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How long before you consult a walkthrough/seek hints?
Inspired by Zifnab’s thread, I was wondering if anyone (else) has rules about when they are allowed to look at a walkthrough.
For a while, I had to suppress the urge to look at a walkthrough every time I had any problem with a puzzle. I was mostly successful but it certainly made playing a game a bit too much like an exercise in willpower rather than a fun activity 
So I came up with some rules: I would stop playing a game for the day if I’ve been stuck on it for more than fifteen minutes (otherwise the frustration and the urge to look at the walkthrough gets too much). When I resume a game that I am stuck on, I allow myself half an hour to try to get unstuck. After three fruitless half-hour sessions (three days), I look at the smallest hint I can find (in order: reviews, screenshots, UHS, walkthroughs).
And, yes, I usually keep a timer next to my computer.
Am I the only one who does that? Is it weird? 
I don’t have any specific rules, but I generally try to never use a walkthrough if it’s something I feel I can figure out one way or another - even if it’ll take me a long time. But if I have the feeling that the challenge is something I won’t realistically overcome without resulting to trial and error for ages, then I tend to resort to using a walkthrough. It doesn’t happen very often, though.
A game I had a lot of trouble with was Machinarium, but that’s one of the few in recent memory where the frustration broke me and I kept the walkthrough handy.
If it’s a puzzle that I feel I can figure out on my own, then I’m not inclined to go for a walkthrough at all. I’m stubborn that way.
But in general, if I’ve exhausted every possible action I can think of and am still stuck / unable to progress, then I try taking some time away from the game (even if only for half an hour to check my mails or post here). If I’m still stuck after that, then I’ll probably go for a walkthrough.
That may be relatively soon for some games, but I hate dead-ends (and I could be in one), I hate pixel hunting (and I could have missed something), and I don’t have near-unlimited time to play games any more, so advancing relatively quickly is actually a plus.
I tend to postpone looking at a walkthrough more when it’s a DS game than when it’s a PC game. But that’s partly because alt-tabbing to the internet is far too easy on the PC. Although the 3DS made that practically just as easy too…
Also: the quality of the game matters. When I really like a game, I’m definitely less inclined to check a walkthrough…
As for the question “how long”? It depends. Some games will have me reaching for a walkthrough after ten minutes of being “stuck”, others after hours, still others will have me persevering.
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
Most of the time I do what you do, TerminusEst (without the timer).
It depends strongly on the game, and sometimes, the developer’s reputation. I’ll give an example. In a series like Secret Files the solution was often ridiculous and not logical at all, so I wouldn’t feel bad about using a walkthrough. I mean, it hardly says anything bad about me that I didn’t think to use some fish guts with an iron mask to get a captured cat, does it?
I can’t say I’ll always give, say, an hour after getting stuck before reaching for the walkthrough. Sometimes it’s less, sometimes more. Sometimes I’ll never do it. Having played all 4 Rhem games (some with hints, some without) I know the puzzles will always be perfectly logical and solveable, so when the next one comes out I’ve resolved never to cheat even if it means I never finish the game! 
This is certainly not the first time this topic has come up. I bet there are at least ten in achives.
It depends on the game. And it depends on the player.
There are some games that just seem to come naturaly to me. I skate through them while others have problems. Others, e.g, Still Life had a few puzzles, (not the cookie puzzle,) that I would never have been able to solve without the benefit of a specific puzzle walkthrough.
And I know that there are some players who will download a WT before they even start to play a game. They are playing the game almost as if it were a graphic novel. (Tell me what I need to do so I can enjoy the story.) I have no problem with that.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
(My sister is one of those graphic novel players. Used to drive me crazy when we were younger)
I have a time-tested method for this. The first time I’m stumped, I immediately consult a walkthrough. Then I see whether the game was being fair or not. If I find out I’ve missed an entire screen or a hard-to-find object, I will use a walkthrough again the next time it’s not obvious how to proceed. If, instead, I could’ve figured it out applying myself more, I usually stop using a walkthrough altogether for that game.
If a puzzle doesn’t interest me from the outset (like a maze) I normally use a walkthrough right away.
The basic assumption is that clever game designers make good puzzles and rarely need to rely on shitty interface, pixel hunting and the such, so a walkthrough is used to ascertain the general quality of puzzles in the game early on, which dictates how much time I’m willing to invest in trying to figure the game out. This assumption doesn’t always hold - Primordia has some really good puzzles as well as truly awful ones - but it’s a good rule of thumb.
when i am on the urge of losing my patience and the fact that i might not ever finish one adventure .
Inspired by Zifnab’s thread, I was wondering if anyone (else) has rules about when they are allowed to look at a walkthrough.
your wondering needed just a little search 
http://archive.adventuregamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30577&highlight=peeked+walkthrough
For me it depends entirely on three things:
1) The Quality of the puzzle
2) How much I’m enjoying the game
3) How much of a “puzzle mood” I’m in
If it is an intelligent and well designed puzzle, then I can get quite stubborn and spend hours trying to figure out a single puzzle, make diagrams, equations or take different screenshots and viewing them side by side, hoping to get that Heureka moment where you suddenly “see” the solution, or simply taking some breaks to look at it with fresh eyes.
On the other hand, if i think it is a poorly designed puzzle, like the common “water, water all around and not a drop to drink” situation, then I don’t want to wander around trying every possible container on every possible source of water until I find the combination the designer meant for us to use. But it isn’t just about the quality of the isolated puzzle, it is also a question of how well it fits into the game, for example if I need to solve a slider puzzle to open a safe in a somewhat realistic detective game, then I get so annoyed that I only give it a few minutes, before I search for a walkthrough, but if I encounter the same puzzle in lets say a magical school where it makes sense, then it is an entirely different story.
It also depends on how much I’m enjoying the game, the more I enjoy it the longer it will take before I reach for a walkthrough. If I don’t really like the game, and is thinking about quitting it, then I often go into “graphic novel players” mode, and simply follow a walkthrough so I at least get the story.
Finally I must confess that it also depends on the kind of mood I’m in. Sometimes I’m simply more in mood for long complicated puzzles, and sometimes I want to get past the obstacle so I can continue with the story.
Note that it rarely has anything to do with the difficult of the puzzle. If I give myself enough time, then I find that I can also solve almost all puzzles, there are of course exceptions, but they are rare, and most of the time I look at a walkthrough (when truly clueless) I kick myself for not realizing the solution myself.
You have to play the game, to find out why you are playing the game! - eXistenZ
When I’m really stuck and I’m thinking “.. I’ve tried everything in every possible combination, every item on every item, nothing works!” I then resort to “right, there must be something wrong with this game, it definitely has a bug cos I’ve tried everything!”.
Then I check the walkthrough and it says something like ‘click on the small hole in the skirting board..’
“Wait a sec.. what was that, there’s a hole in the skirting board?? 
Dammnit, how could I have missed that.” 
Yeah, I get annoyed at myself for not looking harder at the scenery, and using a walkthrough is invariably for not spotting something simple 
But in general, if I only look at a walkthrough once or twice during a whole game that’s quite good for me. I resist as much as possible. If I were playing a game like rhem or myst, I’d be at the walkthrough all the time, but then, those games are too hard for me so I wouldn’t even bother with them. There are the ocassional convoluted puzzles that after looking at the solution I may still not understand them and know that I would never have solved them anyway. But I hate it when I see the answer and then realise how simple the puzzle could have been to solve if I’d just been thinking outside the box a little more.
First registered in 2005. Original creator of: Place that Quote! - Adventure Game Sounds - Decipher the Anagram! - Name that Inventory! - A Face to Place!
I usually have 2 games installed at the same time ,so if I get stuck or bored, I play the other one a while and then go back to first one.
If I’m stuck and I if I can, I ask someone for a hint, or use the hint system before that, but yes, I use walkthroughs if I tried everything I could think of…
I remembered when I first started playing AG’s I didn’t even know what a walkthrough was! 
And I used to have a pile of papers with puzzles, diagrams, posibilities, combinations, drawings, sketches, which I used to do in different coloured markers, so it wouldn’t be confusing. I still keep some of the old papers !
And I still do that, but more rare now… 
I mean, it hardly says anything bad about me that I didn’t think to use some fish guts with an iron mask to get a captured cat, does it?
Oh, no! not that! That was sooooo stupid! I only managed it by trial and error. Like using the phone on the wall sign! Annoying!
EDIT:
I just remembered , I promised this to myself some time ago, that if a BS5 was made I won’t use ANY hint, ANY walkthroughs, and not listen to ANY friend on how they solved a BS 5 puzzle!
(I was stuck for 2 months in BS2, ah.. the good old days…I didn’t care, I started to know every character line and stuff from it…)
I am baaaaaaaack!
The point at which I consult a walkthrough is the point at which trying on my own ceases to be fun and starts feeling like work. How long that takes varies based on everything from the game design to how well the puzzle is clued to my mood at the time. Games are supposed to be fun, so if I hit a point that is no longer fun, I will use a hint to move myself beyond that point. As I see it, this is entertainment, not a second job.
If it’s just a hard puzzle but I have a clue how to approach it I usually try and try and try. I don’t have an actual time limit.
If I am completely stumped and have no idea what I am supposed to do in the game and have already scouted all the areas, I will seek help rather fast.
Also if I think I know what to do (it seems obvious) but the game doesn’t allow me to do it (something is missing and I get no hint at all towards what it could be) I usually deem the puzzle unfair and check the result.
Like Annacat above said, it’s pretty much just when it doesn’t feel fun anymore. Tricky puzzles and exploring the surroundings can still be quite fun - to a certain point.
Currently Playing: Dragon Age Origins: Awakening
Recently Played: Red Embrace: Hollywood, Dorfromantik, Heirs & Graces, AI: The Somnium Files, PRICE, Frostpunk, The Shapeshifting Detective (CPT), Disco Elysium, Dream Daddy, Four Last Things, Jenny LeClue - Detectivu, The Signifier
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