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

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

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...

Some people enjoy exploring the kinds of environments that you find in adventure games, and they enjoy being part of an interactive story. These are provided by adventure games more than any other medium (that I know of, anyway). This type of experience can be gained by using hints or a walkthrough to get though the puzzles if the player doesn't want to spend a lot of time solving the puzzles.

No I like the puzzals and I wish they would make some new games like Pandoras box

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.


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.

I'd say Azada comes pretty close. It's an excellent casual game with many puzzle variations. It's timed, though!

Now see, the timer spoils it.
Why do they assume everyone wants a timer?

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.

I have to agree.....

Please leave the timed puzzles out....I think I can deal with most anything...But the timed thing..

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?

Gobobby -- no, we haven't been conditioned to expect the same puzzles. Although I occasionally encounter puzzles that are similar to others I've seen before, I would not consider this to be the rule.

I don't think I would separate out "puzzles" from "problems" myself.

Puzzles I like:
Mechanical puzzles
Word puzzles
Self contained puzzles (if they're original or have some twist to them)

Puzzles I dislike:
Illogical inventory puzzles
Classic puzzles that get reused too often (like sliders, jumping pegs, Tower of Hanoi)

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.

Now that i'm thinking of it the worse kind of puzzles for me is the sound puzzles... I couldn't finish any of them in any game...