Game Mechanics Support Puzzles

Game Mechanics Support Puzzles

Greetings once again, mortals.

No preamble to be found here, let's discuss Jesse Schelle's view on puzzles in games.

Puzzles form a key part of many games, visible or not; this isn't an opinion, this is a flat-out fact A lot of games use puzzles, that's not news.

Schelle tells us that the defining way to spot these is when you stop in a game and think about how you're going to do something. It can even be argued, he says, that any time that you stop and think in a game, you are solving a puzzle.

A lot of people don't want to classify puzzles as games; a lot of puzzles simply don't fit with established mental perceptions of games (such as Rubik's Cubes, Crosswords, and so on).

Some people have argued that many games give the same output when completed, and can be completed an infinite number of times by applying the same input. This would classify these as puzzles rather than games. Such games include Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy.

Personally, I would argue that games like Zelda and Final Fantasy include random elements which mean that the same input doesn't work.

Schelle then mentions Scott Kim's definition of a puzzle: "A puzzle is fun, and has a right answer." Once we have that right answer, Schelle says, the puzzle ceases to be fun, meaning that they have no replayability. Games, on the other hand, have dynamic elements, meaning the problem is usually slightly different each time you play, making it fun to play more than once.

Another way to define a puzzle is as a game with a dominant strategy. From this viewpoint, puzzles are games which aren't fun to replay, and where the real goal is to find the dominant strategy.

Another personal opinion to shove in here; the difference between most puzzles and games is that a puzzle is static, it doesn't change it's goal or challenge. A game, on the other hand, is a dynamic piece, which changes in ways the player doesn't control.

Next, Schelle asks whether puzzles are dead; a lot of students or younger people may think puzzles are outdated, for example. But he answers that no, they're not dead. Many modern games include puzzles in one form or another, but these are often better-hidden by the designers than in older games. Remember that anything that makes you stop and think in a video game is a puzzle.

A sign of a good puzzle, Schelle tells us, is that the player knows what they are meant to do right away; this doesn't mean they solve the puzzle right away, but they know how to go about doing it. To help up identify and create good puzzles, Schelle gives us a series of "Puzzle Prinicples".

Puzzle Prinicple #1: Make the goal easy to understand.

Puzzle Principle #2: Make it easy to get started. Scott Kim says that to design a good puzzle, you should first build a good toy, as the player will be drawn into manipulating the toy and experimenting.

Puzzle Principle #3: Give a sense of progress. If a player doesn't feel like they're making any headway, they'll eventually give up. This is the main difference between a puzzle and a riddle (though riddles can be turned into puzzles, such as with 20Q).

Puzzle Principle #4: Give a sense of solvability. Make sure the player knows it's possible to complete the puzzle, especially if it's particularly hard. Rubik's Cubes do this by coming pre-solved, and the player then proceed to unsolve it first.

Puzzle Principle #5: Increase difficulty gradually.

Puzzle Principle #6: Parallelism let's the player rest. A danger for all puzzles is that when the player stops to think, they find themselves unable to think their way past a certain problem, which can cause them to give up entirely. This can be solved by giving the player other puzzles of similar difficulty to focus their attention on instead. "A change is as good as a rest."

Puzzle Principle #7: Pyramid structure extends interest. A series of smaller puzzles can each provide clues to a larger puzzle.

Puzzle Principle #8: Hints extend interest. A well-timed hint can restore a lost player's hope and curiosity.

Puzzle Principle #9: Give the answer! Arguably the best part of a puzzle is that moment of solution, when the player sees how to solve the puzzle, even if they didn't solve it themselves.

Puzzle Principle #10: Perceptual shifts are a double-edged sword. Some people just won't be able to make that shift and will lose hope of solving the puzzle. Either you get it or you don't.

I really liked this piece, all of the information makes sense and is very easy to understand. I don't feel entirely comfortable debating the differences between games and puzzles, if I'm honest; I have the fear that someone is going to present an irrefutable reason why they are the same thing, and everything I know will turn out to be a lie.

I personally believe that there's some fundamental difference between games and puzzles, but I have yet to pin that difference down and put it into words.

Another blog post, another reading piece covered. I'm not certain how many of these I have left, but I fully intend to go through all of them. The reading task each week has come to an end now, so my posts will be less frequent, but I have a good stockpile of notes here to upload.

Be praising that Emperor!