Took a second to figure out. I ended up going to the Itch page and reading that you had to enter a second word to hit it back. Once I figured that out it was a blast to play. I'll be showing my students this next time I see them. Maybe more complete instructions on the game page would be helpful though!

Thanks for all your feedback!

I was suspicious when I first coded this that it needed a better way to introduce the rules. I've gone ahead and buffed the HINT so that time doesn't resume until you get a chance to type out your first word. I also added a background hint on the return phase instead of just leaving it blank.

Another comment mentioned that the instructions that I put on itch.io made it clearer (and forgot to post on HN, whoops!) so I've pasted them below.

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HOW TO PLAY

1. Type HIT to serve

2. Type your opponent's word to line up your character with the ball, then type your word to send a volley back

3. Submit your word before the time runs out. The faster you submit your word, the faster your hit!

RULES

1. Words must be 3 letters or longer

2. No repeated words in the same rally

SCORING

1. Tennis rules: 15-30-40-Game

2. Best of 3 games wins the match

CONTROLS

Desktop: Type and press Enter or Space to submit

Mobile: On-screen keyboard

Like the other comments, it took me a lot of losing to figure out that my return word is my choice. I kept trying to type a word I was being given, and wondering why I kept getting hints and stuff.

Fun way to waste 10 minutes, though! :) I like the 8-bit look and sound. Would be nice a little bigger!

I LOVE the style, but it's currently unplayably buggy!

* I type "hit" to serve (note: for consistency you should require ENTER on this word, too)

* Ball slowly travels, CPU returns it

* Return word appears

* I type the return word and press ENTER

* No matter what I do, once the ball gets close to my side, the "HINT" pops up and won't go away until I start typing the return word again

* Whether I type the word correctly or not, my guy fails to return the ball

Latest Firefox on MacOS.

Hope you get this sorted out -- it looks fun

I'm not sure if it's working right for me on Orion Version 1.0.3 (142), WebKit 624.1.2.19.2. I type my word, hit "Enter," and I still get the hint to press "Enter."

It would also probably be more effective to not change the mechanics between the starting hit and subsequent ones. Instead of automatically starting after typing "hit," the user should have to hit "Enter" as well.

Love the concept, but I couldn't figure out how to play. I can't hit the ball back even though I'm typing the right word. I keep getting a hint that says that I should type the return word and press enter, which I do, but nothing happens.

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Fun but too easy! Once you have understood it is up to you to give the return word, just type “exceptional” for every returns, the computer loses every time.

EDIT: After winning the second game it’s not as easy.

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