From: Carl Worth <cworth@cworth.org>
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2026 15:25:49 +0000 (-0400)
Subject: anagrams: Have the server auto deal up to 7 tiles to the center
X-Git-Url: https://git.cworth.org/git?a=commitdiff_plain;h=c0ddb171d26f4f10df75f9b56acf0b40e8edf209;p=lmno-server

anagrams: Have the server auto deal up to 7 tiles to the center

Until there are a few tiles out on the board, it's silly to make the
players press the bag button. Once there are 7 or more it's reasonable
to have the game slow down (no more auto deal) and let players either
find anagrams from what's there, or else grab new tiles from the bag.
---

diff --git a/anagrams.js b/anagrams.js
index 868bb81..ddfe846 100644
--- a/anagrams.js
+++ b/anagrams.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const CLAIM_TIMEOUT_MS = 60000;    /* 60 seconds to form a word */
 const CLAIM_WARNING_MS = 15000;    /* show timer for last 15 seconds */
 const VOTE_TIMEOUT_MS = 15000;     /* 15 seconds to vote */
 const REVEAL_COUNTDOWN_MS = 1500;  /* 1.5 seconds to reveal a tile */
+const MIN_CENTER_TILES = 7;       /* auto-deal to maintain this many */
 const MIN_WORD_LENGTH = 4;
 
 class Anagrams extends Game {
@@ -68,17 +69,11 @@ class Anagrams extends Game {
    * Letter management                                 *
    *****************************************************/
 
-  /* Deal a letter from bag to center with a countdown reveal. */
-  handle_deal_letter(request, response) {
-    const session_id = request.session.id;
-    if (!this.state.player_words[session_id]) {
-      response.sendStatus(400);
-      return;
-    }
-
+  /* Deal a single letter from bag to center with a countdown reveal.
+   * Returns true if a letter was dealt, false otherwise. */
+  _deal_one() {
     if (this.state.bag.length === 0 || this._revealing) {
-      response.json({ ok: false });
-      return;
+      return false;
     }
 
     const letter = this.state.bag.pop();
@@ -92,6 +87,7 @@ class Anagrams extends Game {
     this._reveal_timer = setTimeout(() => {
       this._revealing = false;
       this._reveal_timer = null;
+      this._auto_deal();
     }, REVEAL_COUNTDOWN_MS);
 
     this.broadcast_event_object("letter-reveal", {
@@ -104,7 +100,25 @@ class Anagrams extends Game {
       remaining: this.state.bag.length
     });
 
-    response.json({ ok: true });
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  /* Auto-deal if center has fewer than MIN_CENTER_TILES. */
+  _auto_deal() {
+    if (!this.state.started || this.state.finished) return;
+    if (this.state.center.length < MIN_CENTER_TILES) {
+      this._deal_one();
+    }
+  }
+
+  handle_deal_letter(request, response) {
+    const session_id = request.session.id;
+    if (!this.state.player_words[session_id]) {
+      response.sendStatus(400);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    response.json({ ok: this._deal_one() });
   }
 
   /*****************************************************
@@ -512,6 +526,9 @@ class Anagrams extends Game {
     if (this.state.claim_queue.length > 0) {
       this._activate_claimer();
     }
+
+    /* Replenish center if needed. */
+    this._auto_deal();
   }
 
   _compute_score(session_id) {
@@ -649,6 +666,7 @@ class Anagrams extends Game {
     }
 
     this.broadcast_event_object("game-started", {});
+    this._auto_deal();
     response.json({ ok: true });
   }