Riddle Me This
Puzzle mechanics can be tricky; not just because they can be difficult to design or because they often require unique assets to create. It’s just that puzzles are tricky to classify. Here’s one definition I’ve found:
A puzzle is fun and has a right answer.
—Scott Kim
While Mr. Kim has designed waaaay more puzzles than I ever will,11 this definition doesn’t feel quite right to me. What bothers me is the use of the word “fun.” Fun is completely subjective, like the words “funny” and “sexy.” What I think is fun may not be fun for you. And frankly, I don’t find many puzzles in video games to be fun. For me, there’s nothing worse than a puzzle whose solution I just can’t fathom. At least with a difficult boss monster, you can brute force your way through to victory. You just can’t do that with a puzzle. So, with apologies to Mr. Kim, I have created my own definition:
A puzzle...