Flummox !

One of the problems with game design is find out how difficult designing puzzles is until you try it out for yourself. It is definitely a case of fail early and fail many times.

Below is a 'timeline' of how I learnt to make puzzles. They get better as along the way.



[Above: Some hideous early stuff from when we were trying to work out how the game would work.]


[Above: An old puzzle concept that had blocks(prisms) that would either bend light or shadow. Red lines show player movement.]


[Above: A puzzle design that didn't quite work out. The red lines indicate player's movements.]


[Above: Flow of an entire level, there's about 8/9 puzzles packed into this little baby.]

[Above: Because it's so confusing with all the lines everywhere.]

Things that I've learnt about making puzzles:

- Read The Platformer Primer (The advice in it also applies to other games beside platformers.)

- Know what's involved in your game eg. special features or difficulty.

- Figure out what elements make up your game eg credit, goals and risks.

- Try making basic puzzles that demonstrate what these elements/objects do. (Getting a feel for the how player and items work together is really handy)

- Map out when new elements/types are going to added in the game.

- Plan out a difficulty curve for the game or areas.

- Set out goals for each puzzle. What do you want the player to in each puzzle.

- Sometimes working backwards helps.

- Reusing parts are okay but you do need to "mix" it up for the player.

- Player's don't like mazes, neither do kings.

- Trial and error is good.

- Get someone else to "play" your puzzles, they might find a problem with it.

- Don't under-estimate the stupidity of people.

- Play some games to get some reference.