Level Up.pdf

Riddle Me This 349
another player says, “ you ’ re hot ” and “ you ’ re cold ” depending on how close
you are? Essentially, that ’ s what the game designer needs to do for the
player. Make your hints relevant to the puzzle. Ask yourself “ what would I
want to know at this point? ” Remind the player what their goal is. Use
camera cuts to show cause and effects that happen during the puzzle. Use
voice and sound effects to give positive reinforcement. There are really only
four ways to solve a puzzle: reason, knowledge, skill, or plain ol ’ dumb luck.
The best puzzles allow players to use all four of these in some capacity to
solve the puzzle. Granted you don ’ t want the player to stumble onto the
solution, but if that ’ s what it takes, then a stumped player should at least be
able to do that.
You need to give the player the “ A - Ha! ” moment
(no, it ’ s not the moment when you realize that
“ Take On Me ” is a pretty catchy song). It ’ s the
moment when they realize how the puzzle fits
together and the solution. They may still need to
execute the puzzle, but that part should happen
quickly; by that point, it ’ s just a matter of getting
the grunt work done.
However, if they don ’ t get that “ A - Ha! ” moment
and fail to solve the puzzle, don ’ t make it a big
deal. Find a way for the puzzle to be solved regardless of the player. Give
the player hints or even the answer if you have to. Of course, getting the
solution without solving the puzzle should cost the player something — a
bonus or cash, as in the diminishing rewards in the Professor Layton games.
Should you take hints or guess an answer wrongly don ’ t make the
punishment or payment something so severe as losing a life. Let the
decision to pay-to-progress be the player ’ s choice to pay the fine and skip
ahead. Progression is a right, not a reward.
Players are generally smarter than you think when it comes to solving
puzzles, but don ’ t resort to cryptic or nonsensical solutions. An example of
this is in an adventure game where the player had to disguise themselves