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thinking up puzzles
Here’s a question for developers of all kinds:
how do you come up with puzzles?
Thanks Advie! This is helpful, it combines a lot of ideas from different places.
In reading Advie’s post as well as other game-oriented posts, I am struck by how similar puzzle design is to building parts of a business plan.
1. What do I want to do? (increase/decrease/maintain)
2. What do I want to do it to? (Sales/turnover time/marketing costs)
3. How much do I want to do it? (percentage/revenue/time)
4. How long will it take me? (weeks/months years)
5. How much will it cost me? (dollars/personnel/time)
6. How will I know when I’m done? (year-end statements)
Everything before the parentheses sounds a bit salacious, but it was in a seminar context, and the audience had to be kept interested. But I can easily see how game design might rely on these very same questions.
E.g.:
1. Build slider puzzle
2. Transition between scene A and scene B
3. No more than 30 moves between start and successful finish
4. No more than 40 development hours/no more than 20 minutes game time
5. Budget/developer cost projections.
6. Positive beta tests
This makes sense to me, having run a marketing/management consulting firm for over 30 years. (I’m happily retired.) I hope it makes sense to you in the context of your question.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Thanks, it does make sense. Actually being structured and goal oriented is a good approach to most problems. And I do sometimes need a reminder.
In the past months, I came up with 2 puzzles that overlap near the end of the latter.
Not bad, not efficient either.
I’m currently thinking of a third puzzle that can mix things up. I’ve seen the first post and I’ve made a list of what it should do and how I want to manage getting there. I put a whiteboard on the wall next to me.
Though i am a amateur (read: i don’t have money to invest in a genre that is not so profitable), there are my two cents.
For designing puzzles for a portion of a game: look at goal(s) that your protagonist(s) have in that part of a plot. Come up with problems reaching that goal/these goals and solution(s) for that/those problem(s). Come up with problem(s) that player character(s) has/have carrying out that/these solution(s) (usually that/these problem(s) is/are getting means for carrying out solution(s) whether it is inventory items, needed information or something else) and solution(s) for that/these problem(s). Come up with problem(s) that player character(s)has/have carrying out that/these solution(s) etc. until you think a chain of puzzles is long enough for that portion of the game. Move on to designing puzzles to a next portion of the game.
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