Spindle, a cross between Wordle and a Rubik's Cube made in PHP
Hi HN, I was late to wordle, so I am also late to making my own version. In Spindle, you rotate words on a grid with the aim of assembling the day’s target word. I enjoy it, so I thought some of you might enjoy it too. From a tech perspective, it’s a very simple Laravel / Livewire app. My happy place in recent years has been Typescript and SvelteKit, so this was a bit of an adjustment, but it allowed me to take advantage of an existing shared hosting server meaning no additional financial outlay. Happy to report a positive experience with PHP and this framework, although I do miss…
Spindle, a cross between Wordle and a Rubik's Cube made in PHP launched on December 31, 2023 with 65 votes, #704 of 3,780 launches that month and more than 90% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 2 years on.
In plain words
Spindle is a daily word puzzle game that combines Wordle mechanics with Rubik's Cube-style rotation. Players rotate words on a grid to assemble the target word for the day. Built with Laravel and Livewire on PHP, the game is simple to play and runs on basic shared hosting. It's designed for players who enjoy word puzzles and spatial reasoning challenges.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
The aim is to rearrange the grid so that the target word is spelled out (either horizontally or vertically). The grid is rearranged by spinning words — again, either horizontally or vertically. To spin a word, tap the first letter, then tap the last letter. If the word is a valid English word, it will flip. Try to assemble the target word using the fewest spinsfrom playspindle.com
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hi HN, I was late to wordle, so I am also late to making my own version. In Spindle, you rotate words on a grid with the aim of assembling the day’s target word. I enjoy it, so I thought some of you might enjoy it too. From a tech perspective, it’s a very simple Laravel / Livewire app. My happy place in recent…
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