
How to Make a Great Puzzle Game - keyle
https://thepuzzle.press/how-to-make-a-great-puzzle-game/
======
jblow
Since I am mentioned in the article I have a correction to make that I think
is pretty important.

The article says that I like to find ideas by “playtesting” then goes on to
describe playtesting as a form of user testing.

Whereas there is some definition of the word playtesting that might be
applicable to the way I design puzzles, it is not remotely the one in the
article. In fact I think too much “playtesting” as described here will make
your game boring, and will degrade your skill as a designer, and over time
make you a boring designer. It is important to avoid this.

If you playtest too much it means you don’t really know what you are making or
don’t have confidence to determine what playing it can be like. Even if you
don’t have these skills or this confidence yet, you should be working on
building them. Certain high skill levels of design will not be accessible
otherwise.

The amount of playtesting we did on The Witness was very small — about 5 or 6
days over the course of 6.5 years, on a game that takes 50-100 hours to play
through.

Whereas I do sometimes get puzzle ideas from bottom-up exploration of a space
by myself (which is the definition of “playtesting” that would make sense
here), in fact the vast majority of my puzzle ideas just spring to mind after
I have built a sufficient understanding of the possibility space. So these are
more like two distinct phases of design, and you might switch between them
when designing one game. But I think most of the actual puzzle ideas have to
come at least semi-intentionally, or the game will not feel very strong.

You have to know where you are trying to drive the truck.

~~~
greggman2
And on the opposite side you have Nintendo, known for some of the most beloved
games in the world. They have the "Mario Club" and playtest extensively. They
test often and continuously. They can test every day if they want. Adjust the
jump height 10%, ask the Mario Club if the game got better. In this way they
iterate on game play far more than just about any other game company I know
of. The biggest benefit is they get feedback early. Most game devs wait until
their game is "presentable" which basically means they've already spent too
much time making what they've made that they can't change anything except
minor tweaks. Nintendo gets feedback early and often.

~~~
seventhtiger
I wonder about that. Do you have any additional reading on Nintendo's
playtesting?

Although their games are mass mass market, they still feel opinionated. Their
designs have a certain Nintendo-ness to them that's persisted for decades in
almost all their games. Even when they partner up with a third party their
design shows through.

If they had extensive playtesting early on I would think their uniqueness
would be eroded. It obviously hasn't. Most recently Nintendo set the bar for
what an open world game should be like with their take. Not just in quality
but by applying their method they elevated the genre.

~~~
Nition
Not Nintendo, but Valve has some very interesting playtesting commentary in
Portal 2, if you play with commentary on.

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keithnz
one of my favourite puzzle game creators is Everett Kaser games...
[http://www.kaser.com/](http://www.kaser.com/)

HoneyComb hotel being my favorite!

The games have been around for a long time, and seem to be updated for modern
platforms. But the website is still a blast from the 90s, and the graphics are
joyfully 90s amateurish :)

One of the interesting things he did was invent his own language, and virtual
machine for doing his games....
[http://www.kaser.com/kint.html](http://www.kaser.com/kint.html)

~~~
cableshaft
Honeycomb Hotel took a short while to figure out how it works (in particular I
didn't realize the puzzle isn't considered solved until all walls are placed),
but it's quite addictive, thanks for that.

Any others of his that you would recommend?

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pierre
For those interest in designing great puzzle games, I would suggest reading
the following thesis on evaluating fun in puzzle games.

[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27476077_Automatic_...](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27476077_Automatic_generation_and_evaluation_of_recombination_games)

(update: Non paywalled version
[https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e401/51cbec7bdcc65b59fff53c...](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e401/51cbec7bdcc65b59fff53cc2ee692c63bb83.pdf))

Cameron Browne (the author), suggest many way to evaluate your puzzle, and
this was used in his further research as a way to automatically generate fun
and interesting puzzle games.

[http://cambolbro.com/games/index.html](http://cambolbro.com/games/index.html)

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rienbdj
This article talks more about what a great puzzle game is and less about how
to design one. it's a bit disappointing!

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lostgame
Myst was probably my favourite puzzle game. :)

~~~
jimbob45
It really didn't age well if anyone is getting that itch. The atmosphere is
phenomenal but the puzzles can be extremely frustrating. Back in the day, that
wasn't a problem because exploration felt like a privilege. Now, the scenery
doesn't captivate like it used to and you just want to know how to solve the
stupid thing.

Portal 2 is a great brain-teaser if anyone is looking for a constructive use
of their time tonight. I recommend the Nyskrte NYS maps if you want a real
head challenge.

~~~
teshier-A
If anyone has that itch they can turn to Obduction and Quern : Undying
thoughts, both recent and both very good.

~~~
jlangemeier
My only problem with Obduction is the loading; oh my god the loading. I know
they wanted to keep the original Myst on Windows 98 feel, but a 30 second to 2
minute load between scenes is killer and why I haven't finished it.

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codesushi42
Chip's Challenge is _the_ all time great.

[https://archive.org/details/chips_challenge_windows_3.x](https://archive.org/details/chips_challenge_windows_3.x)

~~~
acomjean
If you listen to the Apple time warp podcast interview with Chuck Somerville”.
He talks about chips challenge/ chucks challenge /chips challenge2 and the
licensing from the current owners. It’s actually kinda a fun listen about
Apple ][ development.

[http://appletimewarp.libsyn.com/apple-time-warp-podcast-
epis...](http://appletimewarp.libsyn.com/apple-time-warp-podcast-
episode-2-editedm4a)

For those that like reading more than listening ars summarizes it

[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/06/how-an-
early-90s-wind...](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/06/how-an-
early-90s-windows-gaming-classic-was-unearthed-after-years-in-limbo/)

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Mathnerd314
missing: how to make any money from said game.

