To Puzzle, or NOT to Puzzle

Kamigoroshi

... that is the age old question!

I noticed somewhat of a trend going on. Gamers nowadays are not liking puzzles anymore? Me coming from a Point & Click Adventure background can't personally fathom the thought! I mean, who didn't like the cherry tree puzzle inside Day of the Tentacle? Or the rubber duck one from The Longest Journey? Everyone ought to love rubber ducks!
So I made another poll to pass the time.

themazingness

If I want puzzles I usually go for games that are designed as puzzle games. Otherwise, it just depends on what puzzles are implemented and how they are implemented. I love riddles. Puzzles with objects are fine so long as they don't slow down the game's pace (The Legend of Zelda=good, Lego games=great!, Neverwinter Nights: Infinite Dungeons=bad, just skip). If it's likely I'm going to need a walkthrough because you made the puzzle too obtuse, I'd rather the difficulty be in other elements of the game such as combat.

Rik_Kirtaniya

Puzzle... puzzle... puzzle...

ThacoBell

I like puzzles but not indiscriminately. Figuring out what the puzzle wants from you in the first place should NOT be part of the puzzle. The logic needs to be consistent, I'm looking at YOU insane early adventure games!

megamike15

i enjoy adventure games where the puzzles are part of the story not a puzzle for a sake of a puzzle.

DJKajuru

I really hate when I can't proceed with an enjoyable game because of a puzzle I'm not able to solve.

deltago

Puzzle requirements:

Optional - yes please.
In Game hints - yes please.
Allowed to make errors without having to restart the damn thing - yes, especially if they are long.
Ability to skip (with a minor set back such as less xp/score, minor treasure destroyed) - sure!
Quick animation speeds when attempting to solve puzzle - a must (don't want to watch the PC push heavy objects around for 20 minutes)
Fits the theme of the game - please.
Is the entire level/area a puzzle? - fine as long as not every level is a puzzle (unless it is a puzzle game).

lroumen

A puzzle like Ifnkovhgroghprm?

I want a 1000 piece puzzle inside my rpg with no save possibility that unlocks the main quest.

ThacoBell

megamike15 wrote: »

i enjoy adventure games where the puzzles are part of the story not a puzzle for a sake of a puzzle.

I almost agree with you, but then I remembered that Puzzle Agent was a thing and is great.

Zaxares

It depends... Some puzzles can be very fun (one I always remember is the Lighthouse puzzle from Pirates of the Sword Coast. It seems baffling at first until you figure out what needs to be done and then it becomes very intuitive), but others just feel like an unnatural pause in the game flow. I find that it depends a lot on the logic of the puzzle; the more a puzzle draws on real world logic (for instance, in some modern games there's this habit of requiring players to visit an actual website to get the next clue for the puzzle, which I think is wrong. One shouldn't have to exit the game to figure out what to do next), the worse it tends to be.

Riddles are a different matter though. Can never get enough riddles.

ThacoBell

Timed puzzles, timed puzzles can all burn.

Ardanis

Puzzles are welcome when they are, in fact, puzzles. If it's a maze with several levers scattered around and you need to traverse it back and forth every time to check the result or switch something, all the while fighting random spawns, then kill it with fire, then find the designers and chop their arms off.

TarotRedhand

Now here's a thing. I have been told that I make good puzzles. The irony is that I hate puzzles in games. Anyway, if you've got NwN EE you can see a couple of my puzzles in the first module I finished creating and released a little over a decade ago now - "Hrothgar's Resting Place" (vault link).

TR