Gamasutra: At this weekend's IndieCade, Braid developer Jonathan Blow expanded upon his "philosophy of game design" he originally presented at GDC Europe, discussing how it works in concrete terms for puzzle design in Braid and his upcoming puzzle title, The Witness.
Some games test your reflexes. These ones test your delusions of intelligence. In today's feature, Jump Dash Roll lists 11 games that made us feel smarter than we are — however briefly.
I'm generally rather good at puzzle/logic/et al typed games, but The Witness, specifically, made me feel like an obtuse idiot. I got the line puzzle thing for a while, and then the rules became more & more obscure. I gave up without making it particularly far into the game...
Now, I put part of the blame on my own skill, certainly, but also on the game for just...being nothing but 1,000 of the same kind of line draw puzzles the entire time. There are a few cool twists - some I stumble on, others seen in video - but overall, it just wasn't varied enough to make me *want* to overcome the hurdles. It's pretty, but a walking simulator with nothing but line puzzles, and no in-game hint system to help prod you along, was not a winning formula for me at least.
Kudos to those who understood it and felt smart because of it. But this doesn't feel - at least from my experience lol - to be a game on a "make you feel smart, even if you aren't" kinda list.
i was disapointed that there were nothing more beyond the "line" puzzles but i still loved the game. not sure if we could call them in-game hints, but the puzzles are designed to teach you the rules of what you can and can not do. i also like how there was nothing to cheer you up on congratulate you as you progress, it was just about your curiosity and determination. the game treated you with maturity and respect, in a way.
the audio logs were atrocious though and the ending felt totally out of place. still one of the best puzzle game of recent years.
How on earth is "Blue Prince" not on this list? It is, imho, the greatest puzzle game ever made -- I am obsessed with it! I refuse to look up any solutions, making it that much more exciting when I finally crack a puzzle. Highly recommend it to anyone on the fence - an excellent game.
Braid creator Jonathan Blow is developing a roomscale VR game with no "concessions for seated or stationary play."
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