most hair-pulling puzzle you ever encountered?

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="confused.gif" /> I just have to yell out my frustration at the diabolical railroad bridge puzzles in Schizm I And how pleased with myself to have solved it the first time-and then to find you have to solve it a 2nd time!AAARGH :(To beat it 2 times in a row is almost impossible and it makes you forget about the fantastic scenery in the game.

Is there any game that has harder puzzles than this?

Do you ever give up on a game because of an impossible puzzle?

A few really nasty ones I can recall are the microscope puzzle in the 7th guest. This is so ridiculously hard, but at least they have auto-solve feature. The mandala puzzle in Beyond Time was so frustrating because there were numerous solutions, but it was so poorly programmed that it would only recognize one specific solution as the right one. The Chinese Checkers puzzle in Shivers also gives me fits.

Bigmamma, that's the puzzle that caused me to give up on Schizm. I get nightmares when I think of that game. I know many here solved it, but many of us didn't.

That's the only game I've ever given up on because of a puzzle.

Good luck!

Jean

The Wave puzzle in Obsidian - I almost put my fist through the monitor before I got it right.

That's where I stopped in Obsidian. I meeded my monitor more than I needed that puzzle.

The bridge two part puzzle in BS3 made me insane. I was reduced to pleading and yelling at a game figure "@#$% "Just run to the side ARGH No not straight - pounding hands on key board"

ok "re-try #35" Run run you idiot TO THE SIDE! ARRRR ....Not that way - What is wrong with you!! ARRRRRGGGHHH

My son "Uh Mom - can you hold it down in there - it's just a game"

After pulling my mouse from his ear - I whined over the web and got a save from Marita. And to think - I still really liked this game. <img border="0" alt="" title="" src="graemlins/woozy.gif" />

Add me to the wave puzzle in Obsidian, also! I don't know how many days I spent on that one puzzle.
I think I'm less patient these days; when I get stuck I go install another game and put the game aside, sometimes not to come back to it. I'm still trying to decide if I want to spend any more time trying to get passed the altar, bible, back-and-forth puzzle in BS3. I just don't know if it's worth my time and sanity.

Can recall at least two in the original Shivers that drove me nuts. Specifically the Hi-Q puzzle that I never mastered as a kid, and the tube puzzle. I spent days on that thing.

Tim

Speaking about Obsidian.... the Lightning-Tree! Arrrghhhh.... 2hours i spent synchronising.

I also got stuck on the wave puzzle. I got what looked like perfect synchrony with the nine blocks, but when I saw what the solution was, I realized that I had 3 waves, when you were supposed to only have two, to make them smooth. Once you realized what it was supposed to look like, it wasn't hard to get it.

This is my problem with most of the difficult puzzles - I'm not sure just what the goal is before I start it, so it is hard to acheive that. I need the look of it when completed to be able to get there, or at least to understand what the rules of the puzzle are. Some puzzles aren't clear that you are playing against AI, and that the results are going to vary each time you play it. I'm not very good at figuring that part out.

FGM

Bigmamma1, I"m there with ya! I quit Schizm 1 over that stupid puzzle too! I rarely give up on a game unless it's toooooo full of toooo hard puzzles, but that was a real stinkaroo!!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />

Here's to better games!

I must tell you all-I finally beat the rail bridge puzzle today-a rainy afternoon and nothing to do but this darn puzzle.
Havn't got Obsidian-thanks for the warning BTW. I won't go BAAGing it for lots of $ only to encounter another extreme frustration again
Maelstrom-I remember that mandala puzzle in Beyond Time-spent lots of time trying to figure it out, finally went to the WT' only to find out there were other solutions but they dont work <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="confused.gif" />

Oh Geez!! Remember when we had a question on what type of puzzles were really hard in games?? I kept thinking of that "Wave" puzzle..couldn't remember which game it was from, so I didn't mention it! I should have known it came from Obsidian...[did not enjoy that game at all]
Tim, the "Tube Puzzle" in Shivers..is that the one where you connect the drain pipe thingys so the marble will roll down to the bottom??? That was fun!! Glynn

Actually I didn't have much problem with that one. Maybe I was lucky or something. But that memory puzzle near the end almost made me quit.

I also had a problem with the lightning tree - until I realized I was making it much more difficult than it had to be. I thought I had to synchronize them all in one turn - 5 fast and accurate clicks.

My husband very much enjoyed the bridge challenge in Schizm. This was very good news because I was going to need a wig soon between that temple/priest challenge and the 2nd coordinate thing and...

Despite these moments, I really liked Schizm

bigmamma1: But Obsidian is really a great game despite the 2 puzzles! It's one of the best puzzle games around too.... plus the sly humor is subtle. i recommend getting the incredible strategy guide to have a good idea what the developers were trying to achieve with the game.

I agree! Obsidian is one of my top 3 games! And the wave puzzle isn't hard if you remember to make only two waves, not three. The end puzzle is hard, but doable. Many have suggested that it is easier to do if you have two people watching it at the same time, to keep track of the moving lights, but I was able to do it by myself. It is well worth the effort to play this unique game.

FGM

the one which drove me nuts was the jewel in Black Dahlia....

Hugs

Tig

My nemesis was the orientation puzzle in REAH, where it was nigh on impossible to see the marker that solved it for you, run a close second by the prayer wheels in Schizm because of the sound problem.

Dave

There must be something wrong with me, I enjoyed the wave puzzle, tree puzzle in Obsidian and the bow and arrow puzzle in Timelapse.

My nemesis is anything timed. I panic! Like the bucket puzzle in Teledahn in Uru and the gong puzzle in Reah.

~Dee

Haha... I enjoyed the last memory puzzle in Obsidian.

I would say the cat puzzle in GK3, and the marble puzzle in Riven.

But what is more frustrating is when the interface is too clumsy to allow you to do what you know you need to do. Case in point, the part in GK3 where you needed to create a circle between three or four locations in SIDNEY. I had the circle over all the locations (close enough) and still it wouldn't acknowledge it. I pushed and pulled and resized that circle for a long time before I finally got it on the right spot.

I got through that bridge puzzle in Schizm and I love that game. It wasn't a puzzle that made me want to tear out my hair, it was that *gulp* game in Nancy Drew The Haunted Carousel. I won't even mention it's name, I'll have nightmares tonight! Bounce, doink! Bounce, doink! Try AGAIN! MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!! <img border="0" alt="" title="" src="graemlins/pacify.gif" />

There were many puzzles in the 7th Guest and 11th Hour that had me stumped, but the most frustrating was the last one in the 11th Hour (where you tried to get 5 markers in a row). There was no way to get around playing this one, and I really wanted to see the end game video. I finally won after 2 days.

I've never quit a game because of a puzzle, and in Schizm it wasn't that one that I hated the most; it was the priest/temple/prayer-wheel thingie sound puzzle. But I think that entire game was the most hair-pulling one for me.

WW

I think Obsidian is an excellent game and worth every hair-pulling minute. Both the wave and burning tree puzzles were challenging, but I spent most of my time on them trying to figure out the pattern logic. I made some assumptions at first that I had to unmake to succeed. The most difficult one for me in that game was the endgame puzzle with the moving buttons.

Oh, and I found the microscope puzzle in The 7th Guest easy to beat once I figured out the pattern. However, I needed hints to solve the knights puzzle.

Lady K.

The maze in the 7th guest took the biscuit for me. And to add insult to injury you have to put up with Stauff's nasty comments. But overall I very much enjoyed the game.

That timed puzzle in Watchmaker where you have to run through the Pendulum Room without evil-what's-his-face seeing you was a real stinker.

Jenny--you've mentioned that puzzle a bunch of times recently, and for the life of me I can't remember it! Well, Watchmaker was well over a year ago for me....was that in the underground part at the end?

Lots of people have commented on Obsidian here. I haven't played it, is it still available?
\
WW

Normally I don't mind sliders but the one in Black Mirror & the one in Puzz-3D Orient Express are both sadistic. I solved the Black Mirror slider, but I'd rather set my hair on fire & put it out with an ice pick than attempt the Orient slider. Thankfully it was optional. Anyone actually opt for that one?

Any chess type puzzle takes me forever & I find them boring. Also hate timed puzzles.

The black-tar Sanitarium puzzle was frustrating to say the least.

Love, Jen

To Clatterndin: You don't by any chance mean the Barnacle Blaster in the Haunted Carousel?? The one that almost gave me cardiac arrrest after getting down to only one barnacle several times, and then dropping the ball??? Yep, that goes at the top of my list, followed by the "Gettting-out-of-the-Inn" in Atlantis, the Lost Tales.

That's because it was such a horrible experience for me. The saved game I made after I finally got through that sequence was very popular here at Gameboomers.

Quote:

and for the life of me I can't remember it!

Well, Watchmaker was well over a year ago for me....was that in the underground part at the end?

Yes, very near the end. The evil guy in the Pendulum room is slowly turning back and forth and you have to avoid his seeing you. You have to hide behind a pillar and then make a dash to the door when his back is turned. But the problem with that is that you can't see which way he's turned when you're behind the pillar. The puzzle is not only timed, but involves timing.

The timed hedge maze in Odyssey: Search for Ulysses was more than a little tough. I really had to practice to beat that one.

The one that had me screaming at it is the timed sequence near the end of Journeyman Project Turbo (it's even worse than the octopus in Beyond Atlantis). You have to stop the launching of 10 missiles located all over the earth. It has to be done in a specific sequence so you're jumping all over the globe and the allotted time for each gets progressively shorter and any time you saved on one doesn't carry over to the next. You can't save in the middle, so if you miss one, you have to start over at the beginning of the puzzle. To make matters worse, you can't just point and click - you have to use the mouse to control an on-screen trackball. On top of that, I swear the game cheats - several times I stopped #9 with 2-3 seconds still on the clock and the #!*& game launched the missile anyhow!!!

Jema

The "lizard" puzzle in Timelapse. I didn't find the all important scroll clues (nearby) before spending 4 days trying to work out the maths invloved.

This was before I discovered the joys of online walkthroughs.

Jonathan

Oh, Jonathan, the odds of completing that puzzle without the scroll are astronomical! You have 22 moves and 22 tiers, which means you can't make a single mistake. I was lucky to find the scroll before I started that one.

Lady K.

That's funny; it wasn't a problem for me--in fact, I didn't even notice it was a puzzle. I have this strange kind of luck w/puzzles sometimes, that I just stumble through them and there they are. Got through the underwater maze in Loch Ness that way.

Of course, if the luck doesn't kick in, then I'm stuck!

WW

BS3 - the microwave dash (finally had to beg for some younger help on that one)- though I'm not sure that could be classed as a puzzle, more a feat of endurance. So my second choice would be:

The prayer wheel puzzle in Schizm, which had me convinced that I was losing my hearing. Thank you, Jonathan, for the sound puzzle in Dark Fall which gave me some confidence back.

(Jenny, I'm 2/3 of the way through Watchmaker, so have plenty of time to start being extra nice to younger members of the family - sounds like I'm going to need their help again...)

The do it yourself brain surgery maze in Overseer and the table tile puzzle in Black Dahlia.

Good idea.
I still have my saved game if you need it though.

That stupid clock puzzle in the Bureau in Obsidian. I just thought it was impossible.

That stupid shoot the arow puzzle in Timelapse. I just thought it was impossible.

That stupid translate the monkey chat puzzle in Ripper. I just thought it was impossible.

Stupid is as stupid does. I took forever, with the stupid Runes, table puzzle in Black Dahlia.
A did not know to float the pieces to place them.
The only one that I needed a special program to solve, was the Nine Man Morris in Drowned God.
I downloaded it and ran it along with the game.
I popped back and forth to get the correct moves.

It's been a couple years since I've played it, but there's a puzzle involving white squares near the end of Reah which requires over 120 precise moves to complete.

Definitely the worst puzzle I've ever encountered in a game!

The ENTIRE (well, almost) game "Obsidian!"

Seriously, I had this game, COULD have kept it for collector's purposes, and got rid of it because it made me too angry to keep it! I didn't think I could forever LOOK at the gosh dern thing on my shelves without having fits of rage, feelings of inadequacy, and waves of depression.

Got to that point, tried over and over, put the game away for awaile, tried again, put it away, and just the thought of trying it again gives me nightmares, but try i will.