Word Play - Archipelago Multiworld Randomizer

An Archipelago multiworld randomizer mod for the word-building deckbuilder game Word Play (Unity Mono / Steam).

Spell high-scoring words, survive challenging rounds, and unlock game-changing modifiers, bonus letter racks, and tile upgrades while sending checks and receiving items to and from other games in your Archipelago multiworld.

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Installation & Setup

Go to the Releases page and download:

• word_play.apworld — The Archipelago world definition package.
• WordPlayArchipelago_vX.X.X_with_BepInEx.zip — Complete bundle containing BepInEx 5 and the mod.

1. Archipelago Server Setup

• Place word_play.apworld into your Archipelago custom_worlds/ directory (or double-click to install).
• Generate and place your configured WordPlay.yaml into your Archipelago Players/ folder.
• Generate and start your Archipelago multiworld room.

2. Word Play Game Setup

1. Open your game root folder:
   • In Steam: Right-click Word Play $\rightarrow$ Manage $\rightarrow$ Browse local files
   • Default path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Word Play
2. Extract the contents of WordPlayArchipelago_vX.X.X_with_BepInEx.zip directly into your game folder.
3. Your game directory should now look like this:

   Word Play/
   ├── BepInEx/
   │   ├── core/
   │   └── plugins/
   │       └── WordPlayArchipelago/
   │           ├── WordPlayArchipelago.dll
   │           ├── Archipelago.MultiClient.Net.dll
   │           ├── Newtonsoft.Json.dll
   │           └── Assets/
   ├── winhttp.dll
   ├── doorstop_config.ini
   ├── .doorstop_version
   └── Word Play.exe
   

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Launching, Connecting, and Playing

1. Configure Connection: Edit BepInEx/config/com.archipelago.wordplay.cfg (or configure via in-game UI):

   [Archipelago]
   ServerAddress = archipelago.gg
   ServerPort = 38281
   SlotName = Player1
   Password = 
   DeathLink = false

2. Launch Word Play via Steam.
3. From the Main Menu, choose Play Game to open the Mode Selection screen.
4. On the mode selector rack, click the AP tile under the ARCHIPELAGO section:
   • Displays your Server Address, Port, and Slot Name.
   • Click CONNECT: the mod establishes connection in the background without blocking the UI.
   • Any manual edits to the config file auto-reload when you click CONNECT / RETRY CONNECT.
5. Once connected:
   • The top banner shows ARCHIPELAGO: <DIFFICULTY> MODE, your slot name, room address, total rounds, and victory progress (Wins: X/Y).
   • Click PLAY to start your run!
6. In-Game Overlay:
   • The HUD features two panels for Traps and Items (For testing purposes, can be used if a problem occurred) - Both panels can be hidden with the button at the bottom of their list.

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Gameplay & Mechanics

Locations (Checks)

1. Round Clears: Clearing each round awards a check (e.g. Rounds 1–10 on Easy, up to Round 20 on Marathon).
2. Shop Draft Purchases (Dynamic Rotation):
   • Between rounds, the shop offers 3 cards corresponding to checks in the multiworld.
   • Dynamic Pool: Shop checks are drawn from your remaining unchecked shop locations.
   • Reroll / Refresh Rotation: Refreshing modifiers in the shop also rolls fresh AP checks, ensuring you can discover new locations.
   • Run Retry Rotation: Each time you retry after a loss or win, the shop check pool rotates and shuffles so early rounds do not repeatedly present the same completed locations.
   • Scouting: Cards display the scouted item name, recipient player, and classification (Progression, Useful, Trap, or Filler).
   • Check-Only Placeholder Cards: If you have not yet unlocked enough modifiers to fill all shop slots, the empty slots appear as check-only AP cards so you can still check locations.
   • Modifier Refresh Guarantee: If you have 3 or fewer modifiers unlocked, refreshing your modifiers re-rolls them without turning them into placeholders.
3. Single-Word Score Milestones: Spelling high-value words awards checks immediately when submitted:
   • Word Score: 30 Points
   • Word Score: 50 Points
   • Word Score: 80 Points
   • Word Score: 150 Points
   • Word Score: 300 Points
   • Word Score: 500 Points (and up to 1000 on higher difficulties)
4. Cumulative Run Score Milestones: Reaching cumulative score thresholds across a run:
   • Run Score: 250 Points
   • Run Score: 500 Points
   • Run Score: 1000 Points
   • Run Score: 1500 Points
   • Run Score: 2000 Points
   • Run Score: 3000 Points (and up to 7500 on higher difficulties)

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Items Received from Multiworld

• Progressive Word Length: Increases your maximum allowed word length capacity permanently (from starting preset 5 up to 20 length).
• Extra Board Slot: Grants permanent extra tile slots on your rack.
• Extra Plays (+2) & Extra Refreshes (+2): Supplements your pool of plays and discards.
• Tile Packs: Injects special tiles into your letter bag (Golden, Diamond, Emerald, and Dot tiles).
• Perk Unlocks: Grants specific modifiers, tile changes, or tile additions to appear in shops (when perk locking is enabled).
• Filler Buffs:
  • +5 or +10 Word Score Buff (applied to your next submitted word).
  • +1 Play & +1 Refresh.
  • Single special tile injections.

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Traps & Hazards

• Screamer Trap: har har har har.
• Bad Letter Slot Trap: Neutralizes a random letter slot on your rack so it yields 0 points for the next word.
• Lose Play & Lose Refresh Traps: Instantly drains 1 play or 1 discard.
• Delete Bag Letter Trap: Permanently removes a random tile from your bag.
• Vowels Zero Score Trap: All vowels score 0 points on the next word.
• Scramble Board Trap: Shuffles and replaces your current hand of tiles.

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Death Link (Optional)

• Configurable via WordPlay.yaml.
• Outgoing: If you run out of plays (GameOver), a death signal is broadcast to all Death Link players.
• Incoming: When another player dies, an alert banner is displayed and your run terminates immediately.

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Victory Condition

• Clearing the final round of your multiworld difficulty counts as 1 completed run.
• When you reach the required number of victories specified by wins_required in your YAML, the multiworld goal is completed!

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Archipelago Options (WordPlay.yaml)

Option	Type	Default	Description
difficulty	Choice	normal	Difficulty mode: easy (10 rounds), normal (12 rounds), hard (12 rounds), legendary (14 rounds), marathon (20 rounds).
wins_required	Range (1–10)	1	Number of completed runs required to satisfy the goal.
starting_word_length	Range (3–7)	5	Initial maximum letters allowed per word before Progressive upgrades.
trap_chance	Range (0–100)	20	Percentage of filler items replaced with traps.
death_link	Boolean	false	Enable Death Link synchronization.
lock_modifiers	Boolean	false	When true, modifiers are locked and must be unlocked as AP items.
starting_modifiers	Range (0–20)	3	Number of unlocked modifiers granted at the start when modifiers are locked.
lock_tile_changes	Boolean	false	When true, tile change perks must be unlocked as AP items.
starting_tile_changes	Range (0–20)	2	Starting tile change perks granted when locked.
lock_tile_additions	Boolean	false	When true, tile addition perks must be unlocked as AP items.
starting_tile_additions	Range (0–20)	2	Starting tile addition perks granted when locked.

Known bugs/problems

1. WebSocket Compression Warning when connecting to game

Can it be added without sacrificing features? No.

Explanation:

• Archipelago.MultiClient.Net runs on Unity's Mono runtime using .NET Standard 2.0. The underlying .NET WebSocket client (System.Net.WebSockets.ClientWebSocket) only gained support for RFC 7692 permessage-deflate (WebSocket compression) in .NET 7+.
• Supporting compression inside Unity Mono would require ripping out Archipelago.MultiClient.Net's built-in session transport and substituting a custom, unmanaged/native C++ library.
• What would be sacrificed: connection stability, automatic reconnect handling, thread safety with Unity's main thread, and cross-platform compatibility.
• Server Impact: The server message is only an advisory notice. Archipelago servers natively support uncompressed WebSockets; DeathLink, hint checks, item sync, and bounce packets work with zero functional difference.

2. Client-side history

There's currently no Client-side history of all checks sent and received. Something will very probably be implemented for it in the coming days/weeks.

3. The mod may be ugly

I don't really care that much.