Favorite Puzzles?
MarkDarin
Former Telltale Staff
You've played the game. You've debated the ending. You've expressed your feelings about the puzzles. Now we'd like to know which ones were your favorites. If we end up making more Puzzle Agent, what types of puzzles would you like to see more of?
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I really like the logic puzzles where you have to reconstruct the situation from a few statements. A few puzzles like that are pretty much a must for every episode, and ideally they could use one or two more than in this one.
The Bugs in Boxes and crate carrying bird series were very nice as well. Those particular types have run their course, but I'd love to see more mini-series like that.
Yup, that's the only one I picked (can't pick a bunch, only one favorite. Well, I can't).
What comes to my mind is that i like some of the puzzles they are making in the genre called adventure games. I also liked the puzzles in Impossible Mission on the C64. Overall i would welcome some new, better balanced, less repetitive and more interesting puzzles.
It's really hard to imagine all those puzzles without some images but let's give it a try, and i might be wrong here:
The snowmobile ones, also if it shows up more than once were nice but they should have been spiced up more, different routes, additional elements etc.
I kind of liked the Tapeworm Twister because i liked the gfx although i had no idea what to achieve from the instructions. I also liked some of the other rotation puzzles and mainly the effort of trying to make them different with not this much changes was quite good but some like the snowmobile motor were still too easy again and lacked an additional element.
The Security Screw puzzle could have been great if it wouldn't have been so damn easy, more of them please!
The Maw of Madness wasn't this logical, as there is no need for the second arrow from the top, beside of this okay for one puzzle but too easy.
Employee error puzzle serie was okay as well but too easy again and it should have been less repetitive.
Changing chairs was ugly but kind of weird, i was definitely missing more Escher inspired puzzles.
The bug puzzles were okayish to good but too easy again.
The Window Watcher puzzle was okayish.
Screw-up in space was way to easy but i liked the perspective idea.
Needed more tries for the fish riddle, so good from this point but somehow too standard.
Barrier Blot-Out was unprecise to steer but i liked the idea like the arrangements puzzle with the food.
Those bird holding weight puzzles were too easy.
The finding out the correct line puzzle was too easy but normally i like them.
Gnegative Gnome was boring and way to easy.
The Key Confusion Puzzle was not this well designed as it offers too many valid solutions.
The Fuse puzzle was ugly and boring.
Arm-Wrestling was meh as well.
Frantic Fish was badly described and boring.
Locksmithing was boring, too symmetric and too easy, the master version had the same issues and you more solved it by the automatic snapping.
Some of the more text driven riddles had not this clear instructions.
The last puzzle with the arrows was too easy again.
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Some were enjoyful, others were too easy and some completely sucked. Overall i had the feeling that you can come up with way more interesting non standard puzzles and spice up the standard ones if you want to and have the time for doing so.
Here's the condensed version: Blah blah blah I'm a big jerk blah blah blah all the puzzles sucked.
You know, it's okay if they were challenging for you.
This reminds me of Detlef Kersten's Kommissar Kniepel. Very enjoyful riddle books for children which still are also interesting for adults. Interesting cases and they are harder than compareable ones in puzzle agent.
The Maw of Madness is a perfect example of how puzzles can fit well in a storytelling game: it's bizarre and disorienting, just like the situation Tethers is actually facing at that moment; it's atmospheric, perfectly coherent with character development and the general progression of the story. Many other puzzles do the same in a fine way: Room Key Confusion introduces us to the awkward puzzle-fixation of Scoggins' inhabitants; Wrangling Watchmen and Security Screw-up engage us in Tether's inevitable detective job; Hydraulic Headache is a credible but complex puzzle which provides a satisfactory ending.
Some other puzzles, however, have simply nothing to do with the events taking place. I'm referring, of course, to the three nonsense riddles in the Lodge: I know that Bjorn and mates just love solving puzzles for its sake, but give me at least the illusion of mystery, or some vague consistency with the characters and the situation at hand. The socks puzzle is probably the worst, most insignificant one. But there's more: some puzzles just don't feel good where they are: I found Screw-up in Space quite clever, but it completely ruined the mysterious, suspended dream-like atmosphere. It would be quite a boring nightmare one that ends with me trying to fix up a couple of cables... The same goes for the first two anti-climatic puzzles in the factory (Barrier Blot-Out and Fire Up the Furnace): too easy, and completely unrealistic. In quite the same conditions, the paradoxical difficulty of Frantic Fish was absurd enough to convey some true tension.
Facultative puzzles, on the other hand - being immersed in a slow-paced, relaxed atmosphere - have character consistency as their only prerequisite: almost no complaint here. My only issue with them is their being almost absolutely limited to a single area (the Diner) and to a couple of characters (Darrel and Steve). More puzzles with Bo, the Sheriff or the Receptionist would have been good (and perhaps would have provided a more definite feeling of "depth" and non-linearity).
All in all, good job. But Telltale must definitely try and improve the loose formula of the Layton games: it's all about storytelling after all.
I would be nice to see Puzzles being based in the world the character is, like say the movies the beautiful mind, that he see's stuff no one else do, and you complete the puzzles in that world.
Hope we will get more of this game, and that it will continue where the pilot episode left off.
Doh!
It's my favourite too: well integrated to the story, and when i solved it (with no hints) I said: WOW! It was always in front of me!
I also really enjoy easy-to-do puzzles inbetween the harder ones. That way when I'm feeling particularly stupid, I can do one of the easier ones and feel better about it!
well, in that case I would have chosen all the bug puzzles and the passing footballer puzzles, I really liked them
The fish one also deserves a mention for clever design and difficulty reasons
That was the only puzzle I really didn't like to be honest. I don't mind puzzles based on perspective (I don't really know how else to describe this one), but it was way too early in the game for a puzzle with such a vague description. It was a puzzle that only made sense after you solved it (at least for me and the people I played it with), which, just like with 'normal' adventure game puzzles, is never a good sign.
I really liked the bugs in boxes-series and the air mail-series. The puzzle where you figure out which guest gets which meal and the puzzle with the rivers and the fish were both great as well.
The biggest complaint I had about some of the puzzles (and again, the people I played with) was that some of them didn't really give you a clear sense of what you were supposed to be doing. I can understand that it's hard to give instructions without giving too much away, but some of them just didn't give you enough information. I'll give some examples later if needed, when I have time to start the game again.
Even if I have some complaints, I really liked most of what was there, and the fact that I was able to play the game with a group of people in the same room (connecting a laptop to a big screen-tv is the best!) made the experience really special. At one point it sort of turned into a drinking game with everyone shouting answers at the same time.
So yeah, I'd like more.:)
I agree with you, when I stuck on a hard puzzle it feels better that I at least can solve a easier one.
I liked the mix of different types of puzzles.
Love the story, the characters and the athmosphere in the game.
Personally, I recognised the symbols in, perhaps, less than a second, as I saw this puzzle many times earlier. Really, it took me more time to understand how the puzzle works. (I thought that I had to put the symbols in order.)
However, when my brother played the game and reached the puzzle, he was absolutely clueless, and I forbade him to use the hints, hehe. Then our friend came, and took a look at the puzzle. His reaction was same as my brother, and he sat with him, trying to figure out the answer. At one point I allowed my brother to use the two first clues. Needless to say, I was shocked by the fact that they did not know the puzzle. So I called my father, in order to prove that I am not the only one in the world who knew about it. This was not a good proof.
So my brother, friend and father didn't know the answer. Well, my mother, at least, should know. She didn't.
I was completely surprised. I let my brother take the last clue to the answer, and I had to wait for the next day in order to confirm that I was not the only person who knew this puzzle.
So, I wonder, how many of you had similar cases?
I didn't have a problem with it myself, but I don't know how easy it would have been if I hadn't seen it in this episode of the Simpsons.
Otherwise the puzzles were of good quality and the hand drawn graphics (no proper 3D and no obvious vector stuff) were a huge bonus on them. Also the pipe puzzles didn't have generic graphics and also many other puzzles had original graphics which was really immersion inductive. Good work on that! Some puzzles were easy and some could have been altogether improved, but it's a good start, albeit not exactly a Prof. Layton slayer just yet.
I think all the puzzles had good enough descriptions, all the rules and hints were there already and of course they wouldn't be puzzles if the rules weren't a little bit cryptic too. I didn't have to use the gum at all though, but it's useful for the less patient ones.
I'll just put my thoughts here, I voted very many of them as they had either a nice feel, a clever idea or they stumped me for a while:
Cracked Crossword - Office
The snapping pieces wouldn't have been necessary, instead freedom to turn the pieces (90 degrees) and match them until they were correctly aligned would have increased the difficulty quite some, and also the tastiness of it all.
Directions & Detours - Outside hotel (Bjorn)
I understand that this is sort of a introductory puzzle, so I'm not delving too much on this. It's a fun concept though and the later ones improved on it a bit. Maybe some further variables would up the ante? Like thin ice that breaks once you cross it or stuff like that.
Room Key Confusion - Hotel (Reception)
I saw the answer immediately so it wasn't too difficult, but idea was nice. Would have wished to see some more optical illusion puzzles too. Something that is right there if you can see it.
Wrangling Watchmen - Factory (Sheriff)
I liked this kind of deducting puzzles. Not really difficult if you approach it systematically/logically (either goes), but there's a certain sense of success there.
Find the Fuse - Outside diner (repairman)
Took me a while to figure out, felt myself a tad bit stupid for not getting it sooner.
Security Screw-up - Diner (Sheriff)
This had nice atmosphere to it, it gave a sort of continuity to the game. Although very easy, it felt like some detective job. I understand it's not going to be detective game, but these kinds of puzzles belong to that field sort of, no? More like this please! (bit harder though)
Menacing Map - Forest (Lobb)
Similar to the pipegames, this was fairly simple to solve. Might be hard to make this more difficult. Maybe through adding complexity or tricky paths that take longer route, but might still cross the way or something. Not sure.
At this point I'd like to commend you guys and the original artist on the unique graphics for most of the puzzles. It's really nice and didn't feel too inserted, blends nicely to the game.
Stovepipe Stumper - Hotel (stove)
Loved the little intermission here. This was fairly simple though as, although I adore the graphics (once again, there's something 50's style there, it's great) the uniqueness also makes it easier to solve as the pipe parts match in a single way only.
The Maw of Madness - Hotel alley (Bo Murphy)
Abstract, nice and intriguing idea, but somewhat far-fetched (and easy once again, bit like the snowmobile thing, but with more variables).
Don't want to know what tethers did to the guy.
Changing Chairs - Diner (chair stack)
The art was ugly in this one, most probably on purpose so I won't comment that any more. However, although the chairs auto-aligned, they also needed to be in correct position in absolute manner too, not just relative to each other (like in others). Nice, I liked this, as it had some of the pieces rotated and the picture's position wasn't immediately clear. (had to move it a bit)
Window Watcher - Outside lodge (window)
Plenty of choices to choose from, but not that hard. Did need some focus though.
Going After Glori - Outside hotel (Snowmobile)
Footprints were a nice touch. Although later on they're just changed to something else.
Screw-up in Space - Space (foreman)
Nice jump to somewhere totally different. Perspective on the puzzle was interesting, although some harder variations would have been possible on this one too.
Perplexed Sock Picker - Lodge (left guy)
Good, had to think some. Math puzzles are fun too.
Grickleback Baffler - Lodge (middle guy)
This required some drawing from me, as the trick needed some thinking. Took a while too.
A Quorum of Crows - Lodge (Bjorn)
This was fun, trying to think about optimizations to the set. There were plenty of room for errors if one didn't take enough possibilities into account. That's a good thing and shows some true soul of the puzzles.
Locksmithing Learner - Lodge (table)
No one expects the spanish inquisition, or something very similar to that.. but in the end the puzzle was fairly easy due to snapping pieces. Maybe the improvements I thought about in my response for the first puzzle might be useful for harder difficulty. Snapping would suit easy difficulty.
Tracking Trouble - Outside lodge (tracks)
Took some inspiration and thinking. Nice with lots of turns and twists to make the player check his/her route twice.
Frantic Fish - Lake
Although others say this was boring and poorly described, I thought it was clever and needed some clear thinking. IMO all the rules were properly written and only thing that might cause problems with some is that it doesn't mention if an eaten fish could contain another fish, but that would have broken the puzzle.
Overall, this one was one of the better ones imo. Thumbs up and more like this please.
Snowmobile Snafu - Lodge outside (snowmobile)
Once again, the unique graphics rule, but make the matching somewhat easy. (I don't mean to say that the graphics should be changed, only the connecting edges could do with some fixing to blur the difference between the options)
Master Locksmith - Factory gate
Seemed hard at first, but the snapping thing almost solved it for me. I tried some logical structure at first (as in a composition of the parts), but it turned out to be somewhat different. Nice, but snapping helped too much.
Barrier Blot-Out - Factory
Nice change of pace.
Fire Up the Furnace - Factory
Snap snap. Also some of the shapes were a bit strange. Felt a little bit like a last minute addition.
Hydraulic Headache - Factory
This was the second puzzle I failed the first time, due to not reading the rules properly. Simple, stupid mistake condemning me to grade 7/10.
Gnegative Gnomes - Hotel (Window)
This was the first I failed due to not doublechecking. Fun idea, clever tricks although easy once you put your thought on it properly, not too obvious though. Points on that one.
Tapeworm Twister - Hotel (Bo Murphy)
Nice and fun. Easy. Same as the earlier mentions about these twisters.
Arm Wrestling Redux - Hotel alley (newspaper)
Another deduction puzzle. Good one, although there was a certain uncertaintity factor there.
New Employee Error - Outside hotel (Help sign)
Felt bit tacky, although a nice puzzle anyway. Not too hard.
Cut Your Losses - Outside hotel (Closed sign)
See above.
Air-Mailing - Diner (Steve)
I got a little bit bored with these. Good puzzle idea though. Now that we solved 3 of them in this, something different for the possible next one. Or maybe more birds and more difficult problems.
Contraband Carriers - Diner (Steve)
See above.
Hot Hawks - Diner (Steve)
See above the 'see above'.
Bugs in Boxes - Diner (Darryl & Darrel)
Familiar problem to me, so it was easy-ish to solve. Good and not too tacky reproduction.
Rearranging Rations - Diner (Glori)
Snapping dishes helped a bit too much. The shapes were quite logical though.
Diners and Dishes - Diner (Glori)
This was another fun deduction puzzle. Good one! Took a few checks. Before final submit.
More Bugs in Boxes - Diner (Darryl & Darrel)
Super Bugs in Boxes - Diner (Darryl & Darrel)
Nothing much to comment about these two. See the above answer.
4/5 stars
+ puzzle ideas
+ atmosphere
+ some puzzles really hit the spot, all had something good
+ original graphics
+ immersive, creepy storyline with twists and all. Left me wanting quite some more.
- snapping puzzles were too easy
- not much to interact in the game world, also hand leading on "drive the snowmobile to X" etc. made it more like a puzzle run. Might have been intentional though.
A Quorum of Crows probably would have been fun if I hadn't used all the hints and then STILL got the wrong answer multiple time due to thinking I was counting the number of birds. Oops!