Spark Game Design

Multiple Solutions Are Bad if Not All of Them Work
Suppose during a video game, the player must correctly answer a question to move on. The question was thought up by Alexander Grisand, the main character’s arch nemesis. He asks the character the following question:

“What is the third letter of the alphabet?”

The obvious choice is ‘c‘, but the answer to this puzzle is ‘e‘, because ‘e‘ is the third letter of “the alphabet”. At least that is the answer according to the designer. The main problem here is that ‘c‘ is also a correct answer, but if the player answers ‘c‘, he or she does not get to move on. This presents a problem I see in a myriad of games today. Instead of trying to think of a solution to a puzzle, you have to try to think of the designer’s solution. The player isn’t figuring out puzzles. Instead, the player is figuring out how the designer’s mind works.

Also, it is annoying to a player when he or she can think of five possible solutions (that all seem equally valid) to a puzzle but only one of them works. To them, there are multiple solutions that could work, but only one does. And the one that does work doesn’t seem that “right” when they think of it. Players feel much more gratification when they know the solution they come up with will work for sure (Once they figure it out!).

A Way to Make It Work
Now, how could we make that alphabet puzzle work? If the designer made sure that prior to the puzzle, the player receives knowledge of Alexander Grisand’s love for riddles. Then, the player would be trying to figure out Alexander’s mind, and not the designer’s.

So, how is figuring out Grisand’s mind different from figuring out the designer’s? Well, it is different in two ways:

1. The player does not receive knowledge of whether or not the designer likes riddles.
2. Figuring out the mind of a character keeps you in the game world. Figuring out how a designer thinks breaks immersion.

Breaking Immersion Is Bad
Bad puzzle design can break immersion, and broken immersion can destroy a game playing experience. In order to avoid this, designers must try to anticipate how other players will solve their puzzles. Here are some questions a designer must ask:

• Does the player know the rules and limitations of the world?
• Does the puzzle make sense with respect to these rules and regulations? In other words, does it follow the game’s own rules?
• Is there more than one way to solve the puzzle given these rules and limitations and if so, do all solutions work?
• If all solutions do not work, is there a good reason (that the player should be able to figure out) for only the specific solution?
• Once the player comes up with the correct solution, is it obvious to him or her that the solution is correct?

Asking these questions will hopefully help in creating more puzzles with solutions that a player can come up with because of his or her wit, not because of the ability to understand the designer’s mind.