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Word Search Studio

Puzzle Toolkit · .NET 9 · Windows Desktop & CLI
Word Search Studio demo — generate a puzzle, run the solver, and highlight found words

Full workflow: configure the grid, generate a puzzle, run the trie solver, and see found words highlighted on the grid.

Project Overview

Word Search Studio is a C# toolkit for generating, solving, and exporting word search puzzles. It ships as a shared core library with a dark-themed WPF desktop app and a command-line interface for scripting and benchmarking.

The project compares multiple algorithms side by side — from brute-force grid scans to trie-based prefix search — and records timing and comparison counts so you can see how each approach scales on larger grids.

Key Features

  • Two generators — backtracking (constraint-based) and random placement
  • Three solvers — brute force, trie, and hash-set prefix search
  • Reverse words — optional backward placement and detection on the grid
  • Export — printable PDF and PNG output with an optional answer key
  • Desktop UI — generate puzzles, solve, highlight found cells, and export from WPF

Architecture

All logic lives in WordSearch.Core. The CLI and WPF app are thin clients that call the same generator, solver, and export APIs — keeping algorithm code testable and reusable.

Screenshots

Solved 12x12 puzzle with highlighted words in the desktop app
Solved puzzle — trie solver highlights found words and reversed placements.
CLI demo comparing brute force, trie, and hash set solvers
CLI benchmark — all three solvers compared on the same grid.
Word Search Studio setup panel before generating a puzzle
Setup panel — grid size, generator, solver, and word list before generation.

My Role

Solo developer on this project. I was responsible for:

  • Designing the core puzzle models and grid utilities
  • Implementing backtracking and random placement generators
  • Building three solver strategies with performance metrics
  • Adding PDF/PNG export via QuestPDF and ImageSharp
  • Creating the WPF desktop UI and CLI tooling
  • Writing xUnit tests covering generators, solvers, and export

Technologies Used

C# .NET 9 WPF xUnit QuestPDF ImageSharp Git

Repository

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Download

Get the Windows desktop app — generate puzzles, run solvers, and export to PDF or PNG.

Download for Windows (.zip) Requires .NET 9 Desktop Runtime · ~14 MB