Regex Blaster

 (mdp.github.io)

66 points | by mdp 2 days ago

11 comments

  • 1-more 19 minutes ago
    I don't understand the first "combat" level. There's no real defining pattern separating the good from bad hex strings, so it's just a typing speed contest to type all the enemy patterns, right? What am I missing?
    [-]
    • Andoryuuta 13 minutes ago
      As far as I can tell, the first combat level enemies all start with "ALERT-" and have exactly 3 digits.
  • ks2048 2 hours ago
    Every vibe coded site is too dark and the text is too small.
    [-]
    • christoph-heiss 47 minutes ago
      And all the text is grey-on-grey and basically unreadable. Not to even mention accessibility.
    • flykespice 13 minutes ago
      Every vibecoded site have this same dark look with shining hue-gradient borders, can't wait for the future the entire web be filled with this generic look
    • mdp 1 hour ago
      This is fair, although I ask for it to be dark themed to match what I think was the style of typing game I remember growing up with (it's been a while). Bumped up the font though.
    • progbits 1 hour ago
      They all have this rounded box design as well. I wonder where that came from, I don't think it was a predominant style before.
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      • mrkramer 51 minutes ago
        I vibe code web apps with Google's Gemini and I think it actually mimics Google's UI and UX because I see similarities between my vibe coded web apps and Google's web apps.
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        • progbits 26 minutes ago
          But that's a different style from the these colorful border rounded boxes that I think Claude in particular loves to produce.
    • darkstar999 58 minutes ago
      What evidence do you have that this is vibe coded?
  • HanClinto 2 hours ago
    Nice game!

    We made a similar game several years ago for the Pyweek game competition, but there wasn't the fun "letter invaders" style that this one has.

    https://pyweek.org/e/RegExExpress/

    I really like your implementation!

    Might be good to limit some of the special operators to give more focus -- otherwise the early levels are a bit too solvable with ".*"

  • freedomben 1 hour ago
    Wow really cool! Genuinely fun, and educational at the same time.

    One usability request: after firing a regex, could the text box be cleared? It's not hard to hit Ctrl+A and start typing again, but it does add a bit of friction. (I can send a PR)

  • freedomben 1 hour ago
    Source code!: https://github.com/mdp/regex-blaster
  • JanisErdmanis 45 minutes ago
    This is really funny ;D Gives Tetris vibes and is executed beautifully.
  • mrkramer 1 hour ago
    This looks like something I would vibe code with Google's Gemini. Interesting concept.
  • brew-hacker 2 hours ago
    Fun interactive game!
  • SilentM68 1 hour ago
    Cool idea! I shall give it a try :)
  • mdp 2 days ago
    TL;DR: I think you should still learn regex, even though AI has made it a "useless" skill

    https://mdp.github.io/2026/03/17/the-kids-are-alright-and-th...

    [-]
    • m3galinux 2 hours ago
      Not so useless. In my experience LLMs are about 50/50 on making a regex that actually works and covers the cases you asked it for. Even less when you get into cases needing advanced features like backreferences and lookahead.
    • croes 2 hours ago
      A little bit early to tell.

      Let’s wait how affordable, available and good AI is when the companies turn to profit maximization and enshittification begins

      [-]
  • neonsunset 1 hour ago
    [dead]