What makes for a good puzzle?

[StaceyPowers]

What ingredients go into good puzzle design?  

[The Blackangel]

Search and discover.
Pure dumb luck.
Cryptic clues.
Violence.

[StaceyPowers]

36 minutes ago, The Blackangel said:

Search and discover.
Pure dumb luck.
Cryptic clues.
Violence.

Interesting you list the last one, considering I actually think tactical combat in games like TLOU could be classified as a kind of melding of puzzle and fighting.

[m76]

1. Make the rules clear
   Since games aren't full on reality simulators, the player can't know what can and can't be done in the game, unless the game makes it clear
2. Feedback
   Always tell the player in no uncertain terms when they did something right, if you don't give the player proper feedback they might flipflop between methods despite already finding the good one but they moved on due to lack of clear feedback
3. Don't change the rules
   The rules of solving the same type of puzzle should stay the same throughout the entire game
4. Allow all possible logical solutions
   If an environment based puzzle can have multiple solutions to it, be sure to accept all possible solutions as valid
   there were times when I got stuck in games because I found an alternate solution to a puzzle, but the designer had a specific one in mind
5. Don't make the player remember clues
   This is more of a convenience rule, but I hate it when games force the player to remember things, what if I didn't play the game for a week between finding one of the clues and trying to solve a puzzle?

[Reality vs Adventure]

I hate puzzles in games. The only time I enjoyed it was in RE7; the birthday cake room. That kind of puzzle where they make it scary, or just something interesting is an exception. It wasn’t some dumb pointless distraction. 
Da Vinci Code on ps2 had an interesting puzzle design as you investigate murder mysteries and other interesting things related to that setting. But a puzzle game like that I won’t play twice. 
Hellblade was interesting and I would of loved it without the tremendous puzzles. They just got carried away with it without really a point. 
But yes, puzzles with violence and scares are awesome. Oh yeah also the DLC in RE7-escape that bedroom is perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bring me more of that main dish; don’t bother me with a side of hard dry bread. That scene should have been in the main story. Jerks always want to leave out the sweets to make money later. 

[killamch89]

1. Should hide all the pieces in plain sight.
2. challenging but extremely rewarding
3. It should be ambitious and unique

[The Blackangel]

16 hours ago, killamch89 said:

1. Should hide all the pieces in plain sight.
2. Challenging but extremely rewarding.
3. It should be ambitious and unique.

As odd as it sounds, those are often that absolute most challenging puzzles you can face. We always search under floorboards, or dig up random spots in the ground, toss the bed, and the damn thing turns out to be right there on the table. It's due to the fact that our brains are trained to think that puzzle pieces are hidden somewhere that would be hard to find, not where our eyes would hit on it immediately.

Honestly, I wish I had thought of that stipulation. That's a damn good one. Kudos @killamch89

[Empire]

I think it depends a lot on what the puzzle game. Puzzle games are just such a broad category its hard to mark down what really works. Good puzzle games are good about laying out the principles of the puzzle and allow you to piece them together. When you figure out the puzzle you want to feel like you made a jump that allowed you to figure it out. A lot of lesser puzzle games seem to fail to do this and I'll struggle forever and give up but even when I figure out the puzzle it feels more like I stumbled into a solution that still doesn't really make sense or doesn't feel like there is logic to the solution.

Portal is the best example, the best puzzle games are the ones that teach you what you are expected to do (make Portals to get to the end of the level with complications in-between) and the rest is left up to you. A good puzzle game lets the player think not think for them and let them learn and challenge them by adding new elements of play, complications etc.

[killamch89]

On 4/25/2021 at 12:24 PM, The Blackangel said:

As odd as it sounds, those are often that absolute most challenging puzzles you can face. We always search under floorboards, or dig up random spots in the ground, toss the bed, and the damn thing turns out to be right there on the table. It's due to the fact that our brains are trained to think that puzzle pieces are hidden somewhere that would be hard to find, not where our eyes would hit on it immediately.

Honestly, I wish I had thought of that stipulation. That's a damn good one. Kudos @killamch89

No problem. I agree, the most challenging puzzles I always faced hid the pieces in plain sight. At times, it takes a look at the bigger picture to realize that the answer was in front of you the entire time.

[StaceyPowers]

On 4/24/2021 at 1:24 PM, m76 said:

Since games aren't full on reality simulators, the player can't know what can and can't be done in the game, unless the game makes it clear

You put perfectly into words something I always struggle to explain!

[lludawg]

I like puzzles that are challenging but not unsolvable. For example, I have played games where you must know something very specific in order to solve the puzzle and that just makes it impossible without some sort of guide or prior knowledge. 

Often times I find mobile puzzle games fun because sometimes the levels are hard but with some luck and persistence you are usually able to complete the level.

[Heatman]

On 4/24/2021 at 6:02 PM, The Blackangel said:

Search and discover.
Pure dumb luck.
Cryptic clues.
Violence.

Haha, the line of pure dumb luck really kicked it very hard for me and it's actually true because some noobs actually get damn lucky by doing something off note and get it right in the end.