Since so many of us frequently get stuck in puzzles in adventure games (and thus in need of MaG's help to get out of a jam), I find it interesting to read this post on ACG that apparently "tries" to classify the different puzzle types we encounter in adventure games.

http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/features/423/

Interesting read... especially the bit about "mini-games" puzzles. It reminds me of so many dreaded mazes we see in adventure games which I am not particularly fond of.

What types of puzzles are you the strongest at? weakest at?

I am hopeless at solving puzzles where experience in mechanical, electrical or electronic engineering appears to be a required background

Fortunately, MaG seems to be master of all three so I am able to get past those puzzles once armed with one of her walkthroughs !!

Few difficulties for me with sliders though, thankfully

I know what you mean, Mad.

MaG has saved us all, one time or another.

I am not strong in logic puzzles too... many of them are disguised as mechanical puzzles, like you said.

In a way, all puzzles are based on logic but some have a little twist. Solving a puzzle depends on the mood (or should I say mode? ) I'm in. Sometimes everything seems to be easy, another time I don't make progress at all until a lightning bolt strikes my brain.

Mazes and arcade things are where I run into problems.
Music/tone puzzles and sliders are a breeze.

But I enjoy the logic puzzles the most. It feels much more rewarding if a door opens because I cracked the code, than if I just open a drawer and find the key.
That doesn't necessarily mean I'm good at them though.

I thought this was intriguing:

If action games can be effectively analyzed/gameplay anticipated via screenshots and a trailer, but adventure games can only be effectively analyzed/gameplay anticipated by actually playing the game...

...why do we see gamers commenting that adventure games are in a genre with too much sameness and lack of innovation? Am I reading more into the above quote than I ought to?

"Adventure games are different—in that the core features of gameplay cannot be effectively evaluated without actually playing it or giving so many details away as to detract from the experience of playing the game."

I disagree with that statement ....

Whilst I will look at screenshots if they are available, I very rarely play demos. I find a good review, written by an actual adventure game player and posted on a reputable site like Gameboomers, can nearly always tell me what I want to know

Cheers.

Mad

Thanks David T for the interesting link although I found the analysis of the puzzles a little long-winded & tedious!



There is some implication that action games can be sold on the basis of screenshots & a trailer alone which indicates that therefore they are predicatable & meet expectations - not unlike un-innotative & samey AGs? No, Becky I don't think you are reading too much into the quote!

But I did think that the quote was a little sweeping - I really can't see how any game of any genre can be summed up in a few screenshots & a trailer. Sure! it can sometimes give you an example of the emphasis of content/gameplay but it really is only a glimpse & I always welcome a more detailed description!
It is usually the description that sells me the game & subsequent player comments if i'm not sure!



As for puzzles in AGs - I prefer problem solving through dialogue & use of inventory. I don't mind a smattering of logical puzzles if they are relevant to the plot & well integrated but am not so keen on the growing trend to incorporate more & more puzzles somehow or other! Having said that I can appreciate thoughtful games that are constructed on a puzzle basis such as Myst even if they completely fox me!

Let's be real, action games don't have mind boggling puzzles. The statement these games can be analysed by the screen shots or the trailers is ridiculous though.
Back to the AG's, the one problem I have with these nowadays is, the reusing of riddles and puzzles that have been used over and over again in older games.

Very true. Lately, I was disappointed finding the same old notepad puzzle in both A Vampyre Story and Chronicles of Mystery. The game worlds just seem too convenient and not unique enough with those reused puzzles continuing to pop up in every one.

I enjoy "pattern puzzles" the most by far, and probably am the best at them of all the types described. The type of adventure games that I play the most seem to focus on these.

I don't really like inventory based puzzle as much probably since I started more with Myst-style games which have that aspect more limited.

I guess my preference in puzzles is more focused on how compicated they are. Meaning that I'll likely be more into a game if a single huge puzzle composed of many smaller interconnected ones is the basis of most of the game. Riven is a good example of this, with two major puzzles that take up most of the game.

Hey guys, I'm the author! I found your thread here from searching in google to see who had linked to me, this is very cool to see.

Some comments:

I like logic puzzles myself, all puzzles certainly do have a bit of logic to them, but puzzles that are explicitly logical/mathematical in nature tend to be satisfying to solve because of their inevitability. Inventory/story based puzzles can still be good though... one challenge is that a bad logic puzzles is rarely terrible, just boring. A bad inventory puzzle on the other hand will leave you stumped and frustrated. I enjoy them both, and it's interesting to see games employ both.

As for the quote about analyzing adventure games and action games, while I may have been overstating my case, the general point I was trying to make is it's easier in some ways to get an impression for good an action game is, then to tell how good a specific adventure game is just from a preview. It can be like telling someone about a story, but not wanting to give too much of it away that the experience is spoiled for them. An adventure game depends upon discovery and figuring things out much more so than other games, which is also why a lot of adventure games are just played once. And you'll only really know how good of a game or how satisfying it is once you've beaten all the puzzles and see how they fit together.

And all of that is of course just to make the point that talking about puzzles is critical for understanding adventure games! *whew*

I've actually started reviewing adventure games for ACG since I originally wrote that article, so my perspective on how you review an adventure game may have changed slightly.



That's a good point too, the scope of a game can really matter, everything in Riven basically built up to those two giant puzzles. Other games like Monkey Island tend to work in phases, one long section of related puzzles, then you go to a different island and begin another set of puzzles. And some games just lead you through a series of puzzles without doing much backtracking at all.

Anyway, good to hear all your comments, thanks for taking the time to read it.

Hi BigCow and welcome to GameBoomers! We've enjoyed your article!

Hi BigCow - and very nice to meet you :smile12:

But I'm going to be naughty again with my disagreements on just one more point

Because I re-play the "very old to very new" adventure games in my collection all the time.

And there are LOTS of us here who do that

Cheers.

Mad :wave12:

Thanks! ...much to my surprise, I've had an account here for two years, I must have found something interesting then forgotten about this place!



Absolutely, I do the same, and not just when remakes come out, like agdinteractive has done. That said, I'm sure among the general populace a lot of adventure games go unbeaten (I had several I couldn't get through without help when I was younger), and I suspect that they're replayed less than titles from other genres. For me at least, I try to space out the games I enjoy playing through again, so you can enjoy a bit of that freshness, and have the drive to try out stuff you never did before.

BigCow,

Now that is unforgiveable. :wink12: