The High Concept – Puzzled

How long does it take for someone to use the bathroom in the mansion of Resident Evil 1? I imagine its going to involve first needing to move statues, and locate a series of crests and place them in the correct wall slots….just to get the key. So you’ll be lucky to make it to the bathroom in time….

How long does it take for the Raccoon City Police Department to book someone they’ve arrested? You need a key, but its in some statue, but you need a pendent first, and you need to light a fireplace to get a hidden gem from a painting. Its amazing any work gets done there….

So is there some eccentric architect running around the world designing off the wall mansions and police stations?

No these are puzzles and they can be both a useful and innovative way to enhance gameplay.

The Concept

Puzzles can be a fun way to exercise our minds, but they can also serve many other clever functions during gameplay.

The Benefits

Puzzles can be an important form of covert control over a player’s actions. Designers can effectively guide players where they want them to go by placing the appropriate items to solve puzzles at certain places in levels. For example, you can guide the player to a cutscene trigger or a scripted scene to advance the story.

Also, imagine Resident Evil 1 or Resident Evil 2 without puzzles for a moment. How quickly could you beat the games without them? The puzzles make the games feel longer than they really are, and create more game content in relatively small levels. Finally, there is the feeling of accomplishment that comes when a puzzle is completed, which can make it an important part of a game’s reward and punishment system.