As a level designer I often take a keen interest in the puzzles that others include in their maps. Half Life 2 offers a huge wealth of puzzle possibilities due to the physics engine and the gravity gun. If you ask a player what their favourite puzzle in a game was they could probably tell you immediately (I’d like to know yours by the way) but they may not be able to tell you why.
Equally they may struggle to explain why a bad puzzle doesn’t work, but in reality there are rules to a good game based puzzle and if you follow them, as a mapper you can’t go wrong.
Here’s my rules that I’ve learnt through creating maps and playtesting on how to create a good puzzle.
1st April 2012 13 Comments