#330548 - 05/20/08 09:48 AM
Re: Puzzle Madness
[Re: Rushes]
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Settled Boomer
Registered: 04/04/06
Posts: 832
Loc: Indiana
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I don't like mazes, maths puzzles I don't mind some math puzzles, but the ones with the base some other number than ten. My mind just can't compute anything but base ten. I love the games that are just puzzles like Pandora's Box, Safecraker, the Jewel of the Oracle (is that what is was called?), etc. I loved the puzzles. But it really wasn't an "adventure". The HOG games of the casual gaming are including more diverse puzzles and even some adventure now and I love it. But in an adventure game, I don't want to wander around aimlessly trying to figure out where the next puzzle is or what it even is because I don't really understand what is going on with the story. Oh, I don't like dying either, especially if there is no second chance like Nancy Drew games, cause I forget to save or where I saved last. I am sure that developers have problems trying to make a game that everyone would like. I thank them for all that they do to produce the games we have, whether or not I consider them a favorite game for me.  Koalanut
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So many games, so little time....
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#330581 - 05/20/08 10:40 AM
Re: Puzzle Madness
[Re: Koalanut]
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Sonic Boomer
Registered: 11/21/00
Posts: 27962
Loc: United Kingdom
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Hi  An adventure game without puzzles wouldn't BE an adventure game as far as I'm concerned !! And from silly puzzles to brain teasers - I want them !!  If all I am looking for is an intriguing story I will read a book or watch a film. Really the only type of puzzle I do object to is the timed (or stealth) sequence that ends in death if I fail - and where I have to try over and over again before I can progress in the game. That can definitely get very boring  Traditional adventure games have always been full of puzzles .... so I don't understand why people who don't like puzzle solving would bother to buy them in the first place  Cheers. Mad 
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Time : The Most Precious Commodity
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#330598 - 05/20/08 11:05 AM
Re: Puzzle Madness
[Re: Mad]
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Addicted Boomer
Registered: 01/03/08
Posts: 2264
Loc: Greece
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I like puzzles as long as they stay in one place... What i'm trying to say is that i don't like those whose you must wonder in more then one places in order to have them solved... I really like the puzzle you have to make all the lights turn on or slider pictures...
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Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.
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#330676 - 05/20/08 12:56 PM
Re: Puzzle Madness
[Re: Koalanut]
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GB Reviewer Glitches Moderator
Sonic Boomer
Registered: 10/24/00
Posts: 38736
Loc: southeast USA
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I love the games that are just puzzles like Pandora's Box, Safecraker, the Jewel of the Oracle (is that what is was called?), etc. I loved the puzzles. But it really wasn't an "adventure". I agree. But there seems to be some disagreement about where to draw the line. For example with Shivers and 7th Guest, both of which have you wandering around a house or museum doing puzzles -- Where is the difference between those games and Safecracker, where you also wander around a house doing puzzles? I'd still like to see more games like Jewels of the Oracle and Jewels 2, which few people would argue are puzzle games rather than adventure games. I've looked for similar games at Big Fish, but haven't seen any. What Big Fish calls "puzzle games" don't seem much like Jewels of the Oracle at all, and are often timed (yecch!). Something like Jewels of the Oracle would make an excellent casual game because you can pick it up and play it for a few minutes at a time. The HOG games of the casual gaming are including more diverse puzzles and even some adventure now and I love it. As usual I had to think a bit before I realized what the acronym was. Hidden Object Games sound too much like searching for inventory to me. If anyone knows of a casual game with puzzles like Jewels of the Oracle (or Safecracker for those who haven't played the 13-year-old Jewels of the Oracle), I'd be interested to know what it is.
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#330706 - 05/20/08 01:47 PM
Re: Puzzle Madness
[Re: Jenny100]
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True Blue Boomer
Registered: 07/10/05
Posts: 23997
Loc: UK
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If anyone knows of a casual game with puzzles like Jewels of the Oracle (or Safecracker for those who haven't played the 13-year-old Jewels of the Oracle), I'd be interested to know what it is. I'd say Azada comes pretty close. It's an excellent casual game with many puzzle variations. It's timed, though!
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"Bleat, Watson -- unmitigated bleat!" ~ Sherlock Holmes
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#330833 - 05/20/08 05:57 PM
Re: Puzzle Madness
[Re: Jenny100]
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Graduate Boomer
Registered: 07/06/07
Posts: 18262
Loc: Massachusetts
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I love puzzles (as long as they are not timed). I think adventure games with an equal amount of puzzles is challenging and adds to the adventure.
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Gail
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#330839 - 05/20/08 06:10 PM
Re: Puzzle Madness
[Re: GBC]
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Graduate Boomer
Registered: 12/13/03
Posts: 15022
Loc: Northeast NJ
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I have to agree.....
Please leave the timed puzzles out....I think I can deal with most anything...But the timed thing..
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Luv Dar
GameBoomers "Games Are More Enticing Because Of Our "MaG"nificent Efficient Radiant Site"
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#330881 - 05/20/08 07:14 PM
Re: Puzzle Madness
[Re: Darleen03]
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Settled Boomer
Registered: 12/14/07
Posts: 277
Loc: New Mexico
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The answer is very simple. Just put a box next to the puzzle. If you want to continue playing the game, just click the box. Otherwise, solve the puzzle. There are several games that now allow you to do that. I believe "Keepsake" is such a game. As I remember, that is also true of the "Tex Murphy" games.
It would be an interesting experiment if all games had this option. The wheat would be separated from the chaff. If you clicked on all the boxes and finished the game in an hour, obviously it was not much of an adventure game.
Understand, again, that I make a distinction between puzzles and problems. The standard keypad is a puzzle. It is solved by trial and error. No intelligence is required. A problem, on the other hand, requires that you retain game information, analyze, apply logic, and search for a solution. As you understand, there are a limited number of puzzles. We see the same ones (or minor variations) in every game. Problems can be infinitely varied, limited only by the imagination of the game creator. Have we become conditioned, do you think, to believe that every adventure game must contain the same puzzles as every other aventure game?
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#335126 - 05/28/08 02:00 PM
Re: Puzzle Madness
[Re: Gobobby]
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Settled Boomer
Registered: 05/27/08
Posts: 104
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Puzzles stop the game and take you out of the game. You spend an hour solving yet another slider, color, sound, maze, or keypad puzle before you can continue playing the game.
Understand, I make a distinction between puzzles and problems. Using what you have learned, logic, and what is at hand enables you to solve a problem. The game does not stop. You remain in the game. That's a pretty good distinction between the two main types of puzzles, IMO. And like you, I prefer the "problem" kind, that integrate into the story. For example--figuring out what the levers in Myst did and then ultimately pulling the right combination. Games like Barrow Hill and Lights Out and Scratches really worked for me because it felt like I was trapped in a mystery that I had to think myself out of. Usually, if faced with a logic problem in "real life", it isn't something like a slider puzzle. The only games I really liked that had puzzles for the sake of puzzles were the Shivers games, but those had such a strong and involving backstory that I didn't really mind wasting time on the puzzles. It actually gave me time to think through other puzzles, or problems. Besides, those Kachinas in Shivers 2 were positively ghoulish and creepy-looking and kept me entertained while I worked on the puzzles! To me, Obsidian represented the best integration of story and puzzles that I've ever seen, but that's because the whole thing was so surreal that none of it felt weird or out of place--it was ALL weird.
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