[lipsum]

I often wonder how in-game puzzles are conceived. Is it simply a mater of breaking mundane tasks into complicated bits? Can you give some examples of the stages a simple idea (like opening a door) went before it turned into a puzzle (cf. the musical door lock in Neverhood)?

[J.H]

Well there's a lot of working backwards involved as sometimes you may have the outcome but not the complete puzzle. I think finding ways to obstruct paths needing to be taken in the story is a good way to create puzzles so long as they're not too obscure.

[Lana Cherin]

I often wonder how in-game puzzles are conceived. Is it simply a mater of breaking mundane tasks into complicated bits?

In the case of such "excellent and awesome" games as Black Mirror II, it is a case of breaking mundane tasks into tedious and insipid steps.

[Ascovel]

There's no single formula. Here's a good article about various possible approaches

[paul1275]

Puzzles should ultimately be part of the narrative and not designed to add extra game play time. We all love puzzles, but I tend to enjoy the ones that feel real. Part of my game has a memory of a child and her relationship with her mother. To do this I created a game element that they might have played together thus making it part of the story.

There are many ways of approaching a puzzle. J.H. is right when he says working backwards is the right way. Find out where you want the player to go and work out what obstacles they might encounter on there way.

Apart from that - Play loads of games - Always helps me

[Trumgottist]

Of course puzzles should be designed to add extra game play time! They're the most common pacing mechanism that an adventure game has.

Yes, I do understand what you mean, and I even (mostly) agree, but puzzles are not some kind of necessary evil. They're neither necessary nor evil.

[Ascovel]

Personally, I just love coming with gameplay ideas and experimenting with them - AGPP (Adventure Game Puzzle Prototyping) !

I think this approach allows the greatest possible creativity, but can also take a lot of additional time in cases when you need to scrap entire puzzle prototypes that proved to be troublesome rather than entertaining and satisfying.

It's also important to remember that there are no perfect puzzles that will work for every player, so don't pull the hair out of your scalp just because one or two players weren't able to solve your puzzle.

[paul1275]

Originally Posted by Trumgottist

Of course puzzles should be designed to add extra game play time!

Hi Trumgottist. Sorry - should have made it clear What I meant was puzzles should not be thrown in just to hold the player up for the sake of it. Sometimes a puzzle has nothing to do with the story, but it's there for no reason what so ever.

Puzzles are designed to challenge the player which ultimately adds game play time. Ideally it should be connected to the narrative and not there just for the sake of it.

Note to self - read post before pressing submit

[Sughly]

Originally Posted by Ascovel

It's also important to remember that there are no perfect puzzles that will work for every player, so don't pull the hair out of your scalp just because one or two players weren't able to solve your puzzle.

Very true. Often I'll find a puzzle much easier than say my brother or you guys, but then I'll spend days on something that was seemingly simple to everyone else. That's the way it is sometimes.

[Trumgottist]

Originally Posted by Ascovel

It's also important to remember that there are no perfect puzzles that will work for every player, so don't pull the hair out of your scalp just because one or two players weren't able to solve your puzzle.

True. But if the puzzle can be made enjoyable for those people too, it'll be even better. Something that's bad for one or two people you know about will be bad for many others that you'll never hear from. In my experience, you'll never hear anything from the vast majority of people downloading your game. It could of course be that my creation is so boring that most people don't want to bother, but I don't think that's the whole story. I don't have to look further than myself to see that even I usually don't mail the authors of the games I play to let them know what I thought about it. And I know first hand how much a simple mail means. If not even I can be bothered, why should anyone else do it?