The Puzzlemaker’s Survival Kit Scott Kim -- scottkim.com March 6, Game Developers Conference

Puzzles are part of many games ¥ By themselves ¥ Within larger games ¥ On web and phones ¥ In education

But how do you… ¥ Design a good puzzle? ¥ Get started? ¥ Produce levels efficiently? ¥ Match puzzles to your audience?

The puzzlemaker’s survival kit !!! ConceptsGenresProcessRefs

CONCEPTS Behind all puzzles !!!

A puzzle is a problem that is fun to solve and has a right answer As opposed to everyday “problems” That can be confirmed by computer

The play pyramid Game Puzzle Toy Experience

Motivation Deeper Meaning Challenge Character & Setting Distraction

Modalities: Word, Image, Logic

Modalities: Combinations

Beyond pure reason ChanceKnowledgeDexterityPrizes

Five genres

GENRES 1. Action–Puzzle

Action puzzle games ¥ = Puzzles + Time pressure ¥ Yes: Tetris, Collapse! ¥ No: Pacman, Mummy Maze ¥ Popular with women ¥ Popular on the web

Key issue: Error recovery ¥ Tetris – clear lines ¥ Collapse! – clear clumps ¥ Pipe Dream – replace tile ¥ Q*Bert – reversible moves

Demo: Collapse!

Lessons from Collapse ¥ Nested rhythms New block Click group New line Blow up bomb Level up Reach top GAME ACTIONSPLAYER ACTIONSTICKS

Lessons from Collapse ¥ Easy to learn ¥ Randomness is addictive ¥ Business model: upsell

GENRES 2. Story–Puzzle

Story puzzle games ¥ Puzzles + storyline ¥ Yes: Myst, The Fool’s Errand ¥ Yes: Metal Gear Solid, Ico ¥ No: combat quest games

Key issue: role of puzzles ¥ Branching narrative – choices

Key issue: role of puzzles ¥ Branching narrative – choices ¥ Linear narrative – locks

Key issue: role of puzzles ¥ Branching narrative – choices ¥ Linear narrative – locks ¥ Enhanced narrative – optional depth

Demo: Ico

Lessons from Ico ¥ Appropriate story ¥ Solve puzzle two ways ¥ In-game hints ¥ Re-use mechanisms MUSICALS The Producers Singing in the Rain West Side Story GAMES Ico – Quest Myst – Mystery Fool’s Errand -- Cards

Other examples ¥ The 7th Guest ¥ Myst ¥ Metal Gear Solid ¥ Law & Order

GENRES 3. Competitive–Puzzle

Competitive puzzle games ¥ Puzzles + multiple players ¥ Yes: Jeopardy!, Boggle ¥ No: chess ¥ Almost: Scrabble

Key issue: Scoring ¥ Score: Jeopardy! ¥ Board: Trivial Pursuit ¥ Race: Set ¥ Take turns: Battleship ¥ Social scoring: Boggle

Demo: Boggle

Lessons from Boggle ¥ Simple format ¥ Random content ¥ Short play cycle ¥ Scalable room Tangleword Jeopardy!

GENRES 4. Construction–Puzzle

Construction puzzle games ¥ Puzzles + Building Things ¥ Yes: The Incredible Machine, Pit Droids ¥ No: SimCity, Marble Drop ¥ Almost: Tetris, Lemmings

Key issue: Modularity ¥ Few pieces, many combinations {  } = 10 {  } x {  } = 25 {  } x {  } x {  } = 54

Key issue: Modularity ¥ Legos, furniture ¥ Too little structure ¥ Too much structure

Demo: Incredible Machine

Lessons from Incredible Machine ¥ Start with a tutorial ¥ Edit + Run ¥ Authoring = Build + Record

GENRES 5. Pure Puzzle

Pure puzzle games ¥ Puzzles are the focus ¥ Yes: Pandora’s Box, Mummy Maze ¥ Yes: FreeCell, Minesweeper ¥ Yes: Crossword, jigsaw puzzles

Key issue: Larger Form Accelerating Linear Sawtooth Semilinear Ordered collection Metapuzzle

Demo: Mummy Maze

Things to notice ¥ Small board fits on phone ¥ Tutorial vs. on-the-fly tips ¥ Liberal undo ¥ Easy to get stuck

Lesson 1: indulge one style ¥ Satisfy player’s appetite

Lesson 1: indulge one style ¥ Satisfy player’s appetite ¥ Economical to produce

Lesson 1: indulge one style ¥ Satisfy player’s appetite ¥ Economical to produce ¥ Daily delivery

Lesson 1: indulge one style ¥ Satisfy player’s appetite ¥ Economical to produce ¥ Daily delivery ¥ Variety through content

Lesson 2: generate puzzles ¥ It’s hard --- Pit Droids ¥ Random --- Solitaire ¥ But possible --- Mummy ¥ Algorithmic– Lights Out

Lesson 3: easy to learn ¥ Familiar – Solitaire ¥ Self-demonstrating ¥ Simple– Diamond Mine ¥ Discoverable -- Alchemy

PROCESS Eight steps to a finished game

The Eight Steps 1. Inspiration 2. Simplify 3. Editor 4. Spec 5. Levels 6. Hinting 7. Testing 8. Presentation S PECIFY R ULES B UILD P UZZLES

Step 1: Inspiration ¥ Other computer games

Step 1: Inspiration ¥ Other computer games ¥ Noncomputer games

Step 1: Inspiration ¥ Other computer games ¥ Noncomputer games ¥ Art, mechanism

Step 1: Inspiration ¥ Other computer games ¥ Noncomputer games ¥ Art, mechanism ¥ Subject matter

Step 2. Simplify

Step 3. Editor ¥ Programmer: reusable code ¥ Game designer: tweak rules ¥ Level designer: build levels ¥ Player: build levels

4. Spec ¥ Board — grid, network, irregular, none ¥ Pieces — shape, image, attribute, supply ¥ Moves — sequential, side effect, primary ¥ Goal — exact match, partial, condition

5. Level design ¥ Start with bang ¥ Teach techniques ¥ Paint a picture ¥ Develop a theme

Start with a bang

Teach techniques

Paint a picture

Develop a theme

Step 6. Hinting ¥ Flow From the book Flow

Step 6. Hinting ¥ Sequence ¥ Giving hints ¥ Adjusting difficulty Easy Medium Hard Score BEFOREDURINGAFTER Alternate paths Shortcuts Steer the player Manual Demo Tutorial Undo BEFOREDURINGAFTER On-the-fly hints Camera angle Dialog

Step 7. Testing ¥ Are the rules clear? ¥ How hard is it? ¥ Are there other solutions? ¥ Is it fun?

Step 8. Presentation

References

Books ¥ Games Magazine ¥ 1000 Play Thinks (Moscovich) ¥ The Colossal Book of Mathematics (Gardner) ¥ Advanced Lingo for Games (Rosenzweig)

Web sites ¥ Shockwave.com ¥ Mathpuzzle.com ¥ Puzzles.com ¥ Rubiks.com

Game stores

For slides from this talk, visit scottkim.com Scott Kim, Copyright 2003 Scott Kim Images of games copyrighted by their companies