Do you enjoy puzzle solving games?

[RCBH928]

There are games like Doom that have mini puzzles that you get the effect of " ha ha that was fun" and others that are logical and made to be solved like The Room on iOS. Then you have Myst. There are games that are completely complex and hard to solve puzzles that I really doubt any one went through without any help or guide. I like to mention point-and-click games that are notorious for illogical puzzle solutions. I extremely hate puzzles where you have to go to multiple areas/rooms to get past the next obstacle, you are jus there wondering what to do or who to talk to in this big world just so you can move forward with this game. The irony is that Point-and-Click and Myst are extremely popular, maybe I am in the minority.

Whats your opinion on this? They are more headache/work for me than fun.

[Ziggy]

I don't mind if something isn't immediately obvious, but I hate when the solution isn't something that is logical. I love point-and-click games, but you're right, a lot of them had solutions to puzzles that would never be obvious. A lot of times you'd have to just trial and error to figure it out, rather than use your brain.



The funniest puzzle I've ever come across in a game was the math puzzle in Shining the Holy Ark. You come to a room with some stones and plaques on the walls that read...

"Offer seven stones equally to two gods."
"Aquamarine is worth half as much as the black onyx."
"Opal and sapphire together are worth as much as the black onyx and emerald put together."
"The diamond is worth as much as the aquamarine and emerald put together."
"The emerald is worth twice as much as the aquamarine, black onyx, and opal put together."
"The sapphire is worth as much as the black onyx and opal put together."
"The ruby is worth twice as much as the black onyx."

From only this, you have to figure out the worth of each stone. I was in high school at the time and figured this out with pen and paper, I even had fun doing it. At the time, I was totally enamored by the game, and it made me chuckle that they put such a thing in it. At my currently age, if I came across such a puzzle in a game, I don't know, I might be annoyed and just Google the answer. Although, at least an algebraic equation is something you can solve with your brain as oppose to some arbitrary puzzle in a point-and-click.

[PretentiousHipster]

Obsidian might be a good point and click game for you. Except for a maze puzzle in the beginning the rest are more logical.

I guess the level design of Doom can be like a puzzle but I don't like them. It is a fast paced shooter and being stuck in a puzzle completely disrupts the flow of it.

[Ziggy]

[PretentiousHipster]

The more I look back on Swat 4 the more I respect it. I hated the AI issues but its level design was fantastic. It was like the left side of the photo you postes here, but still I never actually felt lost. It all felt organized.

Of course it was a slow and methodical shooter so maybe because I was taking my time that was stopping me from getting lost

[racketboy]

I don't think I'd want much in shooters. Some relatively clever stuff that isn't too time consuming is nice, but for games like that, I'm not looking for deep cerebral things.
I like puzzle games, but when I'm in the mood for them

[MrPopo]

I don't mind if something isn't immediately obvious, but I hate when the solution isn't something that is logical. I love point-and-click games, but you're right, a lot of them had solutions to puzzles that would never be obvious. A lot of times you'd have to just trial and error to figure it out, rather than use your brain.



The funniest puzzle I've ever come across in a game was the math puzzle in Shining the Holy Ark. You come to a room with some stones and plaques on the walls that read...

"Offer seven stones equally to two gods."
"Aquamarine is worth half as much as the black onyx."
"Opal and sapphire together are worth as much as the black onyx and emerald put together."
"The diamond is worth as much as the aquamarine and emerald put together."
"The emerald is worth twice as much as the aquamarine, black onyx, and opal put together."
"The sapphire is worth as much as the black onyx and opal put together."
"The ruby is worth twice as much as the black onyx."

From only this, you have to figure out the worth of each stone. I was in high school at the time and figured this out with pen and paper, I even had fun doing it. At the time, I was totally enamored by the game, and it made me chuckle that they put such a thing in it. At my currently age, if I came across such a puzzle in a game, I don't know, I might be annoyed and just Google the answer. Although, at least an algebraic equation is something you can solve with your brain as oppose to some arbitrary puzzle in a point-and-click.

Dishonored 2 had an optional puzzle sort of like that, only it was one of those ones you solve by forming the relationship grid. The sort of "there are five people, they each live in a house of a different color, they each prefer a different food, etc" and then you get a series of statements such as "Judy lives next to the blue house with the person who likes grilled cheese", and from that you know Judy isn't in a blue house and doesn't have grilled cheese as their favorite, and then whoever is in the blue house likes grilled cheese, and from those statements you gotta figure out all the mappings. This puzzle adorns the door to the next level. You have two options; you can either solve the puzzle, or you can do the rest of the level's quests and end up learning the exact code. I ended up doing both.

But if you want to talk cardinal sins in adventure games, how about the monkey wrench puzzle in Monkey Island 2? At one point there is a valve you need to turn, but there's no handle. The solution is to pick up a monkey from another screen and use it on the nut on the valve. Because it's a monkey wrench, you see. So it doesn't localize well (relying on the pun) and is the only pun based puzzle I can remember in that game; the rest of them make physical sense.

[pook99]

In general I do not enjoy puzzle games. I have played and loved a few classic ones (shadowgate, maniac mansion) and will occasionally play a puzzle platformer, but in general I avoid puzzle games.

Puzzles in other games only annoy me when the solution is completely illogical. A well made puzzle can be very fun to figure out and leave you with a real sense of satisfaction, but there are many times I will get completely stuck on a puzzle, look up the answer, and just shake my head at how obtuse the solution was. A good puzzle will make me kick myself for missing the solution.

[Ziggy]

[RCBH928]

I really wanted to like Zack and Wiki, but the illogical solutions, trial and error system(do random things until you figure it out), and punishing you by having you to repeat the all steps to get give yet another shot at the puzzle was too frustrating for me

I guess the level design of Doom can be like a puzzle but I don't like them. It is a fast paced shooter and being stuck in a puzzle completely disrupts the flow of it.

I feel like the puzzles add to the "you are doomed" effect.

But if you want to talk cardinal sins in adventure games, how about the monkey wrench puzzle in Monkey Island 2? At one point there is a valve you need to turn, but there's no handle. The solution is to pick up a monkey from another screen and use it on the nut on the valve. Because it's a monkey wrench, you see. So it doesn't localize well (relying on the pun) and is the only pun based puzzle I can remember in that game; the rest of them make physical sense.

I really found the sense of humor behind Monkey Island funny, unfortunately, I am not up for wasting my time figure a ludicrous solution for a puzzle. I think they made it so because back in the pre-internet days you wanted to play a game to death since there wasn't anything else to do.

In general I do not enjoy puzzle games. I have played and loved a few classic ones (shadowgate, maniac mansion) and will occasionally play a puzzle platformer, but in general I avoid puzzle games.

Puzzles in other games only annoy me when the solution is completely illogical. A well made puzzle can be very fun to figure out and leave you with a real sense of satisfaction, but there are many times I will get completely stuck on a puzzle, look up the answer, and just shake my head at how obtuse the solution was. A good puzzle will make me kick myself for missing the solution.

I agree