[GoT]

Just out of curiosity, what is YOUR favourite type of puzzle in an adventure game? I've given my own little names to them to simplify and explain the puzzle type, please let me know what you prefer by just clicking a choice in the poll! I'm interested to find out as I'm playing Keepsake at the moment which got good reviews but its the first one ive played with real puzzles in it. like fitting machines together and working out codes etc. I've only put 7 in as i believe they're the biggest 7 types. If you think theres another just click NONE OF THE ABOVE and type in an explanation of what you prefer.
cheers and have fun,

GoT

1. PUZZLE PUZZLE > things that involve codes, machinery and intricate games within the game.

2. GO FETCH > An NPC will help you if you can go find a certain inventory peice for him/her.

3. CHAT EM UP > This NPC requires you to talk them into doing somthing by saying the right things

4. USE THE ITEM WITH SCENERY > Using an inventory piece with a particular peice of scenery in game.

5. USE THE ITEM WITH THE ITEM > Using two inventory items together, this tricky little piece is very mean as its usually the last thing u expect

6. MULTI CHARACTER > Something of the above that takes more than one player character to complete. Can be tricky as you often dont realize right away what is required, while some games will give hints to the fact that you "might need a little help with this"

7. TIME CONSUMERS > Not really puzzles as such, but time consuming activities that are required to gain certain knowledge for your character so tht you can achieve one of the above. Ex: Monkey Island Insult swordfighting or Monkey Kombat.

[AFGNCAAP]

"Puzzle puzzles" seem like an overloaded option. For example, I can imagine someone enjoying mathematical riddles, but not code/anagrams, or vice versa. On the other hand, using the item with another item is conceptually the same as using it with a hotspot.

Also which type is represented by: pushing the objects to their correct postion in Bad Mojo, fabricating evidence in Spycraft, or multi-part puzzles like the spitting contest in Monkey Island 2?

I like my puzzles to surprise me, above all.

[QuestVR]

Anything like a rubiks cube or a complicted lockpick puzzle ticks me off.. I'm playing adventure games mostly for the story... Most people complain about action/adventure, I complain about puzzle/adventure!

[Iron]

I too play for the story! Of course puzzles are often nice, as long as theyre logical, which sadly can't be said of many. Just playing Grim Fandango, and I've noticed that some of the puzzle stuff is really too much for me, partially because
I'm not that experienced, partially because some just don't make sense no matter how you put them.
Syberia was a good one for me, not too hard or far fetched puzzles, and a strong and interesting story. Too bad it lacked the amount of depth I was looking forward to. Also Gabriel Knight 3 is a great one, with tons of bg info, free to look into or not, and mainly sane puzzles. The kinda hint system GK3 uses should be more common, its one of those little brilliant ideas that amaze with their simplicity. I'm yet to discover an almost (or entirely) puzzle-free, story centered adventure, but looking forward to one eagerly. Feel free to recommend!

[AFGNCAAP]

Originally Posted by Iron

I'm yet to discover an almost (or entirely) puzzle-free, story centered adventure, but looking forward to one eagerly. Feel free to recommend!

Arguably, the adventure game that doesn't have puzzles of some kind stops being a game at all. However, The Dark Eye and Photopia use puzzlelessness very successfully.

[Tom Bombadil]

I like the puzzles that are either logical or where you can find answers in the game, such like reading books, talking to someone, finding notes and so on.
Not these puzzles where you has to be fast in your fingers rather than fast in your brain.

[Nautilus]

I do prefer mixed style adventures. A good story is ALWAYS necessary!

[Andromus]

"Puzzle puzzle" probably comes the closest to summing up my favorite type. I like a good stand alone puzzle, preferably one where you have to experiment to figure out what makes it tick.

[MdaG]

My all time favorite puzzle was the "chair puzzle" in Revelation. Pure genious.

[MoriartyL]

Under the assumption that by "TIME CONSUMERS" you mean mini-games, that's what I chose. "PUZZLE PUZZLE" is a close second, but the truth is I don't like puzzles in adventures (of any type) very much at all. Everything has a place- puzzles belong in an abstract puzzle game, not the middle of a story.

[samIamsad]

Screw' em all. I like to be taken by surprise by something that I've never seen a hundred billion times before (in better execution, even, probably, and so on).

The best puzzle in keepsake so far was the cogs puzzle which will turn the water on once solved. I really enjoyed it because it's a sort of slider puzzle but also you could make the cogs work while you were moving things about to see if it was getting closer to being correct. I also liked the slider puzzle in still life. So yeah, I really enjoy sliders. They're relaxing to do and fun.

I also love riddles which hold secrets. Where a riddle leads you to search an item, say, a painting, and all of a sudden, you notice a hotspot on a corner of the picture or frame which reveals something when clicked.

But above all, the best type of puzzle I like is where I'm in a room, I have to do something in that room to progress, and there's no way out of the room until I've solved it. I've got everything I need in my inventory to solve it, or maybe it's a case of pixel hunting some obscure hotspot in the room. With a cup of coffee and a cigarette, I like nothing more than to mull over how to solve that puzzle.

[Gordon Bennett]

Definitely the Chat em up type puzzle. There's nothing I enjoy more in a game than a well-written conversation.

[Jelena]

This has become more difficult to answer the more games I play. I used to enjoy logical puzzles the most, since that was what I had experienced through playing the Myst games. I still like puzzles a lot, I don't mind levers and sliders. But now I've come to enoy inventory based puzzles as well. Especially if there's a combination involved.
I'm going to vote puzzle puzzle but if I get the same question in half a year there may be another answer.

[Ninth]

My faovrite puzzles are the original ones.
For examples, I liked the puzzles in Da Vinci where you had to use the notebook, or the puzzles in Zork GI and Death Gate that required the use of spells.

[GoT]

Originally Posted by Roman5

The best puzzle in keepsake so far was the cogs puzzle which will turn the water on once solved. I really enjoyed it because it's a sort of slider puzzle but also you could make the cogs work while you were moving things about to see if it was getting closer to being correct. I also liked the slider puzzle in still life. So yeah, I really enjoy sliders. They're relaxing to do and fun.

I also love riddles which hold secrets. Where a riddle leads you to search an item, say, a painting, and all of a sudden, you notice a hotspot on a corner of the picture or frame which reveals something when clicked.

But above all, the best type of puzzle I like is where I'm in a room, I have to do something in that room to progress, and there's no way out of the room until I've solved it. I've got everything I need in my inventory to solve it, or maybe it's a case of pixel hunting some obscure hotspot in the room. With a cup of coffee and a cigarette, I like nothing more than to mull over how to solve that puzzle.

Just the type of answer i was waiting for... my friend you think along the exact same lines as Moi. Let hear what everyone else thinks.

GoT

[Junkface]

Anything except "PUZZLE, PUZZLE" (taking it to mean Myst style puzzles. The code puzzle in Gabriel Knight 1 and Le Serpent Rouge in Gabriel Knight 3, both of which I quite liked, technically fit this definition but not what I interpret as the spirit of it.) These sorts of puzzles just irritate me by seeming arbitrarily dropped into the game with little connection to anything else and no purpose besides delaying my progress.

[AFGNCAAP]

Originally Posted by samIamsad

Screw' em all. I like to be taken by surprise by something that I've never seen a hundred billion times before (in better execution, even, probably, and so on).

Originally Posted by Ninth

My faovrite puzzles are the original ones.
For examples, I liked the puzzles in Da Vinci where you had to use the notebook, or the puzzles in Zork GI and Death Gate that required the use of spells.

Why haven't you two voted for "none of these" with me, then, huh? I feel so lonely...

Originally Posted by Junkface

Anything except "PUZZLE, PUZZLE" (taking it to mean Myst style puzzles. The code puzzle in Gabriel Knight 1 and Le Serpent Rouge in Gabriel Knight 3, both of which I quite liked, technically fit this definition but not what I interpret as the spirit of it.) These sorts of puzzles just irritate me by seeming arbitrarily dropped into the game with little connection to anything else and no purpose besides delaying my progress.

This is, of course, completely arbitrary distinction on your side. I could say that inventory puzzles are irritating and exist solely to delay my progress (because they oftentimes do), and ignore numerous exceptions to this, as they would be "not what I interpret as the spirit of it".

[GoT]

personally i hate some of the stupid inventory puzzles that monkey island 3 had... but i loved stuff like the banjo dueling... so cool.

[Crapstorm]

I think we're getting pretty loose with the definition of "puzzle" here. If it doesn't test one's ingenuity, it's not a puzzle.