Add 30 adventure game design articles to resources directory
Articles downloaded via webfetch from: - Ron Gilbert (GrumpyGamer) - FilFre (Jim Chambers) - Game Developer (gamedeveloper.com) - Various adventure game design blogs and communities Includes index.md with descriptions for all saved resources. 5 URLs could not be fetched (rate limits, 403, 404).
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source: https://thehande.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/10-things-i-hate-about-adventure-games/
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10 Things I hate about adventure games – Hande's Blog
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# 10 Things I hate about adventure games
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[12Aug 201417 Jul 2017](https://thehande.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/10-things-i-hate-about-adventure-games/)
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[Add a comment](https://thehande.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/10-things-i-hate-about-adventure-games/#respond)
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[](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/smi.jpg)Adventure games are one of my favourite game genres, but despite their simplicity as games, they are susceptible to annoying design flaws and sins. In relation to the [10 Things I Hate About RPGs](https://thehande.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/10-things-i-hate-about-rpgs/ "10 Things I hate about RPGs"), I also wanted to show that even in genres of gaming which I like, I do recognise flaws and there are certainly things about these games that annoy me consistently.
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I am indeed planning on redoing my Top-10 Adventure Games list in the future, though I want to wait until **Broken Age Act 2** comes out because I see it as a potential candidate for that list. Once again, these entries are not in any specific order, but I've encountered them enough in adventure games for them to be worthy of mentioning. And while these problems are very common place, I also feel that they are all easily addressed and fixed, which is something you'll notice in most of the entries.
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But let's get on with this one…
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[](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/hints.gif)
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Not sure if the sign is subtle enough.
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## 1. Hint Systems
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This might seem odd to most people since you would think that Hint-systems would be an acceptable alternative to forcing a gamer to run to a walkthrough when they can't figure out a puzzle. And true, it's not the concept of Hint-systems that annoys me so much as how artificially they are now part of modern adventure games.
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Adventure games in their very nature offer plenty of opportunities for giving players clues to solving puzzles. You can either drop a hint directly through character dialogue or in the player character's description of an item. Or you can be even more subtle and use context clues, such as a cutscene or just by laying out other hints into the immediate surroundings of a puzzle. What I really don't like is a game where I have to artificially go to a different screen to read a hint given by the game.
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If you want to include a Hint-system, you should make it part of the game. A good example is Gabriel Knight 3, where the Hint-button (whenever active) triggers Grace into saying something which puts the player's thoughts in the right direction. This is the sort of a hint-system which I feel works the best.
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[](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/gk1_menu.png)
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They were going to include Larry's fly and the kitchen sink, but then there wouldn't have been any room for the lion.
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## 2. Overly complicated menu-bars
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This is mostly a problem with older adventure games. By the time of the late 1990s, most companies making adventure games realised that, at least point-and-click adventure games only needed two commands: observe and interact. There of course can be some minor nuances of those, but essentially most adventure game commands boil down to variations of the two.
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In earlier times, perhaps because the genre was seen as possibly developing to a more complex direction, you could be sure to find at least half a dozen commands. Simon the Sorcerer 2 is one such notorious example, where things like Use, Give and Wear are all separate commands and you may become easily confused if you forget that. I equally found the command-bar in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers to be irritating in this regard (on top of which the game had a very counter-intuitive inventory system).
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This answers a long-standing question: Is it possible to fuck up the controls of a point-and-click game? Yes. Yes it is.
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## [](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/just-shut-up.jpeg)3. Infinite dialogue loop & dialogue activated puzzles
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Talking to characters is actually one of my favourite things to do in adventure games. I especially love it when they have interesting stories or funny lines. It's really what brings the world of the game alive for me. Therefore, badly designed dialogue trees tend to get me really frustrated. A particularly annoying feature of adventure games is the infinite dialogue loop.
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This refers to a topic or line of dialogue you can feed to a character, which seems to always result in the same meaningless conversation to happen. This is particularly frustrating if the dialogue takes a long time to play out and if you clicked on that line of dialogue by accident. Where I think infinite dialogue loops are particularly infuriating is in games with dialogue activated puzzles. That is to say, a game where you need to talk to a character in order to know that something in the game is a puzzle for you to solve. In these instances, you're tempted to go through all dialogue options systematically, so you don't get stuck just because you forgot to talk about something with some character, and it's also when an infinite dialogue loop just starts to get on your nerves.
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More importantly, this problem has an easy fix which even many modern adventure games ignore for some reason which is the "I have nothing else left to say"-line. When you've expended all useful dialogue options, the game should just flat-out not let you talk to a character at all, since it helps you not waste time talking to someone you don't need to talk to.
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[](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/blender.jpg)4. Blending
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People often talk about pixel-hunting being a problem of adventure games, but the problem isn't hunting, it's a simple issue of layout and hot-spot placement. And some adventure games are really terrible with making important items stand-out in the background.
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Once again, I'll give an example from a good adventure game: Runaway: A Road Adventure. Pendulo Studios seemed to have a very bad habit of making every inventory item in the game blend perfectly with the background, to the point where you wouldn't even think you can interact with them. I'm sure there are some game designers who feel like they're belittling the player by making inventory items big. shiny and prominently placed – but honestly, I think it's just decent of a game designer not to actively trick the player.
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Also, item blending happens occasionally because the hot-spots for items are way too small for a casual pass over it with a cursor to pick up anything. This is another thing I wish adventure game designers would understand, the hot-spots can and should be fairly generous in girth. That's how you prevent people from missing items and prevent situations where gamers have to meticulously inspect every inch of every screen.
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## [](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/death.gif)5. Sudden Death
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Again, this is more of a problem with older adventure games, but it's still infuriating, unfair and generally just a terrible thing to have. I don't mind death as a possibility in an adventure game. But like with everything else on this list, I believe in giving the player fair warning that something bad might happen to them.
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Obviously, I'm referring to the old Sierra games. The first Leisure Suit Larry is actually a really fun game, but it's one of the prime examples of "One fuck-up and you die"-type of games. And in Larry's case, the things you can do to get killed are fairly innocent. All you have to do is wander off from in front of buildings to the side-streets (where you get mugged) or step off the sidewalk where you will instantly be driven over by a car (without any indication that it's actually something that can happen in the game).
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These types of deaths were of course designed to prolong the gaming experience. But I can say that when you manage to kill yourself trying to walk down a flight of stairs (King's Quest 4) it's hard to justify to yourself why you would endure such unwarranted punishment any longer.
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[](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/layout.jpg)
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## 6. Layout
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Item blending is one thing, but general layout is also a thing some adventure games seem to struggle with on a regular basis. 3D games have a little bit more wiggle room since moving camera-angles and such tend to reveal a lot more of the game area and you don't get tripped up by things you ignored as easily. 2D adventure games, however, run into this problem way too frequently.
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This refers back slightly to what I said about items blending into the background, but I would also assume that designers have the common sense of never placing important items off to the sides of a screen. Or if they do, they should know to plan out the layout of any location so that players will focus on the correct part of the screen. Layout is also important for things like mobility. I think it's just common sense to make moving around in adventure games (especially in ones which don't feature a run-button) fairly effortless and not too time-consuming. With the high amount of backtracking which is a part of most adventure games, it gets annoying if you need to go through way too many steps to get to an important location.
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If a player spends the vast majority of the game walking back and forth, rather than solving puzzles, I think you have done something wrong.
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## [](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/leap.gif)7. The Leap-of-Logic Puzzle
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This is still one of the most inexcusable design sins in adventure games. Here's an example: Say you come to a door which is locked. There's no other place for you to explore, so you know that this door needs to be unlocked. Naturally, you assume that you need possibly a key, a lock-pick or maybe some tool to force the door open.
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However, earlier in the game someone told you that there are magic doors which react to the smell of vegetables. This was an off-hand comment and maybe you didn't pay attention to it. But let's say you do remember it. You look over your inventory and realise that you have a carrot. So quite against your instincts you use the carrot on the door and it opens by itself. Now, were the player desperate enough, they might resort to clutching at straws (using everything on the door) to find an item that the door would react to and this would solve the puzzle. Yours truly hates this method and when I can't for the death of me think of a way to open the door, I check a walkthrough, have it tell me to use a carrot and I'm then left with the feeling of "How the hell was I supposed to figure that out?"
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This example isn't from any specific game, but it demonstrates the importance of a logic-trail when designing puzzles. The order of events here need to be: know about magic door – do a puzzle which rewards you a carrot – find the door – think about possible solutions for the door puzzle – remember the magic door and vegetables connection – use the carrot on the door. Leaving out that first step leaves all the other parts of the puzzle in shambles from which it becomes difficult or just flat-out impossible to figure out the game's internal logic. If you did miss that step, all you see is the carrot, the door and somehow you're supposed to make a "leap of logic" that carrots open doors.
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Incidentally, I'm not also a fan of "gimme" puzzles, where you receive an item to solve a puzzle later in the game even the purpose of which is not clear in the beginning.
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[](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/clueless.jpg)
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## 8. Context Clueless
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Even more infuriating than a leap-of-logic puzzle is a puzzle that doesn't let you know it is a puzzle. The feeling of not knowing what to do next is fairly normal in adventure games. You could argue that it's here where the "adventurous" side of you should take over and you start probing your surroundings for things to do and interact with. However, some games just don't do a good job of telling you, even after some probing, what is a puzzle and what's not.
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A good example is any puzzle that requires you to independently know to combine items in your inventory. Here is where for instance a well-placed line of dialogue from the main character would save a lot of time, saying something to the effect of "If I had a pen, I could write on this notepad", indicating and putting the thought in the player's head that they need to combine those items. Another infuriating aspect is when there's something you can interact with at a location, but there seems to be no obvious purpose to it. Then you realise that you have to know to combine something with said item, but if it's benevolent enough to seem irrelevant to your goals, you'll have basically ignored a puzzle right in front of you.
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This is why creating context clues is important, especially in games which give you multiple puzzles and goals to shoot for simultaneously. A context clue will always help you stay focused on the task at hand, until you finally get it.
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## [](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/confused-man.jpg)9. Whoa! What happened?
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This is more a story-writing and transition sin, but it happens frequently enough in adventure games to annoy me. Sometimes characters will suddenly move to a new location or a cutscene plays which places you somewhere and you have no idea why you're there in the first place. This leaves you with a sense of confusion when all of a sudden, you have no clear goal to shoot for.
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A game that definitely fell prey to this sin multiple times was Broken Sword: The Angel of Death, although the cluelessness of my goals was also partially because the over-arching story was so badly written. Certain parts of some Monkey Island instalments and even Full Throttle occasionally leave the player dazed and confused, but usually someone or something will give you some indication of what it is you're supposed to do. Probably the most frustrating this sort of game design ever got to me was in Runaway 2, where upon reaching snowy Alaska, you're distracted from your goals by having your tag-along eat some poisonous berries that make him go crazy and after that it's all up to you to figure out how to deal with the situation.
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This problem occasionally happens in games where you can tell that they were rushing to finish the story, but it still doesn't excuse anything. If nothing else, game designers should have the decency of adding an expositional line of dialogue to help keep the player on the map on what's going on.
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## [](https://thehande.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/remote.jpg)10. Unskippable and unpausable dialogue and cutscenes
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Finally, here's something that really gets on my nerves. Like I said, talking to characters is one of my favourite things to do in an adventure game, but sometimes reality butts in and you have to stop playing or you might get otherwise distracted. In these instances, it would be nice to be able to just pause the game by going to a menu or something like that so you wont miss anything. Unfortunately not all adventure games give you this option.
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I found it particularly annoying in Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon, where the cutscenes of characters talking could go on for quite a while and it frustrated me to know that I'd probably have to replay the game in order to see that scene again fully. But just generally, a universal pause button would be nice. For pre-rendered cut-scenes, I can understand that they can't be interrupted because of the technology behind them, but for the rest of these cases, pausing should be an option.
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Same goes for skipping dialogue. The unfortunate truth is that in many adventure games you end up examining the same things and talking to the same characters many times in a row. The end result is that you'll hear the characters repeat the same lines of dialogue over and over again. At some point you just want to put a stop to it and this is when unskippable dialogue becomes frustrating. Especially with games that have infinite dialogue loops (like Broken Sword 4) this becomes incredibly infuriating. The same way there needs to be a universal pause button in all adventure games, I also think there needs to be a skip button for dialogue and cutscenes (especially transitional ones).
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A quiet, pondering and leisurely pace is typical of most adventure games and I'm not saying that's bad. In fact, it's very much preferred in a game that requires quiet contemplation. However, if the game's pace is hindered by horrible decisions in puzzle activation, layout, blending or indeed forcing the player to watch certain cutscenes and dialogue sequences over and over again, then it's easy to see why a player would become annoyed and frustrated.
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# The 14 Deadly Sins of Graphic-Adventure Design (or, Why Ron Gilbert Hated Adventure Games) The Digital Antiquarian
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|
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- [Table of Contents](https://www.filfre.net/sitemap/)
|
||||
|
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[RSS](https://www.filfre.net/feed/rss/)
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[← A New Force in Games, Part 3: SCUMM](https://www.filfre.net/2015/07/a-new-force-in-games-part-3-scumm/)
|
||||
|
||||
[Splendid Isolation: Sierra at Mid-Decade →](https://www.filfre.net/2015/08/splendid-isolation-sierra-at-mid-decade/)
|
||||
|
||||
# The 14 Deadly Sins of Graphic-Adventure Design (or, Why Ron Gilbert Hated Adventure Games)
|
||||
|
||||
31 Jul
|
||||
|
||||
In addition to the obvious goals of making a hit game and not getting himself fired, one of Ron Gilbert’s implicit goals in making *Maniac Mansion* was to force a dialog about the sorry state of the nascent art of graphic-adventure design. Sadly, his message wouldn’t be terribly well-heeded by designers other than his own colleagues at Lucasfilm Games for quite some time. Indeed, I have a theory that there have been far more really bad adventure games created than bad examples of any other gaming genre over the years since Gilbert first tried to set the world on a better path. If that is indeed the case, the causes come largely down to two factors.
|
||||
|
||||
The first is that it's uniquely easy to make an unfair — i.e., a *bad* — adventure game. Adventures are built not from systems of rules that can clearly be whole or broken, fair or unfair to the player, but rather from reams and reams of hand-crafted content. A designer of a strategy or action game can play her own game to get a good idea of whether it works as it should. A designer of an adventure game, who knows all of the puzzles already, cannot. What separates a good puzzle from one that is too obscure? The only way to find out is to put it in front of people. Thus is adventure design, even more so than other forms of game design, hugely dependent on player feedback — the sort of feedback that's dangerously easy to dismiss or not solicit at all when the budget starts to go into the red and the calendar starts to slip and everyone just wants to be *done* with a project already.
|
||||
|
||||
The other factor also has to do with feedback, albeit of a slightly different kind, and applies more to graphic than to text adventures. The textual interactive-fiction community, the supposed "amateurs" of the adventure genre, have over the decades developed a rich body of [critical theory](http://www.lulu.com/shop/kevin-jackson-mead-and-j-robinson-wheeler/if-theory-reader/ebook/product-17551190.html) and [best practices](http://www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/info/Craft.Of.Adventure.txt) explaining how to do text adventures *right* (not that it's always followed). The critical dialog around graphic adventures, however, has sadly failed the sub-genre. I get so frustrated when I read reviews of adventure games that tell me that, yes, you'll probably need to play this one from a walkthrough, but it's a good game, really it is. No. Just no. Interactivity is the *point* of games, the thing that sets them apart from every other medium. Why should I play a game from a walkthrough when I can just go watch a movie or read a book? Occasionally there might be a broken game that shines so brightly or innovates so wildly in some other way that it's worth playing just to appreciate what it *tries* to be. Even here, though, that appreciation should be tempered with the understanding that what's being played is *still* a broken game — a *bad* game. It's just broken in more interesting ways than other bad games.
|
||||
|
||||
The failure of professional reviewers of the 1980s and 1990s to really address the many problems of the games they wrote about, regardless of the genres in question, isn't that hard to explain. Not only were the publications they wrote for usually supported by advertisements from the companies whose games they reviewed, but the typical reviewer was harried, given precious little time to cobble together an opinion before the next deadline when the hot new games just *had* to be inside the magazine to drive sales. Publications that required their reviewers to actually *finish* the games they wrote about were few and far between. These practical realities plagued the critical dialog around all of the gaming genres, but were, once again, almost uniquely problematic in the case of adventure games. Taken in the context of the mid-1980s, games like (for instance) those in Sierra's *King's Quest* and *Space Quest* series looked *great* at first blush, colorful and lively and full of possibility. It took more time than many reviewers were willing and/or able to devote to them to divine their tendency to confound and annoy the player who is earnestly playing them to win, to discern how rotten the game-design meat hidden under all of the audiovisual garnishing really is.
|
||||
|
||||
When we turn away from the professionals to look at the everyday players who continued to support the genre despite the constant abuses they suffered, the question of why so few adventure games ever seemed to get called out, to get punished for their bad designs becomes more fraught. It's honestly hard for me to imagine, but there apparently were fans of the genre who actually enjoyed what most people regarded as its most notorious pitfalls. Others were less enthused, but noted with resignation that "that's just how adventure games are," and were apparently more willing to lump it than to leave the genre behind. (For what it's worth, neither group ever included me. I can remember trying to play *Space Quest* circa 1988, getting stuck, finally tracking down a walkthrough — no easy task back then — and learning that my problem had been that I'd been standing at the wrong angle whilst examining my space capsule. I just knew right then that that was *bullshit*, and didn't play another Sierra game for years.)
|
||||
|
||||
The dialog amongst actual designers of graphic adventures has likewise been a historically parched one. Once again, this state of affairs is in marked contrast to the active, ever-questioning conversations that have marked practitioners of the art of text-adventure design for decades now. In the realm of the graphic adventure, bold considerations of the state of the sub-genre by its practitioners, like Ron Gilbert's own indelible ["Why Adventure Games Suck,"](http://grumpygamer.com/why_adventure_games_suck) have always been thin on the ground. The most thoughtful critical commentary has tended to come from people who dislike conventional adventure games on principle, such as [Chris Crawford](http://www.amazon.com/Chris-Crawford-Interactive-Storytelling-2nd/dp/0321864972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438327352&sr=8-1&keywords=chris+crawford+interactive+storytelling).
|
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|
||||
As someone who loves a good adventure game, whether done in text or graphics, maybe I can do my modest little something to change the way we talk about the form's graphical variant. It seems anyway that this is a good time to try, moving in this blog's timeline as we are into the late 1980s, when graphic adventures were steadily replacing the old text games in the world of commercial software. Because a concrete example is usually worth a thousand abstract words, I'm going to use as exemplars of all the things one shouldn't do in a graphic adventure two pieces of terrible design craft from 1986, the year before Ron Gilbert's frustration with the state of the art led him to try to show the industry a better way with *Maniac Mansion*.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/sq.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
*Space Quest,* *Chapter 1: The Sarien Encounter* was one of the first graphic adventures Sierra released that did not bear the *King's Quest* name. As the "Chapter 1" attests, the series was conceived from the beginning as the science-fiction parallel to [Roberta Williams's thriving fantasy franchise](/2013/07/the-unmaking-and-remaking-of-sierra-on-line). This first chapter, like those that followed, was written by Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy, a couple of Sierra staffers who knocked together a demo for a science-fiction comedy in their spare time that made Ken Williams laugh — always an excellent way to get him to green-light a project. You play a less than motivated space janitor whose ship gets attacked by aliens, forcing you to rush to an escape pod to get away to the nearest planet. Despite the obvious similarity of the premise to that of Infocom's [*Planetfall*](/2013/03/planetfall), Crowe and Murphy have always maintained that they weren't even aware of Steve Meretzky's game at the time that they wrote *Space Quest*. Its wit isn't quite as sharp as that of Meretzky, much less Douglas Adams, but it's silly and good-natured in its knowing stupidity, and if the game that houses it didn't persist in screwing you over all the time — we'll get to that shortly — it'd be quite a fun little romp.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/uninvited-alt.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
*Uninvited*, the second graphic adventure from ICOM Simulations, is a horror entry, a relatively underrepresented fictional genre in adventure games of its day. Its premise is as classic — not to say clichéd — as they come: you've wrecked your car on a deserted country road and stagger up to a creepy old mansion looking for help. Created by largely the same people who had made [*Déjà Vu*](https://www.filfre.net/2014/02/macware), it mixes, sometimes rather jarringly, an unsettling Gothic atmosphere with some of the sarcastic humor of that older game. But, as with *Space Quest*, I'd have little to really complain about if only this game's design wasn't more evil than the mansion that houses it.
|
||||
|
||||
I want to say something very clearly: *Space Quest* and *Uninvited* are bad games. This really does need to be stated just that baldly. Yes, they have their charms in the form of humor, graphics, atmosphere, even a fair number of puzzles each that *don't* suck, that could actually be fun to solve. Yet none of that matters in the face of one overriding reality: an adventure game that cannot be solved unaided, or for that matter that can be solved only through sheer doggedness and refusal to give in to tedium, is a bad game.
|
||||
|
||||
There's going to be a lot of snark in what follows directed at our two victims, at least one of which, *Space Quest*, is actually quite a beloved title amongst nostalgics of the genre. I'm not apologizing for this. These are bad games whose designers should and could have known better; they should have taken their craft more seriously before selling these things to the public for $35 or more a pop, and they could have found plenty of examples of better game designs to emulate if they'd just looked around. I do, however, want to emphasize that this doesn't mean that the folks who worked at Sierra or ICOM are bad people. John Williams of Sierra in particular has been a great friend of this blog, passing along all kinds of insights about the business of games in the 1980s and Sierra's place there, and I'm sure that most everyone else at both companies was just doing what seemed best to them. As always when I write criticism, it isn't personal.
|
||||
|
||||
So, with that said, let the snark begin.
|
||||
|
||||
## **The 14 Deadly Sins of Graphic-Adventure Design**
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**1. Making puzzles that aren't solvable through logic or even intuition, only through brute force.
|
||||
**
|
||||
|
||||
Bad puzzles — not *hard* puzzles, but *bad* puzzles — are *deadly* to a game. Even a single really bad puzzle spoils a game holistically because it means that the player can never *trust* the game again. Every puzzle that follows will be accompanied by the question of whether it's worth spending time on or whether it's just going to be something stupid again. I'm not saying that every player should always be able to solve every puzzle, but I am saying that recourse to the hints should be followed by a sigh and a nod of understanding, not a cry of "How was I supposed to figure that out?" or, even worse, "I've just 'solved' this puzzle and I still don't know what actually happened." An adventure game's puzzles can never be taken in isolation from either one another or from the rest of the design as a whole, meaning that an adventure can only be as good as its worst puzzle.
|
||||
|
||||
Note that I'm not saying that all adventure games should be easy. A difficult game, aimed at the hardcore, is as defensible a creative choice as any other. Still, a fact that all too many designers never grasp is that it's possible for a game to be hard as nails and yet also to be rigorously fair. (See, for instance, Infocom's *[Spellbreaker](/2014/05/spellbreaker)* in the realm of text adventures, or the *Myst* series in that of graphic adventures.) The conflation of difficulty with unfairness is perhaps the most persistent fallacy in adventure games. The tedious try-everything-on-everything-else mode of play to which it leads has dogged graphic adventures in particular for decades.
|
||||
|
||||
*Uninvited* is a notable offender here. There is for instance the ghost who's inexplicably afraid of spiders.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/u4.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/u5.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
A good adventure-game puzzle leaves the player feeling *smart*. A bad puzzle, even if solved unaided, just leaves her feeling *persistent*. That's a big difference.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**2. Cluttering up the game with so much junk that the player has no idea what to do with it all.**
|
||||
|
||||
The nonsensical puzzles in *Uninvited* are only compounded by the deadly combination of a limited player inventory and a huge number of takeable objects. Because so many puzzles just don't make any sense, you have no way of knowing which seemingly useless items amongst all of the innocuous clutter might actually be useful for something. Thus solving a puzzle like the one described above means not just trying everything you're *carrying* on the ghost but actually scurrying back and forth in shifts, each time with a new load of objects to try out.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**3. Killing the player constantly and without warning.**
|
||||
|
||||
Frequent, unforeshadowed deaths have always been such a hallmark of Sierra adventures that it almost seems pointless to discuss the subject much further in that context. It was of course this facet of the original *King's Quest* that first caused Ron Gilbert to decide that he "hated adventure games" and wanted to make a better one. Writing about *Space Quest* [on his blog](http://advgamer.blogspot.dk/2012/01/game-6-space-quest-i-hilarity-of-death.html), an adventure-game fan who calls himself The Trickster discusses the alleged "hilarity" of all of the constant death: "It's a credit to the developers that you not only happily restore and try again, but you do so with a big smile on your face." I must say that I'm not sure that most of the deaths strike me as all *that* hilarious, but that's as may be. You know what would *really* be a credit to the developers if the deaths truly are so intrinsic to their comedy vision? If they rewound the story each time you died to let you automatically continue instead of having to save every three minutes, that's what.
|
||||
|
||||
It's not often that anyone manages to out-Sierra Sierra in this department, but, astonishingly, *Uninvited* just about pulls it off. You encounter a ghost…
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/u2.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
…and this happens the next turn if you don't do the one arbitrary right thing — and no, trying to just back out of the room again won't save you.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/u3.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
You can expect to die and restore a few dozen times here alone before you figure out how to proceed, if you're even lucky enough to be carrying the item you need in the first place. If not, hope you have a recent save handy. How is this fun again?
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**4. Locking the player out of victory without her knowledge.**
|
||||
|
||||
This is perhaps the most problematic and arguable of these sins, in that it comes down to a question of degree and intention more so than any of the others. Many of the bad examples described elsewhere in this article can precipitate this sin as well, but it's a notoriously hard problem to work around even when a designer makes other, better choices. Virtually all adventure games of the 1980s, including even the best designs from the textual realm of Infocom, offered plenty of opportunities to lock yourself out of victory in the course of their normal interactivity. Those designs that strain the most mightily to make the walking-dead syndrome impossible, like the later adventures of Lucasfilm Games, are often forced to use contrived means that arguably sacrifice too much of that all-important illusion of freedom.
|
||||
|
||||
That said, I think we should reserve a special layer of Hell for those designs whose dead ends feel not just like byproducts of their puzzles and other interactive possibilities but rather intentional traps inserted in the name of… what, exactly? Increasing the length of the experience to make the player feel she got her money's worth? Well, I'm not sure most players will thank you. Both *Space Quest* and *Uninvited* are riddled with these sorts of pitfalls that seem to arise from sheer, egregious bloody-mindedness.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/sq_004.png)
|
||||
|
||||
Midway through *Space Quest*, for instance, you encounter a fellow who offers to buy your skimmer (yes, the Force is strong with this game). If you accept his offer, all seems well. The 30 buckazoids he gives you is enough to do the needful, and you can continue merrily on through the plot. Until, that is, you get all the way to the climax, where you gradually discover that you seem to be missing something vital. You needed to refuse his initial offer, holding out for a toss-in jetpack that's key to winning the game.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/u6.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
When you leave your wrecked car in *Uninvited*, the first scene you encounter is the "Front Yard" above. If amidst all the excitement you happen to neglect to look in the mailbox tucked away in the right side of the frame, that's it for you. As soon as you go inside, you become a walking dead, albeit of another stripe from the mansion's inhabitants: the front door locks behind you, rendering the front yard inaccessible forevermore. Many hours later, you might begin to realize that you missed something somewhere. Now, at first glance this may seem a relatively mild sin compared to the perverse intentionality of the *Space Quest* example above, a simple result of the interactive nature of adventure games. But think again. Why lock the door behind the player at all? After all, it's not as if you can actually go anywhere *else* from here. I can think of two reasons, one being that the designers just wanted to be cruel, the other that they thought it would be good for the atmosphere to be trapped inside the house, and never stopped to consider how this would impact the experience of actually playing the game. Neither does them much credit.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**5. Indulging in hunt-the-pixel.**
|
||||
|
||||
In some ways this sin wouldn't really come into its own until the 1990s, when screen resolutions increased enough and pixels thus became small enough that it was possible to hide that one fiddly little hotspot inside a detailed scene. Most of us with any experience at all with the sub-genre know and loathe what followed: endless bleary-eyed hours spent slowly painting the screen with the mouse, clicking everywhere. Sierra, still working as they were with their wonky arrow-key-and-parser-driven interface and blocky screens filled with primary colors, couldn't quite manage that delightful experience in the 1980s. But, never fear, they found other ways to make the player's life hell that were similar in spirit if not quite in detail.
|
||||
|
||||
After crash-landing in your escape capsule in *Space Quest*, you dutifully examine it. Nothing of note there. Right?
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/sq_000.png)
|
||||
|
||||
Wrong. You have to not just examine it, but be standing at just the *right position* whilst doing so. Then, you get this:
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/sq_007.png)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**6. Prioritizing the simulational over the experiential even when it spoils the game.**
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure games are not simulations. This fact seems fairly self-evident, yet it's amazing how many designers manage to forget it. *Space Quest* and *Uninvited* aren't about the real experience of a marooned space janitor or a marooned car-crash victim; they're [experiential gaming](/2011/07/the-rise-of-experiential-games) in one of its purest forms, ideally offering you interesting puzzles and other interactions in a highly artificial but very exciting, atmospheric environment. There's no need for elements like the timer in *Uninvited* that dutifully counts down the hours of the night and kills you if you haven't cracked the case when a certain number of them have passed. The game is perfectly capable of evoking the delicious tension of exploring a haunted house without actually needing to bring the hammer down — an event that only cheapens the atmosphere anyway in making the unseen horrors seen. Ditto the scant few real-time minutes you have to get off the spaceship at the beginning of *Space Quest*. One could instead escalate the tension via a narratological approach like that pioneered in Infocom's *[Ballyhoo](/2014/12/ballyhoo)*, emphasizing the player's sense of encroaching doom via little things that occur as she crosses certain milestones in her puzzle-solving and exploring. As it is, the hard timers are just one more annoyance to deal with, forcing her to replay yet again even once she's bypassed all the other pitfalls in order to optimize her path. It adds nothing to her experience.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**7. Actively misleading the player about what she needs to do.**
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/u1.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
At one point in *Uninvited* you come upon the scene above, of a grinning disembodied head blocking a passage. The description more than implies that it has something to tell you: "It bounces up and down as if trying to tell you something. However, you can't figure out what it's trying to say." Obviously the puzzle here must be to find a way to communicate. Obviously this creature must have some vital information for you. Right?
|
||||
|
||||
Well, no. It turns out that it's simply sitting on top of an item you need, nothing more. If you happen to be carrying a bird in a cage and fling it at the creature, it becomes "utterly fascinated" and "gives chase to eat it." Nothing anywhere indicates that it has any special fondness for birds, making this yet another example of a completely inexplicable puzzle solution (ref: Sin #1), but whatever. This puzzle destroys your experience as a player even more so than the usual crappy puzzle because, given *Uninvited*'s malicious glee in locking you out of victory as subtly as possible (ref: Sin #4), you're doomed to spend the rest of the game wondering what more you needed to do here before scaring the creature away. In reality, there's nothing else you can do — but you can't *know* that. And so that nagging worry will remain every time you come upon another puzzle, whether it be sensical or nonsensical, leaving you unable to trust that you aren't about to beat your head against a puzzle you rendered unsolvable hours ago.
|
||||
|
||||
I would guess that this puzzle was not intended to be as cruel as it is. I would further guess that the original puzzle *did* involve communicating with the creature in some way, that it was changed at some point late in the design, but the text was never updated. Possibly no one ever even thought about it. Still, neglect is no more forgivable than malice in game design. If anything, it only goes to illustrate even more what a slipshod development process this game had. If anyone — *anyone* — had ever really tried to *play* *Uninvited* before its release, it's hard to imagine how this could have gotten through.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**8. Making dynamic events that the player may never see essential to victory.**
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/sq_003.png)
|
||||
|
||||
In *Space Quest*, the wounded scientist you see above may stagger into your spaceship's library at the very beginning of the game to deliver a vital message. I say "may" because it's quite unpredictable when or even whether he will make an appearance. If you know he's coming, you can be sure to meet him by moving in and out of the room a few times and waiting around therein. If you don't, however, he's very easy to miss. This missed connection means that through no fault of your own you will get to spend hours playing through the rest of the game, only to arrive at the climax not understanding how to win and not understanding why you don't understand. Exactly these sorts of timing issues also made Sierra's *[Time Zone](https://www.filfre.net/2012/06/time-zone-tackling-the-monster/)* from four years before virtually insoluble. I can hardly express how dismaying it is to see Sierra still making these basic design blunders.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**9. Confusing diegetic and extra-diegetic functions.
|
||||
**
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/sq_005.png)
|
||||
|
||||
For some reason — maybe because the code was already written? — Sierra loved to put little gambling minigames into their adventures. The problem here is that gambling is obviously dictated by chance, and with a built-in advantage to the house at that, and thus the sums you need to earn require either an astronomical run of good luck or an endless, tedious cycle of saving after wins and restoring after losses. If Sierra must include these minigames — and they can actually be kind of fun in limited doses — why not have the game put a thumb on the scales when necessary to make sure you can't go bankrupt through no fault of your own and that you can always win the money you need to before the whole thing becomes unbearably boring? Far from doing you any such kindnesses, Sierra instead added a little poison pill to *Space Quest* just to make the experience extra ugly: if the slot machine comes up all death's heads, guess what happens (ref: Sin #3).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**10. Indulging in guess-the-verb.**
|
||||
|
||||
Just as hunt-the-pixel is confined to graphic adventures, you might think that guess-the-verb applies only to text adventures. You would, alas, be wrong. Both of our suspects today found a way to implement every text-adventure player's bête noire, each in its own way. *Space Quest*, like most Sierra adventures of this period, actually combines the mechanics of a graphic and a text adventure by including a primitive parser for issuing commands that leaves much to be desired, but does manage to shoehorn both hunt-the-pixel and guess-the-verb into the same game.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/u8.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
But the real star of the two in this department is *Uninvited*, which despite offering just eight clickable verbs to choose from still manages to confound and frustrate its player. You might think you need to "operate" the water taps in the bathroom, but, no, you have to "open" and "close" them. Later versions corrected this, proof that a) the difficulty arose from carelessness rather than malice and b) that no one had ever actually played *Uninvited* before it got released (I think we've heard both of these before).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**11. Requiring fiddly and arbitrary text inputs without clarifying what is needed.**
|
||||
|
||||
Again, you might think that this syndrome would be confined to text adventures. Again, you'd be wrong.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/u9.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
At one point in *Uninvited* you need to enter the combination to a safe. Trouble is, even once you think you've figured out what the combination should be you don't know what format the game expects. (It turns out to be XX-XX-XX, for anyone unwise enough to be playing along at home.) So, you're left to not only contend with piecing together three numbers from clues spread all over the game and then trying to guess their order, but you can never feel quite sure whether a rejected input was rejected because you actually had the wrong combination or because you didn't type it in using the exact format the game expects. Would it have killed the designers to allow a range of possible formats? And weren't graphic adventures supposed to get us beyond stuff like this?
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**12. Insulting your player, especially after you're the jerk who's just capriciously and unfairly killed her.**
|
||||
|
||||
This is my personal pet peeve.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/sq_008.png)
|
||||
|
||||
At the beginning of *Space Quest*, your ship is beset with marauding bands of space pirates who, if they catch up to you, shoot you down instantly. A message that "you hear footsteps" is the vital clue that you have a few seconds to seek cover, but often, if you're caught in the middle of an open room, there's just nowhere to go (ref: Sin #3). After it kills you, the game adds insult to injury via the charming message above. Screw you too, game. No, really. *Screw you.*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**13. Not paying any attention to any of the games anyone else is making.**
|
||||
|
||||
A quote from Ken Williams, co-founder of Sierra, upon being asked about his own reaction to Lucasfilm's *Maniac Mansion*:
|
||||
|
||||
> We were fairly phobic about playing or studying competitors' products. I refused to hire anyone who had worked at a competitor, and really didn't want our team focused on competitors' products. Sierra always tried to consider ourselves as leaders, and wanted to forge our own path into the world. I didn't want to fall into the trap of watching what competitors did and then releasing a "me too" product a year later. That's a formula for disaster.
|
||||
|
||||
Even leaving aside the vaguely passive-aggressive quality of these words, I'm rendered speechless. I found this attitude breathlessly wrong-headed back when [Scott Adams expressed it](/2014/03/this-tormented-business-part-3), and it doesn't sound any better coming from Ken Williams. What kind of work could one expect from a novelist who never reads novels? From a musician who never listens to music? In the case of games, what you can expect — from the companies helmed by Scott Adams and Ken Williams alike — is a stream of "products" that relentlessly continue to make the same mistakes over and over, blissfully unaware that others have demonstrated how to do it so much better. No one has a monopoly on good ideas, and to imagine that being culturally aware of the very creative form that you've chosen to make your career equates to becoming a follower rather than a leader is, to borrow from Ken, "a formula for disaster" in terms of good game design if not the commercial market. I've learned again so many times whilst researching for this blog how the best designers, the makers of the best *games*, are characterized by an openness to the world around them, a willingness to play and study "competitors' products" that's just the opposite of the sentiment expressed here, all in order to meld those ideas with their own to create a better whole. See, for instance, Sid Meier, who has always been very forthright about the huge debt his masterpiece [*Pirates!*](/2015/07/pirates) owes to Danielle Bunten Berry's innovative but not-quite-there-yet *[Seven Cities of Gold](/2013/08/seven-cities-of-gold)*. A creative form can't hope to develop without this sort of cultural dialog. This is simply how the culture of creativity *works*.
|
||||
|
||||
Small wonder, then, that so many Sierra games were so broken. It's a miracle that their track record wasn't worse. One of the most frustrating things about early graphic adventures is that most of the problems from which they suffered had already been encountered, discussed, and at least to some extent solved by Infocom. After all, graphic and text adventures share enough in common that all but one or two items on this list apply equally to both. Yet here were the graphic-adventure designers starting again from square one, doomed to repeat design mistakes due to their unwillingness to consider the lessons of a closely related sub-genre.
|
||||
|
||||
But then, the games industry has always fetishized technological developments at the expense of the fundamentals of good game design. One can't help but think here of Ken Williams's longstanding "ten-foot rule" — "If someone says WOW! when they see the screen from ten feet away, you have them sold." — a philosophy that neatly sums up everything good and bad about Sierra over the course of almost two decades as a leading light in adventure games. In an [extended 2007 conversation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBjUdnAt1GM) with Warren Spector, Richard Garriott of *Ultima* fame described how in his opinion the industry's obsession with the technology that goes into game-making serves as a continual reset button on the basics of game design.
|
||||
|
||||
> Each time you get one of those major technology influxes, the quality of the graphics goes way up but the gameplay goes back to the simplest again because the bells and whistles have become so much cooler that you don't need any depth. However, to compete with that [technologically pioneering title] you have to add depth, and to compete with that you have to add more depth, etc., until the next big technological advancement, when everything resets again back to that lowest common denominator of gameplay.
|
||||
|
||||
The arrival of marvelous new technologies for making graphic adventures — the ICOM engine, Sierra's AGI, Lucasfilm's SCUMM — served to blow away a growing library of design wisdom as if it had never existed, leading to games like *Space Quest* and *Uninvited* that tried to survive on the bells and whistles of their technological gimmicks alone. Back in the late 1980s, with the punters eager to show off the audiovisual capabilities of their new 16-bit machines, perhaps that was good enough. But in the context of today it certainly isn't, leaving us with nothing more than — one more time, with feeling — two really bad adventure games.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**14. Not soliciting player feedback.**
|
||||
|
||||
Not listening to your peers is one thing, but not listening to your own players is quite another. This is the deadliest sin of all, the most surefire way to make a bad adventure game.
|
||||
|
||||
The adventure genre is sometimes characterized as a contest between designer and player, but that's entirely the wrong way to look at it, for in such a contest the deck must always be hopelessly stacked in favor of the designer. It's simplicity itself to design an unwinnable adventure game: just include some necessary interaction that's so bizarre, so obscure that no player would ever try it. We as players are dependent on the designer's good-faith willingness to play fair with us, her ability to pose problems that are satisfyingly challenging but reasonable and solvable. That's a tough balance to find, one that can only be attained by putting a game in front of lots of eyes, getting lots and lots of player feedback. Testing is vital to any other form of game, but with adventures it can mean *everything*. A terrible adventure can become a great one following just a few weeks of testing. In no other genre is the line between success and failure so fine. Tell me whether and how much testing an adventure has received and I can generally tell you, right there and then, whether it's an adventure that's worth playing.
|
||||
|
||||
Sierra's testing process for *Space Quest* can be summed up easily: there wasn't one. No, really. It wasn't until 1987's *Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards* that Sierra started putting their games through a testing period. Even afterward, testing was too often shortened or dropped when market pressures demanded. I don't have the same specific knowledge of ICOM, but given *Uninvited*'s constant crimes against its player I'd be shocked to learn that they bothered to collect any feedback at all on it.
|
||||
|
||||
Much as I hate to always be using Infocom as a bludgeon with which to beat Sierra and others, I have to make note of the huge contrast between Sierra on the one hand and Infocom on the other when it comes to testing. Infocom had by far the most extensive and serious testing program in the industry. By 1985 their internal testing department numbered around ten employees, who would spend many hours each with each new game. This would be followed by two rounds of outside testing involving a total of about fifteen to twenty loyal Infocom customers. Sierra, in contrast, did… nothing. This meant that they had no idea how people were actually experiencing the games they made. Sierra's technology was looking pretty snazzy by the late 1980s, Infocom's (at least at first glance) pretty moldy, but can you guess which company made better games?
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
(The first three *Space Quest* games — and, in another package, the last three — can be purchased [from GOG.com](http://www.gog.com/game/space_quest_1_2_3). *Uninvited* is available [on Steam](http://store.steampowered.com/app/343810/).)
|
||||
|
||||
[118 Comments](https://www.filfre.net/2015/07/the-14-deadly-sins-of-graphic-adventure-design/#comments)
|
||||
|
||||
Posted by [Jimmy Maher](https://www.filfre.net/author/jimmy-maher/ "Posts by Jimmy Maher") on July 31, 2015 in [Digital Antiquaria](https://www.filfre.net/category/digital-antiquaria/), [Interactive Fiction](https://www.filfre.net/category/interactive-fiction/)
|
||||
|
||||
Tags: [icom](https://www.filfre.net/tag/icom/?order=asc), [sierra](https://www.filfre.net/tag/sierra/?order=asc), [space quest](https://www.filfre.net/tag/space-quest/?order=asc), [uninvited](https://www.filfre.net/tag/uninvited/?order=asc)
|
||||
45
src/resources/adventure-game-puzzles-unlocking-secrets.md
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src/resources/adventure-game-puzzles-unlocking-secrets.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/features/423/
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Adventure game puzzles: unlocking the secrets of puzzle design
|
||||
|
||||
For a lot of games, you can figure out most of what you need to know about them from simply looking at an in-game screenshot or watching a gameplay trailer. With a quick glance at the head-up display and the quality of the graphics, you can get a good sense of what kind of monster killing mayhem you will be engaging in.
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure games are different—in that the core features of gameplay cannot be effectively evaluated without actually playing it or giving so many details away as to detract from the experience of playing the game. In many respects, the quality of an adventure game depends upon the quality of its puzzles, whether they are ingenious and rewarding or just frustratingly illogical.
|
||||
|
||||
In this article, I will be taking a closer look at the various types of adventure game puzzles, how they relate to the gameplay, and even how some of these basic forms relate to other game genres.
|
||||
|
||||
A point that Ron Gilbert, co-creator of Monkey Island, has made about adventure game design is that for most puzzles the player should be presented with a problem before the solution is apparent. Rather than wandering around with a bucket of water in your pocket and waiting for a puzzle to present itself that could conceivably allow for its use, you should see the raging fire first and then start looking for possible solutions, rather than idly looking for possible problems. In other words, you should see the lock before the key.
|
||||
|
||||
# Self-Contained Puzzles
|
||||
|
||||
Self-contained puzzles can be categorized into 3 types: interaction puzzles, mini-game puzzles, and riddle puzzles.
|
||||
|
||||
**Interaction puzzles** are puzzles that can be solved simply by interacting with an object in the game with a verb that dictates an action. This may involve recognizing that an object could be useful and picking it up, or an act as simple as opening a door, pushing a rock out of the way, or performing any action that the player is capable of doing with the game's basic commands.
|
||||
|
||||
**Mini-game puzzles** are a step above interaction puzzles in complexity. Rather than involving a single basic interaction, they generally require arranging a bunch of elements into a particular configuration or performing some set of actions in sequence. Examples include solving sliding tile puzzles, connecting pieces of a circuit to form a complete path, or arranging a set of books in alphabetical order.
|
||||
|
||||
A common criticism that has been leveled against this type of puzzle is that since it does not interact with the player's inventory or the rest of the game world, it can feel like an unnecessary lengthening of gameplay.
|
||||
|
||||
**Riddle puzzles** are puzzles in which you are expected to provide a particular answer based upon clues presented. What starts out on 4 legs, then goes around on 2, and then travels on 3 legs? If your answer is "man", then you have just solved a classic example of riddle puzzles dating back to Oedipus Rex.
|
||||
|
||||
# "Key" Puzzles
|
||||
|
||||
"Key" puzzles, by contrast, are puzzles that require some external help and can be categorized into 3 types: inventory puzzles, pattern puzzles, and implicit information puzzles.
|
||||
|
||||
**Inventory puzzles** are a longstanding staple in adventure games—an approach to puzzle play that rewards the player for being an obsessive packrat and devotedly trying to mash every pair of items in the game together in the hopes they will unlock a hidden use. This type of puzzle depends upon the player having the right inventory item in possession, so that it may be used on the correct person or object in the environment.
|
||||
|
||||
**Pattern puzzles** are puzzles that depend upon the player obtaining a key piece of information which makes the puzzle solvable. An example is figuring out the password to a safe by finding it written in a desk drawer, or learning the correct configuration to a circuit by finding a blueprint.
|
||||
|
||||
**Implicit information puzzles** can be seen as an alternative to pattern puzzles, where the information received is communicated by the player's character rather than the player. With pattern puzzles, if a player happens to have played the game before and knows the combination to a safe, the player may be able to crack it immediately. However, if the game chooses to represent the safecracking as an example of implicit information puzzles, then solving the puzzle depends upon the player taking the necessary steps to make the player's character aware of the answer.
|
||||
|
||||
# Analysis of Puzzle Solving
|
||||
|
||||
An interesting point to note is that whereas mini-game puzzles and pattern puzzles often have to be completely logical so that they can have an unambiguous solution or arrangement, riddle puzzles, inventory puzzles, and implicit information puzzles can all be prone to leaps of illogic or tortured reasoning. When done well, however, they can be a welcome creative break by involving some lateral rather than linear thinking.
|
||||
|
||||
Even among adventure games there is significant variety in the types of puzzles represented. The Myst series of games relies almost exclusively on mini-game puzzles and pattern puzzles, with only a few rare instances where the player has to carry and use an item to progress. In contrast, most adventure games from LucasArts and Sierra get the most mileage out of inventory puzzles.
|
||||
|
||||
The types of puzzles included greatly affect how the player is expected to play the game—the original Myst comes with a notebook to help the player keep track all of the necessary information to find the solutions to the game's many pattern puzzles. Games that make heavy use of inventory puzzles have to take special care to manage the "bag of tricks" the player has at disposal for solving the puzzles.
|
||||
|
||||
Puzzle solving in all of its various forms is probably as old as games themselves. Rather than making strategic choices, testing reflexes in real-time, or engaging in competitive activities, the challenge is to come up with a precise solution. Taken in the most abstract terms, the solution can be self-evident and obtained independently from the game world, or it can depend upon the player utilizing information, explicitly managed items, or implicitly managed information.
|
||||
43
src/resources/adventure-puzzle-design-stanislav-costiuc.md
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43
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|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://stanislavcostiuc.com/2014/05/05/adventure-puzzle-design/
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Adventure Puzzle Design
|
||||
|
||||
Writing recently about A New Beginning, I thought it would be a nice time to talk about adventure game puzzle design, and just adventure game design in general. Puzzle design in traditional & click adventure games is arguably one of the weirdest facets of Game Design. For the most part you're not really designing actual puzzles, more like situations that require some sort of a logical solution. And the 'logical' part can be problematic.
|
||||
|
||||
Let's say you have to go through a door that has an important item. You can't just place a door and allow the player to go through it. So it's locked. How do you open it? Well, the most obvious conclusion is that there is a key hidden to it somewhere.
|
||||
|
||||
Maybe it's under a rug by the door, but that's too anti-climactic and easy to figure out. Maybe the owner of the door hides it in a pot in one of the cupboards. Now this is a little bit trickier. Or maybe, there is no key (or at least there is no way to access it for some reason). Lockpick? Maybe. Where do we get one? Do we improvise or get an actual lockpick? These are the thoughts that go through your head as a designer, you want to brain tease a player.
|
||||
|
||||
# The Danger of Non-Sensical Solutions
|
||||
|
||||
But in an effort to make puzzles more interesting, one should always be wary of the danger of them getting absolutely non-sensical. The solution to opening the door could be punching a bum in the face to get a tooth out of him which we then dip into honey and wrap with a metal string which we attach a gum to and then put it through the lock of the door, not forgetting to take the hairbrush which will be used to rotate the improvised 'key'. This may seem ridiculous, but there have been quite a few of adventure games with similar puzzles, some making less sense than others. Have you heard of Gabriel Knight 3? It's got one of the most infamous adventure game puzzles ever due to the amount of logic being equal to zero.
|
||||
|
||||
# The Importance of Internal Logic
|
||||
|
||||
Though when it comes to logic, it's kind of subjective. People think differently after all. So it's very important to set-up an internal logic to the game, even if it is set in the real world. So that whole thing with the tooth opening a lock to the door? It's not as bad if we, for example, saw the bum open up a door using one of his teeth, or something like that. Still seems ridiculous out of context, but the point is, it's context that matters. If you show the array of possible actions without directly revealing the solution, then you've got on your hand an answer which can be logically deduced. The deduction part is very important.
|
||||
|
||||
# Inception Principle
|
||||
|
||||
In the movie Inception, there are two tasks that are able to be done in the minds/dream of the subject – extraction and inception. Extraction is stealing ideas, inception is planting them in. The goal of an adventure game designer is to perform inception on its players. If the player has to perform extraction from the designer's mind – that's bad. Trying to guess, using every item on every item, thinking about why a certain thing is in the game because it most likely would not have been there had it not been important, those are all 'extraction' actions. As a designer you have to put hints, to make the player, paraphrasing a quote from the movie, conceive a thought about the elephant themselves.
|
||||
|
||||
# What I Miss and Don't Miss
|
||||
|
||||
On a side note. There are a lot of things that I don't miss from adventure games of old. I don't miss dead ends, for example. Not being able to complete a game because you forgot to check a locker at the very beginning of the game is not good design. But what I do miss is alternative puzzle solutions. Sierra's old adventure games usually had two solutions to most puzzles. I feel this is very important as it opens up a broader range of possibilities for the player (on the other hand, it's more costly for the developer). But it's important for the designer as well, as thinking in terms of alternative solutions allows you to look at a problem from different perspectives and weed out the non-sense that may plague your design.
|
||||
|
||||
# The Danger of Padding
|
||||
|
||||
Another danger of adventure design is padding. Adventure games are usually very story-heavy, so in this door example, there is a danger of adding stuff that doesn't have anything to do with the plot at all. Let's say to get a lockpick for the door we're introduced to a thief character who doesn't play any role in the main plot, and we go to locations that are there just to get a way to open that single door.
|
||||
|
||||
# Mechanics and Narrative
|
||||
|
||||
I've always felt that game mechanics and game narrative should play off each other, but this is especially true for point & click adventure games – since the mechanics are so simple that gameplay (and puzzles) pretty much derives from the narrative. I think the Blackwell Legacy series does this very, very well. Probably the most wonderfully designed adventure games of late. They do a wonderful job of providing a bunch of different, and seemingly disconnected, situations (which brings variety) that then are tied up neatly together.
|
||||
|
||||
# Keeping Players Active
|
||||
|
||||
Let's face it, adventure games, at least the traditional point & click variation (a game like The Walking Dead by TellTale is a much more active type of adventure genre) are very passive. Lots of dialogue, lots of examining rooms, and all that stuff. You've got to give agency to the player.
|
||||
|
||||
Don't start a five minute conversation – keep dialogues to short informative (and character defining) boosts and allow to change topics or leave the dialogue entirely when the player wants to. Keep non-interactive cutscenes to a minimum, use them to set-up events/situations and convey important events. Let the player explore as soon as possible. Respect the player's time – don't hotspot absolutely irrelevant or not interesting objects. Allow him to change the pace if he wants to – quick travel or dialogue skipping.
|
||||
|
||||
Keep the player active, engaged. A wonderful story with amazing characters is not enough for an adventure game if the 'game' part itself is not up to par.
|
||||
54
src/resources/death-of-adventure-games-part-1.md
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54
src/resources/death-of-adventure-games-part-1.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://genesistemple.com/the-death-of-adventure-games-part-1-dead-and-buried
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# The Death and Rebirth of Adventure Games - Part 1: Dead and Buried
|
||||
|
||||
Apparently, much has been said about the death of adventure games, so much so that it's become a stereotype. In my teenage years, adventure games were my favourite genre. While I did play many other games, every time I knew about the release of an adventure game, I would make sure to track it down and play. This for two critical reasons: they offered the better writing in the industry and, naturally, characters and story always came first.
|
||||
|
||||
I was more than willing to stomach dead ends and antique game design to enjoy a bit of good story, but that did not mean I liked everything I played, obviously. Unfortunately, when everyone jumped into adventure game development as a quick way of making a buck, the quality of the writing started to drop. This became especially evident around the mid 90s when Full Motion Videos were the new big thing and development studios thought that hiring real actors was just the right way to make a game fly off the shelves.
|
||||
|
||||
# The FMV Era
|
||||
|
||||
Many adventures of the time had very little gameplay to speak of. Simple puzzles or, even worse, complicated puzzles just for the sake of proloning the experience, was the main thing on offer. Games were also becoming quite a bit shorter since, obviously, filming was rather expensive. The FMV era brought us such gems as Ripper (Christopher Walken reading cue cards), Phantasmagoria (which had its charms as b-movie horror) and, of course, Harvester.
|
||||
|
||||
# The 3D Revolution
|
||||
|
||||
When the FMV era came to an end, by the mid 90s, because people just had enough of real life actors, game companies had a great idea: virtual actors. Indeed, the big 3D revolution was just around the corner.
|
||||
|
||||
With the millennium coming to a close, it seemed like everyone had found a solution, even real time strategy managed to, somehow, survive. Well, everyone except… adventure games. Developers found that, apparently, no one wanted to play a slow-paced, verbose game. With people demanding excitement and action sequences, publishers just started turning down everything that resembled a point and click.
|
||||
|
||||
As 2003 rolled in, the point and click genre seemed to be dead and buried.
|
||||
|
||||
# What Were They Doing?
|
||||
|
||||
**Lucasarts** - In 2000 Lucasarts released the last chapter of the celebrated Monkey Island series, Escape from Monkey Island, arguably the weakest out of the original saga. It would end up being their last adventure game. Ron Gilbert, designer of Monkey Island who had left years before, provided satirical insights on the state of things at the time on his Grumpy Gamer blog: "for developers, making an adventure game was like going around saying you have the plague". Tim Schafer – designer of Full Throttle and Grim Fandango – left in 2004 and went on to found Double Fine.
|
||||
|
||||
**Sierra** - Sierra went through radical management changes in the late 90s. The last titles in the King's Quest and Quest for Glory series were both released in 1998, with little acclaim by fans. It was especially King's Quest: Mask of Eternity to be quite criticized by fans and critics, because of how it tried embracing the 3D action adventure genre with questionable results. By 2000, Sierra, as most gamers have grown to know it, had basically ceased to exist.
|
||||
|
||||
**Revolution Software** - Revolution Software, developers of the Broken Sword series, released their first game in 3D, In Cold Blood, in 2000. The team persevered, releasing Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon in 2003.
|
||||
|
||||
# The Moustache That Killed the Cat
|
||||
|
||||
There have been years of discussion on what exactly cause the "death" of adventure games. While 3D graphics were surely a big change, especially in how quickly they changed the public' tastes, they were not the only cause. Overall, it is not really fair to blame graphics for the downfall of adventure games. Many fans of the genre had seen the writing on the wall even before 3D: the genre had been choking on itself for a while.
|
||||
|
||||
Most articles love to quote the infamous "cat moustache hair" puzzle in GK3 as a clear sign adventure games jumping the shark. In order to rent a motorcycle, Gabriel Knight has to disguise himself as his friend Mosley. To do that, Gabriel needs to steal Mosley's ID, wear a hat, a jacket and a fake moustache made of cat hair.
|
||||
|
||||
Still focusing too much on Gabriel Knight 3 would mean missing the point entirely. Adventure games had been guilty of such illogical conundrums since day one. Other famous examples of moon logic:
|
||||
|
||||
- In Full Throttle you had to kick a wall in a specific point with perfect timing to open a door
|
||||
- In The Longest Journey you had to get a key stuck on the electrified train tracks, for no apparent reason whatsoever
|
||||
- In Runaway, combining peanuts and butter and then leaving them in the sun to melt, you create peanut butter
|
||||
- In Grim Fandango, you have to get a suitcase from a hidden floor and have to drive a forklift inside an elevator WHILE the elevator is moving
|
||||
|
||||
# Hidden Items, Clear Frustration
|
||||
|
||||
Pixel hunting is another design sin exclusively related to adventure games. Many adventures, especially ones from Sierra, had fantastic hand drawn background art, thus each location could be as big as the developers wanted. But still, the one thing on the designer's mind seemed to be: how many items can I hide inside this drawing to make the player cry out in desperation?
|
||||
|
||||
Obviously, the interface never clearly indicated what items could be picked up so, most times, you had to scout every single screen in the hopes you had left something somewhere.
|
||||
|
||||
This goes hand in hand with "try everything with everything", since the games would hardly provide clues. Any adventure gamer would probably start to squirm if, by the end of the game, there were still unused items. Had something been missed? Do I have to restart the game all over again?
|
||||
|
||||
# Death is Not the End
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure games were the only genre that never really did listen to the players' complaints and desires. The death of adventure games was self-inflicted, that part we can all agree with.
|
||||
265
src/resources/death-rebirth-adventure-games-part-3.md
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265
src/resources/death-rebirth-adventure-games-part-3.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://genesistemple.com/the-death-and-rebirth-of-adventure-games-part-3-false-hopes-and-promises
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Death and Rebirth of Adventure Games - part 3 - False hopes and promises - The Genesis Temple
|
||||
======
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[Skip to content](#content)
|
||||
|
||||
The Genesis Temple
|
||||
|
||||
Video game Design & Gaming History
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://genesistemple.com/)
|
||||
|
||||
- [Home](https://genesistemple.com/)
|
||||
- [Game Design Vault](https://genesistemple.com/category/game-design-vault)
|
||||
- [History of Videogames](https://genesistemple.com/category/history-videogames)
|
||||
- [Modern gaming](https://genesistemple.com/category/modern-gaming-design)
|
||||
- [Interviews and small talks](https://genesistemple.com/category/small-talks)
|
||||
- [About](https://genesistemple.com/about-the-genesis-temple)
|
||||
- [](https://genesistemple.com/the-death-and-rebirth-of-adventure-games-part-3-false-hopes-and-promises)
|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
- [Home](https://genesistemple.com/)
|
||||
- [Game Design Vault](https://genesistemple.com/category/game-design-vault)
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[Apr42020](https://genesistemple.com/2020/04/04 "12:08 pm")
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[History of Videogames](https://genesistemple.com/category/history-videogames)
|
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|
||||
We've seen how adventure gaming struggled to survive after 2000, bouncing back after some lackluster years. The message was clear: the adventure gaming market was dedicated only to titles developed in 3D and console-friendly. Apparently old school point'n'click 2D had irremediably lost its marketability.
|
||||
The Walking Dead series from TellTale and the success of Quantic Dream with Heavy Rain had created a new generation of fans of adventure games, who just wanted to sit and enjoy a story and characters and didn't mind limited interactivity and simple puzzles.
|
||||
This of course brought all kinds of frustration to old school adventure fans, they wanted a new "Sierra" that rounded up talented developers or, at least, a new title in the style of Lucasarts.
|
||||
Naturally we know that several former Lucas developers had joined TellTale but they were making those same "useless" episodic adventures in 3D. Of all the nerve!
|
||||
Where was the saviour that would bring back good ol' 2D adventure gaming?
|
||||
It soon became obvious we fans had to make the Wicker Man ourselves.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Beware the nostalgia you cannot see
|
||||
|
||||
During that wave of unsatisfied nostalgic longing, hopes for the rebirth of the "classic" adventure genre sprung up **when the "Double Fine adventure" Kickstarter was launched in 2012**.
|
||||
Kickstarter was a site that offered projects a chance to launch a public campaign to ask for money by "backers", anything could be funded: videogames, t-shirts, gaming consoles, portable expresso machines, etc.
|
||||
**"Bring back the adventure**" was the motto of the Double Fine campaign. Tim Schafer, designer of Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, promised his backers to work on an old style 2D adventure game, since the general market wasn't interested.
|
||||
Many publishers indeed pricked up their ears when **the project racked up a staggering 3.45 million dollars**, from an original request of 40K (considered by Schafer the minimum to develop a commercial game), one of the most successful Kickstarter projects ever.
|
||||
The idea to bring back the 2D adventures we've all "groan" to love sounded awesome and, since an original Lucasarts game designer was involved, **everyone knew it was gonna be EPIC**. Double Fine was also riding high on the critical success of Psychonauts, proof of their ability at developing a unique and original title.
|
||||
The Double Fine Adventure seemed like the perfect meal to satisfy our nostalgic appetites, **it would have been the rebirth of the genre as we knew it**.
|
||||
Looking back eight years later, all I see is **ANOTHER nail in the coffin for the traditional adventure genre** and a perfect cautionary tale for the medium as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
#### Shut up and take my money
|
||||
|
||||
Reading between the lines of the original Kickstarter text, it'd soon become clear that it was little more than an elevator pitch. Perfectly good intentions, very few ideas. No wonder **Schafer was caught off guard by the staggering success of his Kickstarter project**. He just wanted some money to make a straightforward old style 2d point'n'click; when things turned out more complicated than that, he had no idea what to do.
|
||||
He **promised the excess funding would go towards "better production values"**, even though really the one thing most adventure gaming fans, especially old school ones, **DON'T care** about are modern graphics or an orchestrated soundtrack.
|
||||
**Poor planning, lack of ideas and an excessive amount of money** soon got in the way of what could have been heralded as the second coming of 2D point'n'click adventures.
|
||||
The **3 million dollars turned out to be not enough** (!) and **Double Fine was forced to split the game in two.** They hurriedly release a morsel of the game on Steam early access, just to rack up more money and continue development.
|
||||
The first part (not the first half, mind you) of the game was released in early 2014 and, honestly, **it is pretty good, both storywise and gameplaywise**, even though just 3-4 hours long. The graphics have a pretty pastel style that make them look to be hand drawn, even though I'm not especially crazy about the character design.
|
||||
The definitive title had been revealed in 2013 to be "Broken Age". The game stars two characters, Shay and Vella, and their stories juxtaposed, along with many mysteries that prop up during the first part of their quirky adventures. Beside an anticipation of the interesting plot, many found **the puzzles to be too easy**.
|
||||
|
||||
Then 2014 ended with the second part nowhere in sight.
|
||||
|
||||
#### I'd buy that for six million dollars!
|
||||
|
||||
Broken Age ended up costing **six million dollars**, with two coming directly from the studio's own budget, a rob Peter to pay Paul situation, basically. As a reference, the original budget for Full Throttle was 1.5 million dollars (in 1995, sure, but still…).
|
||||
I don't know how Schafer usually approaches writing a story, but the one he took for Broken Age definitely left something to be desired. The development team worked a full year on the graphical side of the game, while **ideas for the story were few and far between**.
|
||||
Apparently Schafer finally finished writing in October of 2014; indeed, the game wasn't written as a single story but as two separated ones. Unfortunately, it very much shows.
|
||||
The second part was delayed in order for Double Fine to keep their promise of converting the title for all platforms**.** **Releasing the game on every console known to man didn't appear to make much sense**, considering the original idea was for the game to be "traditional". It was possibly a last attempt to try to and at least get some money back, since already by 2013 it dawned on most backers that Double Fine had screwed the pooch. I still have a Broken Age code for Ouya (another [Kickstarter darling](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTqhyHuKVKA)), hit me up if you, for some reason, need one.
|
||||
In April of 2015, a full year after the first, the second part, the remaining 10-12 hours of game, was finally released.
|
||||
**Broken Age ended up being one of the biggest punches in the gut I remember in my not-so-short career as a gamer**.
|
||||
There are articles around that state the delay was useful so that "Double Fine was able to use feedback from the first act's release to improve and alter some aspects of the second."
|
||||
**A textbook definition of irony if I ever read one**, since anything remotely good about Broken Age's first part was thrown in the garbage.
|
||||
**Part 2 indeed manages to answer every question, unfortunately it does so with half-hearted expositions and contrived answers, leaving massive plot holes.**
|
||||
|
||||
#### Broken Age, broken heart, when the two will have to part
|
||||
|
||||
What interesting characters established in the first part, thrown away, their motivations changed so that **Double Fine could forcibly extend the game's length with a series of baffling plot choices** (I can't bring myself to write "plot twists") and horrendously complicated puzzles. Above all, the worst one I remember was the "take the icing off the cake" puzzle, with Shay refusing to do so for no apparent reason, a puzzle which really harkens back to the worst Sierra of the 90s.
|
||||
But hey, illogical and frustrating puzzles were the bread and butter of traditional adventure gaming, so maybe they got me there!
|
||||
Worst of all, **the last half hour of the game hurriedly introduces the "real enemy"**, unknown to the player up until that point, then concludes with a quick lightweight ending that carries no real meaning or moral message.
|
||||
As I was one of the highest tier backers, **I gave DoubleFine something like 120$**, the highest amount I ever paid for a game, before and after that. I received the big carton box release for PC, five years after I backed the game. Yeah, FIVE.
|
||||
I sold it a couple of weeks later.
|
||||
I know game development is not easy, accidents may happen and delays are the soup du jour. But what hit me the most weren't the delays, but how Broken Age didn't feel traditional at all: instead felt **forced, contrived, the product of someone that just wanted to get the job done** and not look back at it ever again.
|
||||
What's more is that Part one felt naturally good, exactly like I expected the game to feel. Then the second one was like being shoved from Heaven directly into the bowels of hell.
|
||||
What should have been a joyous reunion of old friends, instead was like having dinner with the one aunt you could never stand.
|
||||
**The less said about Broken Age being the second big bang for classic adventure gaming, the better**. All Broken Age managed to show the world was why traditional 2D point'n'clicks couldn't work anymore on modern platforms.
|
||||
Tim Schafer hasn't worked on an adventure game since then and, my guess is, probably he never will again.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
#### You break it, you (don't) buy it.
|
||||
|
||||
Except **this time, the genre wasn't to blame.**
|
||||
Kickstarter was another platform where promises only went so far and did not guarantee the backer anything, stories of failed launches are [a dime a dozen](https://www.thegamer.com/failure-to-launch-the-15-biggest-kickstarter-fails/).
|
||||
Still that didn't rule out its usefulness as a venture for other adventure developers to **fund less expensive but, arguably, more inspired** **projects**. Many nostalgic titles saw the light of day thanks to public funding: Revolution Software used it to develop the perfectly playable Broken Sword – The Serpent's Curse, along with Jane Jensen bringing back the Gabriel Knight flavoured adventure with [the disastrous Moebius](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/04/15/moebius-review/). Larry Laffer also came back to life in a **remake of the first Leisure suit Larry** title, with the collaboration of original author Al Lowe, while the two guys from Andromeda **brought back Space Quest**.
|
||||
Most dear to me, **Corey and Lori Ann Cole released a new title in the spirit of my beloved Quest for Glory: Hero's U – Rogue to Redemption**. Even though I didn't really appreciate the tight confines you're playing in – the university for heroes – it embodies the original Quest for Glory spirit, bad puns and all, nice to see it back in full form.
|
||||
Fortunately Double Fine, while doing great harm to the dream, didn't succeed in killing it for good.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Daedalic Entertainment – all hail the hero of resistance
|
||||
|
||||
Beyond nostalgic projects, there was something more for fans to find a bit of consolation. Founded in Germany in 2007, **Daedalic was created with the precise objective to develop and publish strictly 2D point'n'click adventure games**. It soon became clear that Daedalic was really dedicated and had the talent to bring to the public some interesting adventures like the **Edna & Harvey, Deponia and the rather unique Dark Eye series**.
|
||||
Most of their games featured mature themes intertwined with detailed 2D graphics, traditional point'n'click gameplay without the need for illogical puzzles, with beautiful graphics and polished dubbing. All of this **without dumping buckets of money on 3D engines or huge development teams**.
|
||||
I've recently played the first title in the Dark Eye series and I can safely say, even though almost ten years old, the game has aged gracefully and is still a breath of fresh air. **Chains of Satinav is the perfect example that a point'n'click doesn't need to be a nostalgic or humouristic title in the vein of Lucasarts** to be fun and emotionally engaging. Probably it is not the one game I would recommend to someone who doesn't like 2D adventure games but **definitely one for the fans of the genre**.
|
||||
Naturally, **Daedalic has relaxed a bit in the following years** and it also publishes 3D adventure games, like **State of Mind** – designed by Martin Ganteföhr, which we have already mentioned in the previous chapter – **a pretty interesting experiment in the vein of interactive movies à la Quantic Dream**, but, honestly, with much better writing.
|
||||
|
||||
#### In the heat of the argument, you're gonna need a whole lot of fans
|
||||
|
||||
The fans of the genre had also been keeping busy with their Wicker Man: **several interesting projects had already popped up years before the Broken Age kickstarter**.
|
||||
AGD Interactive got the license to **remaster of some of the older Sierra titles**, like the first three chapters of King's Quest and [Quest for Glory II](http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/qfg2/homepage/homepage.html), doing a wonderful job. Then, thanks to the availability of free adventure game engines like Adventure Game Studio and more sophisticated ones, it seemed like **fans could finally do justice to their beloved genre: games by fans for fans!**
|
||||
AGS games had been around since 2001 (when one of my favourites was released, [Pleurghburg: Dark Ages](https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/35-pleurghburg-dark-ages/)), it took them some time to become something more than nice free games, like the fantastic [Chzio Mythos series](https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/269-5-days-a-stranger/) from 2003. Many of those titles were impressively well written and played better than many big budgeted titles, while being developed by one man teams. A [taste of things to come](https://www.gamedesigning.org/gaming/games-made-by-one-person/) for indie gaming as a whole?
|
||||
Thanks to the increasing complexity of the engine, around 2007 **the first AGS-developed titles had enough clout and fan support to become more than free games**.
|
||||
Many AGS games went on to become fully fledged commercial adventures with full dubbing and videos, like The Journey Down or the Blackwell series, developed by Wadjet eye, a studio we'll meet again in the next chapter.
|
||||
|
||||
The Double Fine adventure project showed that – apparently – a big budget 2D "Lucasarts" styled adventure that could both please the players and bring back the good ol' times, wasn't possible anymore.
|
||||
In the end, the fans saved the 2D point'n'click adventure genre.
|
||||
They understood what was marketable, had the resources to make it possible and they were, by then, old enough to be capable of delving into more mature themes and storytelling.
|
||||
Hence, limited budgets old school point'n'clicks seemed to be marketable only to a small niche of fans.
|
||||
Naturally, Daedalic entertainment publishing and developing 2D adventures also majorly contributed to that niche that seemed like it could survive way beyond 2010.
|
||||
We'll see what happens to the fans and to the adventure genre in the next and final chapter.
|
||||
|
||||
[By Damiano Gerli](https://genesistemple.com/author/mdmaster "View all posts by Damiano Gerli")[April 4, 2020](https://genesistemple.com/2020/04/04 "12:08 pm")[Leave a comment](https://genesistemple.com/the-death-and-rebirth-of-adventure-games-part-3-false-hopes-and-promises#respond)
|
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||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
Diob
|
||||
|
||||
The Genesis Temple is a project by Damiano Gerli. Get in touch via [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/TheGenesisTemple) or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/thegenesistemple/)!
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31
src/resources/fall-point-click-adventure-game.md
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31
src/resources/fall-point-click-adventure-game.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-fall-of-the-point-and-click-adventure-game
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# The Fall of the 'Point-and-Click' Adventure Game
|
||||
|
||||
Has the internet age rendered the "point-and-click" adventure game hopelessly obsolete, or can gamers and developers work together to save a dying genre?
|
||||
|
||||
## Background
|
||||
|
||||
The very first video game—if one is to be liberal with that classification—I ever played was the 1976 Colossal Cave Adventure, a DOS-based text-only adventure game in which the player explored a massive subterranean labyrinth and collected various items to further his progress by defeating foes or solving puzzles. The kernel of the game's design is, as is so often the case with great puzzle games, astoundingly simple: your goal is progress, you encounter obstacles, you collect items, you overcome obstacles by pairing the correct item with the appropriate action on the appropriate target. This simple structure yields an inherent depth, even when there are ultimately few items, actions, and things that may be acted upon. For example, to give a rough approximation, the number of possible combinations a player could potentially try with a full inventory would equal [(number of items) * (number of actions) * (number of things that could be acted upon)]. The result: a game with exceptional depth achieved based on a simple and attainable premise for the game designer.
|
||||
|
||||
Since the release of the Colossal Cave Adventure, countless games have evolved along substantially similar lines, eventually reaching the console market with NES games such as Shadowgate, Maniac Mansion, Deja Vu and Uninvited (together with a myriad of PC games). Thanks to the possibility of a GUI, a genre that in truth began in a text-based context ultimately adopted the moniker of the "point-and-click" adventure game. The genre reached its climax, one could argue, with the game Myst (and the subsequent series it spawned), where developers introduced a rich and engaging storyline; and increased the 'possible scenarios' to an extent that forced the player to abandon any realistic hope of success via a trial-and-error approach, electing instead to incorporate clues into the scenery and storyline which the player could use to guide his decision-making: a significant step forward for the genre.
|
||||
|
||||
These days, the true "point-and-click' adventure game seems to have all but disappeared. Admittedly, there are limitations inherent in the genre: there is virtually no replay value, for once you've figured out the sequence of what is to be done, the challenge disappears; and there is no social value in the genre, for telling a friend how something is accomplished undermines the principle challenge of the game, and trying to play any such game with a group is a recipe for frustration and boredom. That being said, there surely still exists a market demand for even the most rudimentary point-and-click adventure game that exceeds the supply (or lack thereof in this case) of new incarnations in the genre, and this discrepancy exists despite the relative ease with which a game of this ilk can be developed—a justification is called for.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Underlying Nature of the Genre
|
||||
|
||||
The point-and-click adventure genre is a pointed representation of a theme ubiquitously present in all video games: increasing the difficulty-level of a challenge simultaneously and proportionately increases the player's level of frustration while trying to reach the goal (the Trial) and the player's level of elation at having overcome the challenge and reached the goal (the Payoff). Were it not the case that people in general find the joy of the Payoff to exceed the frustrations of the Trial, I daresay people might not play video games at all. By and large developers have scaled back the challenge level of all games over the years, perhaps in an effort to make games more accessible to those who are not so compelled to undertake a significant Trial, and are satisfied with the reduced Payoff of an easily-defeated game because they derive their game utility from other sources, such as social aspects or merely the passing of time. Yet the point-and-click adventure genre embodies a uniquely-fashioned difficulty-level profile that is difficult (if not impossible) for developers to foresee because it will vary significantly from player to player. This variable and highly volatile profile exists due to the ever-present possibility of 'getting stuck'—the circumstance in which the player's progress is stymied because he or she simply cannot figure out the next action required to allow further progress. As was mentioned previously, point-and-click adventure games have almost no replay value because once the player knows what to do, the challenge, and hence the essence, of the game is lost. This implies, however, that what makes a point-and-click adventure game enjoyable in the first place is the fact that what ought to be done next is not immediately obvious. Simple trial and error can be somewhat enjoyable, but it is those situations in which the player has to think long and hard about what ought to be done next—those Trials that eventually lead to a 'eureka!' moment—that give the genre its substance. It is those moments that push us towards the zenith of our frustration and angst, and yet it is those very same moments we eventually look back on with the most pride and satisfaction at having overcome.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Conflict
|
||||
|
||||
It wasn't long after the dawning of the internet and information age that one could within days of a game's release hop online and find a comprehensive walkthrough of any adventure game. I've never been a fan of the walkthrough concept or similar manifestations such as strategy guides, etc.—to me this undermines the very concept of a game. But at least with respect to a game such as any in the Final Fantasy series a walkthrough destroys only the strategic elements for the player, leaving some degree of actual execution to provide a challenge—with respect to point-and-click adventure games, a walkthrough destroys everything that gives the game purpose and life. With a walkthrough in hand, the point-and-click adventure game devolves to the same state that is realized upon defeating the game: purposeless, without challenge, and a simple cause-and-effect chain that can be predicted with mathematical precision. A player beginning a point-and-click game with walkthrough in hand would be better served to save himself the time by declaring the game conquered before even loading it up.
|
||||
|
||||
At this point, the reader has surely devised a solution to the problem: simply don't use a walkthrough. Certainly this is an admirable mindset to embark with, but what happens when you truly get stuck? How long can you as a player hold out while knowing the solution is a few clicks away? Before the internet existed, players had little choice in the matter. Unless you wanted to admit defeat in the form of paying an outrageous charge to call the NES hotline, you were stuck wandering around the castle Shadowgate clicking on every little thing and reexamining every room until finally the correct action was taken. As has been mentioned, these are the moments that define the quality and nature of the genre. Overcoming frustration through personal perseverance is part of what makes games as a whole great, but a person's willpower in those moments of frustration will be severely tested if he knows he can end the frustration with great ease. If a man sets out into the woods and resolves to survive by making a fire with sticks and leaves, how long will he bear the frustration of failure, the physical toll on his body, the hunger and the cold if he has a lighter in his pocket? Willpower will only take one so far—the outdoor adventurer may abandon his cell phone and lighter to divest himself of temptations in order to achieve his true personal goal, but the gaming adventurer cannot truly divest himself of the internet.
|
||||
|
||||
The scope of this problem, unfortunately, runs even deeper than a matter of willpower. Suppose the existence of a player with perfect willpower who has resolved to defeat a point-and-click adventure game without an ounce of outside help of any kind—even if he gets stuck for months on end trying to figure out the next correct move—and who is so resolute that he will indeed never give in to temptation. If playing an old game, like 1987's Shadowgate, such a player knows definitively that he can defeat the game without outside help, for the game was designed at a time when outside help was generally not available and so part of the development of the game certainly involved ensuring that a player could defeat the game on his own. But now, developers are aware that players will have access to online walkthroughs, so there exists the possibility that a developer will incorporate into his point-and-click adventure game an obstacle that actually requires the player to seek the solution on the internet or in a strategy guide (that is to say, the solution is made so obscure it goes beyond the realm of what a player could reasonably be asked to figure out on his own). Our ideally-resolute gamer playing Shadowgate can, in times of great frustration, always remind himself that the solution to any obstacle is indeed there to be found and can reasonably be ascertained with some pluck and perseverance; our ideally-resolute gamer playing a modern point-and-click adventure game, however, will always have the nagging and entirely realistic suspicion in the back of his mind any time he gets stuck that the solution may actually lie beyond that which is contained within the game itself, viz., it may turn out to be the case that he has embarked on a hopeless campaign to figure out something which simply could not by any reasonable person be ascertained. Not even the ideally-resolute gamer can resist temptation for too long once this possibility is in play; and it is only after the spoiler has spoiled that the player will know if the impediment was something he could have and should have been able to himself overcome, or if the solution was beyond the pale of what could reasonably be asked of his problem-solving faculties.
|
||||
|
||||
## Conclusion
|
||||
|
||||
Since the invention of the turbo controller for the SNES I have considered the need for a code of ethics to be established in the gaming world. While I at this point have not given the matter nearly enough thought to propose much in the way of specifics, I might offer that the basic underlying idea would be the establishment of something of a guild binding both players and developers by honor to certain standards and understandings. In the case of the point-and-click adventure game, developers would affirmatively attest that, however difficult the game may be, everything in the game could be reasonably ascertained and the game defeated without assistance from any outside sources; and gamers would in turn agree to seek no outside assistance in completing the game, no matter how perplexed or frustrated they may become. Obviously this code would require significant development and variation from the basic framework I have just now laid out, but the reader should be able to grasp the underlying premise behind the idea, even in its infancy. Without the development of such a code, I see no way that the point-and-click genre can persist in a meaningful capacity—developers will try to increase the difficulty in the only way they can in light of the existence of the internet: by creating content that virtually requires the player to seek assistance outside of the game itself; and gamers will give in to temptation and find solutions online whenever frustrated beyond the threshold of their willpower. It would truly be a shame to lose the point-and-click adventure genre—I'm sure many look back on their gaming accomplishments and place defeating Myst quite high up on the list. Because every point-and-click adventure game yields its own sequence and its own story, it is nearly impossible for the genre to get old as long as you have good story-tellers and puzzle-constructors creating games, and I believe there is yet a wealth of excellent games that could be developed in this genre that would provide immense satisfaction to those gamers willing to dedicate themselves to a truly difficult and trying endeavor.
|
||||
147
src/resources/flaws-undead-genre-point-click-adventures.md
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147
src/resources/flaws-undead-genre-point-click-adventures.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/flaws-of-an-undead-genre---what-s-wrong-with-point-click-adventures-
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Flaws Of An Undead Genre - What's Wrong With Point & Click Adventures?
|
||||
|
||||
We asked Twitter about the flaws of Point & Click Adventures. Here's a summary of what people told us.
|
||||
|
||||
The classic style Point & Click adventure is a problem child. The genre has been claimed dead many times now, the question "Are Adventure Games Dead?" has been asked and discussed many times. While some brave developers still publish new Point & Clicks, a lot of experienced developers stepped back from the genre. The genre is tough to market nowadays, and my question is: why exactly is that?
|
||||
|
||||
As a maker of Point & Click adventures, I was wondering what the flaws of the genre actually are. Why is it that they are so hard to sell in comparison to other games? What are the things that players dislike about the genre? How can we as game designers create new and fresh adventure games with modern gameplay?
|
||||
|
||||
To get behind the problems classic adventure games have, we asked Twitter about the flaws of the genre. We addressed both fans of the genre and people who'd never touch Point & Click adventures nowadays and asked: What is it you liked the least, or what is the reason you don't play these games? Luckily, we got a lot of feedback. People love telling you what they hate. This is a summary of what people think.
|
||||
|
||||
## "Why Adventure Games Suck" by Ron Gilbert
|
||||
|
||||
Before I start, I need to mention an article Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert wrote. Most adventure game designers are well aware of the set of design rules for adventure games published in 2004. If you don't know about this article, I recommend reading it before you continue reading this post.
|
||||
|
||||
Some of those rules appear taken for granted nowadays, but the Twitter feedback showed us that people feel some games do still have troubles with some of these issues. In summary, the design rules are:
|
||||
|
||||
- Make the end objective and sub-goals clear at all times. Don't let your player wander around wondering what they need to do next.
|
||||
- No puzzles that require the player to die to get to know what to do next.
|
||||
- No "Backwards Puzzles": never find the solution before you face the problem.
|
||||
- Do not require players to pick up items that are used later if they cannot go back.
|
||||
- Puzzles should emerge from the story; they should be part of the story and not slow down the game for no reason.
|
||||
- Don't use real time in time-based puzzles but allow for some clearance.
|
||||
- Reward players (by revealing new areas, new plot elements, twists, ...) for proceeding in the game.
|
||||
- Design puzzles that make sense.
|
||||
- Reward the intent of the players - don't design interfaces that punish the players even they already got the right idea.
|
||||
- Don't have unconnected events that allow for access to new areas.
|
||||
- Allow for options and exploration in the world, don't lock the players up in restricted areas.
|
||||
|
||||
Some of the feedback on Twitter included points Ron Gilbert mentioned in his article. I will ignore these points in the following and instead point out things that have not been suggested by the person people call 'the inventor of the genre' 14 years ago.
|
||||
|
||||
Though, it's worth noticing that people still mentioned stuff described above even if many game designers have applied those rules. The genre has a somewhat bad reputation, and we want to explore why. So what is bugging modern players nowadays? Let's see what people on Twitter mentioned.
|
||||
|
||||
## Getting Stuck In Static Worlds
|
||||
|
||||
People complained about the passivity and slow pace of classic adventure games. You can get stuck in Point & Click adventures. You have to lean back from time to time, maybe leave the game for a few hours and come back with a fresh mind. Some patient players can enjoy this.
|
||||
|
||||
However, there are people describing this as "dead air". Some complained that they're learning almost nothing new when they're stuck in an adventure game. It's true. You re-visit places, talk to characters you already know, are looking around in already known areas.
|
||||
|
||||
People argued that they could do different things in other games to get some time off their current focus like doing side-quests, level their characters, fight some enemies. I'm not saying let's make RPGs instead of Point & Clicks.
|
||||
|
||||
I'm also not saying don't let your players get stuck. Getting stuck and having to think about the puzzle is an essential part of Point & Clicks. But maybe that's a problem. Can you think of gameplay elements modern puzzle-heavy adventure games can have that add some depths to the story while the players are stuck in a puzzle? Maybe add additional elements to your story that only emerge when the players get stuck, or to phrase it differently, need more guidance to proceed in the story. Why does it need to be the characters and places you already have that point your protagonist in the right direction? How lazy is that?
|
||||
|
||||
Another approach to this is not to let your players get stuck for a long time in the first place. The problem is that this can easily result in designing puzzles that are too easy for experienced players and balancing puzzles is not easy. We'll get to hint systems later. But in my opinion, not even needing a hint system would be the better design approach. Don't let your players get bored.
|
||||
|
||||
Look at games like Night In The Woods where the player at all times has something to do, even if it might be mundane stuff. The world lives, and things seem to be happening, even if you only sit at home and play the base guitar. Maybe players expect games to feel livelier and less static than classic Point & Clicks where nothing happens until you do the right thing do.
|
||||
|
||||
No matter how you do it, getting stuck, not being able to proceed in the story and having the game world seemingly "stop" at this point seems to be one of the biggest complaints people have about Point & Click adventures nowadays. With this in mind:
|
||||
|
||||
**Takeaway #1: Reduce Dead Air.**
|
||||
|
||||
## Reading The Designer's Mind
|
||||
|
||||
People complained a lot about "Moon Logic", illogical puzzles that don't make any sense. I think we have to look at this more closely. I think what people actually complain about, mostly without phrasing it themselves, are cartoony puzzles in non-cartoony settings and solutions that are too far-fetched. A puzzle is considered illogical if it doesn't fit the logic of the world.
|
||||
|
||||
A lot of successful Point & Click games from the glorious age of adventure games aka "The 90s" were cartoon adventures. Weird item combinations and somewhat whacky logic can fit a cartoon adventure. But please consider if your game is a cartoon game or not before you implement puzzles that logic does not fit the world's logic. And, even if this should go without saying: if you're working on a cartoony Point & Click, design the puzzles in a way the players can actually solve them without needing a walkthrough.
|
||||
|
||||
**Takeaway #2: Don't implement puzzles that do not fit the logic of your world.**
|
||||
|
||||
Usually, a puzzle in a point & click adventure is designed as follows: the game designer takes a point in the story, an obstacle or problem and comes up with a creative way to overcome this obstacle.
|
||||
|
||||
A lot of people mentioned that they don't like that they have to get behind precisely that solution - the one the game designer thought of. In most games there's one way to solve a problem. Some games offer multiple solutions to puzzles. But even then, you as a player have to somehow get behind what the person(s) who designed the game has thought of.
|
||||
|
||||
This is of course very hard to tackle from a game developer's perspective. What comes to mind is to do a lot of early testing to get behind what people who play the game would try. It is somehow 'by design' that players cannot come up with new solutions for a puzzle that the game designer did not think of in advance at some point - unless you have mechanical or physical puzzles. As soon as you don't have very precise rules (like in The Witness) and freedom and exploration in the game, you'll have a hard time coming up with ways the players can solve puzzles in the final game with solutions you didn't implement yourself.
|
||||
|
||||
Maybe that is something we need to overcome to make puzzle-heavy narrative games more modern and innovative. Try to think of ways you can implement more flexibility in your puzzle solving. How this can work depends on the game you're making.
|
||||
|
||||
**Takeaway #3: Allow for flexibility in puzzle solving**
|
||||
|
||||
## Need For Hints
|
||||
|
||||
Even if we consider all good advice regarding puzzle design and even if we do a lot of testing during development, and even if we manage to reduce dead air as good as we can, people will get stuck in puzzle-heavy adventure games. We might be able to improve our designs a lot and make hint systems almost obsolete - the thing is, IF players get stuck after all, they expect a hint system in some way anyway.
|
||||
|
||||
Twitter feedback showed us that players want hint systems. It also showed that there are a lot of games handling hint systems very well already. Thimbleweed Park's hint line has been mentioned a lot. Players appreciate it if the hint system is integrated in the world. I like it when hint systems don't break the fourth wall too much. Games can recognize if the player is stuck on their own and characters can start giving hints.
|
||||
|
||||
I mentioned possible frustration by Dead Air and introduced the idea of having whole sections of the world dedicated to such situations earlier. No matter how you do it, a hint system is almost standard nowadays and players almost expect puzzle games to come with some sort of hint system, so my advice would be not to delay implementing a hint system for too long and not to put it on top of the rest of the implementation, but create a hint system that is integrated in your world and story.
|
||||
|
||||
**Takeaway #4: Integrate a hint system.**
|
||||
|
||||
## Puzzle Haters
|
||||
|
||||
Some people argued that they like story games but don't like puzzles. So should we just proceed to cut out puzzles and make explorative, narrative story-driven games?
|
||||
|
||||
No. Puzzles are still appreciated by many players. There are different kind of games for different audiences. Point & Click adventures might just not be for people who don't enjoy puzzles because they perceive solving puzzles as work and they might just tend to like games like Firewatch, Oxenfree or Everybody's Gone To The Rapture more (all of them are beautiful games that I loved).
|
||||
|
||||
Maybe puzzle hate is a result of poorly designed puzzles or frustration with Dead Air in puzzle games they played. Long puzzle threads that lose focus are annoying. Illogical puzzles are annoying, as stated previously. Someone suggested making puzzle-solving optional, which certainly won't work in many Point & Click adventures since the experience of puzzle-solving is an essential part of the gameplay.
|
||||
|
||||
I know it's a weird thing to consider making your puzzle-driven game accessible to players who dislike puzzles. But, depending on the kind of game you're making, it might be worth thinking about it. A lot of us mainly want to tell a story and chose point & click as a medium for it. If the story is the main content you want to deliver, think about if that needs puzzles. Yes, once you've made the decision of using Point & Click as story medium and designed and fleshed out your story, getting rid of puzzles might very well impair your plot designed for a game with puzzles. So be careful. If you wrote a story that relies on the player to interfere and achieve plot points via puzzles taking that away might spoil the experience.
|
||||
|
||||
And we don't need to get rid of puzzles in our games because some people don't like puzzles. But I think it's worth listening to them and trying to find out why they don't like this element. Look at your idea, your story and what you're aiming to convey. Does this benefit from puzzle solving and will puzzles improve the game experience? If yes, go for puzzles. If no, consider a narrative game that focuses on other gameplay elements.
|
||||
|
||||
**Takeaway #5: Consider making your game accessible to players who don't enjoy puzzle solving.**
|
||||
|
||||
## Controls
|
||||
|
||||
People complained about adventure characters moving too slowly. Traveling the worlds takes too long. You have to wait for interactions because the player character first needs to walk to the interaction point. From a designer's perspective, you almost immediately translate this into it's not the time it takes for the character to walk to the object, the problem is that you lose control over the character when you wait for her to approach the object you clicked. One of the major problems of Point & Click adventures in 2018 might be, ironically, pointing and clicking. The control scheme takes control out of the player's hands. People got impatient and they dislike the waiting times resulting from these indirect controls.
|
||||
|
||||
We should consider having our characters walk very fast or going for a direct control scheme. Some modern Point & Clicks solve this by not having the character move at all. That sounds immersion-breaking, but it might work in some cases.
|
||||
|
||||
There have been people who said they actually liked the indirect mouse control. It has been mentioned that the control scheme is more accessible. I think the best approach would be to have multiple options for the control scheme. From the feedback we gathered, I tend to believe that direct control feels more modern.
|
||||
|
||||
**Takeaway #6: Speed up your characters, think about direct controls.**
|
||||
|
||||
## Annoying Gameplay Elements
|
||||
|
||||
A few other things came up that I would sum up as "annoying gameplay elements" in point & clicks.
|
||||
|
||||
### Pixelhunting
|
||||
|
||||
People play adventure games to experience a story and to feel clever after solving fair, well-designed puzzles. Searching every nook and cranny for interactable hotspots is annoying, so avoid pixelhunting at any cost. Having a button to highlight the hotspots of the scenes is standard in point & click adventures nowadays. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need this button. Don't hide objects that the player is supposed to find in the background drawings. This is just a source of frustration. Finding an item that the character immediately collects when you click it should not be a puzzle.
|
||||
|
||||
**Takeaway #7: No Pixelhunting.**
|
||||
|
||||
### Mazes
|
||||
|
||||
If you have mazes in your game, make sure you guide the player through the maze in some way in your corresponding puzzle. Twitter feedback mainly referred to very old games, but since it came up quite often, this seems to be something that stuck with the players and should be considered if you think of implementing mazes in some kind.
|
||||
|
||||
**Takeaway #8: No Mazes without guidance.**
|
||||
|
||||
### Action Sequences
|
||||
|
||||
Many people said that action sequences in Point & Click games do annoy them. That might be because game designers did not properly implement the golden rule "Thy shalt not use real-time in time-based puzzles". But in general, it sounded like a lot of people dislike sudden change of pacing and the sudden appearance of time-based puzzles. Often enough game engines and frameworks made for the creation of point & click adventures are not made for the implementation of action sequences which might be a problem for smaller indie developers that aim for a classic style gameplay feel.
|
||||
|
||||
I can just recommend a lot of playtesting here and if you see that your action sequences don't work, do some fine-tuning and maybe, as a last resort, don't be reluctant to automate processes and implement cutscenes instead of playable action sequences.
|
||||
|
||||
**Takeaway #9: Be careful with playable action sequences in slow-paced adventure games.**
|
||||
|
||||
### Deaths
|
||||
|
||||
Also something that especially old Sierra games were criticized for, and has already been mentioned in Ron Gilbert's article, but worth noticing because it came up a lot: people get frustrated when they die in adventure games and lose their progress, especially when it happens unexpectedly. Who can blame them for that? So, even if that should go without saying nowadays:
|
||||
|
||||
**Takeaway #10: No unexpected, unfair deaths.**
|
||||
|
||||
## Conclusion
|
||||
|
||||
We asked what people didn't like in Point & Click adventures. We asked fans of the genre what they liked least, and we asked people who don't play Point & Clicks why they stay away from them. What caught my attention was that many people named things that have been improved in lots of modern and new adventure games already. Especially the points listed under "Annoying gameplay elements" are things that modern games often do a lot better than the classic games from the 90s.
|
||||
|
||||
Do people not play modern Point & Click adventures because they remember things that annoyed them when they played LucasArts and Sierra games? Do new games fail to communicate that certain flaws have been dealt with? Do players think of old school games that are 20 years old and thus also of everything they did terribly wrong when they hear the term "Point & Click adventure"?
|
||||
|
||||
Then there's certainly the tendency of game developers that loved the games from the 80s and 90s so much that they copy too much of them and make the same mistakes again. That stops the genre from evolving and finding a new, modern form.
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure games are suffering from their slow, static pacing and their restrictive game design. They are often missing a lively, evolving world and copy outdated game mechanisms. But adventure games are not dead. Puzzles are not dead. We are not dead. Let's design new, great adventure games!
|
||||
|
||||
What do you think are the most significant flaws of classic style adventure games and how should a modern, narrative game look like? Please leave your opinions in the comments.
|
||||
52
src/resources/index.md
Normal file
52
src/resources/index.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
|
||||
# Adventure Game Design Resources
|
||||
|
||||
A collection of reference articles on adventure game puzzle design, collected for the Puzzle Design Handbook project.
|
||||
|
||||
## Articles Index
|
||||
|
||||
| # | Title | Source | Description |
|
||||
|---|-------|--------|-------------|
|
||||
| 1 | Why Adventure Games Suck | GrumpyGamer (Ron Gilbert) | Ron Gilbert's original manifesto on why adventure games fail |
|
||||
| 2 | Why Adventure Games Rock | TicksTales | Counterpoint article defending adventure games |
|
||||
| 3 | Thimbleweed Park Preview | Rock Paper Shotgun | Ron Gilbert interview on making adventure games that don't suck |
|
||||
| 4 | 14 Deadly Sins of Graphic Adventure Design | FilFre (Jim Chambers) | Catalog of common adventure game design failures |
|
||||
| 5 | Monkey Island Analysis | FilFre (Jim Chambers) | How Ron Gilbert made an adventure game that didn't suck |
|
||||
| 6 | Flaws of an Undead Genre | Game Developer | What's wrong with point-and-click adventures |
|
||||
| 7 | Seven Deadly Sins of Adventure Games | Game Developer | Seven design sins specific to adventure games |
|
||||
| 8 | Without Readability | Game Developer | Analysis of adventure games' decline related to UI |
|
||||
| 9 | The Fall of the Point-and-Click Adventure Game | Game Developer | Historical analysis of the genre's fall |
|
||||
| 10 | Monkey Island 2 Puzzle Design | Game Developer | Analyzing puzzle dependencies and balancing |
|
||||
| 11 | LucasArts Puzzle Dependency Charts | Game Developer | The technique LucasArts used for classic adventure puzzles |
|
||||
| 12 | SCUMM Design Documents | Game Developer | SCUMM co-creator digs up game design treasure |
|
||||
| 13 | The SCUMM Diary | Game Developer | Stories behind one of the greatest game engines |
|
||||
| 14 | Puzzle Game Design Principles | Game Developer | Puzzle game design principles and levels template |
|
||||
| 15 | Adventure Puzzle Design | Stanislav Costiuc | Design patterns for adventure game puzzles |
|
||||
| 16 | Renpy Point & Click Tutorial: Puzzle Design | West of Entropy | Renpy tutorial covering puzzle design basics |
|
||||
| 17 | Unpoint/Unclick | Christopher Sacchi | Adventure game design analysis |
|
||||
| 18 | Puzzle Design in Adventure Games | Stack Exchange | Community Q&A on adventure game puzzle design |
|
||||
| 19 | Adventure Game Puzzles: Unlocking Secrets | Adventure Classic Gaming | Analysis of puzzle mechanics and secrets |
|
||||
| 20 | Who Really Killed Adventure Games? | Slatt Studio | Investigation into the genre's decline |
|
||||
| 21 | Death of Adventure Games Part 1 | Genesis Temple | First part of adventure games death analysis |
|
||||
| 22 | Death and Rebirth of Adventure Games Part 3 | Genesis Temple | Third part examining false hopes and promises |
|
||||
| 23 | Moon Logic and Divergent Thinking | Simply Put Psych | Psychological perspective on moon logic puzzles |
|
||||
| 24 | What Makes a Great Point-and-Click Adventure | Moon Logical Blog | Analysis of what makes great adventure games |
|
||||
| 25 | PC Gamer on Moon Logic | PC Gamer | Article on why we tolerate moon logic puzzles |
|
||||
| 26 | Moon Logic Puzzle | TV Tropes | TV Tropes catalog of moon logic puzzle examples |
|
||||
| 27 | Moon Logic Adventure Games | TV Tropes | TV Tropes specifically on adventure game moon logic |
|
||||
| 28 | Moon Logic Reddit Discussion | Reddit r/gamedesign | Community discussion on what constitutes moon logic |
|
||||
| 29 | 10 Things I Hate About Adventure Games | The Hande | Developer perspective on adventure game frustrations |
|
||||
| 30 | SCUMM Interview (IGN) | IGN | Classic Ron Gilbert SCUMM interview |
|
||||
|
||||
## Failed Downloads
|
||||
|
||||
The following articles could not be downloaded due to access restrictions:
|
||||
|
||||
- VentureBeat: Ron Gilbert Thimbleweed Park Interview (rate limited)
|
||||
- joserafaelperez.com: Blending Puzzles and Storytelling (404 not found)
|
||||
- brainbaking.com: Moon Logic article (connection closed)
|
||||
- vogons.org: Good Puzzle Design discussion (403 forbidden)
|
||||
- Medium: SCUMM Lusory Game Engine (403 forbidden)
|
||||
|
||||
## Usage
|
||||
|
||||
These articles provide supplementary reference material for the Puzzle Design Handbook. They are referenced in the Inspiration section where relevant puzzle analyses connect to specific design patterns documented in the Playbook.
|
||||
31
src/resources/lucasarts-puzzle-dependency-charts.md
Normal file
31
src/resources/lucasarts-puzzle-dependency-charts.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-technique-lucasarts-used-to-design-its-classic-adventure-games
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# The technique LucasArts used to design its classic adventure games
|
||||
|
||||
Game designer Noah Falstein discusses the concept of the puzzle dependency chart, a technique that he and his colleagues used at LucasArts when developing classic adventure games like Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island.
|
||||
|
||||
Independent game designer Noah Falstein has always had a particular interest in narrative-driven games. He was there during the golden age of story-driven adventure games, working on classic LucasArts-developed adventures like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. One of the techniques developed during LucasArts' heyday as a graphic adventure developer is the idea of a "puzzle dependency chart." Developed by designer Ron Gilbert for his groundbreaking 1987 adventure Maniac Mansion, the technique breaks games down into a flow chart that simplifies a game's narrative into objectives and solutions. One of the tricks to the technique, Falstein said at a GDC talk, is to avoid the temptation of putting too much narrative into the chart. Instead, focus on simple goals. "It's all keys and locks," Gilbert has been known to say about game design.
|
||||
|
||||
While game progression flow charts aren't a new concept to most designers, Falstein had some takeaways during his brief talk that are worth noting:
|
||||
|
||||
## Make it bushy
|
||||
|
||||
Making a straight, linear narrative is of course the simplest path for a game designer, but the problem is that when a player gets stuck, she has nothing else to do. Make your branches "bushy" by allowing players to work on simultaneous tasks, Falstein says, so that they don't get easily frustrated.
|
||||
|
||||
## Work backwards
|
||||
|
||||
Falstein says that designers should work backwards from the climax of a game's narrative, and figure out how to get there. "It's actually much easier to design that way," he says.
|
||||
|
||||
## Too easy? Break something
|
||||
|
||||
By working with a simple puzzle dependency chart, designers can easily adjust sections of the game that are too easy for the player to get through. By way of a simple example, Falstein described a scenario where a player acquires a key in the game. If that section needs to be stretched out and made more difficult, break the key in three and have the player go on a separate mini quest to reunite the pieces.
|
||||
|
||||
## Too hard? Branch out
|
||||
|
||||
Alternately, using this same method, designers can adjust a section of the game that's too difficult for players by adding alternative solutions or additional activities.
|
||||
|
||||
## Break up story with gameplay, and vice versa
|
||||
|
||||
Finally, Falstein suggests that when creating a narrative game, designers should keep themselves fresh by switching to story when they're stuck on gameplay, or switching to gameplay when they're stuck on the story. This works well on players too, it turns out, so keep that in mind when designing your game.
|
||||
45
src/resources/monkey-island-2-puzzle-design.md
Normal file
45
src/resources/monkey-island-2-puzzle-design.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/designing-puzzles-for-adventure-games---analyzing-monkey-island-2-puzzle-dependencies-and-balancing
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Designing puzzles for adventure games - Analyzing Monkey Island 2 puzzle dependencies and balancing
|
||||
|
||||
Marcus writes about puzzle design for adventure games and, to do so, analyzes Monkey Island 2 puzzles.
|
||||
|
||||
I think (classic) adventure games are really challenging to design because they consist of so many elements you have to pay attention to. One very central element of such games are puzzles, because adventure games are basically story-driven puzzle games. And believe me, good puzzles are not easy to design. How do you even start? And how can you ever know that your puzzle chains are good before you build a prototype and let people play a very rough and at no point ready to be played game? What is a good balance for scenes, characters and the number of puzzles the player has to solve? Writing puzzles for an adventure game is demanding and requires a really good sense for the intended game experience you want the player to have. Puzzles should neither be too easy nor too hard. The player should have to do some thinking to get to your puzzles' solutions, but the puzzles should always stay logical and reasonable. Nothing in the world is worse than having the players solve puzzles just by accident and thinking they would never have guessed the solution because it's just illogical - at the same time your puzzles SHOULD be creative, crazy, surprising. So writing good puzzles is kind of a fine line.
|
||||
|
||||
Recently, grumpy gamer and Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert wrote a blog post about something he calls Puzzle Dependency Charts. Using those charts is an approach to writing puzzles for adventure games Ron and his colleagues apparently used back at LucasArts when they designed the puzzles for their brilliant games. When we started designing the puzzles for our soon-to-be-announced adventure project we used almost the same method. I recommend all of you to have a look at Ron's article, because what he describes is a very useful technique to write puzzle chains. As Ron explains, you immediately see the linearity and parallelism of your game's puzzles, which turns out to be very helpful.
|
||||
|
||||
But still, what makes a good puzzle chain? How can charts and graphs help you get the right feeling if the puzzles you wrote work as intended concerning the overall game experience? To approach this issue, it makes sense to have a look at successful adventure games, especially those where the puzzles seemed to be extremely good. I could name many games to which these criteria apply and it certainly makes good sense to analyze a few games or puzzle chains - but for now, let's stay with one example. For this purpose, I untangled the puzzles of a very successful game with really good puzzles: Monkey Island 2 (yes, you have to know the game to understand the rest of this post. But I guess nearly everyone who is interested in this post knows the game). Remember when you have to find the four map pieces in the second part of the game? You can travel three islands at once, meet lots of characters, collect a load of items, and still… everything works out just fine. The puzzles are creative and sometimes kind of insane. Why do they work out so well?
|
||||
|
||||
When you start part 2 of the game, you can travel to Scabb, Booty and Phatt Island. Scabb has been explored in chapter 1, so the places and characters are (almost) known. But how many scenes can you actually visit and how many characters can you interact with? You will definitely ask yourselves these questions when designing your own adventure game. So let's have a look at the maps of the three islands at first.
|
||||
|
||||
I colored rooms you can't reach at first in a mint green color. Because, at the beginning, you are not meant to be there. I also indicated the number of characters you can interact with in the rooms. Let's sum it up: the players is able to visit 62 locations and interact with around 24 characters. BUT: The player already knows 16 scenes (on Scabb Island). So, we have 46 new rooms. 16 of those are initially not reachable (and this is important - getting into new rooms is a reward for an adventure player in the game). All in all, the player can visit 30 new rooms when chapter 2 starts. He can then interact with roughly 9 new characters.
|
||||
|
||||
Alright, we have the numbers. Let's dive into the puzzle thing. When you surf the internet, you can find a lot of definitions of how many different types of puzzles classic adventure games make use of. As always, people have different approaches and opinions. For the beginning, let's just stick with this simple differentiation: Guybrush finds and collects items (white boxes), he combines items with items (yellow boxes), uses items with other characters (green boxes) and he interacts with the environment or characters (red boxes). I'm aware that one could classify puzzle types in lots of other ways and that there are pros and cons on every classification approach - but let's just stick with this way and talk about classification of adventure puzzle types another time.
|
||||
|
||||
Okay, you asked for it! Let's have a look at the puzzle dependency chart (using color puzzle type differentiation) for the map piece puzzles in Monkey Island 2.
|
||||
|
||||
Woah. What a beauty. Do you see the parallelism of the puzzle chains? Do you see how one can obtain the map pieces nearly independently from each other? One can find lots of information in this chart. Let's have a closer look:
|
||||
|
||||
One of the first things that catches one's eyes is that you have to visit Phatt Island (where you are being put in jail at the beginning) of almost every puzzle chain. Why did I always sail to Booty first? What a rookie mistake. The invitation to the party is essential for Elaine's map piece and starts the whole puzzle chain. Without the library card, you can't solve any puzzle in the puzzle chain for the map piece the antique dealer owns. The other two map pieces are connected to a start on Phatt as well. What happens when you stay on Scabb or go to Booty? Besides new dialog options, you won't discover new things on Scabb Island. On Booty, you can talk to people, you can collect a few items. But you won't get too far. The game seemingly leads us to Phatt Island in a magical way or something. Guybrush is being arrested instantly when arriving on the island and the player finds himself in what I call a caged situation.
|
||||
|
||||
See, it's always good when a game or a section of a game starts off easy and then, when the player knows his craft a little more, gets more difficult. A caged situation in an adventure game is an easy situation almost all the times. You have restricted capabilities and the things you can interact with are ready to hand. The chapter starts with a nice, easy puzzle where you have to escape jail. Then, and only then, you are able to get the invitation and the library card which are the two essential items that start the puzzle chains for Elaine's and the antique dealer's map pieces. The banana and the possibility to move freely on Phatt Island are essential for the Rum Rogers line of puzzles. The puzzle chain for Rapp Scallions' map piece is also depending on the ability to explore Phatt Island. Monkey 2 part 2 starts off easy in a caged situation and then sets the way to four parallel lines of puzzles that the player can work on simultaneously.
|
||||
|
||||
As you can see, map piece 1 (Rum Rogers) and 2 (Elaine) are slightly connected by the ability to climb the tree and piece 3 (antique dealer) and 4 (Scallion) are connected by the library card. When designing parallel solvable puzzles, keep an eye on your puzzle dependencies and try to keep them independent from each other. You can see how the four map pieces are mostly puzzle chains for themselves. But you can also see, small dependencies are not wrong. There is a fair chance that these dependencies are there on purpose.
|
||||
|
||||
A good example for parallel puzzle solving can also be found in the Elaine puzzle line. Once you get to the party, you can collect (and lose) the map piece and you can steal the fish. These actions can be done independently from each other, but they lead to the same puzzle in the end. You need the fisherman's fishing pole to get the map off the cliff. You then need to get on the tree. To do that, you initially need an oar - you can only get that once you have stolen the map piece. And all comes together. Take some time to study puzzle dependencies and parallelism in the chart.
|
||||
|
||||
You will also discover that the different puzzle types are very well balanced and distributed. You barely only have to combine items in a row (it looks a little only-white-yellow-ish in the Rum Rogers line, but in between these puzzles you walk ways and talk to Rum Rogers and you discover new rooms there all the time - one has to keep that in mind, too).
|
||||
|
||||
Did anyone count the items that are involved in the four puzzle chains?
|
||||
- Rum Rogers: 10 items
|
||||
- Elaine: 9 items
|
||||
- Antique dealer: 9 items
|
||||
- Rapp Scallion: 10 items
|
||||
|
||||
Well, that is pretty balanced. And it's a good advice again: when you try to design parallel puzzles, and you want them to be equally difficult, try to keep the number of items, characters and rooms to visit in balance. And remember not to connect them too much, only if you want or feel they have to be connected.
|
||||
|
||||
All in all, the part has four major puzzle lines, barely connected, with around 40 items, 46 new rooms and 14 new characters. Maybe at some point when designing an own adventure game, you need some advice how to balance all these elements. You can try to orient yourselves on these numbers. Always keep in mind that other factors like story, setting, intended, difficulty, and so on influence the number of items, rooms and NPCs.
|
||||
|
||||
Do you discover more useful advice for ongoing adventure game developers in the Monkey Island 2 puzzle dependency chart? Do you have handy tips yourselves or do you think puzzle charts don't help when designing adventure games? Feel free to leave comments and discuss!
|
||||
127
src/resources/monkey-island-ron-gilbert-filfre.md
Normal file
127
src/resources/monkey-island-ron-gilbert-filfre.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/monkey-island-or-how-ron-gilbert-made-an-adventure-game-that-didnt-suck/
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Monkey Island (or, How Ron Gilbert Made an Adventure Game That Didn't Suck) The Digital Antiquarian
|
||||
|
||||
### [The Digital Antiquarian](https://www.filfre.net/ "The Digital Antiquarian")
|
||||
|
||||
A history of computer entertainment and digital culture by Jimmy Maher
|
||||
|
||||
- [Home](https://www.filfre.net/)
|
||||
- [About Me](https://www.filfre.net/about-me/)
|
||||
- [Ebooks](https://www.filfre.net/the-digital-antiquarian-e-book-library/)
|
||||
- [Hall of Fame](https://www.filfre.net/hall-of-fame/)
|
||||
- [Table of Contents](https://www.filfre.net/sitemap/)
|
||||
|
||||
[RSS](https://www.filfre.net/feed/rss/)
|
||||
|
||||
[← A Little Status Update](https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/a-little-status-update/)
|
||||
|
||||
[Railroad Tycoon →](https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/railroad-tycoon/)
|
||||
|
||||
# Monkey Island (or, How Ron Gilbert Made an Adventure Game That Didn't Suck)
|
||||
|
||||
10 Mar
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/monkey-island-or-how-ron-gilbert-made-an-adventure-game-that-didnt-suck/mi/)
|
||||
|
||||
Shortly after completing [*Maniac Mansion*](https://www.filfre.net/2015/07/a-new-force-in-games-part-3-scumm), his first classic graphic adventure, Ron Gilbert started sketching ideas for his next game. "I wanted to do something that felt like fantasy and might kind of tap into what was interesting about fantasy," he remembers, "but that wasn't fantasy." Gilbert loved the [Pirates of the Caribbean](https://www.mouseplanet.com/11700/Disneyland_1967_Part_One_Pirates_of_the_Caribbean) ride at Disneyland, which took guests through a whole pirate adventure in fifteen minutes. He only wished that he could linger there, could get out of the little boat that carried guests through the attraction and wander amid the scenery. What the need to keep shoveling amusement-park guests through a paid attraction disallowed, a computer game could allow. Thus was the idea for *The Secret of Monkey Island* born.
|
||||
|
||||
The game casts you in the role of Guybrush Threepwood, a lovable loser who wants to become a pirate. Arriving on Mêlée Island, a den of piratey scum and villainy, he has to complete a set of trials to win the status of Official Pirate. Along the way, he falls in love with the island's beautiful governor Elaine — her name sets the game up for a gleeful [*The Graduate*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzcWgtb1ERo) homage — and soon has to rescue her from the villain of the story, the evil ghost pirate LeChuck.
|
||||
|
||||
The Disneyfied piracy wasn't hard to do, especially after Gilbert discovered a charming little historical-fantasy novel by Tim Powers called [*On Stranger Tides*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Stranger_Tides). Nor was the goofy humor that was so much his stock in trade as a game designer. What did make things complicated, however, was his desire to create a more playable, forgiving adventure game than even *Maniac Mansion* had managed to be. Gilbert admits that he was struggling, with no more than the beginnings of a design document or, for that matter, a design philosophy, when a mandate came down from Lucasfilm Games's parent company's management: they wanted an adventure game to go with the upcoming film *Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade*. Such a mandate was unusual for the privileged little artists' enclave that still was Lucasfilm Games at this time, but, given the freedom they had so generously been granted for so long, they were hardly in a position to argue about it. Ron Gilbert, Noah Falstein, and David Fox joined forces to grind out [the *Indiana Jones* game](http://www.mobygames.com/game/indiana-jones-and-the-last-crusade-the-graphic-adventure), while *Monkey Island* went on hold for more than six months.
|
||||
|
||||
It was just possibly the best thing that could have happened. The delay gave Gilbert time to continue thinking about adventure-game design in the abstract, to continue groping toward that elusive *something* — or, better said, *somethings* — that would make his future games different. Hardly a theorist by nature, he nevertheless sat down and wrote out a manifesto of sorts as a way of codifying his opinions, titling it, in inimitable Ron Gilbert fashion, "Why Adventure Games Suck." This semi-legendary document, probably the most influential ever written on the subject of adventure-game design, was published in the December 1989 issue of *The* *Journal of Computer Game Design* (the paper-based adjunct to the Computer Game Developers Conference).
|
||||
|
||||
Some of what Gilbert has to say in his manifesto feels a little rambling and esoteric today, while the vast majority of what does feel relevant we've already had reasons to discuss on other occasions — what with the [general state](/2015/07/the-14-deadly-sins-of-graphic-adventure-design) of adventure-game design in the 1980s, sometimes on all too many other occasions. Still, the document itself and the ideas it contains can only be regarded as hugely important to the evolution of the adventure game.
|
||||
|
||||
Consider what the manifesto has to say about the age-old problem of locking the player out of victory without her knowledge.
|
||||
|
||||
> **I forgot to pick it up**
|
||||
>
|
||||
> Never require a player to pick up an item that is used later in the game if she can't go back and get it when it is needed. It is very frustrating to learn that a seemingly insignificant object is needed, and the only way to get it is to start over or go back to a saved game. From the player's point of view, there was no reason for picking it up in the first place. Some designers have actually defended this practice by saying that "adventure-game players know to pick up everything." This is a cop-out. If the jar of water needs to be used on the spaceship and it can only be found on the planet, create a use for it on the planet that guarantees it will be picked up. If the time between the two uses is long enough, you can be almost guaranteed that the player forgot she even had the object.
|
||||
>
|
||||
> The other way around this problem is to give the player hints about what she might need to pick up. If the aliens on the planet suggest that the player find water before returning to the ship, and the player ignores this advice, then failure is her own fault.
|
||||
|
||||
In *The Secret of Monkey Island* and all of the Lucasfilm adventure games that would follow it, Gilbert and his colleagues implemented an extreme remedy to this problem. Rather than admitting a failure to pick up the right object at the right time to be even potentially the player's "own fault," they made certain it was *always* possible to go back and get said item. Locking yourself out of victory, in other words, became literally impossible.
|
||||
|
||||
Now consider what the manifesto has to say about arbitrarily killing the player and about another related old bugaboo, requiring knowledge from past lives.
|
||||
|
||||
> **Live and learn**
|
||||
>
|
||||
> As a rule, adventure games should be able to be played from beginning to end without "dying" or saving the game if the player is very careful and very observant. It is bad design to put puzzles and situations into a game that require a player to die in order to learn what not to do next time. This is not to say that all death situations should be designed out. Danger is inherent in drama, but danger should be survivable if the player is clever.
|
||||
>
|
||||
> As an exercise, take one complete path through a story game and then tell it to someone else, as if it were a standard story. If you find places where the main character could not have known a piece of information that was used (the character who learned it died in a previous game), then there is a hole in the plot.
|
||||
|
||||
Again, Gilbert and the rest of Lucasfilm would push much further than even the above would imply in their own future designs. Despite the claim that "danger is inherent to drama" — a claim, one has to assume, about which Gilbert must have come to think better — they made it impossible for the player to die, no matter what she did.
|
||||
|
||||
Gilbert tells us at the end of his manifesto that he'd like to "get rid of save games" altogether.
|
||||
|
||||
> If there have to be save games, I would use them only when it was time to quit playing until the next day. Save games should not be a part of game play. This leads to sloppy design. As a challenge, think about how you would design a game differently if there were no save games. If you ever have the pleasure of watching a non-game player playing an adventure game you will notice they treat save games very differently than the experienced user. Some start using it as a defense mechanism only after being slapped in the face by the game a few times, the rest just stop playing.
|
||||
|
||||
It's this idea of designing adventure games as if saves didn't exist that's the real key to understanding what made *The Secret of Monkey Island* and the Lucasfilm adventures which would follow it so different, even so revolutionary. Everything else springs from this one adjustment in perspective. I last played *The Secret of Monkey Island* nine months or so ago, when my wife and I were on a little holiday in Venice. Each evening, after a long day spent exploring the alleys and canals, we'd retire back to our cozy little hotel and I'd poke at *Monkey Island* for an hour or two on my laptop before bed. Having played heaps of older adventure games for years prior to getting to *Monkey Island* — the life of a digital antiquarian sadly doesn't leave much time for games that aren't on the syllabus! — I must have experienced it much as its first players did. And I have to say, it's downright difficult to express how freeing it was to know that I didn't need to save every ten minutes, didn't need to stress over the potential of somehow locking myself out of victory with every action. Instead, I could feel free to explore and experiment, knowing the game would take care of me. I don't say that every game needs to be this way, but I do know that *The Secret of Monkey Island* is, along with its immediate Lucasfilm predecessor [*Loom*](https://www.filfre.net/2017/02/loom-or-how-brian-moriarty-proved-that-less-is-sometimes-more), perhaps the first adventure games I've ever played for this blog that felt like natural holiday companions, things to relax into and just enjoy rather than assault with deadly seriousness. And yet *The Secret of Monkey Island* in particular manages this feat without ever feeling trivial. The game represents a remarkable historical watershed, as of an entire culture of game makers and players waking up and realizing that all the little aggravations they had thought adventure games had to include really didn't need to be in there at all.
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[](https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/monkey-island-or-how-ron-gilbert-made-an-adventure-game-that-didnt-suck/monkey_000/)
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Cheerfully blatant anachronisms like the grog machine and Stan the used-boat salesman are everywhere. Ron Gilbert has mentioned the grog machine as one of his great lessons in "copyrights and trademarks." Apparently getting it to look enough like a Coke machine to make the joke work but not so much that Lucasfilm was likely to get sued was quite the exercise in triangulation.
|
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Taken apart from its immense importance as a model for future designs at Lucasfilm and elsewhere, *The Secret of Monkey Island* might initially seem a less than overwhelming package. It exists in very typical adventure-game territory for its era, at first glance dismayingly so. We've got yet another sad-sack loser of a protagonist, wandering through a comedy landscape built from pop-culture detritus, anachronisms, and meta-humor. The whole ought to read as lazy as most such efforts. Yet two things save the day, both of which feel intrinsic to the people who wrote the game, Ron Gilbert and his two assistant writers Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman. The first is the marvelously unaffected quality of the humor. The game is consistently, off-handedly funny without ever conspicuously straining to be in the manner of its peers. Where their humor is labored, *Monkey Island*'s is effortless. And then there's the related quality of a certain *sweetness* about the game. Guybrush Threepwood is the ultimate innocent. He just wants to be a Disney version of a pirate and to rescue and win the hand of the beautiful Elaine; guile is a foreign concept to him. Not only is *The Secret of Monkey Island* that rarest of beasts, a self-styled comedy adventure that's genuinely, consistently funny, it's about as likeable a game as has ever been made. This is a game where when a cannibal asks you how to "get ahead" he means… no, that one's just too much fun to spoil.
|
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*The Secret of Monkey Island* isn't flashy or self-consciously spectacular in the way that so many contemporaneous Sierra adventures strained to be, but it is sophisticated in its aesthetics in a way few other games of its era can match. Still working with 16-color EGA graphics (a 256-color VGA version, from which the screenshots in this article are drawn, was released within a few months of the original), artists Steve Purcell and Mark Ferrari used their limited color palette to good effect to evoke the various moods of the various environments, while Michael Land crafted a gentle reggae-influenced soundtrack to plink away unobtrusively in the background or swell up into the foreground as circumstances dictated. Playing *The Secret of Monkey Island* really does feel like wandering through a delightful pirate theme park (a quality which the rather infamous ending of the sequel, which we won't go into further in this article, would take very much to heart).
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[](https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/monkey-island-or-how-ron-gilbert-made-an-adventure-game-that-didnt-suck/mi3/)
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Most of all, *The Secret of Monkey Island* thrives on its puzzle design. The game's plot plays out in four chapters, within each of which you have broad discretion to solve puzzles at your own pace and in your own order. ("Give the player options" is another commandment in "Why Adventure Games Suck.") Its most famous puzzle, "insult sword-fighting," says much about the game's personality as a whole: instead of fighting with swords, pirates in this game like to fight via insults. You need to collect these insults and their ripostes as you explore, then apply them just right to win the "sword fight." (Hey, anything's better than a sharp sword in the gut, right?) The idea was born as Ron Gilbert was watching old pirate movies of the Errol Flynn stripe, and noticed that the opponents spent as much time verbally as physically assaulting one another. What with a verbal joust being far easier to implement in an adventure game than a sword-fighting engine, it didn't take him long to run with the idea.
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But really the entirety of the puzzle design, top to bottom, is just superb, managing to be funny and clever and occasionally challenging without ever devolving into the random using of each object on each other object. Throughout, attention is paid to you the player's time and sanity in a way very few games of the era bother to do. For instance, at one point you need to follow another character through the jungle to find a secret location. Most games of the time would happily make you do this over and over, every time you want to return to said location — not least because doing so could serve to boost the length of the game at no expense. *The Secret of Monkey Island* only makes you do it once, then proceeds to do it for you from then on. "No point in having to solve the same puzzle over and over," said Gilbert. Amen to that.
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The game's system of nudging you on to the correct solution to many puzzles is subtle to the extent that many players never even notice it's there — and this, it must be said, again feels like the way it ought to be. At the beginning of the game, you're expected to fulfill three tasks to prove to the pirates on the island that Guybrush has what it takes to become a pirate as well. As you poke around the island, your challengers actually take note of what you've done, and will offer some hints based on your progress if you go back and talk to them. "We want to guide the player subtly through the game," said Gilbert's colleague David Fox. "If the game works right, it should know that you're stuck somewhere and it should give you a little help in a subtle way, so that you can solve the puzzle without feeling like it was solved for you." In the context of 1990, the year of *The Secret of Monkey Island*'s release, this was *astonishingly* progressive design. "As opposed," remarked Fox wryly, "to the kind of game where the designer seems to be saying, 'Aha! I've got you this time!' and you have to spend three hours of gameplay to find some hidden object that you need to solve one puzzle."
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A rare example of a game where every element complements every other element, *The Secret of Monkey Island* has gone down in history as one of the finest, most justly beloved graphic adventures ever made. And for any aspiring adventure designer, even today, it's a veritable master class in how to make an adventure game that most definitively doesn't suck.
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[](https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/monkey-island-or-how-ron-gilbert-made-an-adventure-game-that-didnt-suck/mi1/)
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Released in October of 1990 as Lucasfilm's second adventure of the year, *The Secret of Monkey Island* shared with its immediate predecessor *Loom* its pretend-the-player-can't-save approach to design. *Loom*, however, had been a bridge too far for many traditionalist adventure gamers. What with its aggressively minimalist interface and portentous setting and story, it felt like an adventure game filtered through the aesthetics of a European avant-garde film. But *The Secret of Monkey Island* was, to strain the metaphor, all Hollywood. Whatever its innovations, it was also very much a meat-and-potatoes adventure game in the old style, complete with a menu of verbs, a comic tone, lots of object-oriented puzzles to solve, and a length more in keeping with that people had come to expect from a $40 boxed adventure game. It was thus far better equipped to deliver the gospel of "Why Adventure Games Suck" than *Loom* had been. While *Loom* had been greeted with critical uncertainty, reviewers fell over themselves to praise *The Secret of Monkey Island*, which wasted no time in becoming Lucasfilm Games's biggest hit to date. It marks an enormously important watershed in the history of Lucasfilm's adventure games in general, the moment when they commercially and creatively came fully into their own. The classic era of Lucasfilm adventures begins in earnest with *The Secret of Monkey Island*, which would become nothing less than the ideal most of the games that would follow would strive, sometimes perhaps a little too self-consciously, to reach.
|
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Its commercial performance aside, *The Secret of Monkey Island*'s enormous importance in the history of the art of adventure-game design in general shouldn't be neglected. For many designers working at other companies, Ron Gilbert's no-deaths-and-no-dead-ends approach hit home with the force of revelation. Both Corey Cole, co-designer of the [*Quest for Glory*](https://www.filfre.net/2016/09/so-you-want-to-be-a-hero) series for Sierra, and Bob Bates, co-founder of [Legend Entertainment](https://www.filfre.net/2017/01/a-time-of-beginnings-legend-entertainment-or-bob-and-mikes-excellent-adventure-game-company), brought up *The Secret of Monkey Island* unprompted in recent interviews with me as a work that made a huge impression on them. By no means would all designers push as far as Ron Gilbert had in the name of making a more playable adventure game. Corey Cole's design partner Lori Ann Cole, for example, pronounced herself to be against "capricious" death in adventure games, but insisted that the *possibility* of death needed to be present to foster "personal involvement" and "an emotional stake" and to elevate the game above "mere amusement" — all of which positions strike me as perfectly reasonable for the very different sort of adventure games she and Corey were making. Still, everyone serious about the art of adventure-game design simply had to reckon with *The Secret of Monkey Island*, had to decide what its lessons really were and how to apply them. The game's impact was such that to speak of a pre-*Monkey Island* and post-*Monkey Island* era of adventure games wouldn't be at all out of order.
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|
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As the 1990s began, times were beginning to change inside Lucasfilm Games. With the fire hose of cash that had been the *Star Wars* and *Indiana Jones* film franchises now ebbing and no new sequels in either blockbuster franchise on the horizon, Lucasfilm in general was concentrating on becoming a more commercially savvy organization. These changes inevitably affected the games division. Just about the instant that *The Secret of Monkey Island* was hitting store shelves, a major corporate reorganization was in progress at Lucasfilm, which saw the games division given far more resources — their personnel roll grew from about 25 to more than 100 between 1989 and 1991 — but also given much closer supervision. They would now be expected to justify each of their projects to the accountants. This transformation of Lucasfilm Games from sideline to major profit center was by no means viewed as a comprehensively bad thing by everyone working inside the games division — it did after all lead to them finally being let loose on the *Star Wars* intellectual property, something they'd been wishing for for years — but it would change the character of the place and the games that came from it forever.
|
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[](https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/monkey-island-or-how-ron-gilbert-made-an-adventure-game-that-didnt-suck/mi2/)
|
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The changes meant that the two sequels to *Loom* which Brian Moriarty had hoped to make would never be realized; Moriarty was instead sent off to work on a new educational-games initiative. A sequel to the big hit *The Secret of Monkey Island*, however, became a major priority under the new order, especially as Lucasfilm, now devoting lots of resources to [flight simulators](http://www.mobygames.com/game/secret-weapons-of-the-luftwaffe) and those aforementioned [*Star Wars* games](http://www.mobygames.com/game/star-wars_), had no other adventures on their calendar for 1991. Released in December of 1991, *Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge* didn't disappoint commercially. Benefiting from the enormous good will accrued by its predecessor, it became another bestseller, and won a number of the game-of-the-year awards that a tardy industry should have been awarding to its predecessor (inertia being the force it is, most of the awards for 1990 had gone to Sierra's pretty but horribly designed [*King's Quest V*](http://www.mobygames.com/game/kings-quest-v-absence-makes-the-heart-go-yonder), which served as its own argument for "why adventure games suck"). Today, the sequel remains almost as beloved as the original among hardcore Lucasfilm fans.
|
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|
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[](https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/monkey-island-or-how-ron-gilbert-made-an-adventure-game-that-didnt-suck/mi2uk-alt/)
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Personally, though, I'm not such a big fan of *Monkey Island 2* as I am of its predecessor. Ron Gilbert had spent two and a half years designing, writing, and developing the first *Monkey Island*, alone or with others. He was given just a year for *Monkey Island 2*, a game that's at least 50 percent larger, and I fancy I can see this disparity in the end result. The writing is neither as sharp nor as sweet. For the first time in a Ron Gilbert game, some of the humor is more gross than clever — spitting, with attention to the color and consistency of your loogies, is a major puzzle mechanic — and some of the rest is weirdly mean-spirited. Guybrush Threepwood has been transformed from the gee-whiz innocent of the first game to a bit of a raging asshole, the type of guy who steals a monocle from an innocent character who can't see a thing without it and locks another guy who didn't do anything to him inside a coffin. I don't know to what I should attribute the change in tone — whether to changes going on inside Lucasfilm Games at the time, to changes going on in the personal lives of Ron Gilbert and/or the other members of his writing team, to the pressure of getting a bigger game out in much less time, or simply to happenstance. I know only that it doesn't sit that well with me.
|
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||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/monkey-island-or-how-ron-gilbert-made-an-adventure-game-that-didnt-suck/monkey2_012/)
|
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|
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Captured by LeChuck in *Monkey Island 2*. The game will arbitrarily let you use only one item you're carrying to effect your escape, and there's no way to know ahead of time what that item is. Guess what that means you have to do…
|
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|
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In terms of puzzle design, the sequel also marks a big step down from its predecessor. While the no-deaths-and-no-dead-ends approach to design is still present, *Monkey Island 2* constantly violates another of the dicta found in Ron Gilbert's manifesto.
|
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|
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> **Arbitrary puzzles**
|
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>
|
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> Puzzles and their solutions need to make sense. They don't have to be obvious, just make sense. The best reaction after solving a tough puzzle should be, "Of course, why didn't I think of that sooner!" The worst, and most often heard after being told the solution, is, "I never would have gotten that!" If the solution can only be reached by trial and error or plain luck, it's a bad puzzle.
|
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|
||||
*Monkey Island 2* is *full* of these sorts of, to use Ron Gilbert's own words, "bad puzzles." Many solutions are so outlandish that you can stumble upon them only by using every object on every other object. At one point, for instance, you're carrying a monkey around in your inventory (don't ask!) when you come upon a closed water valve you need to open. Using the monkey on the valve does the trick because "monkey wrench." Now, credit where it's due, there's some real wit to this. Yet it's the sort of thing absolutely no player will ever think of on her own, especially given that the game hasn't heretofore shown any interest in this sort of wordplay. (And that's without even beginning to consider the problems of localization to other languages than English, which tends to render a puzzle like this into a complete non sequitur.) As you get deeper into the game, there's more and more of this sort of thing, along with pixel hunts, an infuriating maze, and puzzles that can only be solved by trying to pick up every seemingly immovable item on the screen. *Monkey Island 2* at times seems like an experiment in how annoying an adventure game can be without technically violating Lucasfilm's no-deaths-and-no-dead-ends policy.
|
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|
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Arbitrary puzzles that can be solved only through trial and error would prove to be Lucasfilm's Achilles heel going forward; too many of the games to come would feature puzzles designed more to create a laugh at how ridiculous they are than to be interesting or satisfying to solve. The end result is to create a feeling in the player of playing the interface rather than participating actively in the game world.
|
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|
||||
[](https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/monkey-island-or-how-ron-gilbert-made-an-adventure-game-that-didnt-suck/monkey2_011/)
|
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|
||||
Despite my complaints, by no means was Lucasfilm's progressive design philosophy completely abandoned for *Monkey Island 2*. The puzzle you need to solve to get through the swamp is a prime example. After you figure out what object to use as a paddle, the game solves the puzzle for you on each return visit.
|
||||
|
||||
Perhaps aware that they had crossed a line in trying to make *Monkey Island 2* more difficult than its predecessor, Lucasfilm added a "Lite" mode to the game which scales the complexity of the puzzle structure back dramatically. Unfortunately, most players agree that the Lite mode goes too far in the other direction, removing most of the interest from the game. Taken together, the very presence of the two modes speaks to a design that didn't quite hit the sweet spot of the first game, and to a design team that at some intuitive level may have realized this.
|
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|
||||
Shortly after completing *Monkey Island 2*, Ron Gilbert left Lucasfilm Games, resulting in a long hiatus for Guybrush, Elaine, LeChuck, and company. Given my snail's pace through history, there will thus likely be an almost equally lengthy hiatus before they'll grace these pages again. For now, I can only strongly encourage you to make the time to [play *The Secret of Monkey Island*](https://www.gog.com/game/the_secret_of_monkey_island_special_edition) if you haven't already. It's as strong a comedy adventure as you'll ever see, and as historically important an adventure game as any released since Crowther and Woods's seminal original *Adventure*. While you can [take or leave its sequel](https://www.gog.com/game/monkey_island_2_special_edition_lechucks_revenge) as you see fit, *The Secret of Monkey Island* is one adventure game that everybody really ought to play. It's just that important. And even better, it's just that *good*.
|
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|
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(**Sources:** the films *From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years* and its associated extras; the book *Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution* by Michael Rubin; *A.C.E.* of April 1990; *The Adventurer* of Fall 1990, Spring 1991, and Fall 1991; *Computer Gaming World* of December 1990, June 1991, October 1991, November 1991, January 1992, May 1992, and November 1992; *Retro Gamer* 34. Also Ron Gilbert's blog, [The Grumpy Gamer](http://grumpygamer.com).)
|
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[72 Comments](https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/monkey-island-or-how-ron-gilbert-made-an-adventure-game-that-didnt-suck/#comments)
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Posted by [Jimmy Maher](https://www.filfre.net/author/jimmy-maher/ "Posts by Jimmy Maher") on March 10, 2017 in [Digital Antiquaria](https://www.filfre.net/category/digital-antiquaria/), [Interactive Fiction](https://www.filfre.net/category/interactive-fiction/)
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Tags: [lucasarts](https://www.filfre.net/tag/lucasarts/?order=asc), [monkey island](https://www.filfre.net/tag/monkey-island/?order=asc), [ron gilbert](https://www.filfre.net/tag/ron-gilbert/?order=asc), [scumm](https://www.filfre.net/tag/scumm/?order=asc)
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---
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- Collecting a footprint clue in the 2006 adventure game *Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express* requires that you cast the thing in cake batter, then prevent the batter from falling apart by putting it in a big bowl of ice. Even your character's own dialogue admits how goofy the resulting "evidence" looks.
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- *[Another Code](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AnotherCode "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AnotherCode")*: The original DS release had a few that revolved around manipulating the handheld itself.
|
||||
- There was one puzzle where you had to close the DS *just* enough so you could see the reflection of one of the screens on the other without closing it so much it went into standby mode. It also had no hints other then the fact that it was simply a photo frame that folded the same way. Should you be playing on an original DS without a backlight on, good luck seeing the reflection. To say noting of if you're playing it later hardware revisions of the system, or the 3DS and any of *its* revisions, in which case the two halves of the clue will not line up properly. Fortunately, simple brute force also works for solving the puzzle.
|
||||
- There is one puzzle where you have to complete a picture using a pair of stamps; this is done by closing the DS twice.
|
||||
- *[Armed & Delirious](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ArmedAndDelirious "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ArmedAndDelirious")* is a game infamous for being nearly entirely made of Moon Logic, with many puzzles involving using inventory items at random, clicking VERY specific pixels on the screen, and requiring strange/incredibly specific timing in order to proceed. A particularly infamous puzzle requires you to use the discs of the game itself to solve a colour matching puzzle, including the disc that is currently inside of your PC as you are playing it.
|
||||
- *[Beyond the Edge of Owlsgard](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/BeyondTheEdgeOfOwlsgard "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/BeyondTheEdgeOfOwlsgard")*: At one point, you need to widen a gap in some rocks so Gwen can squeeze through. Sadly, Finn can't just widen the gap with his shovel; instead, the player must catch a piranha in the swamps, use the piranha's sharp teeth to cut a drill off the flailing tendrils of a trapped robot, then drill a hole through the rocks. At least the cables in the mines provide a clue as to what you'll need.
|
||||
- *[The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheBizarreAdventuresOfWoodruffAndTheSchnibble "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheBizarreAdventuresOfWoodruffAndTheSchnibble")* is a mind-bender of an adventure game in general, but one lateral-thinking puzzle that particularly stands out involves the hero being asked to fetch quest an item for a ridiculously nitpicky bureaucrat who keeps rejecting your attempts. The eventual solution is to give yourself magic strength and *punch him in the face*.
|
||||
- *Broken Sword* fangame *[Broken Sword 2.5: The Return of the Templars](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/BrokenSword25TheReturnOfTheTemplars "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/BrokenSword25TheReturnOfTheTemplars")* has been designed by people who think it makes sense to aquire a flashlight by trading with a bum for the pair of panties Nico left in her handbag (which you rummaged in). Yup.
|
||||
- [Douglas Adams](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/DouglasAdams "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/DouglasAdams")'s text adventure *[Bureaucracy](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Bureaucracy "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Bureaucracy")* is filled with this; in order to progress, you frequently have to use strange leaps of logic to deal with a world designed and run by demented [Obstructive Bureaucrats](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObstructiveBureaucrat "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObstructiveBureaucrat"). (For example, a creditor sends you a "bill" in the form of a check for *negative* three hundred dollars. Simple; deposit it in your account, but use a withdrawal slip instead of a deposit slip. Since the negative of a withdrawal is a deposit, the negative of negative three hundred dollars is three hundred dollars.)
|
||||
- *[Chaos on Deponia](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Deponia "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Deponia")* has an especially awful puzzle that relies on Moon Logic AND [Cruelty Is the Only Option](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption") to solve. You need to break into a house, which has a cat food bowl outside. So, you put some fish bait on a burning tire, which you put on the window of a kitchen with some baby dolphins in a pool just outside. They jump through the hoop and get turned into *cans of tuna*. Then you feed the cat so your character can 'discover' (and finally interact with) the *cat flap* which has been clearly visible to the player the entire time.
|
||||
- *[Codename: ICEMAN](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/CodenameIceman "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/CodenameIceman")* was bad about this kind of puzzle. In one instance, you had to have the installation manual handy so you could manually type in the correct (according to the manual) procedure for giving CPR. In some cases, to get from one setting to the next, you might have to take an action that would result in getting stalled in the next scene.
|
||||
- One of the first interactive-text games, *[Colossal Cave](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ColossalCave "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ColossalCave")* (aka *Adventure*) required you to state what weapon you were using to attack an enemy. If you just typed "attack monster", the game would reply, "With what? Your bare hands?" Normally, you'd have to enter "attack monster with sword". An exception to this rule was when you were faced with a fire-breathing dragon ...
|
||||
|
||||
ATTACK DRAGON
|
||||
|
||||
\>With what? Your bare hands?
|
||||
|
||||
[YES](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BluntYes "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BluntYes")
|
||||
|
||||
\>Congratulations! You have just vanquished a dragon with your bare hands! (hard to believe, isn't it?)
|
||||
|
||||
- An example of when this goes wrong can be found in an obscure adventure game called *[The Crystal Key](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheCrystalKey "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheCrystalKey")*. At one point, you're in an alien docking bay, trying to get a ship to take off before a Darth Vader [Expy](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Expy "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Expy") can find you and force-choke you. All the keys on the ship's control panel are labeled in an alien language. You're supposed to have written down the coordinates of the ship you docked at the very beginning, then you're supposed to enter in those same coordinates. Apparently, it's taken for granted not only that you remember the coordinates, but that you'll know the aliens use base-10, arrange their keys in the same order as on a telephone number pad, and use the same coordinate system as is found in your ship. Note in particular that the keys are arranged as on a *telephone* keypad, with 123 at the top. Which, of course, is different from the layout of the PC keypad that's likely to be closer at hand for someone playing the game.
|
||||
- *[Curse of Enchantia](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/CurseOfEnchantia "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/CurseOfEnchantia")* is composed mostly of these puzzles; as a largely textless adventure game with little dialogue, everything is conveyed via thought balloons and similar image bubbles. This leads to very bizarre puzzles, but even that is no excuse once the game takes a turn for the completely surreal. For instance—at one point, [your path will be blocked by an anthropomorphic nose](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext). There is no reason given for why it's there or why it wants to stop you, you just have to get past it somehow. What you have to do is find a giant pile of cut hair on the ground a few screens back, grab a handful of hair, and shove it into the nose to make it sneeze itself out of the way.
|
||||
- The *[Nancy Drew](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/NancyDrew "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/NancyDrew")* game *Danger By Design* requires purchasing an ancient decoder from a vendor and a book of ciphers from another vendor, then finding a message in the final room, then *encoding* that message with the date shift cipher from the book, then inputting the encoded message into the decoder to eventually get a message in French with the numbers to unlock the door.
|
||||
- In *[Day of the Tentacle](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle")*, for Hoagie to charge the super-battery he must strap it to Benjamin Franklin's kite so that it gets hit by lightning. The problem is that it's a sunny day, so to make it rain, he must wash the dirty carriage outside the inn. [Get it?](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TemptingFate "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TemptingFate")
|
||||
- *[Death Gate](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DeathGate "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DeathGate")* had two infuriating puzzles of this type.
|
||||
- One was opening the treasure room in the tower of the Brotherhood. You have a code list, but all it says is "Buy their time to die" above a list of in-universe Arianus continents. You also can find a book that explains the codes change based on the time of month. To open the wall with lots of hands, you have to look at what continent currently obscures the sun from that place, then use that continent to figure out what word to use from the "Buy their time to die" phrase (it's the word above the name of the continent) then if it was for example "die", you have to press Diamond Iron Emerald hands. First letters for the materials they're made of. Aside from the Brotherhood book, and the code list itself, there are NO clues about this whatsoever. Good luck getting this without a walkthrough. They do show you the materials in the item descriptions at least.
|
||||
- The second is even more [egregious](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/Egregious "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/Egregious), especially because it's the final puzzle. You have to continuously fend off Sang-Drax while figuring out the correct starting rune for the Interconnection spell. Fending off Sang-Drax is simple enough (figuring out which elemental storm to use against his current form, which isn't hard) but figuring out the starting rune without trial and error is nigh impossible. The character who could tell you the rune is *dead* so the logical option is to resurrect him. Problem: he only says "the heart, the heart" which is a very obscure reference to a back-then-didn't-seem-important conversation *near the beginning of the game*. Again, good luck. Fortunately this time there are only six options, logic whittles it down to five, and a possible in-universe logical trick diminishes it to four, so trial and error (along with save scumming) gets there FAST.
|
||||
- *[Discworld](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Discworld "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Discworld")*. Most of the puzzles don't make sense even in retrospect. [Terry Pratchett](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/TerryPratchett "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/TerryPratchett") jokingly summed it up as follows:
|
||||
|
||||
**Pterry:** To get the walkthrough, you have to take the sponge from Nanny Ogg's pantry and stick it in the ear of the troll with the tutu, then take the lumps and put them in the pouch with the zombie's razor.
|
||||
|
||||
- Here's the worst from *[Discworld II](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DiscworldII "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DiscworldII")*, which was somewhat saner, and where most puzzles made sense if you read the books. You need some sticks. That's easy — steal the mallets from croquet players by swapping them with something similar, so that they wouldn't notice. One is simple: a hammerhead shark, who does look like a mallet. Another is OK, if you remember *[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland")*: a flamingo. The third is a pelican. What leap of logic connects it with croquet is unclear. [The Pelican Croquet Club?](https://www.lakemac.com.au/Venues/Pelican-Croquet-Club)
|
||||
- *[The Dig](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheDig1995 "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheDig1995")* has places where you can't use certain items until you progress to the point where you need them. There is a patch of dirt that you can't interact with until you do several other things, and a rock that you can't interact with until you enter a particular code into a map room.
|
||||
- *[EarthBound (1994)](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Videogame/EarthBound1994 "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Videogame/EarthBound1994")* parodies these. Getting past a giant statue of a pencil, for example, requires you to obtain and use a Pencil Eraser. And to get past an eraser statue? Eraser Eraser.
|
||||
- Due to *[Epiphany City](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/EpiphanyCity "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/EpiphanyCity")*'s theme of thinking outside the box, several puzzles are solved in unintuitive ways, usually involving the shape of objects mimicking another—the Ocean Flower, for example, is discovered by placing 4 unrelated setpieces together in such a way that, when combined with a setting sun for the middle piece, they become a flower.
|
||||
- *[Gabriel Knight](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/GabrielKnight "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/GabrielKnight") 3* [was accused](http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/77.html) by [Old Man Murray](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Website/OldManMurray "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Website/OldManMurray") of being an excellent example of [what killed adventure games](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GenreKiller "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GenreKiller"): themselves. It featured a very nonsensical puzzle that includes using honey on an old piece of tape to steal hair from a cat, to make a fake mustache, to impersonate someone, to get a motorcycle, because the hero refuses to drive a scooter. The guy you are impersonating doesn't have a mustache. You also need to steal his driver's license and find a pen, to draw a mustache on his picture. The last part makes some sense, as an eye-catching feature on a face draws attention away from a face's bone shape, and other characters hint at this; but it does nothing to explain how cat hair glued with maple syrup can make a convincing moustache. In addition, the article highlighted there was an [Interface Screw](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InterfaceScrew "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InterfaceScrew") aspect as well; several objects involved in the puzzle don't show up as interactive *until* you've reached the point in the plot where the puzzle must be solved, but at the same time they have nothing particular to do with the puzzle, so the only way to find them was to visit every previous location and mouse over everything to find if something had become available that wasn't before. It even has its own dedicated page [on the other Wiki, with multiple sources to discuss the puzzle's legacy.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_hair_mustache_puzzle)
|
||||
- *[Grim Fandango](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Videogame/GrimFandango "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Videogame/GrimFandango")* mostly plays fair with its hints (and changed the genre by trying to make it obvious what objects could and could not be interacted with), but it has a few of these, [mostly late in the game](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DisappointingLastLevel "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DisappointingLastLevel"):
|
||||
- At one point, you're trying to get into [the lair of a psychotic florist](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItMakesSenseInContext "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItMakesSenseInContext") without him shooting you. He's holed up, yes, a florist shop, where everything is covered with cloth and/or tape. How do you get him to calm down and stop taking potshots? Cut the tape off the bell above the door, go out, and come back in. The noise of it ringing makes him go into "florist mode," and talk to you normally.
|
||||
- At another, a bouncer is keeping you from meeting with the mob boss who runs the casino you're both standing in, unless you prove that you know said mob boss by answering a series of number-based questions about him ("How many Limos does Hector LeMans own?"). You know none of these things, but you will inexplicably succeed if you always answer the number that just won on the roulette wheel behind you.
|
||||
- Whenever he asks a question, he first looks up at the roulette board, lending credence to Manny's accusation of "You're just making up these questions."
|
||||
- And then there's the one you solve using something an NPC said to you in passing *in an optional conversation* 8-ish hours (or four in-world years) ago. You need to find something that can be used as fuel. You have a coffee mug filled with packing foam lining the coffin you retrieved it from. There is a room with a toaster that catches fire if you put an oily rag in it. The station employees will put out the fire using fire extinguishers if that happens. Placed the packing foam-stuffed mug on the mug rack next to the toaster, and put the oily rag in the toaster. The fire extinguisher spray will chemically react with the packing foam and make the mug jet around the room. If you missed the optional conversation or forgot about it, you have absolutely no way of knowing that the extinguishers and packing foam will react together like that.
|
||||
- Yet another illogical puzzle involves you trying to retrieve your car from a booby trapped garage. The villain has rigged a bomb that will be set off if you disturb the giant domino chain that runs all over the floor and the hero is not confident of his ability to step through the trap or disarm it by removing dominoes from the chain. The solution is to have Glottis drink a huge vat of liquid and then make him queasy so that he violently vomits all over the floor. The liquid can then be frozen with liquid nitrogen to prevent the dominoes from moving, although quite why uncontrollably puking over the dominoes is considered less risky than manually picking them up is not explained. Luckily you are stuck in quite a small area with few items so it isn't hard to find the solution.
|
||||
- The text adventure version of Douglas Adams's *[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984)](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984 "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984")* is notorious for abusing the player with this kind of puzzle logic. In order to solve one particular puzzle, you are told that you need to show exceptional intelligence. A bit of research in the Guide reveals that in order to do so, you need to both have something and *not* have something at the same time. Given that "no tea" is listed as an inventory item -and has been since the beginning of the game- it's increasingly clear that this is what you need to find. However, there doesn't seem to be any source for it in the game. Even a machine that seems perfectly suited to dispense it will, maddeningly, produce a product that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike it. It's not a [Stock Lateral Thinking Puzzle](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StockLateralThinkingPuzzle "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StockLateralThinkingPuzzle") either—you can't simply DROP NO TEA to get it. Once you finally *do* get the tea, after acquiring a proper interface for the Nutrimat, you *still* have to deal with getting both the "tea" and the "no tea" at the same time, as "your common sense tells you you can't do that". You eventually have to go inside your own brain and remove said common sense, which finally allows you to possess the tea and the "no tea" at the same time. Oh, by the way, even after removing your common sense, you *still* can't DROP NO TEA if you don't have tea, though the [message changes](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InformingTheFourthWall "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InformingTheFourthWall") to reflect your newfound lack of common sense. [Douglas Adams](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/DouglasAdams "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/DouglasAdams") once described the game as moving beyond user-unfriendly, to user-hostile.
|
||||
- *[King's Quest](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuest "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuest")*:
|
||||
- *[King's Quest I: Quest For The Crown](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestIQuestForTheCrown "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestIQuestForTheCrown")* contained one optional puzzle where the player had three attempts to guess a Rumplestiltskin character's name, with the sole hint in the game being a letter saying "sometimes it pays to think backwards". In the original edition, this implied spelling "Rumplestiltskin" using an alphabetic *cipher* where Z=A, Y=B, and so on (the answer was thus "Ifnkovhgroghprm"). This proved too difficult for most players even in its time (reportedly, the Sierra hint line got more calls for the solution to this puzzle than literally anything else), so for the game's [Enhanced Remake](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnhancedRemake "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnhancedRemake") the solution was simplified to just spelling "Rumplestiltskin" backwards. In a further bit of mercy, the game also accepts both Rump**le**stiltskin in addition to the literature-accurate Rump**el**stiltskin.
|
||||
- *[King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestIIRomancingTheThrone "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestIIRomancingTheThrone")* has a point where you're blocked by a [pOIsonous snake.](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MemeticMutation "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MemeticMutation") You can kill it with your sword (which even has a snake inscribed on it, inclining players to think that's what they're supposed to do), but the **correct** thing to do is to throw a bridle at it so it becomes a talking pegasus. Even the novelized walkthrough in The King's Quest Companion, which makes a point that Graham can be an eccentric and a daydreamer to explain how he just happens to blunder into the correct solutions to the games' more counter-intuitive puzzles, couldn't come up with a better explanation for this one than Graham threw the bridle completely by accident. The [Fan Remake](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FanRemake "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FanRemake") splits it into several puzzles, but using an opal necklace to stun the snake so you can get past, create an [Anti-Magic](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AntiMagic "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AntiMagic) item in the sorcerer's home, use it on the snake, and THEN get the bridle using a [Solve the Soup Cans](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SolveTheSoupCans "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SolveTheSoupCans") riddle is only marginally less out there.
|
||||
- *[King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder")* has the infamous puzzle in which you kill a yeti by throwing a pie in its face.
|
||||
- And chasing a snake away with a tambourine. And powering a piece of magical equipment with some moldy cheese.
|
||||
- You're lost in a cursed forest. How do you get out? Simple: Squeeze some honey onto a completely arbitrary spot on the road, and drop your emeralds into the puddle until an elf gets stuck in it. Incidentally, if you drop the emeralds *without* putting down the honey, the elf will just take them and run, and [that's it for that playthrough](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnwinnableByDesign "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnwinnableByDesign").
|
||||
- *[King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow")*:
|
||||
- Casting the "Make Rain" spell might qualify. You need to combine three different liquids in a teapot. There are no teapots in the game, and the only hint (not explicitly mentioned in the game itself) is that the old hunter's lamp looks a bit like a teapot. Considering that in a previous game (*[King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestIIIToHeirIsHuman "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestIIIToHeirIsHuman")*) spells had to be cast *exactly* according to the [instructions](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllThereInTheManual "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllThereInTheManual) (it doubled as the game's [Copy Protection](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CopyProtection "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CopyProtection"), so failure meant [Have a Nice Death](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HaveANiceDeath "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HaveANiceDeath")), it's easy for gamers playing the series in order to be [Wrong Genre Savvy](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WrongGenreSavvy "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WrongGenreSavvy) on this one.
|
||||
- Later on there's an even more unintuitive puzzle: Jollo informs Alexander that you can get the [Big Bad](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigBad "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigBad")'s right hand genie out of the way by switching the genie's lamp with an identical one. Conveniently, there's a peddler selling lamps out on the street but you don't know which lamp to pick. What's the solution? Go to the pawn shop where the genie is there in disguise and make Alexander drink a *fake death* potion so that a cutscene appears where the genie goes to report this to his master and the player can get a look at the lamp and choose it when Alexander wakes up. What makes this completely out of left field is the fact that not only have the prior cutscenes between the genie and the [Big Bad](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigBad "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigBad") not shown the lamp meaning there would be no reason to believe this would work, but the puzzle itself breaks the fourth wall since the knowledge of the lamp's appearance is only shown to *the player*, meaning that from an in story perspective Alexander got the right lamp via a lucky guess (Alexander himself claims this when he is later asked how he chose the right lamp).note The Fake Death potion is actually supposed to be used for a different in-story reason: [Alexander knows that the Vizier knows of his plans to save Cassima](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IKnowYouKnowIKnow "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IKnowYouKnowIKnow), and he also knows (or at least suspects) that the guy following him with glowing gold eyes is the Vizier's genie. In order to throw off Al-Azahred, Alexander pretends to kill himself and thus get the Vizier to lower his guard. It doesn't actually have an in-story *effect*, but that's the justification presented. The fact that it also gives the player a glimpse of the genie's bottle is just a bonus.
|
||||
- In *[King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestVIIThePrincelessBride "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuestVIIThePrincelessBride")*, this is taken literally. In one chapter, a hunk of green cheese falls into a fountain in the town of Falderal which Chicken Little claims to be the Moon. Despite it being clearly within her reach, Valanice claims she can't reach it. The idea is that, being cheese and in water, it is slippery and has to be retrieved a different way. You must instead obtain a book and trade it to Roo Rat for a shepherd's crook and then use the crook to get the Moon. After being then found guilty of "Moon theft" and ordered to put it back into the sky, you then have to use the rubber chicken and a tree branch resembling a slingshot to fling the Moon back into the sky.
|
||||
- Gets played for laughs in [the 2015 reboot](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuest2015 "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/KingsQuest2015"). At a certain point, Graham gets stuck in quicksand and the apparent solution is to grab a nearby bucket, umbrella and a wheel to build a sort of impromptu watermill and then use a nearby skeleton to hold it. Graham looks proudly for a few moments at his contraption, and then Vee throws him a vine which allows her to pull him out, throwing in a comment that she's amazed you really thought something like that would actually work.
|
||||
- Later, in the epilogue, Gwendolyn references the trope directly when the player attempts to use an item on an object it's not meant to be used on.
|
||||
|
||||
**Gwendolyn**: Moon, meet logic.
|
||||
|
||||
- *[Laura Bow: The Dagger of Amon Ra](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/LauraBow "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/LauraBow")* has this. The player will be hinted toward two questions throughout the game "What room do you leave without entering?" and "What room do you enter without leaving?", twin riddles that will come to haunt you near the end of the game in the cult of Amon Ra's secret meeting room. The answers *are* given, but in a slab found in Olymia's office. [In hieroglyphs.](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BilingualBonus "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BilingualBonus") Even if you take the time to decipher the message, it is told in a long passage that still doesn't *directly* give you the answers and, to the ones that don't know the answers otherwise, will sound interesting but otherwise useless and will be very easy to overlook what the answers were. womb and tomb.
|
||||
- *[Limbo of the Lost](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/LimboOfTheLost "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/LimboOfTheLost")* has the now-infamous Soul Vial puzzle, where the player has to obtain a green-tinted vial containing the also-green soul of a warrior. To do this, the player needs to find an empty green-tinted vial, fill it with water ([which is rendered as thick blue instead of clear](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WaterIsBlue "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WaterIsBlue)) and mix that with saffron to create a substitute to make the exchange with. This puzzle, of course, not only relies on the fact that the player assumes that the [Water Is Blue](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WaterIsBlue "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WaterIsBlue") instead of clear, but also assumes that the player knows what saffron is and what it does — and by extension, you would also know that putting saffron in water makes it *yellow*, not *green*!
|
||||
|
||||
*[The Longest Journey Saga](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheLongestJourneySaga "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheLongestJourneySaga")*:
|
||||
|
||||
- *[The Longest Journey](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheLongestJourney "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheLongestJourney")*:
|
||||
|
||||
- At the beginning of the game you need to get a large piece of iron off an electrified metro track. How does one accomplish this feat? By combining a clamp, a clothesline and a rubber ducky. And to get the clamp you need to use the ring your father gave you to close an electrical circuit to fix the plumbing system of your apartment building so the clamp isn't needed to hold a pipe shut? And the duck requires the player to feed a pigeon outside their window, and it will fly down to the grate in the canal the duck is trapped under. The pigeon jars the grate, which both releases the duck, and the chain the clothesline is on. The worst part is that this action is prone to a bug in which April will act as though there's something missing from your Rube Goldberg contraption — so that even if you managed to figure it out, you *still* might be told that you're wrong (incidentally, this is one of [several glitches](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GameBreakingBug "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GameBreakingBug") which can only be got around by restoring a previous saved game). Also, there's a band-aid on the duck. April has to remove the band-aid, blow up the duck, and then remove it so it'll deflate and the clamp will close automatically. This puzzle stands in stark contrast to most of the other ones in the game, seeing as they are generally based on *actual logic*, instead of a college student, for no good reason, meddling with several pieces of machinery she has no business operating.
|
||||
|
||||
**[Cracked.com](http://www.cracked.com/article_19974_the-6-most-absurdly-difficult-video-game-puzzles.html):** Now you're ready to get that key! Wait, what key? Oh, right — you were doing something at some point before you got high and started fucking with these birds.
|
||||
|
||||
- Later on, you have to take some candy from the bar April works at. Problem is, if the player chooses to look at the bar instead of manipulating it, April specifically says her boss doesn't like the employees eating the candy. The player might reasonably assume that this is just for the characterization of April's boss, and they shouldn't or can't take the candy, and not even bother to try. The player, admittedly, might decide to go all the way back to the bar just to retrieve the candy when they need it, so they can roll it in stinky ooze and give it to a cop. The cop spits it out, and the guy he's watching thinks it was on purpose and chases him off. Yes, April will decide to, as far as she knows, *poison a police officer* to meet her admittedly-desperate goals.
|
||||
- How do you remove a police officer from an accident scene? Bribe him with a soda, which the game indicates is the right thing to use? Nah, that won't work. Ride the subway clear across town to put the soda in the paint shaker you may have noticed some time ago, then ride the subway all the way back, then walk to the cop and hand him the soda which has somehow not gone flat so that it sprays him in the face, forcing him to leave to change his armor? Correct! Please note that the solution is, in essence, intuitive, but the game forces the player to go about it in a really convoluted way. The game could've simply had April shaking up the soda behind her back before handing it to the cop. It would've been a bit of a [Deus ex Machina](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeusExMachina "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeusExMachina), but given that the audience knows April is an intelligent and capable young woman, it would probably be a more logical solution than the one that made it into the game.
|
||||
- A powerful wizard can be defeated by handing him a calculator, causing him to be sucked inside when he starts messing with it. Why? [Fan Wank](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FanWank "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FanWank") has suggested that it is something to do with the calculator being an object of pure logic that conflicts with the wizard's magical nature but the game doesn't bother to explain this at any point.
|
||||
- *[Dreamfall: The Longest Journey](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney")*:
|
||||
- When Zoë is first transported to Arcadia, her first task is to find her way out of a cave that links to Marcuria. The final step to accomplish this is to solve a musical lock to make a door appear, which requires you to input a specific sequence of four tones to open. How do you figure these tones? They've already been presented to you, in various different ways: in the music that plays for the cutscene when you first arrive in the cave, by having them hummed by the cave-dwelling trolls found on the way to the door, in the combat music when engaging said trolls, and when solving a minor puzzle also required to reach the door. Unsurprisingly, the cutscenes in question cannot be repeated, and it is entirely possible to beat all the trolls (who will aggro on sight) to death, meaning that by the time you reach the door and even realize that you need those clues at all, any possible way to access them has been permanently lost short of loading an earlier save.
|
||||
|
||||
- *[Machinarium](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Machinarium "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Machinarium")* is mostly straightforward in its puzzles, but a few of these fall squarely into Moon Logic territory. For instance: After powering up an electric fence so you can trick a cat into being shocked by it and stunned, you're then able to collect the cat. Why did you need a cat? Why, obviously to give to the didgeridoo player so it can chase the critter out of his didgeridoo!
|
||||
- *[Monkey Island](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MonkeyIsland "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MonkeyIsland")*:
|
||||
- *[Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge")*:
|
||||
- At a certain point you have to find something to turn off a pump to reveal a pathway behind a waterfall. The solution was to plug a hypnotized monkey into the pump and turning its tail. Yup, it's a [monkey wrench](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VisualPun "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VisualPun"). Bonus points to players of non-English versions (or, indeed, players who speak a [non-American dialect of English](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeparatedByACommonLanguage "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeparatedByACommonLanguage)), because [that's not a puzzle that translates very well](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LostInTranslation "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LostInTranslation") — the Spanish version of the game, for one, resorted to putting a book in the Phatt Library which flat-out tells you that monkeys can be used as "English wrenches", the Spanish equivalent of "monkey wrenches".
|
||||
- Near the end of the game you have to use an elevator, but the door won't close because the combined weight of Guybrush and a huge immovable crate exceed the weight limit. Guybrush has to be holding a balloon and two surgical gloves filled with helium in order to be light enough to ride the elevator.
|
||||
- *[The Curse of Monkey Island](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland")*:
|
||||
- At one point you need to make a snake throw up. What's the answer? Put an ipecac flower into a carafe of pancake syrup! There is a hint where you get the flower stating that natives use it as a 'purgative', but if the player is unfamiliar with that word or if they read the hint hours earlier...
|
||||
|
||||
["It's syrup of ipecac. That seems...logical..."](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LampshadeHanging "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LampshadeHanging")
|
||||
|
||||
- 7th Level's *Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail* involved this throughout the whole game. A parody of point-and-click adventure games, this involved a really long registration process at the very beginning. Guess what? The registration is necessary to complete a later section. Fortunately, you get to go back if you didn't complete it the first time around.
|
||||
- There are several of these in the game *Monty Python's The Meaning of Life*.
|
||||
- For example on the last level you need to generate power by turning a wheel, and you have a Rude French Mouse and several types of cheese. Since the Rude French Mouse doesn't want any of the cheese you have to use the mouse on a giant man's head to get a small elephant, use the Chocolate Mousse recipe to make a peanut, and convince the elephant to run in the wheel by placing the peanut nearby. You use the cheese to build a tower that lets you get into the attic.
|
||||
- You also bring a dead parrot back to life using spam, lupins, and a gumby brain surgeon.
|
||||
- Another one, which many players could only solve by forcing themselves to [Try Everything](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TryEverything "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TryEverything"), has several ingredients being put through grinders and added to a bowl to make the infamous salmon mousse from the film. The trick is not to use the grinders - just put all the ingredients directly into the bowl.
|
||||
- *Mudlarks* has several puzzles which combine moon logic with apparent psychosis. Early in the game, the player character gets trapped in a quarantine tent which they were supposed to be just visiting. The solution? Yank an electrical cable on the floor, causing the panel it's connected to to begin sparking, then throw water on it! The character does comment in internal dialog that they've broken the law several times later in the adventure, but never considers the potential consequences of starting an electrical fire in a tent where genuinely sick people are sleeping.
|
||||
- A few parts of *[Myst](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Myst "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Myst")* games. Some are a bit closer to plain ol' [soup cans](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SolveTheSoupCans "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SolveTheSoupCans") but especially terrible bits include, in *[Uru: Ages Beyond Myst](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/UruAgesBeyondMyst "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/UruAgesBeyondMyst")*, when you have to take aquaphobic one-jump fireflies into a cave behind a waterfall to have enough light to see. You're an explorer, and you don't have the sense to bring a flashlight? Or go back to Relto and grab a firemarble? And even if you *do* get through with some other light source or by feeling your way through, you can't activate the triggers until you come back with fireflies. The underground train where there are small noises at each intersection, each different noise indicating a different direction. This particular puzzle is easier if one has completed the Mechanical Age, or at least used the fortress-rotation simulator in another save, as it uses the exact same sound cues. The train puzzle still has a twist, though: at some points, the train needs to go in a secondary direction (southwest, northeast, etc.), and the cues for those consist of two sounds playing at once.
|
||||
- *[The Mystery of the Druids](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheMysteryOfTheDruids "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheMysteryOfTheDruids")* opens with one of these. You need to contact someone by phone; your office phone in Scotland Yard doesn't let you make external calls. There's a pay phone available, but you don't have change. None of your co-workers will let you use their phone, and nobody will give you change or make change for you. The solution: talk to a hobo on the street, and have him ask you for a drink. Then go to the Scotland Yard lab, tease the lab technician about having alcohol in the lab, and have him dare you to drink medical alcohol. Drink it (which in reality would be potentially fatal), pass out, wake up, use fingerprinting powder on the bottles to see which one held the medical alcohol (even though it's labelled), tip it into a bottle with some apple juice, and feed it to the hobo - who falls unconscious letting you steal the change out of his hat. It is an important hint to how deranged and unscrupulous the player character is (your boss actually chews you out for doing such a ridiculous and dangerous thing), and the fact that the office doesn't give him the money to make external calls hints at how little they trust him; but it's also a very unintuitive puzzle with no hint but to try everything.
|
||||
- The superhero adventure game, *[Noctropolis](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Noctropolis "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Noctropolis")*, is full of these. To enter a cathedral guarded by a lethal, flying gargoyle, the player must A) locate the couple pixels representative of the only loose bar in the iron-wrought fence, B) open utility panel of a nearby streetlight, C) attach fifty-pounds worth of cable to connect the fence post to an arbitrary lead, and d.) throw the bar, like a spear, some 20-yards so that it lands upon the fountain on which the beast occasionally perches so that it is electrocuted the following time it does. This puzzle was one of the first in the game and significantly simpler than later examples.
|
||||
- *[Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/NordAndBertCouldntMakeHeadOrTailOfIt "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/NordAndBertCouldntMakeHeadOrTailOfIt")* runs on a specific type of weird logic, dependent on wordplay, so some of the puzzles end up being quite obtuse if you aren't familiar with the terms. For example, one part in "[Shake a Tower](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Spoonerism "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Spoonerism")" has you save a shepherd from a rabid rat, and he drops a book of riddles. You also see a burning pile of soap suds, with an icicle hanging above them. The solution is to "riddle while foam burns", a play on the obscure expression "fiddle while Rome burns". This leads you to a well-boiled icicle, which you can turn into a well-oiled bicycle and use to get around. Other puzzles involve figuring out how to scare a portrait of [Karl Marx](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/KarlMarx "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/KarlMarx) and finding various ways to annoy a waitress.
|
||||
- 3D adventure game *[Outcry](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Outcry "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Outcry")* invoked this on purpose in its latter half, where the landscape is shaped by your brother's subconscious. While the previous puzzles were mainly about studying abandoned/incomplete instructions to operating mysterious machinery, the puzzles in the so-called "Shimmering World" will have connections to psychotropic drugs, ancient monoliths and other things your brother knew very well but the player might struggle to figure out.
|
||||
- *[Out of Order (2003)](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/OutOfOrder2003 "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/OutOfOrder2003")* has a couple:
|
||||
- At one point, you need to obtain a device called a "MotorTroll" from a shopkeeper named Bob. It just happens that Bob has a bunch of cardboard boxes behind his shop, including one for the MotorTroll. If you look into it, you obtain an instruction manual, and if you look into it again you get a warranty. If you show Bob the warranty he'll say that he'll give you a new MotorTroll, but only if you bring him the old broken one. So what do you do? You're supposed to mess with an electrical transformer in the doctor's office to obtain a pile of burnt-out wires, and show them to Bob claiming that they're the broken MotorTroll. There's absolutely nothing connecting the wires and MotorTroll other than the fact that they're both electronic.
|
||||
|
||||
...37253 bytes truncated...
|
||||
442
src/resources/moon-logic-divergent-thinking.md
Normal file
442
src/resources/moon-logic-divergent-thinking.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,442 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://simplyputpsych.co.uk/gaming-psych/point-and-click-adventure-games-pure-moon-logic-or-an-expression-of-divergent-thinking
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Point-and-Click Adventure Games: Pure Moon Logic or an Expression of Divergent Thinking? — Simply Put Psych
|
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# Point-and-Click Adventure Games: Pure Moon Logic or an Expression of Divergent Thinking?
|
||||
|
||||
[Cognitive Psychology](/gaming-psych/category/Cognitive+Psychology)[Game Design and Psychology](/gaming-psych/category/Game+Design+and+Psychology)[Game Development & Design Theory](/gaming-psych/category/Game+Development+%26+Design+Theory)
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||||
1 Nov
|
||||
|
||||
Written By [JC Pass](/gaming-psych?author=643ad5af58e40f270c343c5c)
|
||||
|
||||
In the realm of video games, few genres evoke as much nostalgia as point-and-click adventure games. Often characterized by their immersive storytelling, quirky characters, and elaborate puzzles, these games have secured a devoted fan base since their inception in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Titles like *Monkey Island*, *Grim Fandango*, and *Day of the Tentacle* not only defined a genre but also shaped the way narrative-driven games are developed today. However, a common critique of point-and-click adventures is their use of what many players refer to as "moon logic"—puzzles that seem illogical or arbitrary. This leads to a fascinating debate: are these games a testament to creative, divergent thinking, or are they merely exercises in frustration masked by whimsical storytelling?
|
||||
|
||||
## A Brief History of Point-and-Click Adventure Games
|
||||
|
||||
To understand the nuances of this debate, it's essential to trace the evolution of point-and-click adventure games. The genre traces its roots back to early text-based adventures like *Colossal Cave Adventure* and *Zork*, where players interacted with the game world through typed commands. The transition to graphical interfaces in the mid-1980s marked a significant turning point. Games like *Maniac Mansion* (1987) introduced point-and-click mechanics, allowing players to interact with the environment through simple clicks rather than text input.
|
||||
|
||||
As technology progressed, so did the complexity and depth of these games. The golden age of point-and-click adventures in the 1990s showcased innovative storytelling and rich worlds, often featuring bizarre and surreal elements. Companies like LucasArts and Sierra On-Line became synonymous with the genre, creating iconic titles that remain influential to this day.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Nature of Puzzles in Point-and-Click Adventures
|
||||
|
||||
At the heart of point-and-click adventures are their puzzles, which can vary from straightforward tasks to mind-bending conundrums that require outside-the-box thinking. Puzzles often incorporate items collected throughout the game, and their solutions can sometimes seem contrived or nonsensical to players. This phenomenon, humorously dubbed "moon logic," refers to puzzles that defy conventional reasoning or require a leap of intuition that may not align with the game's narrative.
|
||||
|
||||
For instance, consider a scenario where a player must combine a rubber chicken with a pulley to advance the story. While this may seem nonsensical at first glance, it highlights an essential aspect of the genre: the reliance on creativity and unexpected solutions. In this light, "moon logic" becomes not just a source of frustration, but a hallmark of the genre's unique approach to problem-solving.
|
||||
|
||||
## Moon Logic: A Double-Edged Sword
|
||||
|
||||
The presence of moon logic in point-and-click adventures often leads to divided opinions. On one hand, players who enjoy a challenge and appreciate unconventional thinking may find joy in deciphering these puzzles. The satisfaction of overcoming a particularly tricky challenge can lead to a profound sense of accomplishment. Conversely, players who prefer more logical, straightforward puzzles may feel alienated by the genre's sometimes arbitrary nature.
|
||||
|
||||
Critics argue that the reliance on moon logic can detract from the overall experience, leading to moments of frustration where players feel stuck due to puzzles that lack clear logic or context. This sentiment is especially true for newer players unfamiliar with the genre's quirks, who may abandon a game in frustration rather than embrace its eccentricities.
|
||||
|
||||
## Divergent Thinking: Embracing Creativity in Gameplay
|
||||
|
||||
While some players may view point-and-click adventures as a minefield of illogical puzzles, others see them as a celebration of divergent thinking. Divergent thinking refers to the cognitive process of generating multiple ideas or solutions for a given problem. In this context, the challenges presented in these games require players to think creatively, exploring unconventional connections between items and ideas.
|
||||
|
||||
For instance, players often have to think laterally, making connections that may not be immediately apparent. This kind of creative problem-solving not only encourages players to engage with the game world on a deeper level but also fosters a sense of exploration and discovery. The bizarre and whimsical nature of these games invites players to suspend their disbelief and embrace a world where the impossible becomes possible.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Art of Narrative and Puzzles
|
||||
|
||||
The interplay between narrative and puzzles is a defining characteristic of point-and-click adventures. Developers craft intricate stories where puzzles serve as both obstacles and narrative devices. In this sense, the moon logic that characterizes many puzzles often aligns with the thematic elements of the story. A rubber chicken with a pulley might represent the absurdity of the game's world, contributing to the overall tone and experience.
|
||||
|
||||
Consider *Grim Fandango*, a game that masterfully intertwines its puzzles with its narrative. Set in the Land of the Dead, the game challenges players to navigate through a world steeped in Mexican folklore and existential themes. The puzzles, while sometimes perplexing, serve to deepen the player's understanding of the characters and their motivations. Here, the moon logic becomes a reflection of the game's surreal atmosphere, enhancing rather than detracting from the experience.
|
||||
|
||||
## The Revival of Point-and-Click Adventures
|
||||
|
||||
In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in point-and-click adventure games, fueled by both nostalgia and the advent of independent game development. Titles like *Thimbleweed Park* and *Broken Age* have reimagined the genre for modern audiences, retaining the quirky charm while addressing some criticisms of their predecessors. These games often strike a balance between challenging puzzles and a clearer logical framework, appealing to both veterans and newcomers alike.
|
||||
|
||||
Moreover, the revival has sparked discussions about the role of player agency and satisfaction in puzzle design. Developers are increasingly mindful of creating puzzles that are challenging yet fair, allowing players to feel rewarded for their efforts rather than simply frustrated by arbitrary solutions. This evolution signifies a maturation of the genre, demonstrating that point-and-click adventures can adapt while still honoring their roots.
|
||||
|
||||
## Simply Put: Embracing the Quirkiness
|
||||
|
||||
Point-and-click adventure games exist at the intersection of storytelling, creativity, and problem-solving. While the presence of moon logic may pose challenges for some players, it also represents an invitation to engage in divergent thinking and embrace the unexpected. These games, with their whimsical worlds and eccentric puzzles, offer a unique playground for imagination and creativity.
|
||||
|
||||
As the genre continues to evolve, the challenge remains for developers to balance the quirks that define point-and-click adventures with player expectations. Whether viewed as frustrating obstacles or creative opportunities, the puzzles in these games ultimately serve a greater purpose: to immerse players in richly crafted worlds where the only limits are their imagination and willingness to explore the absurd. In a world increasingly defined by logic and structure, point-and-click adventures remind us of the joy of thinking differently and the beauty of embracing the nonsensical.
|
||||
|
||||
☰ Table of Contents
|
||||
|
||||
## Table of Contents
|
||||
|
||||
Featured
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
](/gaming-psych/why-resident-evil-9-stops-being-scary-once-you-notice-the-bottles)
|
||||
|
||||
[Why Resident Evil 9 Stops Being Scary Once You Notice the Bottles](/gaming-psych/why-resident-evil-9-stops-being-scary-once-you-notice-the-bottles)
|
||||
|
||||
A psychology-informed look at how *Resident Evil 9* uses selective interactivity, and why Grace's bottle mechanic weakens immersion, tension, and fear in survival horror.
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
](/gaming-psych/kim-kitsuragi-externalised-executive-function-in-human-form)
|
||||
|
||||
[Kim Kitsuragi: Externalised Executive Function in Human Form](/gaming-psych/kim-kitsuragi-externalised-executive-function-in-human-form)
|
||||
|
||||
An in-depth psychological analysis of Kim Kitsuragi in *Disco Elysium*, using the game as a case study to explain executive function, co-regulation, and cognitive support.
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
](/gaming-psych/controller-psychology-what-game-developers-need-to-know)
|
||||
|
||||
[Controller Psychology: What Game Developers Need to Know](/gaming-psych/controller-psychology-what-game-developers-need-to-know)
|
||||
|
||||
Discover how psychology influences controller design. Explore motor habits, interference, cognitive load and cross-platform consistency to build better game controls.
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
](/gaming-psych/why-pokmon-still-has-no-voice-acting-a-considered-look-at-twenty-years-of-silence)
|
||||
|
||||
[Why Pokémon Still Has No Voice Acting: A Considered Look at Twenty Years of Silence](/gaming-psych/why-pokmon-still-has-no-voice-acting-a-considered-look-at-twenty-years-of-silence)
|
||||
|
||||
Why do mainline Pokémon games still have no voice acting after 20 years? This analysis examines handheld habits, player expectations, development choices, and the contrast with the Pokémon anime to explain the franchise's enduring commitment to silent storytelling.
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
](/gaming-psych/fallout-4-cognitive-dissonance-and-the-case-for-the-distant-tiger-a-psychological-perspective-on-main-quest-design)
|
||||
|
||||
[Fallout 4, Cognitive Dissonance, and the Case for the Distant Tiger: A Psychological Perspective on Main Quest Design](/gaming-psych/fallout-4-cognitive-dissonance-and-the-case-for-the-distant-tiger-a-psychological-perspective-on-main-quest-design)
|
||||
|
||||
Explore how *Fallout 4's* main quest creates cognitive dissonance and how psychology, through temporal and distance discounting, offers smarter game design.
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
](/gaming-psych/blood-and-reflection-the-psychology-of-missed-potential-in-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2)
|
||||
|
||||
[Blood and Reflection: The Psychology of Missed Potential in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2](/gaming-psych/blood-and-reflection-the-psychology-of-missed-potential-in-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2)
|
||||
|
||||
A psychological deep dive into Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. Exploring missed potential, identity, and the loss of the Beast within a haunting neon Seattle, this essay examines how atmosphere outshines agency in Paradox's long-awaited vampire RPG.
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
](/gaming-psych/can-cbt-help-improve-your-game-performance)
|
||||
|
||||
[Can CBT Help Improve Your Game Performance?](/gaming-psych/can-cbt-help-improve-your-game-performance)
|
||||
|
||||
Discover how Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can enhance your esports performance. Learn techniques like mental rehearsal, breathing exercises, and cognitive restructuring to improve focus, manage stress, and boost confidence in high-pressure gaming situations.
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
](/gaming-psych/so-you-think-you-can-stream)
|
||||
|
||||
[So You Think You Can Stream](/gaming-psych/so-you-think-you-can-stream)
|
||||
|
||||
Unpack the hidden psychology of live streaming. Discover the extreme cognitive load, multitasking demands, and complex **parasocial relationships** that make **Twitch streaming** a high-skill job.
|
||||
|
||||
[JC Pass](/gaming-psych?author=643ad5af58e40f270c343c5c)
|
||||
|
||||
JC Pass, MSc, is a social and political psychology specialist and self-described psychological smuggler; someone who slips complex theory into places textbooks never reach. His essays use games, media, politics, grief, and culture as gateways into deeper insight, exploring how power, identity, and narrative shape behaviour. JC's work is cited internationally in universities and peer-reviewed research, and he creates clear, practical resources that make psychology not only understandable, but alive, applied, and impossible to forget.
|
||||
|
||||
[https://SimplyPutPsych.co.uk/](https://SimplyPutPsych.co.uk/)
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Previous
|
||||
|
||||
Previous
|
||||
|
||||
## Are We Shaping Future Societies Through Virtual Economies?
|
||||
|
||||
](/gaming-psych/are-we-shaping-future-societies-through-virtual-economiesoverview)[
|
||||
|
||||
Next
|
||||
|
||||
Next
|
||||
|
||||
## Ethical Considerations and Concerns Surrounding Battle Passes
|
||||
|
||||
](/gaming-psych/ethical-considerations-and-concerns-surrounding-battle-passes)
|
||||
|
||||
## Subscribe for News
|
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|
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Sign up to receive our free monthly newsletter.
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Thank you!
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|
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|
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|
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|
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```
|
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|
||||
Academics gotta eat! Some links earn us a small commission at no cost to yourself. It helps keep the research flowing and the coffee brewing. Thanks for supporting SimplyPutPsych!
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
Simply Put Psych is an independent academic blog, not a peer-reviewed journal. Our aim is to inform, inspire, and illuminate psychological goodness.
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
213
src/resources/moon-logic-puzzle-tvtropes.md
Normal file
213
src/resources/moon-logic-puzzle-tvtropes.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,213 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoonLogicPuzzle
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Moon Logic Puzzle - TV Tropes
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
TVTropes Now available in the app store!
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[Open](#)[](#)
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[Join](#) [Login](#)
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|
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|
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|
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[](#close-search)
|
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|
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[](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AntiPoliceSong)[](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicBook/MarkHazzardMerc)
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|
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- [To Do](#todo)
|
||||
|
||||
More
|
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|
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- [Page Source](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoonLogicPuzzle?action=source)
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You need to [login](/pmwiki/login.php) to do this. [Get Known](/pmwiki/login.php?tab=register_account) if you don't have an account
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|
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoonLogicPuzzle
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
# Moon Logic Puzzle
|
||||
|
||||
[9](javascript:void\(0\);) [Following](#watch)
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Go To
|
||||
|
||||
](#mobile-actions-toggle)
|
||||
|
||||
- [Main](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoonLogicPuzzle "The Main page")
|
||||
- [Laconic](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Laconic/MoonLogicPuzzle "The Laconic page")
|
||||
- [Quotes](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Quotes/MoonLogicPuzzle "The Quotes page")
|
||||
- [ VideoExamples](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoExamples/MoonLogicPuzzle "Video Examples")
|
||||
- [Create Subpage](javascript:void\(0\);) \- Create New - Analysis Archive Awesome Characters DerivativeWork… FanficRecs FanWorks Fridge Funny Haiku Headscratchers Heartwarming ImageLinks ImageSource MediaNotes Newsletter NightmareFuel PlayingWith QuoteSource Recap ReferencedBy Shocking TearJerker Timeline Trivia WMG YMMV
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge")
|
||||
|
||||
[It's a monkey wrench, get it?](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VisualPun "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VisualPun")
|
||||
... [So what's the captain doing there?](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ComicallyMissingThePoint "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ComicallyMissingThePoint")
|
||||
|
||||
*"'Ninja star + Chess + Watermelon + Sand = Swimsuit. I need to bring a banana with me 'cause... it makes me immortal if I get shot. My teddy bear can find pieces of a screwdriver, but it is useless without fish.' I know that this game took a lot of work, but you can't make people think they'll need to take the cat and cover it with gasoline if they want to proceed..."*
|
||||
|
||||
— **0EndlessNameless0**, *[Pursuit](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheTrappedTrilogy "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheTrappedTrilogy")* [user review](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Platform/Newgrounds "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Platform/Newgrounds")
|
||||
|
||||
Sometimes, it's easy to see how to [Solve the Soup Cans](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SolveTheSoupCans "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SolveTheSoupCans") — give the chicken noodle soup to the guard with the cold, trade the tomato for the red orb, and pour the cream of mushroom into the chalice with [Mario](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/SuperMarioBros "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/SuperMarioBros") engraved on the side. The puzzles may be challenging and have nothing to do with what you're doing, but given enough thought, the solution at least is logical.
|
||||
|
||||
And sometimes, standard logic just won't get you to the right answer, no matter how hard you try. To find the solution, you have to look at the problem in a way that may seem entirely unintuitive on its face. This is *not* a [Guide Dang It!](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GuideDangIt "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GuideDangIt"); all the information you need to complete your objective is right there in the source. Some people will be able to make the intuitive leap almost immediately, others will struggle for hours and still never spot the bend in logic that leads to the answer.
|
||||
|
||||
If a frustrated player eventually does reach for the strategy guide, there will be two common reactions on discovering the answer: If the puzzle is well written, [the answer will make complete, brilliant sense in hindsight](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeBrilliance "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeBrilliance"), and the player will respect the puzzle designer, perhaps curse themselves for giving in to the strategy guide, or for needing it in the first place.
|
||||
|
||||
If it is poorly written or implemented, you still may not think anyone could possibly solve it on their own. You may also find yourself cursing the developer for expecting you to make overly arcane connections, notice [absurdly minute details](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PixelHunt "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PixelHunt"), or for throwing in intentional or unintentional [Red Herrings](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedHerring "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedHerring"); but even a badly executed but successful moon logic puzzle makes sense after you read the answer. The pieces of the solution were in fact provided, and the solutions make logical sense in hindsight, just in strange or hard to notice ways. Even a highly skilled puzzle-solver will occasionally get stuck on one of these. When this is bad enough that hundreds of players will get stuck on this puzzle, it's [That One Puzzle](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThatOnePuzzle "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThatOnePuzzle").
|
||||
|
||||
Failed attempts at creating a moon logic puzzle, on the other hand, will have the player screaming at the ceiling in rage upon reading the solution, and are generally unsolvable except by accident. The worst offenders cross the threshold from "convoluted but comprehensible logic" into [Non Sequitur](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NonSequitur "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NonSequitur") or even pure [Insane Troll Logic](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InsaneTrollLogic "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InsaneTrollLogic") — for example, you should just *know* which three rocks should be arranged on the three pedestals and in what order.note obviously by size order to form the first three digits of Pi because there are more circles than squares in the pattern on the wall. Other times, the clues that would have led to the solution seem so out of left field that it leaves the player wondering "how was I supposed to know *that*?" Such "out of left field" examples might entail figuring out the third meaning of a [Double Entendre](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DoubleEntendre "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DoubleEntendre") [someone you talked to 20 hours ago made](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrickJoke "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrickJoke"), listening to the [unlisted audio track included on the bonus disc](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllThereInTheManual "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllThereInTheManual") that didn't come with the rental, knowing some obscure pun in a language other than English that got [Lost in Translation](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LostInTranslation "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LostInTranslation"), or not being familiar with a [common custom of the writer's culture](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CreatorProvincialism "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CreatorProvincialism"). note for example: "Click the blue button, followed by the purple button." The Russian language recognizes dark blue (*siniy*) as a separate basic color from light blue (*goluboy*). The range covered by siniy includes a chunk of what an English speaker would call purple, and is "obviously" distinct from *goluboy*. Purple, on the other hand, is *fioletoviy*, which more closely matches "violet". Thus, with a simple slip of translation or colorization, a Russian player may be utterly baffled by having two slightly different *siniy* buttons, no *goluboy* or *fioletoviy* buttons, and no hint as to what the problem is.
|
||||
|
||||
This can go full circle into its polar opposite, [Unexpectedly Realistic Gameplay](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay"), where players get so used to game logic that [Real Life](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealLife "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealLife") logic is now what's alien.
|
||||
|
||||
If a character In-Universe has to solve one of these *without player interaction*, they may best display the skills necessary to tackle these kinds of problems if they're the [Cloudcuckoolander](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Cloudcuckoolander "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Cloudcuckoolander"); anyone else will have to rely on [Bat Deduction](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BatDeduction "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BatDeduction"). And in either case, the solution will turn out to be an [Unexpectedly Obscure Answer](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnexpectedlyObscureAnswer "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnexpectedlyObscureAnswer").
|
||||
|
||||
Moon logic and soup can puzzles tend to still be in favor more amongst hardcore traditionalists than casual adventure gamers who prefer storytelling and puzzles that actually make sense within the context of the story. There seems to be a niche group who enjoys whimsical brainteasers exercises in quirky thinking more than serious attempts at a story. For them, it is more about the pride of figuring out on their own [just how to get the Babel Fish](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984 "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984"), this example being perhaps the [Trope Maker](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropeMaker "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropeMaker").
|
||||
|
||||
Far, far too many moon logic puzzles are based on [Puns](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Pun "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Pun").
|
||||
|
||||
In real life, the genre of brainteasers known as "lateral thinking puzzles" or "insight puzzles" often fall in this category. Compare and contrast [Stock Lateral Thinking Puzzle](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StockLateralThinkingPuzzle "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StockLateralThinkingPuzzle").
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Examples:
|
||||
|
||||
open/close all folders
|
||||
|
||||
## Video Game Examples
|
||||
|
||||
- [Adventure Games](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MoonLogicPuzzle/AdventureGames "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/MoonLogicPuzzle/AdventureGames")
|
||||
|
||||
Pure Puzzle Games
|
||||
|
||||
- *[Antichamber](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Antichamber "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Antichamber")* [intentionally instills this atmosphere](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Administrivia/TropesAreTools "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Administrivia/TropesAreTools"), although once the player gets used to the strange yet consistent dream-like logic, it gets a lot less frustrating. The puzzles in the game are usually either this or block puzzles, though sometimes both. The most common general principle is that areas will often change when you aren't looking at them.
|
||||
- *[The Fool's Errand](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheFoolsErrand "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheFoolsErrand")*. Sure, most of the riddles still had text in the help menu, but while that might have provided theory, ambiguous wording obfuscated mechanisms. The Death Puzzle in particular is a huge leap from anything else in the game (mostly wordplay and logic challenges). Players needed to catch a fast-moving symbol with the mouse pointer (while avoiding another). The only way to solve the puzzle is to interfere with the mini-game by activating the program's pull-down menu, halting the animation and allowing the user to align the mouse for the payoff click, or find a way to move the symbol without moving the mouse (the latter was the intended solution,note and in fact is the way to solve the Three Ships puzzle but the former, a glitch caused by the Macintosh's single-tasking nature, was [deemed a valid alternate solution by the developer](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AscendedGlitch "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AscendedGlitch")).
|
||||
- Pretty much any question on *[The Impossible Quiz](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheImpossibleQuiz "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheImpossibleQuiz")* that isn't an outright [Guide Dang It!](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GuideDangIt "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GuideDangIt") (or an [Unexpected Gameplay Change](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnexpectedGameplayChange "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnexpectedGameplayChange")) is this. For example, one question asks you to "Pick the smallest" of several circles. The correct choice? The dot on the "i" in "Pick", which is, indeed, the smallest circle.
|
||||
- Smartphone game series *Let's Mischief To Couple* is all about screwing up the relationships of happy couples by manipulating circumstances in insane ways. For example: how do you screw up a quiet walk in the woods? Obviously you take a knife from a nearby overweight kid's backpack, use the knife to cut down a flower from a nearby tree, and give that flower to said overweight kid, so that he can use its intoxicating pollen to brainwash a nearby deer into attacking the couple. Obviously.
|
||||
- The raison d'etre of *[McPixel](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/McPixel "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/McPixel")*, where the entire appeal of the game is to intentionally seek bizarre and hilarious outcomes in order to find the (usually) contrived solution. It helps that the interface is bare-bones as possible so that all possibilities can be boiled down to just [clicking everything](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TryEverything "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TryEverything").
|
||||
- *[Professor Layton](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ProfessorLayton "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ProfessorLayton")* series:
|
||||
- *[Professor Layton and the Curious Village](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheCuriousVillage "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheCuriousVillage")*
|
||||
- One puzzle which frustrated many players literally requires knowledge of the QWERTY keyboard layout — which is, of course, not actually used within the game, but which can be found within PictoChat on the DS if someone doesn't have a keyboard at hand. It also requires seeing that the candy bar on which the puzzle is written has bite marks in it which are easily missed, but which make up part of the solution, and which are not mentioned in *any* of the in-game hints. Oh, and also, the puzzle is phrased in terms of SMS messaging, thus suggesting a completely different keypad layout that's entirely a [Red Herring](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedHerring "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedHerring"). Luckily for Europeans this puzzle was replaced with a mathematical puzzle; whether it was because it was deemed too difficult or because not all of Europe uses QWERTY is unknown.
|
||||
- One puzzle mentions a device that makes a hole in a piece of paper and then marks the hole with a line. The answer they're looking for is "compass" as a compass is used to draw a circle by hinging a pin with a pencil. Of course, if you think "line" means "straight curve" you're never going to figure it out and this puzzle comes off as a particularly bizarre jump in logic.
|
||||
- Another puzzle features ten lit candles; three have the flame blown out and you are asked how many candles are left "at the end". The answer is three because the other seven lit candles are allowed to burn until there is nothing left; "at the end" referring to when this has happened.
|
||||
- *[Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheDiabolicalBox "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheDiabolicalBox")* has one puzzle that involves a bottle with three long, twisty openings that form a maze and two corks. The bottle contains garlic, and you must block two openings with the corks to stop the person who gave it to you from smelling the garlic. No matter what combination of openings on the bottle you block, you will fail the puzzle because all three of the openings lead to the garlic. The solution is to put the corks in the nostrils of the person who gave you the puzzle, which are also openings. The puzzle didn't specify that the openings were on the bottle.
|
||||
- *[Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy")* has the game's second puzzle. Prima's friend sent her a gift inside a block of ice, with a card saying that "you can use five 150 ml cups of hot water to melt 30 g of ice" and that she'd need to work out how many cups she'd need to melt the 2kg block of ice encasing her gift. The answer: 0. Prima just needs to stick it in front of her fireplace. The image displayed during the puzzle does indeed display a fireplace in the background, but the puzzle puts itself as a simple word based mathematics puzzle, meaning that most players just pay attention to the text and take the image as just being there for the sake of flavor.
|
||||
- *[Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/LaytonsMysteryJourneyKatrielleAndTheMillionairesConspiracy "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/LaytonsMysteryJourneyKatrielleAndTheMillionairesConspiracy")* has a number of these, more so then is even usual for the *Layton* series. One of the puzzles gives the player a brief explanation on the pH scale, and describes that pH 3 indicates acid and pH 7 indicates alkaline. It then asks what pH 0+0 would indicate. The answer is "photo". Because pH 0+0 kinda looks like "photo".note It helps to know that the pH scale goes from 1 to 14, so there is no "ph 0," but the game's brief explanation does not state that and *it isn't true in real life either*, not that they hadn't already mistaken pH 7 for alkaline rather than neutral. Another puzzle has a man talking to his wife about how last year it was their seventh wedding anniversary on the 30th of June, while next year it'll be their tenth wedding anniversary. You have to say when the conversation was taking place. The conversation started on the 31st of December at 11:59 at night and halfway through the sentence it became midnight and the date changed to the 1st of January. Meaning the start of the sentence took place in the year of their 8th anniversary, while halfway through, it became their 9th. Just forgetting about the fact that it's pretty awkward that you have to put the date that the conversation specifically *started*, you don't exactly expect people to change the context of what they're saying based on a to-the-second clock, mid-conversation.
|
||||
- In the final puzzle in *[System's Twilight](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/SystemsTwilight "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/SystemsTwilight")*, your goal is to reboot the system by [quitting and reopening the game](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakingTheFourthWall "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakingTheFourthWall") but requires a giant leap of intuition since there are no hints given and most (if not all) game guides only partially reference the solution. Or, more likely, you get frustrated by it to the point where you [Rage Quit](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RageQuit "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RageQuit") in mid-puzzle, thus solving it accidentally.
|
||||
- *[There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ThereIsNoGameWrongDimension "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ThereIsNoGameWrongDimension")*: Parodied during the Sherlock Holmes game. Game constantly points out how the solutions to each puzzle are ridiculous and nonsensical. Some of the game's actual puzzles can be downright outlandish, with lampshades aplenty, but exploration is often limited so you should quickly realize what to do anyway. Special mention to the [Allegedly Free Game](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllegedlyFreeGame "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllegedlyFreeGame") part, where a series of in-game switch combinations have to be found in the pop-up ads, hidden in a QR code and a game of [Sudoku](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GridPuzzle "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GridPuzzle") respectively, that otherwise have nothing to do with *Legend of the Secret*.
|
||||
|
||||
Other Video Games
|
||||
|
||||
- The RPG *[Albion](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Albion "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Albion")* has a weird little example. You are in a room. There are two doors and a sign on the wall saying you may go through the doors if you want. Naturally, if you try to open the doors, they are locked. The solution? Well, if you try a door a second time, it will open with no problem. Likely, you'll puzzle over it for some time the first time and try everything (there's not much you can do), and then manage to get out without knowing how you did it, but if trying it a second time immediately see what the trick was.
|
||||
- In *[ANNO: Mutationem](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ANNOMutationem "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ANNOMutationem")*, one of the early [sidequests](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Sidequest "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Sidequest") revolves around finding a suspect who disappeared in an elevator. The only clues being video footage of the suspect entering the elevator before vanishing and examining the crime scene has Ann noting that something in the room has changed. The real solution is that several objects in the crime scene are broken into a specific number of pieces, which requires Ann to go to that floor with the elevator, that also has a room identical to the previous one, following the clues on each floor will lead to the suspect's location.
|
||||
- *[Another World](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AnotherWorld "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AnotherWorld")* had a particularly obnoxious one near the end of the game, where you climb a flight of stairs to encounter an armed alien soldier. Instead of immediately blowing him away like any other enemy, you instead have to run to the other side of the room where, instead of blowing *you* away at first sight like any other enemy soldier, he'll instead [start deploying mobile bombs that will never reach you and instead travel down the stairs](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TooDumbToLive "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TooDumbToLive") and explode on the screen below you, blowing a hole in the floor. But you can't stop him after just one! You have to let him deploy about *five* of these things before they break through the floor completely. If you screw up and kill him before that, it's time to suicide and start over.
|
||||
- The Atari action-adventure game *Artefakt Przodków* has a puzzle like this. How do you get past a wall? Why, you need to give poison to a small animal, then use its corpse near the wall to destroy it. There are no in-game hints to this either. That said, the solution to this puzzle *is* directly given in the manual (with a hand-wavey explanation that it's an "explosive corpse"), and the other puzzles in the game make more sense.
|
||||
- *[Assassin's Creed](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/AssassinsCreed "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/AssassinsCreed")*:
|
||||
- *[Assassin's Creed II](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII")*:
|
||||
- The glyph puzzles, where a common theme must be found between paintings, a code cracked, or anomalies found in photographs. Most of them are fine, but one or two of the painting puzzles are outright frustrating if you don't pick up on the weird hints they give you, or haven't been following the framing story too closely. Luckily, if you get it wrong enough times, Shaun Hastings can give you some advice that makes it clearer, but until then, who knows! (and sometimes that doesn't help much) The codes can be even worse.
|
||||
- Of particular note is the code wheel in the 18th glyph- for one thing, it involves Sumerian numerals, and it's highly unlikely you'd know what they were in the first place until Shaun gives you the hint, but even with the hint, it's still an absurdly difficult puzzle.
|
||||
- And then there's the code in the 20th glyph, which gives no real hints to the solution, and even Shaun is so puzzled he can't give you any help.
|
||||
- The glyph puzzles seem to be targeted directly at players familiar with the puzzle style of [alternate reality games](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlternateRealityGame "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlternateRealityGame"), and as they're off the critical path you don't actually have to solve them to complete the game.
|
||||
- *[Assassin's Creed: Unity](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity")* has the Nostradamus Enigmas. These are 18 challenges throughout the game that contain 3 or 4 riddles each. Each riddle leads the player to another riddle until they reach the end. What makes this challenging is the locations of the next riddle are never consistent. Sometimes one Enigma's riddles will keep the player within a small area, other times the next riddle will be hundreds of kilometers away.
|
||||
- *[Attack of the Mutant Penguins](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AttackOfTheMutantPenguins "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AttackOfTheMutantPenguins")* is as close to a Moon Logic *Game* as you can get. [The Angry Video Game Nerd](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd") describes its bizarreness:
|
||||
|
||||
**Angry Video Game Nerd:** From what I understand, [there's a bunch of](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NarratingTheObvious "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NarratingTheObvious") penguins walking around. You buy tickets and they go into a [transformation booth](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke") where they become [evil mutant penguins](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mutants "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mutants"). And from there, they go to the Doom Scale — [yeah, the Doom Scale](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObviouslyEvil "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObviouslyEvil"). They jump in the mouth, and appear *on* the scale. So, you gotta stop the penguins by using a weapon, for example, [a baseball bat](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BatterUp "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BatterUp"). How do you get the bat? [You gotta collect letters that spell the word "BAT".](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpellingBonus "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpellingBonus") Where do you find the letters? [Inside treasure chests.](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InexplicableTreasureChests "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InexplicableTreasureChests") But how do you open the treasure chests? [A key, right?](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InterchangeableAntimatterKeys "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InterchangeableAntimatterKeys") NO, *[GREMLINS!](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleImplements "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleImplements")* Yeah, you collect what they call "gremlins" and supposedly, you drop the gremlins inside the treasure chest, and then it opens. But no, it doesn't open right away, [it takes like ten seconds](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DelayedExplosion "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DelayedExplosion"). [The more gremlins you use, the faster it opens.](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeathOfAThousandCuts "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeathOfAThousandCuts") But it doesn't open, it like, [explodes](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StuffBlowingUp "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StuffBlowingUp"). When you get the bat, [you gotta kill all the penguins](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShootEverythingThatMoves "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShootEverythingThatMoves"), [but they don't die if you hit 'em](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeverSayDie "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeverSayDie") instead there's a bunch of *power orbs* that scatter all over. You gotta get all the power orbs to power up your bat so you can kill the penguins, [but you only kill the penguins wearing hats](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FantasticRacism "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FantasticRacism") [because the ones that](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality") *[don't](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality")* [wear hats fight the ones that](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality") *[do](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality")* [wear hats](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality"). If the mutant penguins on the Doom Scale outweigh the regular penguins, the Doom Scale starts *[screaming and going apeshit!](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TurnsRed "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TurnsRed")*
|
||||
*[\[Beat.\](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Beat "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Beat")\]*
|
||||
**Angry Video Game Nerd:** This is the weirdest game I've ever played.
|
||||
|
||||
- *[The Binding of Isaac](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac")*:
|
||||
- Using The Bible on [Mom](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheFundamentalist "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheFundamentalist") will instantly kill her, unlocking the Halo (a pretty useful item). Nowhere in the game itself is this explained, and The Bible isn't an item you're likely to randomly use in a boss fight (it normally just grants temporary flight). At least the game justifies this, since a Bible falls on Mom's head and kills her in a cutscene, but no other item in the game has this kind of special rule.
|
||||
- Unlocking The Lost in *Rebirth*. First, you have to kill yourself in a Sacrifice Room while holding the Missing Poster. This will display one of several unique death screens on your last will. Each death screen needs to be pieced together in the right order, then you need to kill yourself as each character in the right order with the methods listed. There are no hints that any of this will happen anywhere in the game. This was a [deliberately impossible puzzle](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImpossibleTask "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImpossibleTask") that was supposed to be solved by the community as a whole, although the character and solution ended up [getting datamined](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CuttingTheKnot "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CuttingTheKnot") instead.
|
||||
- *Afterbirth+* added an even straighter example. To unlock The Forgotten, you have to beat the boss on the first floor in under a minute. This will cause Mom to laugh. If you return to the spawn room, you'll see an odd shadow looming over it. Placing a bomb in the center of the room causes the handle of a shovel to fall down. While holding the shovel, Mom will **constantly** try to stomp on you, which will only cease for a single room when you activate the item. You need to carry this shovel all the way through the Mom fight and into Boss Rush, beat Boss Rush, then complete the shovel (mercifully making the feet stop). Then you need to take the shovel all the way to [The Dark Room](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon") and use it on an innocuous patch of dirt in a random room. Good luck even *starting* the puzzle.
|
||||
- One that may take hours or be solved instantly, depending on how you think: in the RPG *Blades of Exile* you encounter a group of [GIFTS: Giant Intelligent Friendly Talking Spiders](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FunWithAcronyms "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FunWithAcronyms"), [each named Spider](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlanetOfSteves "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlanetOfSteves"). One acts as a [Beef Gate](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BeefGate "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BeefGate") and won't let you past unless you can prove you know the chief. The proof is to tell him the chief's name. Yes, the chief's name *is* Spider.
|
||||
- Everything about the old PC FPS game that time (wisely) forgot, *[Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/BloodwingsPumpkinheadsRevenge "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/BloodwingsPumpkinheadsRevenge"),* follows a form of moon logic that even the developers probably didn't get half the time, from using a fire extinguisher to cross pools of lava and using a shovel to smash a crystal to upgrade your main weapon.
|
||||
- *[Borderlands 3](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Borderlands3 "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Borderlands3")*: [Played for Laughs](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlayedForLaughs "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlayedForLaughs) on Eden-6, where Wainwright Jakobs and his boyfriend Hammerlock have to progress through the Jakobs family puzzles. Thankfully you just have to shoot people while they help you behind the scenes, but judging from Hammerlock's commentary the puzzles make *no sense*. And to top it all off, it turns out that the solution was written on the ceiling.
|
||||
- Beating the [Final Boss](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FinalBoss "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FinalBoss") of *[Chrono Cross](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ChronoCross "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ChronoCross")* ([correctly](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoldenEnding "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoldenEnding")) requires spells with certain colors and sounds associated with them to be cast in a certain order. Without casting the spells in the correct order, beating the boss correctly would be impossible. While the correct order *is* found in a few places in the game, it's very rarely in a way that call attention to it. The most obvious place is a boss that uses it as the answer to riddles, but this is A) optional and B) perfectly possible to mess up.
|
||||
- Also of note is that the tune that the *Chrono Cross* plays is composed of the first few notes that make up what is the theme song of the game: "The Unstolen Jewel".
|
||||
- Additionally, the order is intentionally hinted at and countered by the final boss, who will use the opposite element of whatever the next in the order is until he is low on health. When his health is low, he will instead casts the elements in the correct order, allowing you to simply use the [MacGuffin](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MacGuffin "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MacGuffin") when the pattern is done.
|
||||
- The [Secret Level](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SecretLevel "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SecretLevel") in *[Commander Keen](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/CommanderKeen "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/CommanderKeen") 4* can be accessed by collecting twelve inchworms together, so that they form a giant flying foot that takes you there. That explains the strange sentence in their description: "Watch out where you step or they'll be afoot!"
|
||||
- *[Dark Souls](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DarkSouls "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DarkSouls")*:
|
||||
- *[Dark Souls II](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DarkSoulsII "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DarkSoulsII")* has Earthen Peak, a giant windmill tower filled with deadly poison, including inside the boss room. How does one remove the poison? Why, set the blades of the windmill on fire with your torch, of course! Despite there being no indication in any of the games that you can do this to an environmental object (only enemies can normally be struck with the torch) and it being in no way obvious that the windmill mechanism is pumping the poison (most of it is just sitting in still pools with no obvious source), and the fact that the part of the windmill you interact with looks like metal.
|
||||
- In the titular Ringed City from the *[Dark Souls III](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII")* [DLC](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DLC "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DLC"), there's a wall with the inscription "Show Your Humanity". How do you show your humanity? Being embered? Unequipping your armor to show your human-looking skin? Bringing some specific NPC with you? No, you have to step into the water outside (it doesn't work in the room with the message itself), use a Young White Branch (or cast the Chameleon spell) to transform into a Humanity sprite from *[Dark Souls](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DarkSouls1 "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DarkSouls1")*, and then walk back up to the wall while transformed, which reveals a ladder leading up a hidden path. There's absolutely [no indication whatsoever](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GuideDangIt "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GuideDangIt") that using an item or sorcery that normally disguises you as something found in the local scenery suddenly transforms you into a *Humanity sprite* in a specific area, let alone that you have to transform into something at all, other than an obscure connection to the lore.
|
||||
- *[Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening")*: During the fourth mission you enter a room with two doors, a statue and a staircase which leads to another door. The doors before the staircase are locked, including the one you just came through, so you have to go through the staircase. But once you're in the middle of the staircase, it will break send you to a room full of enemies. After you beat them, you're returned to the previous room but with the doors unlocked. You fight the miniboss after the door in the middle and the mission ends. On the next mission you will eventually acquire the item Soul of Steel which hints to the statue in the mission before. So, of course, you go back there but nothing happens if you try to use the item on the statue. What to do? After you acquire the Soul of Steel an invisible staircase will appear where the first staircase was! You can now use the invisible staircase to reach the next door.
|
||||
- *[Dino Crisis](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DinoCrisis "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DinoCrisis")*'s door passwords each have to be deciphered from a Code Disc and a Digital Disc Key, with increasingly convoluted rules. Surprisingly, the final password ends up being [DOCTORKIRK](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish").
|
||||
- In *[Donkey Kong Bananza](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DonkeyKongBananza "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DonkeyKongBananza")*'s *Emerald Rush* DLC, a strange Fractone named Banandiumtone can be found on DK Island. They only speak in symbols: attacking them causes the symbols to cycle, and once they are all yellow, a completion jingle plays and another symbol is added. The puzzle then becomes discovering which actions cycle which symbol, and though the solutions start simple (initially, just attacking Banandiumtone will make it cycle, at two symbols each of DK's arms cycles different symbols, and at three the Hand Slap toggles which symbol is cycled when you punch), the puzzle quickly goes off the rails:
|
||||
- At four symbols, the symbol you cycle corresponds to the direction Banandiumtone is facing when you attack them.
|
||||
- At five, you'll cycle three symbols at once based on which Bananza form you have selected in the UI, with each form affecting a different group.
|
||||
- At six, all of the symbols will cycle randomly on each attack. The six symbols in Banandiumtone's dialogue box correspond to the six Bonus Stages on DK Island; completing the stage will lock in its respective symbol as the one you left it on, so you have to attack Banandiumtone until you get a golden symbol, complete the Bonus Stage that corresponds to it, and repeat until you get golden symbols on all six. This can force you to reset the level if you clear the wrong stage.
|
||||
- At seven symbols, using moves on Banandiumtone will make new symbols slide in from the right, with each one corresponding to one of DK's moves and its [respective controller button](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LeaningOnTheFourthWall "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LeaningOnTheFourthWall"). The goal is to spell "BANANZA" with them.
|
||||
- Finally, the symbols are no longer present and Banandiumtone instead speaks words which cycle on each hit. The solution is to take each distinct word and make a coherent sentence using all of them: performing the action the sentence tells you magically completes the puzzle.
|
||||
- *[Doodle God](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DoodleGod "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DoodleGod")* is this. It's all that is. There is no plot except you combining random objects, sometimes sensibly (lava + water = steam and stone), sometimes randomly (fish + knowledge = octopus?)note It's a reference to octopodes being known as extraordinarily smart animals.
|
||||
- Parodied in *[Earthworm Jim 2](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/EarthwormJim2 "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/EarthwormJim2")*'s sudden quiz show in "Villi People"/"Jim is a Blind Cave Salamander", where neither the questions nor the answers make any sense (though, [as suggested in the manual](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllThereInTheManual "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllThereInTheManual"), the "right" answer is usually the most nonsensical/wrong of them). In order to answer questions, you require mealworms (each question costs a mealworm, and you need 9 to join the show). Unlike other examples, you don't need to join the show to proceed in the level (but once you join it, you cannot leave until you spend all mealworms), and answering "correctly" only earns you either more mealworms or rewards you cannot use for the rest of the level.
|
||||
- In *[Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/FateExtellaTheUmbralStar "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/FateExtellaTheUmbralStar")*, unlocking [Artoria Pendragon](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VisualNovel/FateStayNight "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VisualNovel/FateStayNight") as a playable character is a doozy to say the least. The first thing you do is go into your system settings and set your clock between 3:00 and 4:00 pm if you have version 1.00 of the game. This is only for patch 1.00 of the game (if you have patch 1.01 then you can skip this part). Next up you'll need to choose one of the main levels with a "Mystery" side mission on any difficulty. Then, you have to complete the Regime Matrix but **don't** defeat the boss in the stage. From there, you'll need to go to one of the following locations: Sector D in the Jeanne d'Arc stage of Nero's arc; Sector J in the Nameless stage of Tamamo's arc; Sector E in the Cu Chulainn stage of Altera's arc; or Sector H in the Tamamo stage of the Special arc. After completing the Regime Matrix and have gone to one of those sectors, begin to kill the enemies and make them drop health power-ups. Consume 5 health power-upsnote Being low on health (when the health bar starts flashing red) makes enemies drop more health power-ups. in that sector after completing the Regime Matrix. After completing those steps you'll be informed that Artoria, King of Knights, will challenge you to a fight. Once you defeat Artoria (force her to retreat) you'll need to defeat the boss Servant and then you'll unlock her as a playable character.
|
||||
- *[Final Fantasy](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/FinalFantasy "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/FinalFantasy")*:
|
||||
- A well written one appears in *[Final Fantasy Adventure](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure")*. Palm Trees and Eight, got it? Some people got it right away. Others spent years trying to figure out the puzzle. The solution? Walk in a figure-of-eight path around some palm trees in the desert. How do we locate the place in the huge desert (it isn't even on the map that came with the game)? You have to have noticed that screens with a dungeon entrance usually lack enemies. An unintentional hint is that the game lags when you go between the trees.
|
||||
- *[Final Fantasy X](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/FinalFantasyX "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/FinalFantasyX")*: Accessing the ultimate weapons involves deciphering puzzles hidden in seemingly random locations, written in a language you need to be quite far along the game to understand, translated into phrases you enter in the map on the [Global Airship](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GlobalAirship "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GlobalAirship"). Solved about five times in recorded history; mostly, people just get the answers on the internet.
|
||||
- *[Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles")*: In order to cross through the final Miasma Stream and face the final boss, you need to find the Unknown Element hidden in the desert. Getting the Unknown Element involves casting certain spells on certain landmarks in a certain order throughout the desert. Said order is disguised as a poem told to you by Gurdy. Problem is, Gurdy tells you the poem in a sequence of [Random Encounters](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RandomEncounters "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RandomEncounters") with him. This combined with the extreme non-linearity of the game means that the player might not have gotten the poem from Gurdy before reaching the desert -or worse, gotten it so long before that by the time it becomes relevant they've forgotten about it. Once you've triggered the random encounter the only way to see the poem again is to flip through your journal... Assuming you even remember you have it.
|
||||
- *[Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance")*: Re-recruiting Shinon. You have to talk to him with Rolf, and then defeat him with Ike. The latter part is logical enough given the sheer contempt Shinon shows Ike in basically every conversation they've ever had (though still something of a [Violation of Common Sense](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ViolationOfCommonSense "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ViolationOfCommonSense") in a game that otherwise employs [Permadeath](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PermaDeath "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PermaDeath")) but Rolf? Prior to this, the two have never had a single onscreen interaction. See, you're supposed to remember a seemingly throwaway line from 10 chapters ago where Rolf played coy about how he learned to use a bow, deduced that Shinon must have taught him because he also uses a bow, and that because of this Rolf holds a special place in Shinon's heart that can be used to return Shinon to the side of good, but only if Ike humiliates him in a duel first.
|
||||
- *[Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/GarfieldBigFatHairyDeal "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/GarfieldBigFatHairyDeal")* has very little instructional text and no hints. Combined with the game's overuse of [Red Herrings](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedHerring "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedHerring"), it's almost impossible to figure out without a guide.
|
||||
- How do you get rid of the [giant rat](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RodentsOfUnusualSize "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RodentsOfUnusualSize") in your basement? Find Nermal in [the sewers](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DownTheDrain "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DownTheDrain), kick him and collect a wind-up mouse, drop it on the desk of the health food store so you can scare the owner and steal a spinach donut, then feed that to the rat.
|
||||
- Then there's the question of how Garfield is supposed to get to the animal pound. You find a trowel in Jon's garden, sell it at the hardware store, buy birdseed, go to the park, and drop it so a giant duck will fly you over there.
|
||||
- What makes this even worse: Those two examples above? That's *all the puzzles in the game*. Getting rid of the rat gets you the key to the pound, and getting to the pound with it frees Arlene and wins the game.
|
||||
- *[Golden Sun](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/GoldenSun "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/GoldenSun")*:
|
||||
- *[Golden Sun: The Lost Age](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge")* had the secret to navigating to Lemuria cryptically explained through a completely missable and rather convoluted children's song in a remote and completely optional town on an entirely different continent.
|
||||
- *[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn")*: "THE GOAT LEAVES NO TRACE BEHIND." The puzzle consists of three goat statues with differently-shaped bases, three correspondingly-shaped holes they need to go into, and a floor that changes colors where one goat has passed, so *the others won't cross its trail*. It would be an impressively tough puzzle anyway, but the hint pretty much tells you the *opposite* of what you need to know to solve it. However, [Insight Psynergy](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnnoyingVideoGameHelper "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnnoyingVideoGameHelper") maps a possible solution [if you think to use it here](/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NotCompletelyUseless "/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NotCompletelyUseless").
|
||||
|
||||
...95273 bytes truncated...
|
||||
132
src/resources/moon-logic-reddit-discussion.md
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132
src/resources/moon-logic-reddit-discussion.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedesign/comments/1kgzfvy/what_do_you_consider_moon_logic/
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
What do you consider moon logic? : r/gamedesign
|
||||
|
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|
||||
|
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|
||||
[Skip to main content](#main-content) Open menu Open navigation [](/)Go to Reddit Home
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|
||||
|
||||
[r/gamedesign](/r/gamedesign/) •
|
||||
|
||||
[RenDSkunk](/user/RenDSkunk/)
|
||||
|
||||
# What do you consider moon logic?
|
||||
|
||||
I want to make a pnc adventure with puzzles, problem is I hear a lot of people got a hard hate for "moon logic puzzles" which I can understand after dealing with the Gabriel Knight "Mustache" but it feels like any kind of attempt at something beyond "use key on lock, both are in the same room" winds up getting this title.
|
||||
|
||||
So I ask, what would the threshold for a real moon logic puzzle be?
|
||||
|
||||
So I ask, what would the threshold for a real moon logic puzzle be?
|
||||
|
||||
I got a puzzle idea for a locked door. It's a school, it's chained shut and there a large pad lock on it.
|
||||
|
||||
The solution is to take some kind acid, put down a cloth on the floor so the drippings don't damage anything further and carefully use a pair of gloves to get the lock damaged enough to break off.
|
||||
|
||||
Finding the acid can be a fast look in the chemical lab, have a book say which acid works best the cloth could come from the janitor closet and the gloves too before getting through.
|
||||
|
||||
It feels simple and would fit a horror game set in a school.
|
||||
|
||||
Read more
|
||||
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Share
|
||||
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||||
# Related Answers Section
|
||||
|
||||
Related Answers
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Understanding moon logic in game design
|
||||
|
||||
](https://www.reddit.com/answers/bb227451-6aa6-47d1-a72a-542e2046e243/?q=Understanding+moon+logic+in+game+design&source=PDP)
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Examples of moon logic puzzles
|
||||
|
||||
](https://www.reddit.com/answers/623ad8ed-59e8-40f4-bb02-b892c42e4fbb/?q=Examples+of+moon+logic+puzzles&source=PDP)
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure games without moon logic
|
||||
|
||||
](https://www.reddit.com/answers/62b0bee5-37e9-48b5-8a7e-0fd153a202b1/?q=Adventure+games+without+moon+logic&source=PDP)
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Fair and logical puzzles in adventure games
|
||||
|
||||
](https://www.reddit.com/answers/7bde7b83-d0b1-40c8-b9be-792ba7b18a9e/?q=Fair+and+logical+puzzles+in+adventure+games&source=PDP)
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Innovative mechanics that changed gameplay
|
||||
|
||||
](https://www.reddit.com/answers/e420cf33-bfb2-45c0-9a34-6d9ea49a8af2/?q=Innovative+mechanics+that+changed+gameplay&source=PDP)
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577
src/resources/pcgamer-moon-logic-classic-adventure.md
Normal file
577
src/resources/pcgamer-moon-logic-classic-adventure.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,577 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.pcgamer.com/a-willfully-old-school-point-and-click-reminded-me-why-we-put-up-with-moon-logic-puzzles-in-classic-adventure-games-for-so-long/
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
A willfully old school point-and-click reminded me why we put up with moon-logic puzzles in classic adventure games for so long | PC Gamer
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Gaming Industry CEO of Kitfox Games reckons hundreds of hours playing Civilization could be the secret to the Dwarf Fortress publisher's success: 'Maybe Kitfox wouldn't be as successful if I didn't know how to alternate between science trees and army defences'](https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ceo-of-kitfox-games-reckons-hundreds-of-hours-playing-civilization-could-be-the-secret-to-the-dwarf-fortress-publishers-success-maybe-kitfox-wouldnt-be-as-successful-if-i-didnt-know-how-to-alternate-between-science-trees-and-army-defences/ "CEO of Kitfox Games reckons hundreds of hours playing Civilization could be the secret to the Dwarf Fortress publisher's success: 'Maybe Kitfox wouldn't be as successful if I didn't know how to alternate between science trees and army defences'")
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RPG Esoteric Ebb isn't just the best Disco since Disco, it's the closest anyone's come to the magic of tabletop D&D in a videogame](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/esoteric-ebb-review/ "Esoteric Ebb isn't just the best Disco since Disco, it's the closest anyone's come to the magic of tabletop D&D in a videogame")
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|
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RPG Banquet For Fools is a CRPG like no other and the most interesting thing I've played this year, and between it and Esoteric Ebb, roleplaying fans are eating great right now](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/banquet-for-fools-is-a-crpg-like-no-other-and-the-most-interesting-thing-ive-played-this-year-and-between-it-and-esoteric-eeb-roleplaying-fans-are-eating-great-right-now/ "Banquet For Fools is a CRPG like no other and the most interesting thing I've played this year, and between it and Esoteric Ebb, roleplaying fans are eating great right now")
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
RPG This bizarre CRPG features claymation graphics, beat 'em up combat and the option to send defeated enemies to a prison colony, and it just left early access after a massive final update](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/this-bizarre-crpg-features-claymation-graphics-beat-em-up-combat-and-the-option-to-send-defeated-enemies-to-a-prison-colony-and-it-just-left-early-access-after-a-massive-final-update/ "This bizarre CRPG features claymation graphics, beat 'em up combat and the option to send defeated enemies to a prison colony, and it just left early access after a massive final update")
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
RPG It's only March, but I'm calling it: Esoteric Ebb is 2026's best RPG and the first worthy successor to Disco Elysium](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/its-only-march-but-im-calling-it-esoteric-ebb-is-2026s-best-rpg-and-the-first-worthy-successor-to-disco-elysium/ "It's only March, but I'm calling it: Esoteric Ebb is 2026's best RPG and the first worthy successor to Disco Elysium")
|
||||
|
||||
[
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||||
Action The Legacy of Kain: Defiance remaster does the best thing possible—it gets out of the way](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/the-legacy-of-kain-defiance-remaster-does-the-best-thing-possible-it-gets-out-of-the-way "The Legacy of Kain: Defiance remaster does the best thing possible—it gets out of the way")
|
||||
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[
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Sim In defense of Deus Ex: Invisible War](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/in-defense-of-deus-ex-invisible-war/ "In defense of Deus Ex: Invisible War")
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[
|
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||||
RPG Cara Ellison, senior narrative designer on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 before Paradox switched developers, discusses her love of Troika's original RPG: 'Everyone on the team helped really make that maximum goth'](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/cara-ellison-senior-narrative-designer-on-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-before-paradox-switched-developers-discusses-her-love-of-troikas-original-rpg-everyone-on-the-team-helped-really-make-that-maximum-goth/ "Cara Ellison, senior narrative designer on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 before Paradox switched developers, discusses her love of Troika's original RPG: 'Everyone on the team helped really make that maximum goth'")
|
||||
|
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[
|
||||
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MMO Still humming with life 21 years later, Konami's Master of Epic is a wonderful time capsule of the experimental early MMORPG era](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/still-humming-with-life-21-years-later-konamis-master-of-epic-is-a-wonderful-time-capsule-of-the-experimental-early-mmorpg-era/ "Still humming with life 21 years later, Konami's Master of Epic is a wonderful time capsule of the experimental early MMORPG era")
|
||||
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||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Games The best indie games on PC](https://www.pcgamer.com/best-indie-games/)
|
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[
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure The world's first 'standardized gaming test' will see if you can beat an '80s adventure game without a walkthrough—and it'll even monitor you over a webcam to make sure you don't cheat](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/the-worlds-first-standardized-gaming-test-will-see-if-you-can-beat-an-80s-adventure-game-without-a-walkthrough-and-itll-even-monitor-you-over-a-webcam-to-make-sure-you-dont-cheat/ "The world's first 'standardized gaming test' will see if you can beat an '80s adventure game without a walkthrough—and it'll even monitor you over a webcam to make sure you don't cheat")
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
RPG Tabletop gaming saved videogame RPGs](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/tabletop-gaming-saved-videogame-rpgs/)
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
RPG You've never heard of it, but a Russian studio made a fantasy take on original Fallout way back in 2001, and it honestly kind of rules](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/youve-never-heard-of-it-but-a-russian-studio-made-a-fantasy-take-on-original-fallout-way-back-in-2001-and-it-honestly-kind-of-rules/ "You've never heard of it, but a Russian studio made a fantasy take on original Fallout way back in 2001, and it honestly kind of rules")
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
MMO Project: Gorgon has recaptured the old-school MMO magic I thought was dead and gone by letting me ask a pig about its mother so hard it dies](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/project-gorgon-has-recaptured-the-old-school-mmo-magic-i-thought-was-dead-and-gone-by-letting-me-ask-a-pig-about-its-mother-so-hard-it-dies/ "Project: Gorgon has recaptured the old-school MMO magic I thought was dead and gone by letting me ask a pig about its mother so hard it dies")
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
RPG After 2 years in early access, Greedfall: The Dying World still feels unfinished](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/after-two-years-in-early-access-greedfall-the-dying-world-still-feels-unfinished/)
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1. [Games](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/)
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# A willfully old school point-and-click reminded me why we put up with moon-logic puzzles in classic adventure games for so long
|
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[Features](https://www.pcgamer.com/features/)
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||||
By [Holly Boson](https://www.pcgamer.com/author/holly-boson/) published 2 February 2024
|
||||
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Twilight Oracle's vintage design illuminates exactly why the genre has endured for so many years.
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[Twilight Oracle](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2338490/Twilight_Oracle/) is a point-and-click adventure game in a style so traditional that it's been unchanged since Sierra On-Line was on top of the world, and it's aimed at an audience that already knows its mechanics so well they disappear into the lovely pixel-art background.
|
||||
|
||||
The old annoyances started when I put a cabbage in a cauldron and a girl gave me a 12V battery. I had no reason to think she had it, she had no reason to think I needed it, and yet when it appeared in my inventory, I knew that the fate of the universe depended on me finding the right place to put this thing. The battery promised me an answer to a question I would be asked in due time. But the ridiculousness of someone paying with a battery for cabbage soup was a warning that the question might be gibberish.
|
||||
|
||||
I know the signals. I've been here before, and Twilight Oracle wanted to take me back in time with it. There's nothing new or subversive here, yet the hours I spent letting Twilight Oracle frustrate me helped me understand that these games still matter, and why.
|
||||
|
||||
Article continues below
|
||||
|
||||
You may like
|
||||
|
||||
- [Counterfeit Monkey is so magnificent a text adventure that I'm convinced the puzzle genre went wrong when it added graphics](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/counterfeit-monkey-is-so-magnificent-a-text-adventure-that-im-convinced-the-puzzle-genre-went-wrong-when-it-added-graphics/)
|
||||
- [The best indie games on PC](https://www.pcgamer.com/best-indie-games/)
|
||||
- [Pathologic 3 review: One of the most compelling mystery adventures since Disco Elysium](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/pathologic-3-review/)
|
||||
|
||||
## Venturing back
|
||||
|
||||
I don't know when people started announcing the death of adventure games, but I know it didn't work. When LucasArts and Sierra stopped point-and-click development at the end of the '90s it was a beheading, but only of a hydra. Many of the most significant games of the 2010s were heads on those regrown necks; Tim Schafer's Broken Age Kickstarter changed the way games were financed, The Walking Dead taught videogame writers how to have characters remember things, and Five Nights at Freddy's defined 2010s horror with a sadistic remix of mechanics from Night Trap for an audience too young to understand why it's funny to compare things to Night Trap.
|
||||
|
||||
More on adventure classics
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
(Image credit: LucasArts)
|
||||
|
||||
\- [**Every Sierra graphical adventure, ranked**](https://www.pcgamer.com/best-sierra-adventure-games/)
|
||||
\- [How Hero-U avoided disaster to resurrect '90s adventure game nostalgia](https://www.pcgamer.com/how-hero-u-avoided-disaster-to-resurrect-90s-adventure-game-nostalgia/)
|
||||
\- [**From floppy disks to the crowdfunding revolution, adventure RPG pioneers Lori and Corey Cole have seen it all**](https://www.pcgamer.com/from-floppy-disks-to-the-crowdfunding-revolution-adventure-rpg-pioneers-lori-and-corey-cole-have-seen-it-all/)
|
||||
\- [Classic LucasArts biker adventure Full Throttle still kicks ass](https://www.pcgamer.com/classic-lucasarts-biker-adventure-full-throttle-still-kicks-ass/)
|
||||
\- [**The secret history of LucasArts**](https://www.pcgamer.com/the-secret-history-of-lucasarts/)\- [Best Story 2022: The Case of the Golden Idol](https://www.pcgamer.com/best-story-2022-the-case-of-the-golden-idol/)
|
||||
|
||||
Add in the impact of visual novels, walking simulators, hidden object games, live action escape rooms and the webcomic Homestuck, and it's obvious adventure games became more culturally significant after their "death."
|
||||
|
||||
But the evaporation of the blockbuster 2D point-and-click did lead its devotees to believe the genre was dead, so they buried themselves underground to join it. In 1997, British programmer Chris Jones launched [Adventure Game Studio](https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/), an engine inspired by the limitations of already ancient Sierra games like 1986's Space Quest. While programmers could expand it, AGS was best at archaisms—walk-to-click movement, verb cursors, and inventory puzzles. But more than an engine, AGS was a community, with its own game awards, archives and forum in-jokes.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nr4CBfBsm3pvauPUbp49xA.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
(Image credit: Double Fine)
|
||||
|
||||
Astonishing work was—and still is—made in AGS. The gunky Amiga-Paint noir of [Gemini Rue](https://www.pcgamer.com/gemini-rue-review/), the metahumour about point-and-click tropes in the [Ben And Dan series](https://www.pcgamer.com/lair-of-the-clockwork-god-review/), and [Soviet Unterzӧgesdorf's](https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/616-soviet-unterz-gersdorf/) use of outdated game design to reinforce its perma-80s setting all come out of an ageing scene of purists capable of getting the references. Even as more developers abandoned AGS for platform-agnostic, flexible modern engines, this classicist subculture remained both developer and target audience.
|
||||
|
||||
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
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Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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||||
Why do trad adventure games stick to this ancient formula as firmly as a pulley sticks to a rubber chicken? Because the genre is based on the item combination puzzle, a guess-what-number-I'm-thinking of game that is always a couple of clicks away from gibberish. While your character's inventory functions as a pocketful of Chekhov's guns, if the player ever knows for sure how an item will be used, it's a spoiler—developers have a choice of either clearly telegraphing the solutions to the puzzles, giving them the dramatic satisfaction of a tax return, or basing them on the kind of twisted logic that let the developers of the 90s squeeze profit out of their premium-rate hint lines.
|
||||
|
||||
[](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kREXmPMLupHfwywbqZCDi.jpg)
|
||||
|
||||
(Image credit: Sierra)
|
||||
|
||||
Eric Wolpaw's [influential 2000 blog post](https://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/77.html) blaming Gabriel Knight's cat hair moustache for the death of the medium may have been wrong, but it was not nonsense—general audiences tolerated moon logic when point-and-clicks were the only games with reliably good stories, and had no desire to return after experiencing something like Final Fantasy 7. But this frustration is the specific emotion the purist audience still seeks out. There's an intimacy in attempting to understand someone else's illogic, like a psychoanalyst free-associating with a patient's dreams in order to spelunk their unconscious. Doing a task you can't comprehend is a humbling and almost spiritual experience, like a task granted to you by God.
|
||||
|
||||
## A timeless craving
|
||||
|
||||
Image 1 of 3
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
(Image credit: Cosmic Void)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
(Image credit: Cosmic Void)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
(Image credit: Cosmic Void)
|
||||
|
||||
Now I can close my History Book by clicking it with my Bookmark equipped, and finally tell you about Twilight Oracle. The protagonist, Leo, is an underperforming student at a school for children with supernatural abilities, dispatched to another world to eliminate an enemy of his teachers. The genuinely unusual setting is sketched in with a few lines of dialogue, but soon becomes little more than a frame for the puzzling—Each intricate, curlicued cloud and mirror sea is illustrated with an airbrush-surrealist-inspired style evoking Barclay Shaw illustrations. The multiverse is an excuse for school-textbook visuals and a transition into a different adventure game setting every few screens. The neon-surf colour palette, knotty shading and gorgeous character portraits are a pleasure throughout the game.
|
||||
|
||||
What to read next
|
||||
|
||||
- [Esoteric Ebb isn't just the best Disco since Disco, it's the closest anyone's come to the magic of tabletop D&D in a videogame](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/esoteric-ebb-review/)
|
||||
- [This horror game built from the bones of an abandoned FPS server and an accidental ARPG might be one of the strangest puzzlers I've ever played](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/this-horror-game-built-from-the-bones-of-an-abandoned-fps-server-and-an-accidental-arpg-might-be-one-of-the-strangest-puzzlers-ive-ever-played/)
|
||||
- [TR-49 review: A tense and beautifully written mystery, told entirely on a bizarre 1940s computer](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/tr-49-review/)
|
||||
|
||||
A slight bum note in the nostalgic presentation is the soundtrack, which occasionally goes into sort of a synthwave-lite that evokes an aspirational '80s rather than the geeky prog-scapes of the visuals.
|
||||
|
||||
> The sense of a magic ritual is created by puzzles based on dream logic, where items often connect based on symbolism rather than literal sense
|
||||
|
||||
More revealing about the spirit of the game is the voice acting, recorded in wildly differing quality, drawing attention to its internet-based, community contribution nature. The casting is appealingly demented—characters turn up with accents you wouldn't expect them to have. Ellis Knight, the 20-year-old voice actor who plays Leo, is the star—his character was clearly written to be an American (words like "Tylenol" and "candy" sound jagged coming out of his posh-English mouth) but his Inbetweeners version of a beach bum is an amusingly off-centre interpretation of the archetype, and he hits the emotional beat in each dialogue box about noxious socks.
|
||||
|
||||
Leo discovers he's been misled by his teachers. After learning he's the main character of a prophecy to save a fantasy world, it takes only a handful of text boxes for him to turn against everything he knows, but it's so natural for him to hate restrictions on his freedom. As an everyman, he's a universal citizen of the multiverse, just as accepting of monsters and sealife as he is princes and astronauts. Leo contextualises Twilight Oracle's understanding of adventure game moon logic as an act of systemic magic. He has no understanding of the prophecy or what it represents, or why he is collecting this item and not that one, or if another character will give him anything useful in return for helping them out, but magic (and Leo's basic underlying goodness) dictate that everything will come together.
|
||||
|
||||
The jokes remind us of Leo's lack of personal hygeine, but one of the last puzzles in the game involves him picking up a mop—what better metaphor for playing a point-and-click game is there than cleaning, the task of improving the world by finding items in the wrong place and putting them where they belong?
|
||||
|
||||
While Twilight Oracle is too goofy to stop and examine it, the sense of a magic ritual is created by puzzles based on dream logic, where items often connect based on symbolism rather than literal sense—tighty-whities on statues are cotton, hand-pump bellows become more powerful when filled with wind, and stylish fashion garments belong with the Instagram-branded giant camera, even if you can't predict what will happen when you click them together.
|
||||
|
||||
YouTube 
|
||||
|
||||
[Watch On](https://youtu.be/GVk5uQXa25s)
|
||||
|
||||
More than anything, Twilight Oracle is the kind of game where its crowdfunders were asked to contribute jokes, which are written on posters pinned up in various places. When you click, Leo will read them all out, even the ones that aren't funny. At one point, the €150-tier backers show on screen as portraits, underscoring another character's assertion that heroes can just be "normal people" like Leo.
|
||||
|
||||
It's thanking the people who came together to make the game possible, but also a satisfying emotional beat in the story. At a time when where AI-generated content fills the internet with shiny mediocrity and big studios make elaborate open world games where no real creative vision is present, trad adventure games are utterly reliant on humans craving that very specific timeless flavor of frustration.
|
||||
|
||||
The intimate connection of walking through a world crafted and written by another human, and letting them fool you with their minds. A scene of people willing to make art in a genre the market gave up on, just because that art made them happy when they were kids. The generous spirits of people willing to throw hundreds of dollars into Kickstarters, just to support the kind of odd, personal art they want to see more of.
|
||||
|
||||
[Twilight Oracle](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2338490/Twilight_Oracle/) might be inward-looking, but inward is where our heart lives.
|
||||
|
||||
[Holly Boson](https://www.pcgamer.com/author/holly-boson/)
|
||||
|
||||
Read more
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Counterfeit Monkey is so magnificent a text adventure that I'm convinced the puzzle genre went wrong when it added graphics](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/counterfeit-monkey-is-so-magnificent-a-text-adventure-that-im-convinced-the-puzzle-genre-went-wrong-when-it-added-graphics/ "Counterfeit Monkey is so magnificent a text adventure that I'm convinced the puzzle genre went wrong when it added graphics")
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
The best indie games on PC](https://www.pcgamer.com/best-indie-games/ "The best indie games on PC")
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Pathologic 3 review: One of the most compelling mystery adventures since Disco Elysium](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/pathologic-3-review/ "Pathologic 3 review: One of the most compelling mystery adventures since Disco Elysium")
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Esoteric Ebb isn't just the best Disco since Disco, it's the closest anyone's come to the magic of tabletop D&D in a videogame](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/esoteric-ebb-review/ "Esoteric Ebb isn't just the best Disco since Disco, it's the closest anyone's come to the magic of tabletop D&D in a videogame")
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
This horror game built from the bones of an abandoned FPS server and an accidental ARPG might be one of the strangest puzzlers I've ever played](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/this-horror-game-built-from-the-bones-of-an-abandoned-fps-server-and-an-accidental-arpg-might-be-one-of-the-strangest-puzzlers-ive-ever-played/ "This horror game built from the bones of an abandoned FPS server and an accidental ARPG might be one of the strangest puzzlers I've ever played")
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
TR-49 review: A tense and beautifully written mystery, told entirely on a bizarre 1940s computer](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/tr-49-review/ "TR-49 review: A tense and beautifully written mystery, told entirely on a bizarre 1940s computer")
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Latest in Games
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Crabmeat is a horror game about catching crabs—no, not like that](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/crabmeat-is-a-horror-game-about-catching-crabs-no-not-like-that/ "Crabmeat is a horror game about catching crabs—no, not like that")
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Pokémon streamer's Kickstarter for a roguelite monster-collector hits its target in 10 minutes, then blows past $800K](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/pokemon-streamers-kickstarter-for-a-roguelite-monster-collector-hits-its-target-in-10-minutes-then-blows-past-800k/ "Pokémon streamer's Kickstarter for a roguelite monster-collector hits its target in 10 minutes, then blows past $800K")
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
After 2 years in early access, Greedfall: The Dying World still feels unfinished](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/after-two-years-in-early-access-greedfall-the-dying-world-still-feels-unfinished/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Bungie is adding more shell skins to Marathon's battle pass after feedback](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/bungie-is-adding-more-shell-skins-to-marathons-battle-pass-after-feedback/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Marathon ignores extraction shooter 'rules' and is better for it](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/marathon-ignores-extraction-shooter-rules-and-is-better-for-it/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Stardew Valley and Wordle sure do make for a cute combination in this daily guessing game on the farm sim's crops](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/stardew-valley-and-wordle-sure-do-make-for-a-cute-combination-in-this-daily-guessing-game-on-the-farm-sims-crops/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Latest in Features
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
After 2 years in early access, Greedfall: The Dying World still feels unfinished](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/after-two-years-in-early-access-greedfall-the-dying-world-still-feels-unfinished/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Marathon ignores extraction shooter 'rules' and is better for it](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/marathon-ignores-extraction-shooter-rules-and-is-better-for-it/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
After beating Slay the Spire 2 with an 8 year old deck, I'm starting to feel like this is more of a remake than a sequel](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/after-beating-slay-the-spire-2-with-an-8-year-old-deck-im-starting-to-feel-like-this-is-more-of-a-remake-than-a-sequel/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Marathon's Outpost is an extraction map masterclass that has me even more excited for Cryo Archive](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/marathons-outpost-is-an-extraction-map-masterclass-that-has-me-even-more-excited-for-cryo-archive/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
WoW: Midnight's new Prey mechanic is the coolest system the MMO's added in a while, but it needs to be meaner—even on lower difficulties](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-midnights-new-prey-mechanic-is-the-coolest-system-the-mmos-added-in-a-while-but-it-needs-to-be-meaner-even-on-lower-difficulties/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
Playing Slay the Spire 2 and Esoteric Ebb on my ROG Ally all weekend turned me into a happy lump of swaddled gamer joy](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/playing-slay-the-spire-2-and-esoteric-ebb-on-my-rog-ally-all-weekend-turned-me-into-a-happy-lump-of-swaddled-gamer-joy/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS
|
||||
|
||||
1. [
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-laptops/best-gaming-laptop-2026-ive-tested-the-best-laptops-for-gaming-of-this-generation-and-here-are-the-ones-i-recommend/ "Best gaming laptop 2026: I've tested the best laptops for gaming of this generation and here are the ones I recommend.")
|
||||
|
||||
1
|
||||
|
||||
[Best gaming laptop 2026: I've tested the best laptops for gaming of this generation and here are the ones I recommend.](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-laptops/best-gaming-laptop-2026-ive-tested-the-best-laptops-for-gaming-of-this-generation-and-here-are-the-ones-i-recommend/)
|
||||
2. 2
|
||||
|
||||
[Best handheld gaming PC in 2026: my recommendations for the best portable powerhouses.](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/best-handheld-gaming-pc-in-2026-my-recommendations-for-the-best-portable-powerhouses/)
|
||||
3. 3
|
||||
|
||||
[Best gaming PC builds: Shop all our recommended system builds as we ride out the RAMpocalypse](https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-pc-build-guide/)
|
||||
4. 4
|
||||
|
||||
[Best gaming monitors in 2026: the pixel-perfect panels I'd buy myself](https://www.pcgamer.com/best-gaming-monitor/)
|
||||
5. 5
|
||||
|
||||
[The best fish tank PC case in 2026: I've tested heaps of stylish chassis but only a few have earned my recommendation](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/pc-cases/best-fish-tank-pc-case/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
1. [
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-mice/corsair-sabre-v2-pro-wireless-cf-review/ "Corsair Sabre V2 Pro Wireless CF review")
|
||||
|
||||
1
|
||||
|
||||
[Corsair Sabre V2 Pro Wireless CF review](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-mice/corsair-sabre-v2-pro-wireless-cf-review/)
|
||||
2. 2
|
||||
|
||||
[Monster Hunter Stories 3 review: An excellent monster battler bogged down by a war story without stakes](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/monster-hunter-stories-3-twisted-reflection-review/)
|
||||
3. 3
|
||||
|
||||
[Gravastar Mercury V60 Pro review](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-keyboards/gravastar-mercury-v60-pro-review/)
|
||||
4. 4
|
||||
|
||||
[Obsbot Tiny 3 review](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/webcams/obsbot-tiny-3-review/)
|
||||
5. 5
|
||||
|
||||
[Obsbot Tiny 3 Lite review](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/webcams/obsbot-tiny-3-lite-review/)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. [Visit our corporate site](https://futureplc.com/).
|
||||
|
||||
[Add as a preferred source on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=pcgamer.com)
|
||||
|
||||
- [About Us](https://www.pcgamer.com/about-pc-gamer/)
|
||||
- [Contact Future's experts](https://futureplc.com/contact/)
|
||||
- [Terms and conditions](https://futureplc.com/terms-conditions/)
|
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- [Cookies policy](https://futureplc.com/cookies-policy/)
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- [Advertise with us](https://go.future-advertising.com/PC-Gamer-Media-Kit.html)
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||||
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|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
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||||
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||||
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79
src/resources/puzzle-design-adventure-games-stackexchange.md
Normal file
79
src/resources/puzzle-design-adventure-games-stackexchange.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/5447/puzzle-design-in-adventure-games
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Puzzle design in Adventure games
|
||||
|
||||
Creating interesting, original, logical, thoughtful puzzles is an art.
|
||||
|
||||
What techniques and methods do you use to create good puzzles?
|
||||
|
||||
Do you write storyline before designing puzzles or combine these 2 processes?
|
||||
|
||||
# Answers
|
||||
|
||||
## Approach 1: Puzzle Classifications and Creative Thinking
|
||||
|
||||
Some general inspiring approaches to create puzzles:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Use puzzle classifications** - Various classification systems can stimulate creativity and brainstorming:
|
||||
- Adventure UML (Visual representation)
|
||||
- Adventure UML (Source article)
|
||||
- Mark Newheiser's classification
|
||||
- "Making Better Puzzles" by Stephen Granade
|
||||
|
||||
2. **TRIZ** - "a problem-solving, analysis and forecasting tool derived from the study of patterns of invention in the global patent literature". It was developed by Soviet engineer and researcher Genrich Altshuller and his colleagues. In English the name is typically rendered as "the theory of inventive problem solving".
|
||||
|
||||
3. **Edward de Bono's methods of creative thinking**
|
||||
|
||||
## Approach 2: Design Situations, Not Puzzles
|
||||
|
||||
I prefer to design a situation, model it as accurately as I can, and allow as many standard manipulations as I can, and let problems and solutions emerge intrinsically and appropriately.
|
||||
|
||||
Early examples included Infocom's Suspended and FTL's Dungeon Master, though they were a mix of scripted puzzle logic and semi-realistic game systems.
|
||||
|
||||
## Approach 3: Abstraction and Everyday Objects
|
||||
|
||||
An interesting way to design puzzles is through abstraction - look at objects around your home or elsewhere and think about how they interact with each other, how they can be manipulated and how they could benefit a goal or aim.
|
||||
|
||||
Don't forget to think in three dimensions, as this will help with the design of the puzzle space.
|
||||
|
||||
Puzzles can be about a whole variety of things applicable to simple day-to-day living. Some examples: shape, colour, memory, logic, primitive maths (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), sound, depth, light, interaction of lifeforms.
|
||||
|
||||
Be sure to tie your puzzles in with the game world and the immersion of the game itself and you will have some thoroughly engaging mind-bogglers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Approach 4: Working Backwards
|
||||
|
||||
Experiment. Think about puzzle games you have played that come packaged with a level editor. How would you create a new puzzle using their tool?
|
||||
|
||||
Usually by experimenting you can find interesting interactions between puzzle elements.
|
||||
|
||||
**Working backwards is also a very intuitive way to create puzzles of any sort.** I would imagine this is the most common technique. When you know the answer it is easy to build complexity on top of it.
|
||||
|
||||
Think of IQ puzzle designers. If I give you a sequence 1,9,25,49,_ and ask you what is next you have to use logic to determine what is going on. Where as from the designers point of view it is just matter of making something up that takes no logic at all: ((n*2)-1)^2
|
||||
|
||||
So, I would suggest building a tool to edit levels / elements / etc in your game. Experiment yourself, and allow other designers to experiment. You will see interesting patterns emerge.
|
||||
|
||||
## Approach 5: Story and the Gap
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure games rely heavily on the same motivations as readers or viewers of books or film. For this reason I'd recommend taking a look at the chapters on the section on the inciting incident and the principle of closing the action-expectation gap in Robert McKee's book Story.
|
||||
|
||||
The basic premise is that there is something that sets up a disparity between the expected outcome of an action of the hero, and the actual outcome of that action. This is the gap that needs to be closed by the hero during his adventure. This applies to Adventure game puzzle design by being the technique by which you reveal the new puzzles to be solved: If you know you need A, then you first need to find A, or find someone that can tell you where A is.
|
||||
|
||||
An important part of any long sequence of actions is that the player should know when they are about to finish the game, make sure it's obvious that they are, otherwise the game will feel like they're being short changed at the end.
|
||||
|
||||
## Approach 6: Know Your Audience
|
||||
|
||||
As an adventure game developer I've found that adventure gamers are generally split into 2 camps: Those who play for puzzles and those who play for interaction and story. Of course there is some overlap but it might be a good idea to establish your audience before thinking about puzzle design.
|
||||
|
||||
Those who play for story generally prefer 'puzzles', in a broad sense, with a heavy grounding in reality. This include the more modern post-adventure games like Heavy Rain and Dreamfall. The key with games like this is not to break the immersion and to consider your 'puzzles' as 'challenges' instead.
|
||||
|
||||
On the flip side, the old school adventure gamers tend to want hardcore puzzles like they saw in maniac mansion. The best way to design puzzles like this is to start at the solution and work backwards. This allows you to create multi-faceted solutions like those seen in Day of the Tentacle and the other classic Lucas Arts games.
|
||||
|
||||
The biggest advice I can give is to play a lot of adventure games. All puzzles generally fall within 1 of several specific categories with well established tropes. Just observe and imitate, then try to branch your puzzles into something new.
|
||||
|
||||
## Approach 7: Brainstorm Unique Interactions
|
||||
|
||||
If we are talking about adventure games, then there are some things you can do in puzzles there that you can't do with puzzles in other games. However, puzzles in games have a lot in common. Personally, I find it best to brainstorm, and come up with a unique setup or interaction with npcs or item such, and figure out the best way to make the interaction feel natural.
|
||||
|
||||
A puzzle should be designed in a way that if you were to look up the solution, you would think that that totally makes sense within the rules of the universe you've created, and that you could have actually figured it out without just brute-forcing it and using every item on every thing.
|
||||
51
src/resources/puzzle-game-design-principles-template.md
Normal file
51
src/resources/puzzle-game-design-principles-template.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/puzzle-game-design-principles-levels-template
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Puzzle Game Design Principles & Levels Template
|
||||
|
||||
Good puzzle game design is fundamental to creating engaging gameplay experiences. This article explores key principles that guide effective puzzle design in games.
|
||||
|
||||
# Core Principles of Puzzle Design
|
||||
|
||||
## 1. Clear Objectives
|
||||
|
||||
Players should always understand what they need to accomplish. The goal of a puzzle should be immediately apparent, even if the solution requires deeper thought.
|
||||
|
||||
## 2. Logical Consistency
|
||||
|
||||
Puzzle solutions must follow the internal rules established by the game world. When a player solves a puzzle, they should feel that the solution makes sense within the game's context.
|
||||
|
||||
## 3. Progressive Difficulty
|
||||
|
||||
Puzzles should scale in complexity, introducing new mechanics gradually and building on previously learned concepts.
|
||||
|
||||
## 4. Fair Feedback
|
||||
|
||||
When players make attempts, they should receive clear feedback about whether they're on the right track, without giving away the solution directly.
|
||||
|
||||
## 5. Multiple Solution Paths
|
||||
|
||||
Where appropriate, puzzles can offer different approaches to reach the same solution, accommodating varied play styles.
|
||||
|
||||
# Level Design Template
|
||||
|
||||
When designing puzzle levels, consider the following structure:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Introduction** - Present the core mechanic or challenge
|
||||
2. **Practice** - Allow players to apply what they've learned in a safe environment
|
||||
3. **Combination** - Combine multiple mechanics or concepts
|
||||
4. **Challenge** - Test mastery with increased complexity
|
||||
5. **Reward** - Provide satisfying feedback and progression
|
||||
|
||||
# Common Puzzle Types
|
||||
|
||||
- **Sequential** - Steps must be completed in order
|
||||
- **Combination** - Multiple elements must work together
|
||||
- **Exploratory** - Player must discover the puzzle exists
|
||||
- **Timing-based** - Solution requires precise timing
|
||||
- **Pattern recognition** - Player must identify and replicate patterns
|
||||
|
||||
# Testing and Iteration
|
||||
|
||||
Puzzle design requires extensive playtesting. Watch how players approach challenges and identify where they struggle or become frustrated. Use this feedback to refine and balance puzzle difficulty.
|
||||
59
src/resources/renpy-point-click-tutorial-puzzle-design.md
Normal file
59
src/resources/renpy-point-click-tutorial-puzzle-design.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://westofentropy.wordpress.com/2020/11/22/renpy-point-click-tutorial-2-puzzle-design/
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Renpy Point & Click Tutorial 2: Puzzle Design
|
||||
|
||||
Let's take a step to the side on our Point & Click tutorial to discuss what is arguably the most important element of the game genre: Puzzles. Games from practically every genre utilize puzzles in at least some form or another, so puzzle design is not exclusive to Point & Click or its related genres. However, for every puzzle remembered by the fans for its delightful genius, there are ten more that are notorious for the amount of rage and frustration they induce; in fact, the Point & Click / Adventure Game genre is quite infamous for its seemingly asinine puzzles.
|
||||
|
||||
# Readings
|
||||
|
||||
In my own research for this article, I came across several sources of inspiration. Would it surprise you that some of these are almost 30 years old, and yet modern games still make the same mistakes?
|
||||
|
||||
- "Why Adventure Games Suck and What We Can Do About It" by Ron Gilbert, 1989
|
||||
- "Craft of Adventure" by Graham Nelson, 1995
|
||||
- "Four-Step Puzzle Design" by Asher Einhorn, 2015
|
||||
- "The 14 Deadly Sins of Graphic-Adventure Design" by Jimmy Maher, 2015
|
||||
- "The Philosophy of Puzzle Design" by Josh Bycer, 2020
|
||||
|
||||
One thing that should be painfully clear is that what makes "good" design is nowhere near settled, but the lessons from our game-dev predecessors are nonetheless indispensable.
|
||||
|
||||
# Fairness, Challenge, & Difficulty
|
||||
|
||||
A lot of what goes into "good" puzzle design is understanding the psychology of your players and anticipating how they will attempt your puzzles. If your understanding of your audience is poor, the puzzles you design will likely end up being criticized as unfair or too difficult.
|
||||
|
||||
Playtesters are thus essential in puzzle design. It should go without saying, but if you get feedback, heed it. The worst thing you can do is believe that your tester was "just playing the game wrong."
|
||||
|
||||
A big part of ensuring that a game is perceived as fair is by ensuring clarity in all aspects. Goals and objectives should be clear. Potentially perilous actions should be indicated as such. An observant player should not be surprised when they make a mistake. Solutions should have breadcrumbs leading to them. Anticipate that any information you give to the player is potentially actionable – have a response ready.
|
||||
|
||||
As a designer, your relationship to the player is NOT supposed to be adversarial. Even in well-regarded games notorious for their hostile narrators or punishing challenges, the designers understood how to successfully direct player progression.
|
||||
|
||||
# Possibility Space
|
||||
|
||||
There are various types of logic and strategies required for puzzle-solving, but they all generally draw on making the possibility space as small as possible. For example, Sudoku relies on deduction – eliminating the possible digits 1 through 9 that a particular square can be, until only 1 digit is left. Inductive reasoning also functions to reduce the possibility space; oftentimes in games, this is accomplished by supplying information to the player, and "suggesting" a connection between the supplied information and the puzzle, thereby reducing the amount of actions the player considers reasonable.
|
||||
|
||||
In narrative games, there is a danger of overloading the player with too much information that is either misleading or superfluous. The more backstory you give to your Guard NPC, the more strategies your players will find reasonable in their attempts to get past them.
|
||||
|
||||
Of course, not all backstory will be actionable – just because an NPC says that they like hamburgers doesn't mean that the player will obsess over trying to find a non-existent hamburger to give them. However, players are primed to act upon the information you give them.
|
||||
|
||||
# Creativity & Fun
|
||||
|
||||
Part of the fun of puzzles is solving them in unusual or creative ways. I typically speak of "designing exploits" when discussing unusual puzzle design, since they can feel like the player is pulling a fast one in particularly difficult games.
|
||||
|
||||
Oftentimes, you can account for these "exploits" by studying what actions your playtesters try to take, and then choosing to allow the ones that are consistent with the fundamentals of your game. However, I would suggest using these creative solutions in conjunction with the standard "dull" solution, rather than making the creative solution the *single* solution.
|
||||
|
||||
Note, too, the creative ways in which players may use puzzle pieces outside of solving the puzzle they were originally intended for. A bucket can be used to hold water, yes, but it can also be used to hold golf balls, or be swung around as a weapon. If your game contains a shotgun and a saw, give the player the ability to make a sawed-off shotgun – if for no other purpose than just because you can!
|
||||
|
||||
# Comprehensibility
|
||||
|
||||
It should go without saying that puzzles that are incomprehensible are just, well, bad… In general, puzzle comprehensibility is fundamentally linked to understanding your players. If your target audience is mostly children, puzzles involving high-level math or vocabulary will probably be too difficult. Similarly, puzzles relying on culture-specific knowledge may be inaccessible.
|
||||
|
||||
Beyond the knowledge-base that you must assume your players are starting with, there is also the need to educate your players on the rules and mechanics specific to the puzzles in your game. As with all onboarding processes, difficulty increases with the complexity of information being given. If your game introduces unique mechanics (such as portals or weird physics), it is critical that players are given proper direction early on.
|
||||
|
||||
# Actually Designing the Puzzles
|
||||
|
||||
While plenty of material exists to help guide you, there is no definitive process for puzzle design. At a minimum, I recommend bringing your ideas out of your head and putting them on paper or a digital document.
|
||||
|
||||
An important thing to note in your brainstorming process is that your puzzles won't exist in a vacuum – each puzzle you design exists alongside every other puzzle that you make available to the player. So, it is generally most effective to design on the macro scale, with all the micro connections between puzzle elements. You can think of these connections as flow (from the player perspective) or dependencies (from the designer perspective).
|
||||
|
||||
Many designers prefer to work backwards, coming up with a problem and then laying out the puzzle pieces that need to come together to solve the problem. I tend to take the forward approach by first creating my puzzle pieces, and then coming up with interesting ways for them to be used. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages – you generally want to avoid situations where the problem or the solutions feel contrived.
|
||||
27
src/resources/scumm-design-documents-game-developer.md
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27
src/resources/scumm-design-documents-game-developer.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/scumm-co-creator-digs-up-game-design-treasure-trove
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# SCUMM co-creator digs up game design treasure trove
|
||||
|
||||
After spending his career at Atari, LucasArts, 3DO, and Microsoft, veteran programmer Aric Wilmunder has amassed a treasure trove of design documents, and now he's going to share them with the world.
|
||||
|
||||
After spending his career at Atari, LucasArts, 3DO, and Microsoft, veteran programmer Aric Wilmunder has amassed a treasure trove of design documents, and now he's going to share them with the world.
|
||||
|
||||
Although he might not be a household name, Wilmunder has worked on some of the industry's most adored, critically-acclaimed releases, including Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Maniac Mansion, The Dig, and Indy Iron Phoenix.
|
||||
|
||||
Most of those titles have been out for decades, but Wilmunder is giving us a chance to turn back the clock and dig into the design techniques of yesteryear by uploading a whole catalog of tantalizingly detailed design documents.
|
||||
|
||||
"Years ago I visited the LucasArts facility in the San Francisco Presidio and brought along two grocery bags of design documents," wrote Wilmunder, on his personal website.
|
||||
|
||||
"I asked if they had an archivist and I was told that since I had kept these safe for over two decades, it was best if I just kept them together.
|
||||
|
||||
"I have met with the archivist at Stanford and these documents will either end up there or at a museum dedicated to preserving game design. Until then, I plan to release a few documents every month."
|
||||
|
||||
Scanning and uploading the documents will be a gradual process, but there's already a healthy pile available for viewing right here.
|
||||
|
||||
What's more, in the interest of preservation, Wilmunder is also planning on using GitHub to archive the SCUMM source code.
|
||||
|
||||
SCUMM, or "Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion", is the video game engine behind some of some of the most memorable games ever made, such as Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max Hit the Road.
|
||||
|
||||
Wilmunder coded the original version of SCUMM alongside Chip Morningstar and Ron Gilbert in 1987. You can hear his account of how the legendary engine was born right here on Gamasutra.
|
||||
49
src/resources/scumm-diary-game-developer.md
Normal file
49
src/resources/scumm-diary-game-developer.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-scumm-diary-stories-behind-one-of-the-greatest-game-engines-ever-made
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# The SCUMM Diary: Stories behind one of the greatest game engines ever made
|
||||
|
||||
It's rare that the mention of a video game engine can elicit emotions nearly as strong as the games that it powers, but SCUMM is special in a lot of ways. SCUMM co-creator Aric Wilmunder tells the stories behind the well-regarded engine.
|
||||
|
||||
SCUMM might "just" be a video game engine -- but it's a video game engine that can elicit emotions nearly as strong as the games that it powers.
|
||||
|
||||
When you talk about of the heyday of LucasArts adventure games, you have to talk about SCUMM, the "Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion" that powers some of the most memorable games ever made, such as Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max Hit the Road, and, of course, Maniac Mansion.
|
||||
|
||||
Aric Wilmunder, along with famed game designer Ron Gilbert, built SCUMM, in effect providing a way for games like these to exist. Wilmunder and journalist Mike Bevan recently got together over email, discussing SCUMM and the stories around it. Here are choice pieces of that conversation, all in the words of Wilmunder.
|
||||
|
||||
# On the evolution of the engine
|
||||
|
||||
One of the capabilities that distinguished LucasArts from most other developers was that many of us came from a mainframe background and so we developed tools and compilers on Sun workstations and then created hardware that allowed us to download the code and data to our target machines. This started with the Atari 800 and when Ron [Gilbert] was hired to do C64 work a similar system was developed for that platform as well.
|
||||
|
||||
The key benefit was that we could develop tools in C, or in the case of SCUMM using YACC, to process and then tokenize the code. Most developers were using the same machine to write and run their code, so their tools could only be as powerful as their target machine.
|
||||
|
||||
The evolution of features started very early. I was the first internal developer to work on PCs and at the time the existing tools and compilers were very crude. For example, the C compilers that we had been using would give very detailed messages if an error was encountered. On the PC you would get a message like "File: walk.c Line:409 Error: 4004" and your options at this point were to look at the line of code and try to figure out the problem or get out the manual to convert the error code into something meaningful.
|
||||
|
||||
# Speaking in SCUMM
|
||||
|
||||
SCUMM was a language that was compiled into a tokenized form. For example, the command 'walk dr-fred to laboratory-door' would convert the Walk command into a single byte command. The next byte was which actor or character the command was for, and then the object 'laboratory-door' was converted into a 2-byte number so the entire command was reduced into 4 bytes of data. As you can see, the tokenized language was very efficient and the interpreter never had any understanding that one actor or another was "dr-fred" he was simply an actor-number, so we always tried to avoid hard-coding any specific information about a game directly into the interpreter.
|
||||
|
||||
# SCUMM's multi-tasking
|
||||
|
||||
Probably the most distinctive part of SCUMM was that it was multi-tasking. This meant that multiple scripts could effectively run simultaneously. You might create a clock on the wall in Zak McKracken's office and have it animate. There would be a single, very simple script just for the clock that would tell the animation engine to change from one image of the clock to the next, tell the sound engine to play the "tick" sound, and then tell the script to "sleep-for 1 second" and then repeat. The Sleep commands were deceptively simple commands that told the system that the script was complete, and to come back some period of time later and keep running the script from where you left off.
|
||||
|
||||
# Learning SCUMM
|
||||
|
||||
At the time, all of the designers were also programmers and SCUMM, while unique in many aspects, was also pretty easy to learn and code. There was no manual for Maniac or Zak but before Monkey a group of 6-8 new scripters were hired and a manual was created and a one-week training class ("Scumm University") was organized. For the training, Ron would take the most recent game and simply delete all but one room and put objects in that room that represented a range of capabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
New scripters, or "Scummlets," would start in that room and learn the fundamentals and within a few days they were taught how to add more rooms, create walk boxes, some had artistic talent and would create their own animations, others would focus on writing dialog.
|
||||
|
||||
# SCUMM's longevity
|
||||
|
||||
I don't think that any of us thought that SCUMM games would be around this long. I worked on the system for about 12 years and I tried really hard to 'future proof' my code by testing across as many computers as I could. When developing under Windows, I would test it under Windows NT, even if that wasn't one of the target machines, but NT required stricter coding standards. So if it ran under NT, chances were improved that it would run under other future Windows operating systems.
|
||||
|
||||
# Advantages of interpreted languages
|
||||
|
||||
Ron had worked with interpreters for some time. He developed a series of new commands that could be added to Commodore Basic so he had reverse engineered that system. When developing Maniac, he thought that this was the best approach, and Chip Morningstar had a background in language compilers so the language grew mostly out of their collaboration.
|
||||
|
||||
Another advantage of interpreted languages is that they migrate from machine to machine very easily. The interpreter was written in very portable C code and would simply parse through the series of command tokens. One huge benefit was that since the entire game was data, when developing for new machines, you knew that your data was correct, so you could eliminate that entire portion when looking for bugs and simply focus on the small amount of code needed to get a particular machine working.
|
||||
|
||||
# The SCUMM advantage
|
||||
|
||||
One of the great benefits of SCUMM was how quickly a game could be prototyped. The designer would have ideas for rooms and locations and the lead background artist could start doing sketches. When enough of the sketches were done, they would get scanned in and you could very quickly add and connect them up using SCUMM. Usually within just a few weeks of the start of the design process, there would be many dozens of rooms, often drawn as simple pencil sketches, and we would usually take the actors from another game and start wiring them up.
|
||||
184
src/resources/scumm-interview-ron-gilbert-ign.md
Normal file
184
src/resources/scumm-interview-ron-gilbert-ign.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/04/26/interview-scumm-of-the-earth
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Interview: SCUMM of the Earth
|
||||
|
||||
Focus Reset
|
||||
|
||||
Home
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|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
# Interview: SCUMM of the Earth
|
||||
|
||||
## Ron Gilbert chats about Maniac Mansion, the current state of adventure games, and 300.
|
||||
|
||||
By Daemon Hatfield
|
||||
|
||||
Updated: May 15, 2012 9:14am UTC
|
||||
|
||||
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the SCUMM engine, the Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion, which powered most of the classic LucasArts graphic adventures. SCUMM streamlined the process for coding these intensive, epic games and greatly decreased their development times. IGN recently caught up with the man behind SCUMM, the Grumpy Gamer himself, Ron Gilbert.
|
||||
|
||||
Gilbert started out programming on the Commodore 64 while in college, and was eventually employed by LucasArts (then Lucasfilm Games) doing C64 ports of their Atari 800 games. A fan of adventure games, when the time came to make his own title he had grand plans of improving the genre. He wanted to make an adventure game that was more interactive and graphically exciting than what had been done up to that point. His big idea: Maniac Mansion, a hilarious romp with multiple playable characters (each with specific abilities), multiple endings, and cut scenes that revealed hints at solving the game's mind-bending puzzles.
|
||||
|
||||
The Grumpy Gamer himself: Ron Gilbert Ambitious as the idea was, Gilbert realized it would take ages to program the actual source code. SCUMM was his solution to simplify the coding process -- it allowed him to create the game's story, dialogue, items, and environments with built-in tools and saved him having to write scripts for each action. SCUMM would go on to power almost all of LucasArts' adventure games, including Zak McKracken and the Alien Mind Benders, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure, and Sam & Max Hit the Road. The legacy continues today, as Sam & Max, while it no longer uses the engine, is still going strong as a franchise.
|
||||
|
||||
These days Gilbert is shopping around a new adventure/RPG game to publishers and runs the Grumpy Gamer blog. We recently got the chance to reminisce about the glory days of graphic adventures with Gilbert, and discuss how totally awesome 300 was.
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: What originally brought you to work in the games industry?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** I had bought a Commodore 64 when I was in college and I was just programming it because it was fun to do. I wrote an extension to the Basic language that came with the Commodore called Graphics Basic. It allowed people using Basic to get access to the Commodore 64's graphics, which were really, really powerful but there was no way to access them through Basic. I sent that off to some companies to see if anyone wanted to publish it and there was a company that offered me a job. So that was the first job I had in the industry.
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: You worked on the SCUMM engine with fellow Lucasfilm Games employees Aric Wilmunder and Brad Taylor. What was your contribution to the engine?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Ron Gilbert:** I created it. It was kind of my concept because I really needed it to build Maniac Mansion. I did most of the Commodore 64 programming for the engine. Aric and Brad's contribution came in when we did the PC ports of the engine.
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: Why was it necessary to create a new engine for Maniac Mansion?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** I started kind of hand-coding it all in assembly language, which was really about the only thing you could use to program the Commodore 64. And it was just obvious this was going to be a very difficult task without some kind of a language to be able to abstract the gameplay, in a way. There was a guy working at the Lucas games group at the time named Chip Morningstar, and he was kind of an expert in compilers and so we started chatting. He cobbled up the first version of the actual compiler for the SCUMM engine, which I then went on and extended. But the game was so content intensive, without some kind of a scripting language you would just spend forever coding these things in assembly language.
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: What was your inspiration for Maniac Mansion?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** A lot of different things. I had always really enjoyed playing adventure games. I had played in college on the big mainframe computers; the old Adventure, Infocom stuff… I really liked the gameplay, but I really wanted to see graphics. I had seen the early King's Quests that Sierra had done which added graphics, which I thought was a big improvement, but it had a parser. And that just bugged me. I thought, "You know, if I'm going to be playing and interacting with this game graphically, I should be interacting with the graphics. I should be clicking on the things I want to manipulate." So it came from that. I wanted to get rid of this parser. And the guy who designed Maniac Mansion with me, Gary Winnick, we were good friends and we had always loved bad horror movies. So we started coming up with this idea for Maniac Mansion.
|
||||
|
||||
**Ron Gilbert Interview, cont.**
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: And what was your involvement in other LucasArts games like Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** I worked on the SCUMM engine for those projects. I continued to upgrade it, and pretty much worked on the engine from that very first day until I left [LucasArts]. It was always the thing that occupied at least half my time.
|
||||
|
||||
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure **IGN: In 1992 you left LucasArts to form Humongous Games and created adventure titles for children like Pajama Sam. What made you decide to move into making games for kids?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** I think it was just that I wanted to do something a little bit different with adventure games. I had seen kids play Monkey Island and there was something they were really, really liking about playing that game. They didn't really get the humor, they couldn't read the text… They couldn't do a lot of the things that I would consider playing the game for real. But that act of going around and exploring, opening doors, getting new screens to show up -- they were really intrigued with that. And I thought that was an area that no one had really tackled at all: adventure games for kids.
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: What are you working on now?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** Mostly I do a lot of consulting for other companies. Game design, writing, stuff like that. There is an adventure, role-playing game hybrid that I'm currently designing and looking for a publisher for.
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: What do you think of the current state of adventure games? Anything you've been impressed by recently?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** Well, certainly the Sam & Max games. Those are really, really good, and they show what a good adventure game can be -- especially with the writing and the humor. I think Sam & Max is kind of a shining light for adventure games. I do think for adventure games to succeed they need to be melded with some other game genre. I don't know if a pure, pure adventure game could really survive today. Maybe with different distribution mechanisms. I could see a very pure adventure game working distributed through something like Xbox Live Arcade, where people are getting them almost episodically.
|
||||
|
||||
The thing I think adventure games have suffered from over the years is that lack of replayability. Every other game genre is something you can play over and over and over. Eventually you kind of work through the systems or you get bored with it, but it has a lot of replayability. But you play adventure games once, and you're just not going to play them again. You might play them several years later, kind of like you watch a movie a second time. I think that's kind of their Achilles heel, in a way.
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: Do you spend much time with current consoles and handhelds?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** I spend a lot of time with the DS. I have all the consoles at home but I don't really play them that much. Mostly I play PC games and the DS.
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: And you also run the Grumpy Gamer blog. Why so grumpy?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** (laughs) I don't think I'm a particularly grumpy person in person. I had owned that URL for many, many years, so it was a natural thing to use when I started writing about it.
|
||||
|
||||
The Grumpy Gamer expresses his frustration through the magic of comics.
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: You recently posted about the movie 300 and joked about Hollywood striving to make movies like videogames. All jokes aside, do you think there is any truth to that?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** I think one of the things we're going to see over the years is a lot of really good Hollywood directors that have grown up on videogames. And we're getting into that first full generation of people that has been playing games for as long as they can remember. It's hard for me to imagine that up and coming filmmakers today haven't been heavily influenced by games. And there is a certain sensibility and pacing of games -- I just can't imagine that they're not starting to integrate that into the art of film in some way.
|
||||
|
||||
**IGN: What do you think about ScummVM, which allows games that use the SCUMM engine to be ported to every platform under the sun?**
|
||||
|
||||
**Gilbert:** I think it's great that it's been ported to so many platforms. I remember how difficult it was to work with and I'm amazed that they've made it compatible with so many different games. It just completely blows me away. I actually saw someone playing Monkey Island on the DS. Really, really neat.
|
||||
|
||||
In This Article
|
||||
|
||||
Sam & Max: Season One -- Episode #4: Abe Lincoln Must Die!
|
||||
|
||||
TellTale Games
|
||||
|
||||
Initial Release: Feb 22, 2007
|
||||
|
||||
ESRB: Teen
|
||||
|
||||
PC
|
||||
151
src/resources/seven-deadly-sins-adventure-games.md
Normal file
151
src/resources/seven-deadly-sins-adventure-games.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/seven-deadly-sins-of-adventure-games
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Seven Deadly Sins of Adventure Games
|
||||
|
||||
Why the core mechanics of adventure games caused the genre to die -- and how it is a good thing.
|
||||
|
||||
This blog post also appeared on The Astronauts website.
|
||||
|
||||
We know why adventure genre died, or, to be precise, when and how it committed suicide. But surely all the latest discoveries in design (the trinity of Presence, Immersion and Engagement, ludonarrative dissonance, PENS model, etc.) have shown adventure game creators the way, and modern point and clicks are much better than the old ones, right? Sadly, wrong.
|
||||
|
||||
With literally one exception, which I talk about at the end of this post, it seems like the adventure genre desperately wants to stay dead.
|
||||
|
||||
Before I talk about the latest example of the zombification of adventures, a quick word on my background. Most people know me as the Painkiller/Bulletstorm guy, and that's cool, but I have actually made more adventures than shooters. My first ZX Spectrum games were adaptations of either regular books ("The Diary of Adrian Mole") or Choose Your Adventure books ("Starship Traveller"), but perhaps my first three commercial games are more convincing:
|
||||
|
||||
1993: The Mystery of the Statuette (PC, Polish only)
|
||||
1995: Teenagent (PC, Polish and English release)
|
||||
1998: The Prince and the Coward (PC, Polish and German release)
|
||||
|
||||
I mention this to make it clear that I do not only love adventure games, but I love them so much that I have dedicated many years of my life to their creation. So what I write about here comes both from the brain and the heart.
|
||||
|
||||
After this little detour, let's get back on the main road.
|
||||
|
||||
Do you know who Jane Jensen is? I assume you do, but just in case, she's the creator of the legendary Gabriel Knight series, and worked on many other fine adventure games.
|
||||
|
||||
I don't know if Gabriel Knight (the remake of which is coming soon) is a good game by today's standards. But I know it was an amazing game in 1993, when the first part was released. I was so enchanted by the game that when a few years later I went to Munich in Germany to sign a deal for my own game, the highlight of the trip was visiting real life locations that I have seen earlier only through Gabriel's eyes.
|
||||
|
||||
A few days ago, a new game from Jane Jensen was released: Moebius: Empire Rising.
|
||||
|
||||
If only a few can make a good adventure game, the creator of Gabriel Knight series must be among them, right? Sadly, wrong again.
|
||||
|
||||
To be clear, I don't want to make this personal. This is not about this or that creator. This is about the solutions 99.99% of adventure games creators use – and should not, as they ruin the experience.
|
||||
|
||||
Let's take a look at the first seven minutes of Moebius and the seven sins of adventure games.
|
||||
|
||||
## First Sin: Cinematic Wannabe
|
||||
|
||||
The game begins with movie-like credits. Movies have moved away from that a long time ago (e.g. Nolan movies don't even feature the title anymore). At worst, something interesting happens when the credits are displayed: either something story-related, or something highly spectacular (e.g. the openings of Bond series). In the case of Moebius, it's just a boring display of enigmatic visuals and names. That lasts for over three minutes. Yes, that's how the game begins, with you staring for three minutes at something that tries to make you believe this is a "cinematic game" – whatever that means.
|
||||
|
||||
Actually, that's not a sin exclusive to adventure games. I could name a good number of titles that force the credits into their openings. Developers: really, no one gives a damn. And those five guys who do, they can watch the credits on YouTube or go to Mobygames.
|
||||
|
||||
Of course, the "I'm not good enough to make movies, so I'll make my games cinematic instead" syndrome that often plagues video games is not just about credits, and, on the other hand, there is nothing inherently bad about the "cinematic" word as such (The Walking Dead or Uncharteds are "cinematic" and that's okay). It's just that too many adventure games copy film techniques without deep understanding of how these things affect the game experience, and displaying credits in the intro is a good example of the problem.
|
||||
|
||||
## Second Sin: Undisciplined Writing
|
||||
|
||||
The hero comes back from a business trip and talks to his assistant. Hero: "So, what's the next assignment?" Assistant: "You just got here! You probably haven't been to your penthouse yet."
|
||||
|
||||
That tells me that the hero has a penthouse. The penthouse I can visit. The way the assistant talks about it suggests it's a thinly veiled game hint: go to the penthouse first, and then we'll see what happens.
|
||||
|
||||
In reality, there is no penthouse. You can never go there, and you never get to unpack that suitcase.
|
||||
|
||||
This is just an example; there are many more misleading pieces of dialogue and other unintentional red herrings in the game. Or in hundreds of other adventure games.
|
||||
|
||||
## Third Sin: Lack of Internal Logic
|
||||
|
||||
The hero leaves the suitcase at his antique shop, and goes to see a certain man. When he accepts the job that the man offers, he can go straight to the airport and fly to Venice. Without the suitcase.
|
||||
|
||||
To make matters worse, you can actually go back to the shop before leaving for Europe, and say good bye to the assistant. That suitcase you just brought back from the trip to Africa will be standing there, untouchable, unpickable. Why doesn't out hero need it? Nobody knows.
|
||||
|
||||
This may sound like a little thing, but it's this attention to detail that makes or breaks an adventure game. The players like to feel a certain degree of freedom, and experimenting – especially when the experimenting makes sense – should always be rewarded. If I got back from a trip to a foreign country, and I have a packed suitcase, and I am about to leave for another foreign country, and I try to take that suitcase and the game tells me the suitcase is not important… That is nothing but a reminder that I am a puppet on a string, and not a hero of the story.
|
||||
|
||||
As always, this is just one example. The game suffers from the lack of internal logic in many other places. For example, you are not able to pick up even the most obvious items unless the hero "has a reason to do so". This is not only terribly inconsistent (e.g. in the beginning I can take out a passport out of the suitcase just fine, even though there's absolutely no reason to do so), but also simply translates to a lot of backtracking (once the "reason" is found).
|
||||
|
||||
Please note that I am not criticizing the lack of logic, but the lack of "internal logic", i.e. the logic within the rules of the game world. Although, of course, the less abstract a game is, the more its "internal logic" resembles "real life logic".
|
||||
|
||||
## Fourth Sin: Useless Pseudo-Branching
|
||||
|
||||
I mentioned that the hero accepted a mission from a certain man. In reality, you can refuse to take on the job. The proposal comes from a shady man trying to send you on a shady mission for shady reasons, so the refusal is actually quite reasonable, especially considering that you also have two other exciting and legit jobs lined up.
|
||||
|
||||
Of course, that refusal means only one thing: you will not be able to progress in the game, stuck in a loop of meaningless activities until you say "yes". So, at the end of the day the option to refuse is merely another reminder that you mean nothing in the game.
|
||||
|
||||
The branching in adventures games is a big topic in itself, and let's leave that for another time. The point is, too many adventures offer options that are basically useless and not only bring nothing to the experience, but they actually hurt it.
|
||||
|
||||
## Fifth Sin: Extrinsic Rewards
|
||||
|
||||
Humans love to watch the numbers grow. Some argue that most games are "fun" exactly because of this. And we also know this is what most F2P abuse to get the players addicted.
|
||||
|
||||
Moebius constantly reminds you – by displaying the feature in an often-used menu – that there are 676 points to score. Anything that progresses the story is rewarded with points, and this is highly distracting and immersion-breaking. Why? Because of "the power of growing numbers" a lot of players stop playing the game purely for the pleasure of brain teasers and the story, and start feeling obliged to click on everything and try everything in order to maximize the score.
|
||||
|
||||
It's sort of like the treasures in Uncharted. If the "OCD" kicks in, the game either becomes ridiculous (you stop and look for treasure even though your friends are kidnapped and in danger) or you feel discomfort leaving areas without scanning them for treasure first.
|
||||
|
||||
Extrinsic rewards like points or achievements are crystallized evil. Some developers add them for cynical reasons, some add them to take the attention away from the weakness of the core gameplay. But some still simply believe they enhance the experience, and that's just sad and wrong, especially in a genre that is supposedly all about escapism.
|
||||
|
||||
## Sixth Sin: Bad Writing
|
||||
|
||||
This is plain and simple. Bad writing is bad. There are no excuses for such low quality writing. It kills believability and immersion faster than a bullet kills a soap bubble.
|
||||
|
||||
A few years ago Yahtzee correctly identified and criticized the classic adventures as "stories with pauses". And we know that even the most idiotic stories in classic shooters did not necessarily hurt these games, as it was their gameplay (gunplay) that was the core of the experience. So if adventures are the opposite of that, all story and characters with some suspicious gameplay, how can anyone expect them to succeed if the story and characters suck?
|
||||
|
||||
## Seventh Sin: Second Guessing
|
||||
|
||||
The worst moment in any adventure game is when you stop solving problems by thinking about the world and the options you have, and start solving problems by putting yourself in designer's shoes. "That painting is here for a reason, they would not put it on the wall otherwise", "I have this item in the inventory, so it must be useable somewhere", and so on, and so forth.
|
||||
|
||||
There is a moment in the first hour of the game when you see a clearly Very Important Item™ on the bottom of a Venetian canal. It does not matter that it's totally ridiculous that it's there (it's a crime scene, the victim is super high profile, and the police would have surely found it earlier). What matters is that even though you can clearly see the thing, you cannot pick it up by just going knee deep into the canal (or even diving, whatever). You have to find a boat pole and… No, no, it's not that simple. You also have to find a florist putty. Then you have to combine the pole and the putty and only then you can use the thing to take out the Very Important Item™.
|
||||
|
||||
This is Moebius' equivalent of Gabriel Knight 3's "affix the cat hair moustache to your lip with maple syrup" or Silent Hill 2's "make a handle by pouring wax over a hatch and attaching a horseshoe to it". To make matters worse, there are people who believe that this is a way to go.
|
||||
|
||||
Recently I have read an article (plus comments) on Gamasutra praising this style of design, and I've nearly imploded. If we only had to point at one thing that killed the adventure genre, it's exactly this: the necessity of second guessing the designer.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
To be honest, adventure games suffer from many, many more problem than these seven sins -- so think of them as seven example sins rather than a definite list. Still looking at Moebius, one example could be the overload of boring activities. And every single description is flat and lifeless ("And old cabinet. I have seen my share of these."). Of course, this being a point and click adventure, you cannot allow yourself not to examine these objects, as every now and then one of them will turn out to be crucial to the progress.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
So, Moebius features bad writing, lack of internal logic (things are not logical even within the slightly abstract rules of this particular world), low production values, bad UI, etc. etc. – but these things are not really the reason why adventures died (or, to be precise, went from mainstream to a niche).
|
||||
|
||||
Think about some of classic adventures you loved. They were clever, funny, and with – at the time – visuals to die for, weren't they?
|
||||
|
||||
The problem is: the core mechanics of adventure games always were and will forever be anything but fun. Inventory management, option exhausting (aka "what have not I tried yet?"), backtracking, dialogue repetition, pixel hunting… Which one of these mechanics scream "fun" to you?
|
||||
|
||||
We loved the classics not because their game mechanics were great, but because some people managed to work around them, overshadow them with amazing writing and graphics, make them invisible and, in rare cases, useful.
|
||||
|
||||
But, again, the core mechanics were, quite simply, bad. Without the state of the art skinning (i.e. world class puzzles, story and/or graphics) that overpowered them, the skeleton of an adventure game is nothing but a rotten pile of ancient bones. That's why, for example, the old-school adventure bits in The Walking Dead were used more as a palette cleanser than to provide for a truly exciting gameplay.
|
||||
|
||||
But that's the problem. Because the core mechanics of adventures games are not fun, only a very few people in the world could and can make a great adventure game despite these mechanics standing in the way.
|
||||
|
||||
And I literally mean "a few". Actually, at this very moment only one person comes to mind, and that is Dave Gilbert, the owner of Wadjet Eye Games and the creator of Blackwell, the only great adventure series since the golden years of Lucas Arts. I have just finished the final installment, Blackwell Epiphany...
|
||||
|
||||
...and this is a perfect example of how a true talent can aikido the mechanics and not only make a great game despite them, but also find a way to turn their weaknesses into strengths.
|
||||
|
||||
However, if only a handful of creators can turn the counter-productive, immersion-killing mechanics into a spectacular adventure, can we consider this particular design model sustainable?
|
||||
|
||||
No, I don't think so. If we stick to these tired, disgraced solutions, the adventures will never be more than a niche. An average movie can be fun, an average shooter can deliver excitement, but an average point and click adventure is a death sentence.
|
||||
|
||||
Making a "proper" adventure game using the current mechanics is possible, but incredibly hard. What Dave Gilbert does with Blackwell is, to me, a glitch in the matrix. And highly talented creators like Gilbert can make a great game out of anything anyway, just like a great painter can shock you with nothing but a piece of toilet paper and a lipstick – but I doubt you'd call them great painting tools.
|
||||
|
||||
And thus it is my belief we should never regret that the old school adventures died. They were mostly not that great in the first place, due to their irreparable mechanics, and I believe it's high time to admit that. We need to treat the old school adventures like rotary dial phones. Amazing and useful at the time, but obsolete and useless nowadays – except to induce nostalgia.
|
||||
|
||||
Point and clicks will probably never die, as they are relatively easy to do and the audience is small, but loyal. And hell, just playing Blackwell made me want to make one more myself for some reason. But that's just it, a niche hobby. A hobby that made a lot of developers avoid the word "adventure" even if the games they are making are exactly that.
|
||||
|
||||
But this is where I get to "not all is lost" part of this blog post.
|
||||
|
||||
Actually, I admit I lied a little when I said "it seems like the adventure genre desperately wants to stay dead."
|
||||
|
||||
The truth is, we are surrounded by adventure games. It's just that they are simply not called "adventures" anymore. Gone Home is not an adventure, but "a story exploration video game". Heavy Rain is "an interactive drama". The Walking Dead is "a Telltale game series". Phoenix Wright is "a visual novel". The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is "a weird fiction horror".
|
||||
|
||||
In reality, all of these games are adventure games. They are simply not relying on mechanics that are in the way rather than support the experience. The adventure games have not died, they have simply shape-shifted into multiple new life forms.
|
||||
|
||||
On the surface level, the creator of Blackwell does not agree...
|
||||
|
||||
> Honestly, I think it's silly to pigeonhole adventure games as being one specific thing. An adventure game is - at its heart - just another way of telling a story. Saying that the genre has mutated and been reinvented is like saying films have mutated. Or books. Or plays. Or television. None of those things have to made in a specific way to be "right", and neither do adventure games. There are many different ways to tell a story, and there are many different ways to make an adventure game.
|
||||
|
||||
...but – even though I disagree with him on details (I do think that films, books, and television have mutated, especially when we look at what they were in their infant years), I think that in its essence we're talking about the same thing: adventure genre has many faces, and that's fantastic and highly inspiring.
|
||||
|
||||
As someone who believes that games are potentially the most powerful story-telling medium, I could not be happier. We live in exciting times, in times when we are re-inventing adventure games based on what the past taught us, and I can't wait to see where the next few years will take us.
|
||||
|
||||
I may have no patience or mercy for badly designed adventures that do not understand why their core mechanics do not work, but my love for stories experienced through video games only gets stronger with time, and, from what I can see, such is the case for a lot of fellow creators.
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure games are dead, long live adventure games.
|
||||
336
src/resources/thimbleweed-park-ron-gilbert-rockpapershotgun.md
Normal file
336
src/resources/thimbleweed-park-ron-gilbert-rockpapershotgun.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,336 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/thimbleweed-park-preview
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Why Adventure Games Don't Have To Suck: Ron Gilbert Talks Thimbleweed Park | Rock Paper Shotgun
|
||||
|
||||
[Skip to main content](#main-content)
|
||||
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|
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|
||||
- [Home](/)
|
||||
- [Features](/features)
|
||||
- [Thimbleweed Park](/games/thimbleweed-park)
|
||||
|
||||
# Why Adventure Games Don't Have To Suck: Ron Gilbert Talks Thimbleweed Park
|
||||
|
||||
More than a throwback
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Feature by [Adam Smith](/authors/adam-smith) Former Deputy Editor
|
||||
|
||||
Published on March 15, 2016
|
||||
|
||||
[27 comments](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/thimbleweed-park-preview?view=comments)
|
||||
|
||||
Follow Thimbleweed Park
|
||||
|
||||
Yesterday, I spent forty five minutes with influential adventure game designer of yore Ron Gilbert. We played a portion of his point and click revival [Thimbleweed Park](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/thimbleweed-park) and discussed adventure game design in depth. Many of my questions were inspired by Gilbert's 1989 statement of intent, [Why Adventure Games Suck](http://grumpygamer.com/why_adventure_games_suck). As [Thimbleweed Park](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/games/thimbleweed-park) looks back to that time, it seemed appropriate to ask what has changed for the better. And for the worse.
|
||||
|
||||
A clown is scrubbing and clawing at his face, attempting to remove the pasty makeup and honking red nose that are the tools of his trade. He can't. The clowning is no longer a costume, it has become his reality. Long live the new flesh.
|
||||
|
||||
Thimbleweed Park is an absurd, sinister, comedic point and click adventure that looks back to the golden age of Lucasarts, when its creator Ron Gilbert helped to forge many of the rules and standards of the genre. I spoke with Gilbert at GDC as he and programmer Jenn Sandercock walked me through a few scenes from the story's first act.
|
||||
|
||||
It begins with the detectives, the two first playable characters, but the demonstration is all about Ransome the clown. He's grotesque, in both appearance and character, an uncaring celebrity made famous by a stand-up routine that seems to consist entirely of heckling his own audience. The insults he slings aren't creative or witty; they're cruel, attacking any visible difference or perceived flaw for cheap laughs.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
In a flashback sequence, he targets someone whose words have actual power and she responds by cursing him, making the cosmetic alterations that are the costume he hides behind a permanent fixture. Of the five playable characters in the game, three will be introduced through similar interactive flashback sequences, set in self-contained areas of the wider world. They're origin stories, of a sort, explaining how these people came to be the (in one case literal) ghosts that haunt this derelict town.
|
||||
|
||||
An important part of Gilbert's design ethos, as I understand it, is that every part of the game should serve every other part of the game. At its most basic level, that means a puzzle should inform the player about the state of the world, the progress of the plot, or the motivations and flaws of a character. In a more intricate sense, as it relates to the flashbacks, it requires the self-contained puzzles within to teach the player, ensuring that the kind of logic they're discovering is applicable in the large, nonlinear area of the 'present day'.
|
||||
|
||||
I hadn't expected to find the game as weirdly charming and creepy as I did. The entire setup of Ransome's life has its own peculiar logic that serves as an efficient cornerstone of worldbuilding. We're in America - the diner, the feds and the store signs are confirmation - but this is an America where an Insult Clown is not only a celebrity, but an apparent A-lister, who can treat fans and employees with Hollywood disdain and fly from show to holiday home by private jet. He's a rockstar and circus tents are the stadia and arenas of this world.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
And, yes, Ransome's introduction is funny, packed with gags that in the current build are delivered through uncannily well-timed text that leaves just the right pauses and hits all the right beats (voice acting will come later). It's also weird though. Why a clown celebrity, I ask Gilbert.
|
||||
|
||||
"I'm a huge fan of David Lynch and, as you pointed out, the agent coming to a small town to investigate a murder is reminiscent of Twin Peaks." The Lynchian influence isn't just present in terms of nods, winks and allusions though. "What I love about Lynch is that he can show an ordinary situation, something calm and everyday, and skew it so that it becomes strange."
|
||||
|
||||
Strange and sinister.
|
||||
|
||||
"Yeah. He only has to change one or two details to make something recognisable seem incomprehensible. Thimbleweed Park isn't about the corpse you see at the beginning. I can't tell you what it is about but it's much bigger than that and you haven't even seen the beginning of the real mystery yet.
|
||||
|
||||
"It is a dark story. Not as dark as some of the things in The Cave but it does have a serious quality to it. That's been the case as long as I've been making games - look back to Monkey Island and it's a serious story about a man who wants to become something better than what he is, a pirate in this case, but he is a flawed character. It's a romance as much as anything else."
|
||||
|
||||
Any story can become funny when seen through the right lens, perhaps. I'm reminded of the Mel Brooks line: "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die." Tragedy is when my aspirations are mocked and the person I love is abducted by a hideous undead brute. Comedy is when you make a point and click game about it. I suggest that point and click adventures have an inherent absurdity that can become comedic even unwittingly.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
"I think you're absolutely right. The way that you interact with the world and the things that you're asked to do are often so unusual that it becomes amusing. If you need to open a door, you don't get the key out of your pocket, there's a whole sequence of convoluted events required to get where you need to be. If I don't acknowledge the absurdity of that by having the characters respond humorously, the player will still recognise it."
|
||||
|
||||
While we're on the topic of convoluted and absurd things, it seems appropriate to ask Gilbert about puzzle design. I relate to good puzzle design in the same way that Justice Potter Stewart related to pornography: I find it hard to describe but I know it when I see it.
|
||||
|
||||
"An adventure game is like an onion." Not that it should make you cry, The Walking Dead style, but in that it's constructed of layers. "Every layer should feed into the ones around it. A good puzzle has to tell you something about the world, about the characters, about the mystery, about the plot. Too often, and I've been guilty of this myself, puzzles are used as roadblocks to slow you down and block your progress. Really they should be like signposts that you're trying to decipher.
|
||||
|
||||
"In Thimbleweed Park we have a large world to explore and that can be intimidating so there are some obstacles to prevent you from going everywhere right at the start. But when you need to solve a puzzle to advance, that puzzle must have some context. When you solve it you should understand how and why it was necessary to do what you did in order to move forward and to open up a new area."
|
||||
|
||||
A good puzzle should also make you think. You should puzzle over it. This is one of the reasons Gilbert and his team have returned to a verb interface similar to that seen in his SCUMM days.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
"I sometimes enjoy the simplicity of modern point and click interfaces but I like to make the player think and explore the world in more detail. If you can choose to push or pull something, or use it or look at it, you're thinking about the specific way in which the character is interacting. It helps you to understand the interactivity rather than clicking on something and seeing an animation play out that shows something completely unexpected. Maybe you didn't want to, or understand that you had to, act in such a way but the game does the thinking for you."
|
||||
|
||||
For convenience, Thimbleweed does highlight a suggested verb when you hover the pointer over an object in the world, but you're free to select any of the available options. And the suggestion is the most obvious choice - for a door, 'open' or 'close', for a person, 'talk to' - rather than the *correct* choice. Correct and obvious might be one and the same in most cases, but not always.
|
||||
|
||||
"Having these interactions, particularly 'look at', is a way to add details to the world as well as more jokes. And the jokes are adding detail to the world as well."
|
||||
|
||||
The same is true of dialogue.
|
||||
|
||||
"The two agents have different dialogue trees and they'll reveal more information about the people you're talking to and the history of the town, as well as characters' motivations and thoughts. You learn about the agents, who are working together for the first time and don't always trust one another, by seeing how they read situations differently."
|
||||
|
||||
I asked Gilbert if he can think of a single puzzle that he's created that captures his thoughts as to how good design can work. One that he's particularly proud of. He thinks for a while before answering.
|
||||
|
||||
"The faith puzzle in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is one of my favourites. The game tells you that if you need to have faith to walk across a ledge that seems impossible to cross. If you spend time clicking on things in the environment and trying to find a solution, you will fall. To cross, you need to ignore all of the usual puzzle interactions and just click the other side of the bridge.
|
||||
|
||||
In that sense, it's not a complex puzzle but the player has to read the situation and understand the context of the world in order to solve it."
|
||||
|
||||
That subversion of expectation is something that has been a part of Gilbert's games since the beginning.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
"With [Maniac Mansion](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/games/maniac-mansion), we didn't really know what we were doing. Monkey Island refined our ideas." I've never been sure if the fake death scene in the first Monkey Island game, in which Guybrush falls to his apparent death, terrifying any players who haven't saved recently before delivering a punchline that allows them to continue, was a jab at Maniac Mansion's punishing design or a jab at rival developers Sierra, whose Quest games required a great deal of trial and error.
|
||||
|
||||
"It was mainly aimed at Sierra," Gilbert says without hesitating. "That whole situation was so annoying because we made these games that encouraged players to explore and experiment and rewarded them, and we got better reviews, but Sierra would outsell us. They sold ten times as many games as we did sometimes."
|
||||
|
||||
That's not to say there isn't an element of self-critique though. "With Monkey Island we were supposed to make a forty hour game. That was the requirement, seen as value for money. That leads to filler and puzzles that serve to frustrate and delay the player rather than to tell a good story.
|
||||
|
||||
"Thimbleweed Park is challenging, the verb system is part of that, but there's an easy mode in which the harder puzzles will be solved for you. You still encounter them but the solutions are in place. Even if you're playing in the regular mode, those puzzles form part of the story and characterisation though. Everything that you do has to fit in with the context of the plot and the world."
|
||||
|
||||
The entire conversation changes my idea of what Thimbleweed Park is, or of what it is supposed to be. I'd thought, backed up by the notion that this is a throwback of sorts, that Thimbleweed was about returning to a golden age. Finding solutions by looking to the past where problems had already been solved and correcting decades of deviation from the correct course.
|
||||
|
||||
Gilbert's views are far more complex.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
"We want to make a game that is like your memories of those games. If you go back and play Maniac Mansion or Monkey Island now, they're kind of crappy, and not necessarily as you remember them at all. We want to make a game like the thing that you remember rather than the thing that you played."
|
||||
|
||||
The Lucasarts games, beloved though they are, were experiments. Not the ideal form of the adventure game but a process of discovery for the designers as well as the players. When he says that Thimbleweed Park should feel like the way you remember those games rather than they way they are, he isn't simply talking about the addition of neat lighting effects and pixel graphics that are an improvement what could have been achieved on the machines of the time, he's also talking about the design of the puzzles. And, perhaps most important of all, the storytelling.
|
||||
|
||||
"The behind the scenes fight in Monkey Island," a scene in which a prolonged action sequence takes place entirely out of sight, "had originally been planned as a big visual setpiece. We didn't have time to finish it so we came up with the solution of hiding the action and suggesting all of these things through on-screen text and visual cues. It turned out to be a great gag.
|
||||
|
||||
"Working within limitations is always helpful and makes you think of solutions that work. People sometimes say to me, what would you do if you had an infinite supply of money. What kind of game would you make? And I say, I wouldn't make ANY game. I'd fuck it up.
|
||||
|
||||
"Good design needs limitations and flexibility. And that's what we're working within. It's like a stage play, where you need to understand and work within the specific limitations of the set and the space."
|
||||
|
||||
*Thimbleweed Park will be out at the end of the year or early 2017.*
|
||||
|
||||
## Read this next
|
||||
|
||||
- [That Zelda-ish, Diablo-ish RPG Monkey Island designer Ron Gilbert was working on has, unfortunately, been canned](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/that-zelda-ish-diablo-ish-rpg-monkey-island-designer-ron-gilbert-was-working-on-has-unfortunately-been-canned)
|
||||
- [Monkey Island creator's new RPG is "best described as Classic Zelda meets Diablo meets Thimbleweed Park"](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/monkey-island-creators-next-game-is-best-described-as-classic-zelda-meets-diablo-meets-thimbleweed-park)
|
||||
- [Return to Thimbleweed Park in a free new mini-adventure](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/free-new-thimbleweed-park-mini-adventure)
|
||||
|
||||
[Adam Smith](/authors/adam-smith): Adam wrote for Rock Paper Shotgun between 2011-2018, rising through the ranks to become its Deputy Editor. He now works at Larian Studios on Baldur's Gate 3.
|
||||
|
||||
[View comments (27)](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/thimbleweed-park-preview?view=comments)
|
||||
|
||||
In this article
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[Thimbleweed Park](/games/thimbleweed-park)
|
||||
|
||||
Android, iOS, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch
|
||||
|
||||
Follow
|
||||
|
||||
Related topics
|
||||
|
||||
[Action Adventure](/genres/action-adventure) [Feature](/topics/feature) [Gary Winnick](/topics/gary-winnick) [Ron Gilbert](/topics/ron-gilbert)
|
||||
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||||
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Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.
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||||
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||||
|
||||
|
||||
Latest On Thimbleweed Park
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[Have You Played... Thimbleweed Park?](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/have-you-played-thimbleweed-park)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[When is it OK to remake a classic game?](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/when-is-it-ok-to-remake-a-classic-game)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[Thimbleweed Park's arcade is now open](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/thimbleweed-park-adds-arcade)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[Thimbleweed Park gets in-game hint hotline](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/thimbleweed-park-adds-in-game-hint-hotline)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[Everything wrong with the first three minutes of Thimbleweed Park](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/everything-wrong-with-thimbleweed-park)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Review: [Wot I Think: Thimbleweed Park](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/thimbleweed-park-review)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[Click me up: Thimbleweed Park coming March 30th](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/thimbleweed-park-release-date-announced)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
[What point and click adventures could learn from hidden object games](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/thimbleweed-park)
|
||||
|
||||
Latest News
|
||||
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||||
- [Colossal Order's biggest mistake working on Cities: Skylines 2? Banking on not-quite-ready Unity features](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/colossal-orders-biggest-mistake-working-on-cities-skyline-2-banking-on-not-quite-ready-unity-features)
|
||||
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||||
- [Shenmue 3 Enhanced is a shinier version of Yu Suzuki's opus with a new camera option that harkens back to the original](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/shenmue-3-enhanced-is-a-shinier-version-of-yu-suzukis-opus-with-a-new-camera-option-that-harkens-back-to-the-original)
|
||||
|
||||
- [Dark Scrolls is a dungeon scroller from the Gunbrella devs, starring fantasy staples like an obligatory thief and "Rat with saxophone"](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/dark-scrolls-is-a-dungeon-scroller-from-the-gunbrella-devs-starring-fantasy-staples-like-an-obligatory-thief-and-rat-with-saxophone)
|
||||
|
||||
- [Hoarder is just a beautiful Polish cleaning sim from a former Darkwood dev, until you find the staircase to the very different game beneath](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/hoarder-is-just-a-beautiful-polish-cleaning-sim-from-a-former-darkwood-dev-until-you-find-the-staircase-to-the-very-different-game-beneath)
|
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- [Fortnite adds buildable Star Wars islands, so you can finally make a Mos Eisley Cantina full of flossing Jawas](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fortnite-adds-buildable-star-wars-islands-so-you-can-finally-make-a-mos-eisley-cantina-full-of-flossing-jawas)
|
||||
|
||||
- [Ubisoft are ending game development at long-time Tom Clancy studio Red Storm with 105 staff laid off, according to reports](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/ubisoft-are-ending-game-development-at-long-time-tom-clancy-studio-red-storm-with-105-staff-laid-off-according-to-reports)
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Latest Features
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||||
- ["We're not perfectly replicating the real world, that would be crazy": The invisible design behind Firewatch's pine cones and picture frames](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/were-not-perfectly-replicating-the-real-world-that-would-be-crazy-the-invisible-design-behind-firewatchs-pine-cones-and-picture-frames)
|
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|
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- [Far Cry's name is very ironic, if you're an armchair etymologist](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/far-crys-name-is-very-ironic-if-youre-an-armchair-etymologist)
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- ["You're not doing parkour off a roof, but the principles were the same": How the makers of Firewatch pulled from Mirror's Edge, Far Cry 2, and Bioshock to tell a new kind of story in a walking simulator](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/youre-not-doing-parkour-off-a-roof-but-the-principles-were-the-same-how-the-makers-of-firewatch-pulled-from-mirror-s-edge-far-cry-2-and-bioshock-to-tell-a-new-kind-of-story-in-a-walking-simulator)
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- [The best extraction shooters on PC or: how I learned there are other games like Arc Raiders](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-best-extraction-shooters-on-pc-or-how-i-learned-there-are-other-games-like-arc-raiders)
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- [The Sunday Papers](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-sunday-papers-801)
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- [What are we all playing this weekend?](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/what-are-we-all-playing-this-weekend-373)
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- [Xbox Full Screen Experience shows a potential glimpse of how Project Helix will work -- though right now, it's a flawed PC platform](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/xbox-full-screen-experience-shows-a-potential-glimpse-of-how-project-helix-will-work-though-right-now-its-a-flawed-pc-platform)
|
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||||
|
||||
Top Discussions
|
||||
|
||||
- [Nvidia DLSS 5 critics have the tech "completely wrong", CEO Jensen Huang insists, arguing it's somehow "very different than generative AI"](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/nvidia-dlss-5-critics-have-the-tech-completely-wrong-ceo-jensen-huang-insists-arguing-its-somehow-very-different-than-generative-ai)
|
||||
|
||||
[97](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/nvidia-dlss-5-critics-have-the-tech-completely-wrong-ceo-jensen-huang-insists-arguing-its-somehow-very-different-than-generative-ai?view=comments)
|
||||
|
||||
- [Our early verdict on Crimson Desert: bad bugs, great cats, and an open world that could use a big bucket of yellow paint](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/our-early-verdict-on-crimson-desert-bad-bugs-great-cats-and-an-open-world-that-could-use-a-big-bucket-of-yellow-paint)
|
||||
|
||||
[76](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/our-early-verdict-on-crimson-desert-bad-bugs-great-cats-and-an-open-world-that-could-use-a-big-bucket-of-yellow-paint?view=comments)
|
||||
|
||||
- ["You're swimming against the tide making games like this": Why more developers didn't copy Firewatch's reactive storytelling](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/youre-swimming-against-the-tide-making-games-like-this-why-more-developers-didnt-copy-firewatchs-reactive-storytelling)
|
||||
|
||||
[31](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/youre-swimming-against-the-tide-making-games-like-this-why-more-developers-didnt-copy-firewatchs-reactive-storytelling?view=comments)
|
||||
|
||||
- [A day after Unknown Worlds' ousted CEO gets reinstated, Subnautica 2 gets an early access release date](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/a-day-after-unknown-worlds-ousted-ceo-gets-reinstated-subnautica-2-gets-an-early-access-release-date)
|
||||
|
||||
[29](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/a-day-after-unknown-worlds-ousted-ceo-gets-reinstated-subnautica-2-gets-an-early-access-release-date?view=comments)
|
||||
|
||||
- [Mass Effect-like space RPG Exodus drops another in-game trailer, much to the misfortune of Biggs "The Bolt" Keil](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/mass-effect-like-space-rpg-exodus-drops-another-in-game-trailer-much-to-the-misfortune-of-biggs-the-bolt-keil)
|
||||
|
||||
[21](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/mass-effect-like-space-rpg-exodus-drops-another-in-game-trailer-much-to-the-misfortune-of-biggs-the-bolt-keil?view=comments)
|
||||
|
||||
- ["Not even the littlest bit": GTA 6 publisher CEO doesn't think genAI will level the playing field for smaller devs](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/not-even-the-littlest-bit-gta-6-publisher-ceo-doesnt-think-genai-will-level-the-playing-field-for-smaller-devs)
|
||||
|
||||
[19](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/not-even-the-littlest-bit-gta-6-publisher-ceo-doesnt-think-genai-will-level-the-playing-field-for-smaller-devs?view=comments)
|
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|
||||
- [Valve say Counter-Strike 2's reloading needed "higher stakes", so you now dump all the ammo left in a clip when you reload early](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/valve-say-counter-strike-2s-reloading-needed-higher-stakes-so-you-now-dump-all-the-ammo-left-in-a-clip-when-you-reload-early)
|
||||
|
||||
[16](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/valve-say-counter-strike-2s-reloading-needed-higher-stakes-so-you-now-dump-all-the-ammo-left-in-a-clip-when-you-reload-early?view=comments)
|
||||
|
||||
|
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© 2026 Rock Paper Shotgun, an IGN Entertainment, Inc. brand. 18 Mansell Street Level 3, London, E1 8AA, United Kingdom. All rights reserved. No part of this website or its content may be reproduced without the copyright owner's permission. Rock Paper Shotgun is a registered trademark of Gamer Network Limited, an affiliate of IGN Entertainment, Inc.
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41
src/resources/unpoint-unclick-adventure-game-analysis.md
Normal file
41
src/resources/unpoint-unclick-adventure-game-analysis.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://christophersacchi.com/unpoint-unclick/
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Unpoint/Unclick – Adventure Game Puzzle Design Analysis
|
||||
|
||||
I have been an avid Point and Click Adventure Games enthusiast since I was, probably, five or six years old.
|
||||
|
||||
As many others, my pointing and clicking journey started by playing LucasFilm\LucasArts adventures. I remember restarting Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island over and over again on my older brother's Amiga and I probably learned to read also because of that.
|
||||
|
||||
The first videogame I have ever bought with my own money was Full Throttle, also from LucasArts, designed by none other than Tim Schafer. Give 'em hell, Polecat!
|
||||
|
||||
While I do indeed play many other games, from different genres, it's still fair to say that Point and Click Adventure Games have always had a special place in my heart. I may sometimes move away from them for a while, but then I usually catch up.
|
||||
|
||||
That's why it should not be surprising that my first attempts at Game Design were Adventure Games. I learned programming basics mostly thanks to Adventure Games Design.
|
||||
|
||||
But then, as well as technique, I should learn more about Design itself. Being interested and fan of the Adventure Game genre I often think about how can one improve the genre itself and also if it is something that needs improvement.
|
||||
|
||||
They say "if works, don't fix it", but there's always room for improvement, am I right?
|
||||
|
||||
# What is Unpoint/Unclick?
|
||||
|
||||
Unpoint/Unclick is my attempt to learn more about Point and Click Adventure Game Design by deconstructing other adventure games I loved playing.
|
||||
|
||||
I concentrate mostly on analyzing their puzzle design and structure, then building Puzzle Dependency Charts (as described by Ron Gilbert) out of the results.
|
||||
|
||||
It is indeed something very time consuming, but also something very interesting and valuable. It's basically the way I learn how to make a point and click adventure game.
|
||||
|
||||
So, all of you fellow Game Designers wannabes and Adventure Games aficionados, join me in this learning journey! Also, beware: these analysis may not be 100% accurate and will most likely contain complete spoilers for each game.
|
||||
|
||||
# Episodes
|
||||
|
||||
- "That doesn't seem to work." (Talk @ Codemotion Rome 2018 – YouTube link)
|
||||
- #4 – Technobabylon
|
||||
- #3 – Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space
|
||||
- #2 – Broken Age
|
||||
- #1 – Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today
|
||||
|
||||
# Advice
|
||||
|
||||
If you think I can help with your point and click adventure game design, why shouldn't I? Just contact me and let's click the point out of your game!
|
||||
87
src/resources/what-makes-great-point-click-adventure.md
Normal file
87
src/resources/what-makes-great-point-click-adventure.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://moonlogicalblog.wordpress.com/2024/06/29/what-makes-a-great-point-and-click-adventure-game/
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
What Makes a Great Point-And-Click Adventure Game? – Moon Logical [Skip to content](#wp--skip-link--target)
|
||||
|
||||
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||||
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||||
## What Makes a Great Point-And-Click Adventure Game?
|
||||
|
||||
When deciding what my next post would be on here, I thought it made *logical* sense to map out what \*I\* believe makes a great point-and-click adventure game. It's one of my goals to write up some reviews of games in the genre, so you've ought to know what I like, right? I'd love to hear if you agree or disagree on these!
|
||||
|
||||
1. Story: I am a person who loves a story-driven game above all else. Give me the nuance, the subplots, the emotional beats. Quality of story comes first for me above anything else, and I look for plots that pull me in and escalate throughout the entirety of the game. I'll admit I have a preference for a good mystery, but great stories come from all genres.
|
||||
2. Characters: I am drawn to a colorful cast of characters — across all kinds of media. A great story with lackluster characters makes a lackluster game. The cast doesn't need to be extensive, but I want them to have personality and see their actions and dialogue match their motives.
|
||||
3. Puzzles: One thing I've noticed about point-and-click adventure game fans is that there are often two distinct camps, those there for the story and others there for the puzzles. I tend to lean towards the story camp, because to me, really great games interweave the puzzle into the story. I like puzzles that are environmental or character-driven, rather than one-offs that pull me out of the plot. Still, I can respect a really fun brain teaser, and it's nice to see when it's well-done in a game — but in great games, those kinds of puzzles are not the main event.
|
||||
4. Logic: It *is* part of the name of this blog so it's got to be important. Point-and-click adventure games of the past popularized the term "moon logic," referring to the convoluted logic that leads to some puzzle solutions. While finally arriving at the end of a moon logic joke can lead to an exasperated giggle, it isn't something I really appreciate in my games. I like a game where I can find my footing without having to resort to out-of-game hint systems, where I can slowly and surely pull at the strings using my own understanding of the in-game world until it unravels. That being said, I love a challenge. Logical doesn't have to mean simple, and I tend to prefer when it doesn't.
|
||||
5. Interface: Despite the simplicity of pointing and clicking as the central user actions in these games, there are usually a number of interface pieces that come into play. Typically, an inventory and a cursor that directs the main character and sometimes, additional actions the player can switch between. I want an interface to feel slick and not too cumbersome, but have some ability to accommodate more complex puzzles and item combinations, bonus points if the theming adds to the immersion. I also appreciate accessibility settings that are clearly laid out in the in-game menus.
|
||||
6. Writing: When a game is really well written, gosh does it feel good. It's so impressive to be able to make a game just \*feel\* as smooth as butter and to have a distinct personality. I love good writing, I love witty writing, and I love writing that makes me feel something!
|
||||
7. Art: One of the great things about this genre is the variety of art styles represented in it. Of course, the most noticeable style is nostalgic pixel art, which is still being utilized in games today. But, I also love to see different aesthetics that make sense for the world the game is taking place in. Meaningful design direction certainly helps with game immersion and improves my experience.
|
||||
8. Voice Acting: Ok, this is definitely a marker of me being a later-in-life video game enthusiast, but I have a strong preference for games that are voice acted. I also tend to stream the point-and-click adventure games I play, so it helps to not have to read all the text. That doesn't mean a game has to have voice acting to be good, or must have amazing voice acting, but I sure enjoy the immersiveness of it and appreciate a dedicated and colorful performance.
|
||||
9. Sound Design: I am such a fan of great musical compositions in video games. There are some amazing soundtracks that instantly set the mood for me. In addition to great music, balanced sound design makes for an ideal gaming experience. Bonus points if I can adjust the settings on different aspects of sounds in the game.
|
||||
|
||||
Do we look for the same things in our point-and-click adventure games? Let me know in the comments!
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41
src/resources/who-really-killed-adventure-games.md
Normal file
41
src/resources/who-really-killed-adventure-games.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://slattstudio.com/2021/02/19/who-really-killed-adventure-games/
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Who REALLY Killed Adventure Games?
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure games were quite popular at the beginning of the video gaming revolution and the reason to me is clear: Adventure games offered a kind of gaming experience other genres couldn't come near: the Experience of Exploration. Graphical Adventure games let you walk, run, and fly through strange and big worlds in a way no other genre could.
|
||||
|
||||
I define the "Experience of Exploration" as the feeling one gets when they feel they can "get lost" in a world. Great books and movies do something similar, but video games offer a level of interaction that make this experience all the more rewarding.
|
||||
|
||||
Other genres of games couldn't replicate anything like this experience. You had Mario-style platformers, but they focused more on arcade-style mechanics than the experience of exploring a new world. Metroid was about exploration, but it was a fairly lonely experience, and the landscapes, while cool, were rarely anything more than platforming or fighting backdrops. Final Fantasy and other RPG's did a better job at achieving the experience, but interactivity with the world was far more limited and stats grinding the and focus on random combat did hinder the experience for many people.
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure games were the only place to go to get that Experience of Exploration, at your own pace, on your own terms.
|
||||
|
||||
# The Real Killer – Hardware
|
||||
|
||||
As the years went by, games were getting bigger, better, and more advanced. Adventure games did evolve with the hardware, but their main gimmick, the thing that kept most people coming, was that Experience of Exploration. And while Adventure games could get bigger, better, and more advanced just like everything else – their gameplay loop never fundamentally changed. Nor could it change without becoming something fundamentally different.
|
||||
|
||||
The problem wasn't that Adventure games were getting "better," it's that the other genres were getting better at the same time, and the hardware upgrades allowed them to also start planting their flags in Adventure games' sacred spot – the Experience of Exploration.
|
||||
|
||||
While it is true that platformers didn't mechanically change that much (bigger jumps, longer jumps, 3D jumps! etc.) the change in hardware allowed them to expand into territory that once only Adventure games roamed – the Experience of Exploration. A platformer like Mario 64 could now be both a joy to explore while also having a gameplay loop that was more "fun" than your typical Adventure game.
|
||||
|
||||
As Al Lowe said: "To a certain extent, adventure games' key elements have been absorbed by the other game genres. Action games, shooters, and RPG's have all adopted many of the characteristics of adventures."
|
||||
|
||||
And all of this happened at the beginning of the 3D consoles' history. The Playstation debuted in the United States in 1995. Three years later Adventure game Grim Fandango could win Gamespot's "Game of the Year" and have universal critical acclaim, but still underperform financially.
|
||||
|
||||
# Where Does That Leave Adventure Games?
|
||||
|
||||
They used to have the market cornered on a really lucrative experience – that of really getting lost in a world. While Adventure games haven't been evicted from this design space, they now share it with any genre that wants it, thanks to the greater flexibility hardware progress has made possible.
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure game fans are a comparatively tiny, niche community now. Passionate for sure, but the heyday of Adventure Games as a truly mainstream contender is gone, and I think it's because what it did best was an artifact of hardware limitations.
|
||||
|
||||
# What Makes Adventure Games Unique?
|
||||
|
||||
- **A "go-at-your-own pace" gameplay speed** - Most adventure games let you explore and interact with things without pressuring you to get things done before you are good and ready. There are usually little to no arcade-style dexterity challenges.
|
||||
- **Inventory and environmental puzzle-solving** - This is the main gameplay loop for almost all adventure games. In my experience, these types of puzzles are what separate the proverbial sheep from the goats.
|
||||
- **Narrative storytelling as a focus** - Adventure games still live and thrive on their storytelling. Open world games tend to be more about creating your own stories within a wider narrative.
|
||||
|
||||
# Adventure Games – Dead or Alive?
|
||||
|
||||
Some people would say that Adventure games are indeed alive and well. I think those people are correct! I chalk that mainly up to the internet's ability to connect people to their tribes. Adventure game enthusiasts are all around us on the internet and they are an amazingly positive community. But it's a small community, and Adventure games don't in my opinion have much power to regain their status as big sellers in the videogames market.
|
||||
174
src/resources/why-adventure-games-rock-tickstales.md
Normal file
174
src/resources/why-adventure-games-rock-tickstales.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: http://www.tickstales.com/dev-blog/2017/1/11/why-adventure-games-rock-part-1
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Why Adventure Games Rock - Part 1 — Tick's Tales: Up All Knight
|
||||
|
||||
- [Tick's Tales](/)
|
||||
- [Home](/home)
|
||||
- [Dev Blog](/dev-blog)
|
||||
- [Twitter](http://twitter.com/tickstales)
|
||||
- [Contact](mailto:'tickstales@brycecovertoperations.com')
|
||||
|
||||
# [Tick's Tales: Up All Knight](/)
|
||||
|
||||
- [Tick's Tales](/)
|
||||
- [Home](/home)
|
||||
- [Dev Blog](/dev-blog)
|
||||
- [Twitter](http://twitter.com/tickstales)
|
||||
- [Contact](mailto:'tickstales@brycecovertoperations.com')
|
||||
|
||||
# Why Adventure Games Rock - Part 1
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
January 11, 2017
|
||||
*by* [Bryce Covert](/dev-blog?author=55d17287e4b0c8582b059a72)
|
||||
|
||||
It's now been six months since I've released my first [adventure game](http://store.steampowered.com/app/411610/). Now that the development effort is over, I've spent some time considering, "What next?", and, even more importantly, "What would make it better?". Ron Gilbert, creator of Monkey Island, famously wrote the article, "[Why Adventure Games Suck.](http://grumpygamer.com/why_adventure_games_suck)" It's an excellent read. Believe it or not, this article heavily affected the design of Tick's Tales, and I'm happy for it. However, I spent so much time emphasizing what not to do -- dead ends, death, mind-bending logic. I wish I spent as much time thinking about what to do. And that is the subject of this research.
|
||||
|
||||
So I'm writing a series called Why Adventure Games Rock to catalog my research. Unlike Ron Gilbert, I don't have a suite of my own games to reflect upon. Instead, I'll reflect on other developer's games. I'll try to look at 1-2 each week. My goal is to examine adventure games with a critical eye, both classic and modern, and figure out why they work. Adventure games' flaws are now well known. But I'd like to look at what makes a player feel great accomplishment, feel invested in the characters, and a narrative style that complements the adventure genre.
|
||||
|
||||
## King's Quest V
|
||||
|
||||
The year is 1991. A six-year-old me is watching my grandfather play the desert sequence in King's Quest V, pad of paper in hand. This particular desert is made up of screen after screen of monotonous desert, speckled here and there with oasises. Upon reaching one, Graham and the player alike are relieved as the narrator says, "Ahh, life giving water, nectar of the gods. Graham can now feel strength and renewal flowing through him." I was quite enchanted by this artful, albeit deeply flawed, adventure game. Let's see what design elements really worked in this game. We're going to set aside the plethora of problems this game has, especially the infuriating dead ends.
|
||||
|
||||
### Exploration is the means of progress and the reward for progress
|
||||
|
||||
King's Quest V tailors the "explorable area" very well. When the player makes progress in this game, they know it. They're taken to a new land. Progress is made by exploring and solving puzzles, which, in turn, opens new areas to explore.
|
||||
|
||||
Most adventure games follow a similar pattern. However, King's Quest V mostly closes off areas as the player advances. This might seem cheap at first, but King's Quest V uses it to its advantage.
|
||||
|
||||
First, it creates a clear chapter boundary, giving the player a definitive sense of accomplishment. The linear flow makes progress undeniable, and it feels measurable. Other adventure games will open new areas in different parts of the game, resulting in an ever-expanding explorable world. In those games, it's hard to gauge "how far have I come?"
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
](http://sierrachest.com/index.php?a=games&id=5&fld=maps)
|
||||
|
||||
Chapter 1 - sierrachest.com
|
||||
|
||||
[
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
](http://sierrachest.com/index.php?a=games&id=5&fld=maps)
|
||||
|
||||
Chapter 2 - sierrachest.com
|
||||
|
||||
Perhaps even more importantly, closing off areas after a opening new ones gives a sense of relief, because the player knows they won't have to backtrack. Think if you had to walk all the way back to Crispin's house after arriving on Mordack's island. Not fun.
|
||||
|
||||
And finally, closing off old sections gives the designer the ability to control pacing. King's Quest V doesn't take as much advantage of it as, say, Kyrandia 2: Hand of Fate, in which each area has just the right amount of puzzles to make the world feel populated. The player doesn't wander through a world that is 95% done. We want a graph that looks like right side:
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
The ever-expanding world
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Closing old areas when new ones are opening
|
||||
|
||||
It's worth noting that this design feature is not unique to adventure games. For example, in the Diablo series, progress is also marked by a change in scenery. But it's especially rewarding when each backdrop is a piece of art, as is the case in King's Quest V.
|
||||
|
||||
### Player's knowledge > Character's knowledge
|
||||
|
||||
This is an area in which I've come to disagree with Ron Gilbert. He argues that you shouldn't have to have the player die in order to get information necessary to win. In one sense, I totally get it. If the player has to watch Graham die 20 times in a desert in order to locate an oasis for the 21st Graham, then it's a really unrealistic puzzle that breaks immersion. However, I'm becoming convinced that [this is an unhelpful term, and, in fact, a goal not worth pursuing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xncs1mrMV6o).
|
||||
|
||||
This issue has everything to do with the user experience, and nothing to do with breaking immersion. Here's my rationale:
|
||||
|
||||
1. In nearly every other game genre, death is a thing. Strategy, RPG, platformers, heck, even card games! We don't consider it bad design there.
|
||||
2. Death in early adventure games resulted in costly consequences, and burdensome preparations. Hopefully you saved recentely. And hopefully you saved before it was too late. It's best to create a unique save file every 10 seconds, just in case. Not to mention it'll take several button presses [boring] to restore.
|
||||
3. Having consequences to making the wrong decision results in a sense of tension.
|
||||
4. It's just as easy to break immersion by removing death altogether. Imagine if Mordack just stood there waiting for the player to try inventory item after inventory item to defeat him. That would take them out of the game pretty quick.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Take your time. No rush.
|
||||
|
||||
In total, player knowledge and character knowledge are not equal. Heavily relying on a player to die or gain information that the character couldn't know may be a sign of bad design, but it isn't always. In fact, sometimes it's used to very good effect. For example:
|
||||
|
||||
- The desert puzzle is rewarding. Yes, the player has to make map or memorize oasis locations -- many people may not consider this fun. But the relief of seeing an oasis is a product of the consequence of the many attempts without finding one.
|
||||
- Many scenes have compelling tension: sneaking past the sleeping bandit, choosing which treasure to take from the treasure room, the blue creature, and the wizard showdown with Mordack.
|
||||
- The genie bottle. Now, admittedly, this puzzle sucks, but not because of the death. The player gets a genie's bottle that, when opened, traps Graham in the bottle and then, game over. If the player gives it to the wicked witch (no rationale), she'll open it, and herself becomes trapped. By no means am I defending this puzzle's logic, however, the player learns of its effect by first dying. When the player gives the bottle to the witch, they know what would befall her, but, presumably, Graham doesn't. And that's great. It gives the player the feeling of outsmarting the witch. To be sure, this same effect could be accomplished without the prerequisite death. However, if dying allows an opportunity to give the player a moment of triumph, I'm all for it.
|
||||
|
||||
In the end, death requires tact, and if a scenario can be better written without death, perhaps that's the way to go. Of critical importance: if a game has death, the save/restore UX needs to be seamless. No hunting for save files, no requisite saves every 5 seconds. Player died? Get a funny message and they're back at it 3 seconds later.
|
||||
|
||||
### Music / SFX
|
||||
|
||||
The early 90's was still the wild west in game design. They didn't have rules and guidelines to the extent we do now. I've noticed that modern AAA games have mastered the art of background music. The themes may be memorable, but their goal is to subtly complement the experience the player is having.
|
||||
|
||||
Not so with Sierra, and King's Quest in particular. I would describe the music as "melody-forward". The tunes are memorable. They grab the player's attention. They can hardly be called background music. This is a very good thing for a more lighthearted adventure. Since the adventure game experience is so much simpler than, say, strategy games, there's room for more forward music.
|
||||
|
||||
Additionally, the timed/orchestrated cutscenes makes for a rewarding experience. The music plays part of the storytelling, emphasizing certain points, even using music for sound effects, much like old cartoons would use the orchestra for their sound effects. This, stylistically, works well for the high spirited adventure. Would it work as well for sci-fi? Probably not.
|
||||
|
||||
## King's Quest VI
|
||||
|
||||
King's Quest VI is rather different from King's Quest V. The pacing is different and the puzzle styles are completely different. Let's focus on some of those differences.
|
||||
|
||||
### The contraption is a plan, not a contraption.
|
||||
|
||||
So adventure games are notorious for requiring the player to build contraptions. There's the infamous make-a-disguise puzzle in Gabriel Knight 3. In King's Quest VII, the player sends the moon back up using a rubber chicken. They're obscure, and often mind-bending. How is King's Quest VI different?
|
||||
|
||||
Puzzles are combined to create a master plan.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Think about it. Early in the game, the player; meets Jollo. He's the royal clown, and Alexander befriend him. Later, the player concocts a plan with him -- to swap lamps with the evil, genie-possessing royal vizier, and to convince said genie that Alex is dead. That's not a slingshot, it's not a trap, it's a clever plan. It requires the player to solve puzzles in the same way that you might for a contraption, but it feels more grand. Additionally, it makes Alexander only part of the puzzle. It requires the help of at least 7 people to defeat Alhazred (Alexander, Jollo, Cassima, Saladin, Shamir, and Cassima's parents). That feels rather grand.
|
||||
|
||||
### Few "fetch" quests
|
||||
|
||||
King's Quest VI has very few fetch/trade puzzles. Compare it to King's Quest V. The player essentially have a series of unrelated trades. For example, you need a hammer that you get from a cobbler by giving him a pair of shoes that you get in exchange from some emeralds that you could only acquire using an amulet that you got from a gypsy in exchange for a gold coin that you got with a staff that you steal.
|
||||
|
||||
The interactions are the same -- e.g., use ring on guard, give lamp to Jollo -- but the effect in the game is very different.
|
||||
|
||||
Let's take a look at an example.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Each gnome has a single sense
|
||||
|
||||
- These five gnomes are the guardians of the Isle of Wonder. They act as a sort of locked door to this island. The player must first satisfy them in order to pass. How do you satisfy them? Each gnome has a single sense, and the player must use inventory items to convince them that Alexander is not a human, one at a time. This could've easily been written as a 5 item fetch quest, each gnome wanting a single item to appease them. But that would be *boring*. Notice that this puzzle isn't immersive. It doesn't try to be realistic. It's a quirky puzzle applied to quirky, fictional, unrealistic characters, and it works.
|
||||
|
||||
The scenarios like this go on and on. Very few puzzles are explicitly spelled out as a fetch quest. E.g.,
|
||||
|
||||
- Send a message to princess Cassima through a nightengale
|
||||
- Gather incriminating evidence
|
||||
- Save yourself from burning to death
|
||||
- Make the lord of the dead shed a tear.
|
||||
|
||||
The more outlandish the idea, the more compelling the storytelling.
|
||||
|
||||
### Tell the player the answer as part of the puzzle
|
||||
|
||||
In Tick's Tales, I made it a point to always tell the player the solution before the player solves it. The player only has to pay attention, and figure out how. King's Quest VI doesn't do this always, but it has a couple of subtle tricks to accomplish the same effect.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Old lamps for new...
|
||||
|
||||
- Musical themes are reprised in related situations, giving the player a clue to the solution. For example, Beauty's theme is almost the same as Beast's theme. By the time the player meets Beast, they've probably heard Beauty's theme several times. Also, the dangling participle has a similar melody to the bookworm. These are signposts to the solution, and, ideally, the player doesn't even notice.
|
||||
- Sometimes it's said outright. Jollo says, "Maybe you could convince him (the genie) that you died!"
|
||||
- [Checkhov's gun principle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun) says: "Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there." A similar rule applies to adventure games, and King's Quest VI directly manipulates the order the player is exposed to certain characters, so that they definitely know a solution before they see it. For example, the first time the player makes their way into town, they see a peddler selling new lamps in exchange for old lamps. Later, when they acquire an old lamp, they think, "Oh, I can exchange it for a new lamp!" but the peddler has since left. This makes them ponder what the purpose of the peddler is. Later on, it "clicks" when they learn they need a replica of the genie's lamp.
|
||||
|
||||
## In summary
|
||||
|
||||
Not all of these principles applies to every single game. But these principles do work for King's Quest genre, and I think they're worth considering. [Tick's Tales](http://store.steampowered.com/app/411610/) follows some of the principles, and others it doesn't. For future games, I'll think about crafting the narrative and puzzles considering these principles.
|
||||
|
||||
If there are specific games you'd like me to study in this fashion, please write a comment! Stay tuned for more.
|
||||
|
||||
[5 Comments](/dev-blog/2017/1/11/why-adventure-games-rock-part-1#comments-outer-wrapper "Comments")
|
||||
|
||||
*tagged with* [adventure games](/dev-blog?tag=adventure+games), [game design](/dev-blog?tag=game+design), [king's quest](/dev-blog?tag=king%27s+quest)
|
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|
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Newer
|
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|
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[Older](/dev-blog/2016/6/3/use-lisp-with-game-making-an-adventure-game-in-clojure)
|
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|
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[Top](#top)
|
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|
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131
src/resources/why-adventure-games-suck-ron-gilbert.md
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---
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source: http://www.grumpygamer.com/why_adventure_games_suck
|
||||
---
|
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|
||||
# Why Adventure Games Suck | Grumpy Gamer
|
||||
|
||||
[Home](/)
|
||||
|
||||
[Contact](/contact)
|
||||
|
||||
[Archives](/archives)
|
||||
|
||||
[About](/about)
|
||||
|
||||
[RSS](/rss)
|
||||
|
||||
[Mastodon](https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@grumpygamer)
|
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|
||||
# Grumpy Gamer
|
||||
|
||||
### Ye Olde Grumpy Gamer Blog. Est. 2004
|
||||
|
||||
[Why Adventure Games Suck](/why_adventure_games_suck/)
|
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|
||||
May 12, 2004
|
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|
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|
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|
||||
I wrote this back in 1989 while I was designing Monkey Island. It is now the futuristic year of 2004 and we are all driving around in flying cars and wearing sliver jumps suits. A lot has changed for Adventure Games as well, but unfortunately not in the right direction.
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure Games are officially dead. I think this [article from Old Man Murray](http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/77.html) (written in 2002) sums it up pretty well. Make sure you read the whole thing, it starts out slow, but his conclusion could not be more true.
|
||||
|
||||
Some people will tell you that Adventure Games aren't really dead, they have just morphed into other forms, or that other genres have absorbed Adventure Games. If this is true, they've done a pretty bad job of it.
|
||||
|
||||
I wrote this article to help fellow Adventure Games designers back in 1989, but the RPG, FPS and RTS designers of 2004 could use a little of the self-proclaimed wisdom of the past.
|
||||
|
||||
As I read this some 15 years later, I'm not sure I agree with everything in here anymore. I learned a lot from Monkey Island 1 and 2, plus countless kids Adventure Games at Humongous Entertainment. At some point in the near future, I will do an annotated version of this article, talking about things that have changed, or were just plains wrong. But in the meantime, there is something interesting on TV right now.
|
||||
|
||||
I would also like to thank [David Fox](http://electriceggplant.com) for passively-aggressively forcing me to post this.
|
||||
|
||||
## Why Adventure Games Suck And What We Can Do About It
|
||||
|
||||
Copyright 1989, Ron Gilbert
|
||||
|
||||
Of all the different types of games, the ones I most enjoy playing are adventure/story games. It is no surprise that this is also the genre for which I design. I enjoy games in which the pace is slow and the reward is for thinking and figuring, rather than quick reflexes. The element that brings adventure games to life for me is the stories around which they are woven. When done right, it is a form of storytelling that can be engrossing in a way that only interaction can bring. The key here is "done right", which it seldom is.
|
||||
|
||||
One of my pet peeves is the recent trend to call story games "Interactive Movies." They are interactive, but they are not movies. The fact that people want to call them movies just points out how lost we are. What we need to do is to establish a genre for our works that we can call our own. Movies came from stage plays, but the references are long lost and movies have come into their own. The same thing needs to happen to story games.
|
||||
|
||||
The desire to call them Interactive Movies comes from a couple of places. The first is Marketing. It is the goal of narrow-minded marketing to place everything into a category so it will be recognizable. These people feel that the closest things to story games are movies. The other source for the name Interactive Movie is what I call "Hollywood Envy." A great number of people in this business secretly (and not so secretly) wish they were making movies, not writing video games. Knock it off! If you really want to make movies, then go to film school and leave the game designing to people who want to make games.
|
||||
|
||||
Story games are not movies, but the two forms do share a great deal. It is not fair to completely ignore movies. We can learn a lot from them about telling stories in a visual medium. However, it is important to realize that there are many more differences than similarities. We have to choose what to borrow and what to discover for ourselves.
|
||||
|
||||
The single biggest difference is interaction. You can't interact with a movie. You just sit in the theater and watch it. In a story game, the player is given the freedom to explore the story. But the player doesn't always do what the designer intended, and this causes problems. It is hard to create a cohesive plot when you have no idea what part of the story the player will trip over next. This problem calls for a special kind of storytelling, and we have just begun to scratch the surface of this art form.
|
||||
|
||||
There is a state of mind called "suspension of disbelief". When you are watching a movie, or reading a good book, your mind falls into this state. It occurs when you are pulled so completely into the story that you no longer realize you are in a movie theater or sitting at your couch, reading. When the story starts to drag, or the plots begins to fall apart, the suspension of disbelief is lost. You soon start looking around the theater, noticing the people in front of you or the green exit sign. One way I judge a movie is by the number of times I realized I was in a theater.
|
||||
|
||||
The same is true of story games (as well as almost all other kinds of games). As the story builds, we are pulled into the game and leave the real world behind. As designers, our job is to keep people in this state for as long as possible. Every time the player has to restore a saved game, or pound his head on the desk in frustration, the suspension of disbelief is gone. At this time he is most likely to shut off the computer and go watch TV, at which point we all have lost.
|
||||
|
||||
I have created a set of rules of thumb that will minimize the loss of suspension of disbelief. As with any set of rules, there are always exceptions. In my designs, I hope that if these rules cannot be followed, it is for artistic reasons and not because I am too lazy to do it right. In Maniac Mansion, in one place or another, I violated all but one of these rules. Some of them were violated by design, others by sloppiness. If I could redesign Maniac Mansion, all the violations would be removed and I'd have a much better game.
|
||||
|
||||
Some people say that following these rules makes the games too easy to play. I disagree. What makes most games tough to play is that the puzzles are arbitrary and unconnected. Most are solved by chance or repetitive sessions of typing "light candle with match", "light paper with match", "light rug with match", until something happens. This is not tough game play, this is masturbation. I played one game that required the player to drop a bubble gum wrapper in a room in order to get a trap door to open (object names have been changed to protect the guilty). What is the reasoning? There is none. It's an advanced puzzle, I was told.
|
||||
|
||||
Here, then, are Gilbert's Rules of Thumb:
|
||||
|
||||
## End objective needs to be clear
|
||||
|
||||
It's OK if the objective changes in mid-game, but at the beginning the player should have a clear vision as to what he or she is trying to accomplish. Nothing is more frustrating than wandering around wondering what you should be doing and if what you have been doing is going to get you anywhere. Situations where not knowing what's going on can be fun and an integral part of the game, but this is rare and difficult to pull off.
|
||||
|
||||
## Sub-goals need to be obvious
|
||||
|
||||
Most good adventure games are broken up into many sub-goals. Letting the player know at least the first sub-goal is essential in hooking them. If the main goal is to rescue the prince, and the player is trapped on an island at the beginning of the game, have another character in the story tell them the first step: get off the island. This is just good storytelling. Ben Kenobi pretty much laid out Luke's whole journey in the first twenty minutes of Star Wars. This provided a way for the audience to follow the progress of the main character. For someone not used to the repetitive head-banging of adventure games, this simple clue can mean the difference between finishing the game and giving up after the first hour. It's very easy when designing to become blind to what the player doesn't know about your story.
|
||||
|
||||
## Live and learn
|
||||
|
||||
As a rule, adventure games should be able to be played from beginning to end without "dying" or saving the game if the player is very careful and very observant. It is bad design to put puzzles and situations into a game that require a player to die in order to learn what not to do next time. This is not to say that all death situations should be designed out. Danger is inherent in drama, but danger should be survivable if the player is clever.
|
||||
|
||||
As an exercise, take one complete path through a story game and then tell it to someone else, as if it were a standard story. If you find places where the main character could not have known a piece of information that was used (the character who learned it died in a previous game), then there is a hole in the plot.
|
||||
|
||||
## Backwards Puzzles
|
||||
|
||||
The backwards puzzle is probably the one thing that bugs me more than anything else about adventure games. I have created my share of them; and as with most design flaws, it's easier to leave them in than to redesign them. The backwards puzzle occurs when the solution is found before the problem. Ideally, the crevice should be found before the rope that allows the player to descend. What this does in the player's mind is set up a challenge. He knows he need to get down the crevice, but there is no route. Now the player has a task in mind as he continues to search. When a rope is spotted, a light goes on in his head and the puzzle falls into place. For a player, when the design works, there is nothing like that experience.
|
||||
|
||||
## I forgot to pick it up
|
||||
|
||||
This is really part of the backwards puzzle rule, but in the worst way. Never require a player to pick up an item that is used later in the game if she can't go back and get it when it is needed. It is very frustrating to learn that a seemingly insignificant object is needed, and the only way to get it is to start over or go back to a saved game. From the player's point of view, there was no reason for picking it up in the first place. Some designers have actually defended this practice by saying that, "adventure games players know to pick up everything." This is a cop-out. If the jar of water needs to be used on the spaceship and it can only be found on the planet, create a use for it on the planet that guarantees it will be picked up. If the time between the two uses is long enough, you can be almost guaranteed that the player forgot she even had the object.
|
||||
|
||||
The other way around this problem is to give the player hints about what she might need to pick up. If the aliens on the planet suggest that the player find water before returning to the ship, and the player ignores this advice, then failure is her own fault.
|
||||
|
||||
## Puzzles should advance the story
|
||||
|
||||
There is nothing more frustrating than solving pointless puzzle after pointless puzzle. Each puzzle solved should bring the player closer to understanding the story and game. It should be somewhat clear how solving this puzzle brings the player closer to the immediate goal. What a waste of time and energy for the designer and player if all the puzzle does is slow the progress of the game.
|
||||
|
||||
## Real time is bad drama
|
||||
|
||||
One of the most important keys to drama is timing. Anyone who has designed a story game knows that the player rarely does anything at the right time or in the right order. If we let the game run on a clock that is independent from the player's actions, we are going to be guaranteed that few things will happen with dramatic timing. When Indiana Jones rolled under the closing stone door and grabbed his hat just in time, it sent a chill and a cheer through everyone in the audience. If that scene had been done in a standard adventure game, the player would have been killed the first four times he tried to make it under the door. The next six times the player would have been too late to grab the hat. Is this good drama? Not likely. The key is to use Hollywood time, not real time. Give the player some slack when doing time-based puzzles. Try to watch for intent. If the player is working towards the solution and almost ready to complete it, wait. Wait until the hat is grabbed, then slam the door down. The player thinks they "just made it" and consequently a much greater number of players get the rush and excitement. When designing time puzzles I like to divide the time into three categories. 10% of the players will do the puzzle so fast and efficiently that they will finish with time to spare. Another 10% will take too much time and fail, which leaves 80% of the people to brush through in the nick of time.
|
||||
|
||||
## Incremental reward
|
||||
|
||||
The player needs to know that she is achieving. The fastest way to turn a player off is to let the game drag on with no advancement. This is especially true for people who are playing adventure games for the first time. In graphics adventures the reward often comes in the form of seeing new areas of the game. New graphics and characters are often all that is needed to keep people playing. Of course, if we are trying to tell a story, then revealing new plot elements and twists can be of equal or greater value.
|
||||
|
||||
## Arbitrary puzzles
|
||||
|
||||
Puzzles and their solutions need to make sense. They don't have to be obvious, just make sense. The best reaction after solving a tough puzzle should be, "Of course, why didn't I think of that sooner!" The worst, and most often heard after being told the solution is, "I never would have gotten that!" If the solution can only be reached by trial and error or plain luck, it's a bad puzzle.
|
||||
|
||||
## Reward Intent
|
||||
|
||||
The object of these games is to have fun. Figure out what the player is trying to do. If it is what the game wants, then help the player along and let it happen. The most common place this fails is in playing a meta-game called "second guess the parser." If there is an object on the screen that looks like a box, but the parser is waiting for it to be called a mailbox, the player is going to spend a lot of time trying to get the game to do a task that should be transparent. In parser-driven games, the key is to have lots of synonyms for objects. If the game is a graphics adventure, check proximity of the player's character. If the player is standing right next to something, chances are they are trying to manipulate it. If you give the player the benefit of the doubt, the game will be right more than wrong. On one occasion, I don't know how much time I spent trying to tie a string on the end of a stick. I finally gave up, not knowing if I was wording the sentence wrong or if it was not part of the design. As it turned out, I was wording it wrong.
|
||||
|
||||
## Unconnected events
|
||||
|
||||
In order to pace events, some games lock out sections until certain events have happened. There is nothing wrong with this, it is almost a necessity. The problem comes when the event that opens the new section of the world is unconnected. If the designer wants to make sure that six objects have been picked up before opening a secret door, make sure that there is a reason why those six objects would affect the door. If a player has only picked up five of the objects and is waiting for the door to open (or worse yet, trying to find a way to open the door), the act of getting the flashlight is not going to make any sense in relation to the door opening.
|
||||
|
||||
## Give the player options
|
||||
|
||||
A lot of story games employ a technique that can best be described as caging the player. This occurs when the player is required to solve a small set of puzzles in order to advance to the next section of the game, at which point she is presented with another small set of puzzles. Once these puzzles are solved, in a seemingly endless series of cages, the player enters the next section. This can be particularly frustrating if the player is unable to solve a particular puzzle. The areas to explore tend to be small, so the only activity is walking around trying to find the one solution out.
|
||||
|
||||
Try to imagine this type of puzzle as a cage the player is caught in, and the only way out is to find the key. Once the key is found, the player finds herself in another cage. A better way to approach designing this is to think of the player as outside the cages, and the puzzles as locked up within. In this model, the player has a lot more options about what to do next. She can select from a wide variety of cages to open. If the solution to one puzzle stumps her, she can go on to another, thus increasing the amount of useful activity going on.
|
||||
|
||||
Of course, you will want some puzzles that lock out areas of the game, but the areas should be fairly large and interesting unto themselves. A good indicator of the cage syndrome is how linear the game is. If the plot follows a very strict line, chances are the designer is caging the player along the path. It's not easy to uncage a game, it requires some careful attention to the plot as seen from players coming at the story from different directions. The easiest way is to create different interactions for a given situation depending on order encountered.
|
||||
|
||||
## Conclusion
|
||||
|
||||
If I could change the world, there are a few things I would do, and quite frankly none of them have anything to do with computers or games. But since this article is about games?
|
||||
|
||||
The first thing I'd do is get rid of save games. If there have to be save games, I would use them only when it was time to quit playing until the next day. Save games should not be a part of game play. This leads to sloppy design. As a challenge, think about how you would design a game differently if there were no save games. If you ever have the pleasure of watching a non-gameplayer playing an adventure game you will notice they treat save game very differently then the experienced user. Some start using it as a defense mechanism only after being slapped in the face by the game a few times, the rest just stop playing.
|
||||
|
||||
The second thing I'd change would be the price. For between forty and fifty dollars a game, people expect a lot of play for their money. This rarely leads to huge, deep games, but rather time-wasting puzzles and mazes. If the designer ever thinks the game might be too short, he throws in another puzzle or two. These also tend to be the worst thought-out and most painful to solve. If I could have my way, I'd design games that were meant to be played in four to five hours. The games would be of the same scope that I currently design, I'd just remove the silly time-wasting puzzles and take the player for an intense ride. The experience they would leave with would be much more entertaining and a lot less frustrating. The games would still be challenging, but not at the expense of the players patience.
|
||||
|
||||
If any type of game is going to bridge the gap between games and storytelling, it is most likely going to be adventure games. They will become less puzzle solving and more story telling, it is the blueprint the future will be made from. The thing we cannot forget is that we are here to entertain, and for most people, entertainment does not consist of nights and weekends filled with frustration. The average American spends most of the day failing at the office, the last thing he wants to do is come home and fail while trying to relax and be entertained.
|
||||
|
||||
Unless otherwise noted, all content is Copyright 2004-2025 Ron Gilbert. Unauthorized use under penalty of death by dismemberment and/or fine not less than one million dollars. Use of content of grumpygamer.com to train AI is expressly forbidden without written approval from a human (me) (v5.0)
|
||||
35
src/resources/without-readability-decline-adventure-games.md
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35
src/resources/without-readability-decline-adventure-games.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/without-readability---the-decline-of-adventure-games
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
# Without Readability - The Decline of Adventure Games
|
||||
|
||||
A discussion of how poor readability contributed to the decline of adventure games.
|
||||
|
||||
At long last, we have arrived at something tangible. Dispensing with hand-waving theory, I'm going to discuss how the murky readability of adventure games contributed to their falling from prominence. In retrospect, I should have presented this sooner.
|
||||
|
||||
Before I launch in, I need to reiterate that I have a great fondness for adventure games. Some of my fondest gaming moments came when playing adventures. I want to be able to share those experiences with folks who haven't, rather than pine for halcyon times long past.
|
||||
|
||||
It's clear adventure games, of both the text and graphical variety, have lost their once prominent position. There are a number of reasons for this, but one that seems largely ignored is the poor readability of the gameplay systems of adventure games. Sometimes this will be addressed by people saying, "they were too hard." But that claim is actually quite misleading, especially given the notions most have about difficulty in video games.
|
||||
|
||||
Adventure games suffered from poor readability. Full stop. The mechanics of adventure games provided a truly colossal number of possible actions, but with no real relationship to each other. There was no systematic way to understand or improve at playing adventure games, beyond learning that you should try to pick up every single thing in the game that isn't nailed down (and those you'll probably just have to pry up).
|
||||
|
||||
As a quick terminology note, Jesse Schell mentioned this very issue in his book when discussing player actions as a game mechanic. He identifies "operative" actions as distinct from "resultant" actions. The former would be fundamental actions the player can execute at any distinct moment, while the latter are broader strategies or behaviours that emerge from understanding how the game's systems inter-operate. This is remarkably similar to the mechanics vs. dynamics distinction in the MDA framework, and it seems both are describing the same phenomena.
|
||||
|
||||
Back to the readability problems in adventure games. Take the quintessential LucasArts/Sierra adventure game. The main interactions in the game consist of using a number of verbs (e.g. push, pull, pick up, talk to, use, etc.) with various objects in the environment. Additionally, your character likely has an inventory that allows you to move some objects from one place to another and use them on other objects.
|
||||
|
||||
Unfortunately, the way these verbs operate is based on a carnival mirror version of the real world. Pushing object X does nothing, but pushing object Y will get you closer to a solution. Trying to pick up one object results in the player's character saying "I don't want that," but the character is perfectly happy to pick up a different object.
|
||||
|
||||
This provides the player with a tremendous number of possible actions to perform, but no way to understanding how they work in conjunction (because they almost never do). There are a lot of ways to use the game's mechanics, but no enjoyable dynamics arise from them. If the player isn't able to infer the designer's intentions, their only option is trial and error. But the permutations of the various mechanics result in a truly colossal number of actions, only a tiny fraction of which have meaningful outcomes.
|
||||
|
||||
As a hypothetical, say there are six areas a player can go during a certain stage of an adventure game. On each screen there are an average of eight interactive objects. The player has five possible verbs they can use on any object. They also have seven items in their inventory, all of which can be used on any object. This means that at any given time, the player has 768 potential actions to perform.
|
||||
|
||||
Text adventures (or interactive fiction, whatever your preference on terminology) exacerbate this problem, as the limit to possible verbs is literally the player's vocabulary. When stuck, the player becomes a thesaurus, struggling to find the right combination of words to execute what they think makes sense. But as it's impossible to know when an action is incorrect due to logic or just due to the parse, the player can never be certain their solution was fundamentally incorrect, instead of just linguistically incorrect.
|
||||
|
||||
Compound this with the truly absurd logic of some adventure games (see Old Man Murray's discussion of Gabriel Knight 3) and it's really no surprise that adventure games fell out of favour. The dynamics of adventure games are not enjoyable the moment the player falls out of sync with the designer's intentions. Coming full circle, adventure games have a readability problem. With all that being said, this definition of readability should make sense:
|
||||
|
||||
**Readability is a measure of how easily a player can understand a game's dynamics.**
|
||||
|
||||
To provide contrast, Braid is a good example of a game with a small number of mechanics giving rise to rich, understandable dynamics. Some criticized Braid for requiring the player to guess the designer's intent. While this is true, the mechanics in Braid number in single digits. Personally, I was never particularly frustrated with Braid, nor did I ever feel like a puzzle was obtuse or unfair. Upon solving, my reaction was universally, "Oh yeah, that makes sense." I cannot say the same for needing a cat hair and syrup mustache to impersonate a man that doesn't even have a mustache.
|
||||
|
||||
This post has become much longer than intended. In the interest I've brevity, I've broken it in two. Wednesday's post will discuss some ways in which adventure games can be made more readable.
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user