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Jonathan Blow released The Witness[0] not too long ago. An exploration game based on puzzles and meta-puzzles involving tracing lines. The Talos Principle[1] sc

by lfowles 10y ago

Jonathan Blow released The Witness[0] not too long ago. An exploration game based on puzzles and meta-puzzles involving tracing lines. The Talos Principle[1] scratched the same itch. It involves directing laser beams to ... laser beam receptacles :) EDIT: Disclaimer for The Witness: Go in without reading much about it. It's got plenty of puzzles about connecting paths, but that's all you really need to know. The game is as much about discovery and thinking outside/around/underneath the box as it is solving the explicit puzzles. [0]: http://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/ [1]: http://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/

joshschreuder 10y ago
The Witness and The Talos Principle are both excellent. I loved Braid too, but there's something about the zen nature of The Witness and fiendish puzzles that really appealed to me. The final challenge was so much fun.
Mithaldu 10y ago
Fair warning: The Witness has some unsolvable puzzles for people who're bad of hearing or colorblind. Additionally the puzzles mostly revolve around moving around in the game world until you can see the "solution" to the board in the surroundings, at which point you then simply input it; while working out the solution based on rules inherent to the puzzle is often impossible. For example there are two entire sections where the puzzle boards offer zero hints as to the solution and the player has to move around so ----------, which one then follows or redraws with the mouse. Other puzzles involve around walking ---------------------------- so that ---------------- form continuous lines which one then traces with the mouse. I found myself utterly bored because even 10+ hours in i still felt like playing a really elaborate game of "find the easter egg" instead of actually using my brain. YMMV.
- empath75 10y ago
  Man, that's a lot of spoilers. And also not a fair representation of the content of the game at all.
  - Mithaldu 10y ago
    How is it unfair? I made an effort to portray only the truth. Also, spoilers? In a game that does not have a story? I'd love to hear which parts of my post you consider spoilers, since i only see "align --------- and trace them" and "walk ----------- and trace lines -----------" as possible spoilers, and puzzle-wise they're incredibly mundane.
    - kcbanner 10y ago
      It's not really up to you to decide if a puzzle is mundane for all players. Maybe it was for you, but there was a real aha moment for me on some of those puzzles.
      - Mithaldu 10y ago
        In the general case, you are right. However then it becomes hard to even talk about the game and particularly the difference between finding what amounts to an easter egg, or solving a problem. As puzzles you don't spend a lot of time thinking about them, trying to work out the solution. Either you notice them or you don't. That's why i qualified it with the word "puzzle-wise".
  - biot 10y ago
    It soon becomes obvious that you cannot always find the solution within the puzzles themselves. Given that fact, it's no spoiler that if the solution isn't contained within the puzzle, maybe you should look to things outside the puzzle (like your environment) for clues. I will agree that saying specifics beyond that might spoil the "aha" moment for some. Additionally, after playing through the game I felt the same way about it. Particularly the "post (meta?) game" puzzles. Perhaps some enjoyed solving those, but for me it was a tedious exercise that brought little satisfaction to the point that I ended up looking up most of them in walkthroughs.
- undershirt 10y ago
  Please delete that third paragraph. However minor you think it is, they spoil some of the serendipitous experiences that are important to the game.
  - Mithaldu 10y ago
    Since you said please. And mentioned the serindipitousness. I realized that i was mostly fine just wandering around not thinking much, until the game broke the experiences on its own by presenting me with puzzles that were physically unsolvable for my body, forcing me to youtube. Hope the censoring i did neutralizes it enough.

by lfowles 10y ago

joshschreuder 10y ago

The Witness and The Talos Principle are both excellent. I loved Braid too, but there's something about the zen nature of The Witness and fiendish puzzles that really appealed to me. The final challenge was so much fun.

Mithaldu 10y ago

Fair warning: The Witness has some unsolvable puzzles for people who're bad of hearing or colorblind. Additionally the puzzles mostly revolve around moving around in the game world until you can see the "solution" to the board in the surroundings, at which point you then simply input it; while working out the solution based on rules inherent to the puzzle is often impossible. For example there are two entire sections where the puzzle boards offer zero hints as to the solution and the player has to move around so ----------, which one then follows or redraws with the mouse. Other puzzles involve around walking ---------------------------- so that ---------------- form continuous lines which one then traces with the mouse. I found myself utterly bored because even 10+ hours in i still felt like playing a really elaborate game of "find the easter egg" instead of actually using my brain. YMMV.

empath75 10y ago
Man, that's a lot of spoilers. And also not a fair representation of the content of the game at all.
- Mithaldu 10y ago
  How is it unfair? I made an effort to portray only the truth. Also, spoilers? In a game that does not have a story? I'd love to hear which parts of my post you consider spoilers, since i only see "align --------- and trace them" and "walk ----------- and trace lines -----------" as possible spoilers, and puzzle-wise they're incredibly mundane.
  - kcbanner 10y ago
    It's not really up to you to decide if a puzzle is mundane for all players. Maybe it was for you, but there was a real aha moment for me on some of those puzzles.
    - Mithaldu 10y ago
      In the general case, you are right. However then it becomes hard to even talk about the game and particularly the difference between finding what amounts to an easter egg, or solving a problem. As puzzles you don't spend a lot of time thinking about them, trying to work out the solution. Either you notice them or you don't. That's why i qualified it with the word "puzzle-wise".
- biot 10y ago
  It soon becomes obvious that you cannot always find the solution within the puzzles themselves. Given that fact, it's no spoiler that if the solution isn't contained within the puzzle, maybe you should look to things outside the puzzle (like your environment) for clues. I will agree that saying specifics beyond that might spoil the "aha" moment for some. Additionally, after playing through the game I felt the same way about it. Particularly the "post (meta?) game" puzzles. Perhaps some enjoyed solving those, but for me it was a tedious exercise that brought little satisfaction to the point that I ended up looking up most of them in walkthroughs.
undershirt 10y ago
Please delete that third paragraph. However minor you think it is, they spoil some of the serendipitous experiences that are important to the game.
- Mithaldu 10y ago
  Since you said please. And mentioned the serindipitousness. I realized that i was mostly fine just wandering around not thinking much, until the game broke the experiences on its own by presenting me with puzzles that were physically unsolvable for my body, forcing me to youtube. Hope the censoring i did neutralizes it enough.