Puzzles

Puzzle Games

Puzzle games need a story

Characters and props must be part of the story

A single solution brings the player to a specific situation once the puzzle is solved

If the puzzle is too easy or too difficult then the player will lose interest and miss out on the story

Puzzles must be fair to the player – all information needed must be available tot he player

Puzzle Patterns Selective Encoding

Myst – Library of books in game actually help the player to learn about machines and puzzles – if ignored then its just looks like a library of books

Selective Comparison

Player finds a key shaped like a giant cotton swab, previously they find a cave entrance shaped like an ape with giant ears which the key can be used on to open the cave entrance

Selective Combination

Combining objects to create items e.g. To fix a machine in Indiana Jones (mainly point and click adventure games)

Knowledge Needed by player for puzzle games

Socio Cultural Activities Maths Physics Logic

Otherwise info needs to be provided in game

Puzzle Game Evaluation

Created list of various puzzle games and looked at game play and mechanics

Maths, Logic based games

Point and click adventure games use same mechanics (selective encoding, selective comparison mainly)

Similarities across all platformer puzzle games, some with more advanced mechanics

Maths and Logic

Brain training- Use of maths and logic- 9 types of puzzles

Professor Layton- Loosely tied to a plot- Maths, logic, slider puzzles, brain

teasers- GUI and Non GUI based puzzles

Point and click adventure

Indiana Jones series Monkey Island Series Broken Sword Murder Mystery Games Machinarium

- Very much story driven- Non repetitive scenery/levels- Mostly Logic puzzles involving items

2D Platformer Puzzle MechanicsBasics Simple movement, directions and

jump Actions to pull levers, activate

switches, timing jumps, picking up objects

Some Examples we looked at- Limbo- Super Karoshi- Abe’s Oddysee- Little Big Planet

More advanced mechanics

Time manipulation- Braid

Gravity and Physics- Limbo, Shift, VVVVVV, Sextinction,

e7,Portal, World of Goo

Multiple Characters to control with different abilities

- Lost Vikings, Lemmings, Abe’s Oddysee

Non standard puzzle games

Continuity- Platform game using sliders to move character and enable him

to reach locations and keys- Demo of game

Closure- Use a light source to navigate the platforms, if there is no light

platforms can disappear, can use to gain access through walls- Demo of game (see 1.05)

Max and the Magic Marker- Physics based objects drawn on screen to interact with the

environment and trigger actions- Demo of game