Random Puzzles
by Naralos · 07/01/2009 (3:23 am) · 5 comments
--These are some random puzzles/riddles I am writing up for posting in a blog on GarageGames. Even as I write this preview text, I am not sure what puzzles I am going to make.--
1. Enclosing Switches: As enemies unwittingly advance towards the player, she must prevent them from stepping upon any of four switches. Each time an enemy presses a switch, the walls close in a little more. If the enemies step on the switches too many times, the walls will crush the player.
2. Emotional Statues: Upon a pedestal are stone faces: happy, sad, and afraid. Below each face are four switches - one with a sun, one with a moon, one with a rising sun, and one with a setting sun. The player must adventure around a locale and find pedestals with matching faces who's eyes glow during the appropriate time of day. For example, happy face glows during the night, sad face glows during the sunrise, and afraid face glows during the day. So, for the pedestal, the player must press the moon for the happy face, the rising sun for the sad face, and the sun for the afraid face.
3. Three Pose Statues: There are two statues in a room. One statue is standing, one statue is animatedly walking around the room. When the player kneels, the puzzle begins. The statues shift between positions so that one of the three (the player and the two statues) is always standing, one is always walking, and one is always kneeling/crouching. There will only be very short transition times between the positions of the statues, but it will be noticeable enough that the player will be able to see and react in time. If the player fails, the puzzle restarts. If the player succeeds for 60 seconds, both of the statues kneel down before her.
4. Password On Treadmills: A password is required to get through a door. In the same room are four treadmills, each motionless. When a player moves on a treadmill, it scrolls the belt of the mill, which has a letter inscribed on it. By putting together the four letters on the treadmills, the player can get the four letters of the password.
5. Paying For Your Greed: The player comes across a room, a treasury of sorts, full of valuables. A sign invites her to take as many of the valuables that she wants, but to choose carefully. In the room after the treasury, the player is locked in and must fight, one at a time, a powerful enemy or guardian for each of the valuables she has taken. She has no time to take a break.
6. Trench Warfare: In a dirt filled room, enemies periodically pour in from one side of the room. On the other side, a very simple but time consuming puzzle that the player will be knocked out of and forced to restart if an enemy hits her. Located somewhere in the room is a shovel. Using it, she can dig gaps in the floor that lead to a bottomless chasm. In between enemy spawns, the player will be able to dig more and more holes until she is able to make a trench. Now, enemies either can't reach her or unwittingly fall into the chasm and die. Some smart enemies might jump across, forcing the player to dig a wider trench.
7. Simple But Time Consuming Puzzles: Dragging a lever from one end of a wall to another; cranking a heavy wheel a number of rotations; organizing 32 stones by color; rolling a boulder up a ramp; inflating a large ball or boat by jumping up and down on a pump; a series of quick time button events with no timer; creating a bridge across a pit using corpses of enemies.
8. Protect The Spy: There is a locked door that the player cannot get through. The player is told that there is a friend hidden among enemy ranks and that she has to figure out which enemy is the friend so that the friend can unlock the door. Then, about twenty or so enemies are poured on the player. The spy looks and acts like a normal enemy, with the only distinguishing feature being that the spy does not attack the player. When all enemies are eliminated, the spy will unlock the door for the player. If the spy is killed, the puzzle is forced to restart. The spy should be random each time.
9. Do Re Mi: Eight characters are scattered randomly about a room. Each character sings one note of the Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do scale when talked to by the player. The goal of the puzzle is simply to talk to the NPCs in order.
10. Exploding Gnome: A very large and normally impregnable enemy guards the exit to a room. There are ten or twenty gnomes in the room as well, and one of the gnomes is strapped with explosives and looks obviously volatile. The player is invited to take a turn to kill two or three gnomes. Then the large enemy takes a turn, killing two or three gnomes. Both the player and the enemy take turns until either the player or the enemy kills the exploding gnome. The exploding gnome will take whoever kills him down with him. (Yes, I know this is basically just Poison Crackers. XD)
11. Tangle of Assassins: A number of enemies (assassins) are scattered around the room. They each stand facing another assassin. When a player moves in front of an assassin, he will throw an instantly killing dagger, killing the player. However, if the player moves fast enough, the dagger will miss her and instead kill an assassin. The goal of the puzzle is to reduce the number of assassins to 0. The assassins are not exactly invulnerable, but if the player attacks one, the assassin will kill her quickly, giving them an invulnerability effect.
12. Test of Gluttony: The player is taken to have gone a significant portion of time without gaining health, and is possibly at low health. The player comes across an empty dining hall full of food, a large banquet laid out on long tables. The food in this room is special, in that the player can eat over her full health. However, the more extra health she eats up to, the slower she moves and attacks. The extra health goes away -very- slowly over time. The decreased movement/attack speed is intended to outweigh the extra health noticeably.
13. Trap Run: As a player comes to a room, several enemies make a run through it one at a time. The room appears to be empty, although the enemies take strange paths. One enemy goes off course and is killed by a trap. The player must make her way through the room, using only her memory of the enemies' path as a guide.
14. Falling Bridge: A large chasm separates the player from the other end of a room. Rocks/platforms/blocks are constantly falling from above randomly, into thee chasm. Each time a falling object is hit by the player's attack, it freezes in mid air, becoming a platform. The player is intended to build a bridge in such a way. Careful; even as a platform is made, objects may still fall there, potentially hurting or killing the player.
15. Lightning Bridge: A large chasm separates the player from the other end of a room. The walls to the left and right of the player, along the chasm, are filled with conductors. Occasionally, a bolt of high-damage lightning will streak from one wall to the other at random. On the player's side of the chasm are a multitude of switches. Each switch lowers a block from the ceiling to a pre-determined position in the chasm. If the player uses all of the switches, a full bridge will be created to safely cross... however, as each block comes down, more power is added to the conductors on either wall, increasing the frequency of random lightning bolts. A full bridge makes the frequency of lightning bolts so high that it would be almost certainly impossible to cross the bridge alive. The player must find a balance between the number of blocks and the frequency of lightning bolts. If a switch is hit again, the appropriate block will raise back up and the frequency of the lightning appropriately decreased.
16. Digging Up: The player is in a room with a high up platform and a dirt floor. The player is incapable of reaching the platform, though it is her goal. She is given a shovel. If the player digs deep enough, she will find water which will burst out and fill the room, allowing her to swim up to the platform.
--I should probably say a little about myself in each of these blogs. XD
I am a 17 year old high school student with some creative potential looking for some work experience in designing a game; I'm not looking for a paying job yet (though that would be certainly cool), just looking for experience working with a design team over the net and contributing to the creation of a game. If you are interested in my help or having me on a team, please send me an email at Naralosudal@hotmail.com. Thank you for your time. =3--
1. Enclosing Switches: As enemies unwittingly advance towards the player, she must prevent them from stepping upon any of four switches. Each time an enemy presses a switch, the walls close in a little more. If the enemies step on the switches too many times, the walls will crush the player.
2. Emotional Statues: Upon a pedestal are stone faces: happy, sad, and afraid. Below each face are four switches - one with a sun, one with a moon, one with a rising sun, and one with a setting sun. The player must adventure around a locale and find pedestals with matching faces who's eyes glow during the appropriate time of day. For example, happy face glows during the night, sad face glows during the sunrise, and afraid face glows during the day. So, for the pedestal, the player must press the moon for the happy face, the rising sun for the sad face, and the sun for the afraid face.
3. Three Pose Statues: There are two statues in a room. One statue is standing, one statue is animatedly walking around the room. When the player kneels, the puzzle begins. The statues shift between positions so that one of the three (the player and the two statues) is always standing, one is always walking, and one is always kneeling/crouching. There will only be very short transition times between the positions of the statues, but it will be noticeable enough that the player will be able to see and react in time. If the player fails, the puzzle restarts. If the player succeeds for 60 seconds, both of the statues kneel down before her.
4. Password On Treadmills: A password is required to get through a door. In the same room are four treadmills, each motionless. When a player moves on a treadmill, it scrolls the belt of the mill, which has a letter inscribed on it. By putting together the four letters on the treadmills, the player can get the four letters of the password.
5. Paying For Your Greed: The player comes across a room, a treasury of sorts, full of valuables. A sign invites her to take as many of the valuables that she wants, but to choose carefully. In the room after the treasury, the player is locked in and must fight, one at a time, a powerful enemy or guardian for each of the valuables she has taken. She has no time to take a break.
6. Trench Warfare: In a dirt filled room, enemies periodically pour in from one side of the room. On the other side, a very simple but time consuming puzzle that the player will be knocked out of and forced to restart if an enemy hits her. Located somewhere in the room is a shovel. Using it, she can dig gaps in the floor that lead to a bottomless chasm. In between enemy spawns, the player will be able to dig more and more holes until she is able to make a trench. Now, enemies either can't reach her or unwittingly fall into the chasm and die. Some smart enemies might jump across, forcing the player to dig a wider trench.
7. Simple But Time Consuming Puzzles: Dragging a lever from one end of a wall to another; cranking a heavy wheel a number of rotations; organizing 32 stones by color; rolling a boulder up a ramp; inflating a large ball or boat by jumping up and down on a pump; a series of quick time button events with no timer; creating a bridge across a pit using corpses of enemies.
8. Protect The Spy: There is a locked door that the player cannot get through. The player is told that there is a friend hidden among enemy ranks and that she has to figure out which enemy is the friend so that the friend can unlock the door. Then, about twenty or so enemies are poured on the player. The spy looks and acts like a normal enemy, with the only distinguishing feature being that the spy does not attack the player. When all enemies are eliminated, the spy will unlock the door for the player. If the spy is killed, the puzzle is forced to restart. The spy should be random each time.
9. Do Re Mi: Eight characters are scattered randomly about a room. Each character sings one note of the Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do scale when talked to by the player. The goal of the puzzle is simply to talk to the NPCs in order.
10. Exploding Gnome: A very large and normally impregnable enemy guards the exit to a room. There are ten or twenty gnomes in the room as well, and one of the gnomes is strapped with explosives and looks obviously volatile. The player is invited to take a turn to kill two or three gnomes. Then the large enemy takes a turn, killing two or three gnomes. Both the player and the enemy take turns until either the player or the enemy kills the exploding gnome. The exploding gnome will take whoever kills him down with him. (Yes, I know this is basically just Poison Crackers. XD)
11. Tangle of Assassins: A number of enemies (assassins) are scattered around the room. They each stand facing another assassin. When a player moves in front of an assassin, he will throw an instantly killing dagger, killing the player. However, if the player moves fast enough, the dagger will miss her and instead kill an assassin. The goal of the puzzle is to reduce the number of assassins to 0. The assassins are not exactly invulnerable, but if the player attacks one, the assassin will kill her quickly, giving them an invulnerability effect.
12. Test of Gluttony: The player is taken to have gone a significant portion of time without gaining health, and is possibly at low health. The player comes across an empty dining hall full of food, a large banquet laid out on long tables. The food in this room is special, in that the player can eat over her full health. However, the more extra health she eats up to, the slower she moves and attacks. The extra health goes away -very- slowly over time. The decreased movement/attack speed is intended to outweigh the extra health noticeably.
13. Trap Run: As a player comes to a room, several enemies make a run through it one at a time. The room appears to be empty, although the enemies take strange paths. One enemy goes off course and is killed by a trap. The player must make her way through the room, using only her memory of the enemies' path as a guide.
14. Falling Bridge: A large chasm separates the player from the other end of a room. Rocks/platforms/blocks are constantly falling from above randomly, into thee chasm. Each time a falling object is hit by the player's attack, it freezes in mid air, becoming a platform. The player is intended to build a bridge in such a way. Careful; even as a platform is made, objects may still fall there, potentially hurting or killing the player.
15. Lightning Bridge: A large chasm separates the player from the other end of a room. The walls to the left and right of the player, along the chasm, are filled with conductors. Occasionally, a bolt of high-damage lightning will streak from one wall to the other at random. On the player's side of the chasm are a multitude of switches. Each switch lowers a block from the ceiling to a pre-determined position in the chasm. If the player uses all of the switches, a full bridge will be created to safely cross... however, as each block comes down, more power is added to the conductors on either wall, increasing the frequency of random lightning bolts. A full bridge makes the frequency of lightning bolts so high that it would be almost certainly impossible to cross the bridge alive. The player must find a balance between the number of blocks and the frequency of lightning bolts. If a switch is hit again, the appropriate block will raise back up and the frequency of the lightning appropriately decreased.
16. Digging Up: The player is in a room with a high up platform and a dirt floor. The player is incapable of reaching the platform, though it is her goal. She is given a shovel. If the player digs deep enough, she will find water which will burst out and fill the room, allowing her to swim up to the platform.
--I should probably say a little about myself in each of these blogs. XD
I am a 17 year old high school student with some creative potential looking for some work experience in designing a game; I'm not looking for a paying job yet (though that would be certainly cool), just looking for experience working with a design team over the net and contributing to the creation of a game. If you are interested in my help or having me on a team, please send me an email at Naralosudal@hotmail.com. Thank you for your time. =3--
#2
07/01/2009 (6:32 pm)
Thank you for the feedback; I'll try to keep audio clues in mind next time I make some puzzles. =3 
#3
07/01/2009 (9:07 pm)
You've got some great ideas! If you haven't got any coding experience, it wouldn't hurt to learn a little. Being able to show your idea in practice is like 1000 pictures each with 1000 words.
#4
07/01/2009 (9:52 pm)
I do have -some- coding experience; I've worked with Second Life and Game Maker, primarily. =p 
#5
07/01/2009 (10:06 pm)
Interesting :D
Employee Deborah M. Fike