I've always wondered -- after shipping a new game, and sitting back to observe gamers' reactions, are you frequently surprised by how gamers approach the puzzles you have designed? Were there puzzles you thought were easy that gamers struggle mightily to solve? Were there puzzles you thought were tough but gamers don't have any trouble with them?

Do you breathe a sigh of relief when someone publishes a walkthrough for your game? Or do you feel that some of the excitement and challenge of your game has just been removed?

Good question Becky, cant wait for an answer.

That is a good question. I bet one of the more frustrating thing about game development is you don't get to look over the players sholder to see how they approach a game. Feedback in the forums on the web is the only real clue.

I don't develop games, but I do create web applications for students to use when registering for classes, checking grades, schedules, etc. It sometimes surprises me the way people use the application, usually not at all how we thought they would. I can imagine with something as complex as a PC game, you would get even more variety in how players approach different puzzles.

Louis

For me it was really strange when I released "Harvest". I had always been a game player, and suddenly, I was on the other side of the table. I was so surprised how some of the puzzles I had created were really easy for some people, and really hard for other people. Puzzles I thought were easy, someone else thought was dreadfully hard. For instance, the combination to the cat safe puzzle was lying on the counter next to the vase in the kitchen. When I created the game, I thought this would be overly obvious. However, in reality, you wouldn't believe how many people never found the clue, and just kept pressing buttons until the safe opened. One thing I learned was that my experiences and opinions AS A GAMER PLAYER many times are completely different from another game player. I was glad when a walkthrough was released for "Harvest" simply because it was so neat to see a walkthrough posted for something I created. However, it was fun reading peoples hint requests on the forums, and giving them help.

Mike.

I have never liked walkthroughs and cheats, but I know that's a personal thing. I know people who always play games with a walkthrough beside them.

On the puzzle side of things, I often worry that the puzzles I design will be too easy for everyone. It's hard to be objective when you know how it works and have played the puzzles hundreds of times

Some interesting answers.

I've had the experience many times of struggling with a puzzle and then someone else in my family solves it within seconds. Everyone's experiences as a gameplayer ARE a little different.

That's partly what's so fascinating about these games. They are the only entertainment medium in which every person has to respond perfectly and in the same way in order to finish. (If there is more than one solution to a challenge, then everyone has to respond perfectly in two or three ways, which is still remarkable.)

In a movie theater you finish the experience just by sitting through to the end. Same thing with TV. In a board game, (chess, Monopoly) responses differ all the time and no game is exactly the same. The experience of reading a book and the required response may be closest to playing an adventure game -- reading requires that you understand the mind of the author enough to finish the book. Still, you can do this without comprehending every word.

In an adventure game you have to find exactly the right inventory item or you have to complete the sliding tile puzzle or you have to arrange the musical tones in the correct order. Otherwise you can't finish.

The gamer must "read" the mind of the designer rather closely. That's what a walkthrough writer does, I guess. The walkthrough writer is a mediator who is very good at reading the mind of the designer and then interpreting what's going on to the gamer.

Under these circumstances, I would think that being objective about a puzzle's difficulty would be next to impossible.

I know there are gamers who finish an adventure game and feel dissatisfied because it was too "easy." I have never felt this way. I don't think I've ever played a game where I considered the challenges to be too easy. Even "The Legend of Lotus Spring" had me stuck for awhile in a couple of places.

I have sometimes wondered if the complaints of "too easy" meant that the game went by too fast if the gamer used a walkthrough. Some games have challenges that, once you use the walkthrough, are solveable with a few mouse clicks. Enough of these in a game and the game seems too "easy" (even though the gamer would have been far more challenged if s/he had attempted the challenges without cheating).

On the other hand, puzzles that are randomly generated and can't be solved with a walkthrough then make the game too "hard" because cheating isn't allowed.

I know, I am being extremely cynical, but I have seen posts where a game was described as easy and then the gamer mentioned using a walkthrough.

I would imagine that part of designing a game is to create an environment that steers the poor, muddle-headed gamer in the right direction mentally so as to be in the correct frame of mind for understanding how to approach puzzles and challenges. I'm not sure how this is done, but when it's done well the game is tremendously fun. The game makes you feel as though you are a lot smarter than you know you really are.

This is exactly the reason I don't like walkthroughs. Another is when the publisher puts "30 hours gameplay" or something like it on the box. Then you get people who finish it in 10 hours using a walkthrough and complain.

Can I just put in my few pence worth here?
I am back on Magnetic again
I was one of the first people to get this game and I loved it. It was challenging - you have to work out what the game is and then work out how to win - but Peter had a website up and running and the enthusiasm of those people playing was breathtaking. And then suddenly there was a walkthrough completed ( a good walkthrough don't get me wrong) but it seemed to take away the whole ethos of the game. ( I can't say too much more because I would start to give away the whole basis of Magnetic) But to most of us it was like a slap in the face. We had all worked hard at the game, we had all solved the puzzles and gained the rewards with only a slight twitch in the right direction. The challenges were such a major part of the game and here they all were laid out for anyone to see.
I know there are some people don't like to play any game without a walkthrough and I do not begrudge them that in any way, but I just wish this wonderful walkthrough had not appeared quite so quickly

It's difficult, isn't it? There are plenty of games I simply would never have finished without a walkthrough. When you are fully and furiously stuck, the walkthrough greatly adds to your enjoyment of the game. I guess it's all in HOW they are used, and the game designer (or the walkthrough writer for that matter) has no control over that.

That's strikes a real nerve with me too. I know I may not be brilliant on any given game - but I am fairly facile and there is no way some people could breeze through some games as fast as they did without a WT or massive hints. Have no problem with the WT use, resort to them myself at times. BUT to complain about how short the game is afterwards is at minimum bizarre. It isn't just irritating - it can negatively impact sales. I bet it makes many a game developer flame out.

Laura *pet peeve number two covered here*

I'm new here, listed as a "lost soul", so this is all new to me. Do any of the games have a hint list in the menu? Like if you are stuck, you could go to this menu and get a hint, but not a whole walkthrough? If this sounds bizarre or is impossible forgive me but like I said I am new. I recently bought an original issue of Dark Fall and have only played it a little. It seems to me to be a difficult game, so I went to the Nancy Drew games because I knew they are meant for kids. Anyway I am rambling. A hint list to me would be better than a walkthrough. -Cheryl

well well - Syd we got another one heh-heh.

Hi Chelyha

The uhh "Lost Soul" reference is a warning really - hmmm maybe we should have warned folks BEFORE they joined bwah-ha-ha-ha

As for hints only - that's why I live at the hints forum when playing a new game. Also the Universal Hints System (UHS) site is a wonderful place to go in a tough game. UHS - Just the hints you need

Laura

Yep Laura - we went on a looking for Louis hunt and we find a Cheryl instead

If memory serves, Torin's Passage has an in-game hints system as does 7th Guest and 11th Hour. Return to Zork and Escape from Monkey Island came with a hints guide. I'm sure there are others out there but I can't think of them right now.