Integrating a Goal Puzzle

Finally, we move to the goal puzzle. As we recall, these puzzles are ways to guide the player along the adventure by setting short-term goals.

From the developer's standpoint, such puzzles are a godsend. They provide a semblance of a script and give the player something to do. They also make a level "economically feasible." Goal puzzles often have the player travel repeatedly across a level and therefore spend more time there.

Goal puzzles should be very simple since their reason for being is not to slow the player down while in the midst of an action game. "Simple", however, should not mean poor. Puzzles like these require particular attention. The solution is good script-writing.

Consider an example from any imaginable horror-survival game. The two heroes, one of them controlled by the player, have to ready a vehicle so they can clear a dangerous area. Some components are missing: gasoline and the ignition key. Also, the player's partner reports the electrically operated hangar door won't open because of a missing fuse. We have our goal puzzle: assemble three components in order to continue with the adventure. Let's take a look at how good script-writing can turn a dull quest into a heart-throbbing adventure.

The player's partner comes from a different location. He recalls having seen an electric panel and thinks he could pick up a working fuse there. Our two heroes split up. The partner leaves to collect the fuse while the player's character goes on to explore the premises for the other two missing components.

On his expedition, the player discovers a fuel store - with the electrically operated door locked and out of order. He can easily see why. He must inspect a nearby electric panel and discover that the fuse controlling the door is missing. The player must move on with his search. He stumbles upon the body of one of the pilots. He must search it, and reveal a set of keys. The player has found the first of the three components of the puzzle: the key to the vehicle.

Immediately after this find, a distress call comes in. His partner is surrounded by enemies and is asking the player to come to the rescue. The player must turn around and follow in the footsteps of his partner to find her. Pressure is now upon the player. Calls for help, increasingly desperate, come through in his earpiece. The player needs to find his partner as quickly as possible and relieve her.

Once saved, the partner reports finding the fuse needed to open the hangar door and gives it to the player. His action has earned him the second of the three components of the puzzle.
With the fuse, the player must understand that he can open the door into the fuel store and pick up the gasoline. He must now backtrack to the electric panel that controls access to the fuel store. He must install the fuse supplied by his partner, leave it in place to make sure the security door doesn't close back, and go search for fuel, the third component of the puzzle.
But as he gets out, enemies mount a surprise attack. A cut scene shows a large number of enemies approaching. A massive attack at this moment in the game is designed to panic the player and force him to flee without recovering the fuse! Remember, it is essential for opening the hangar door.

This example shows how a simple component-gathering puzzle can be turned around for a much more appealing spin and concludes the rules on how to design and integrate puzzles in action-adventure games.