a deacon friend and I share our results with each other every morning. I also now share it on Facebook in hopes that the game will catch on with more of my friends. I enjoy ThyWordle because it allows me to work on placing a scripture in its context.”
King is hopeful that more people will catch on and start playing as a way to become more well-versed in the Bible.
“This game is a fun way to take in a small piece of God’s word daily. My hope is that as users search for Biblical references, they grow in their love for God’s inspired message and their own ability to navigate it (2 Tim. 2:15),” said King.
For more information about Freed-Hardeman University, visit the school’s website.