Games Britannia - Monopolies and Mergers, Joystick Generation

Games Britannia part 2 - Monopolies and Mergers 

Following part 1 of Games Britannia, Benjamin Woolley follows on to show us the historical influences of board games over the past 200 years on British society and how they became a key method of teaching morals to a wide audience over time.

We start off with a game many will not know of but has been a key influence on one of the most popular board games of all time and still is just as popular and successful today - Monopoly. The game that influenced this and many others like it is called The Landlord's Game. The premise of the game was to teach the players the values of fair play and also the advantages and disadvantages of 'Land Grabbing' and renting and how they worked back when the game was made. This was released in the U.K title Brer fox n' Brer Rabbit which was again the key influential point for the creation of Monopoly.

The versatility and playability of both games allowed the game to be re made and re distributed globally as all of the pieces and places could be re named and change so easily but would still follow the rules and have the same  game play and moral issues tied to it no matter the geographical location. Simply this game was so successful because you can play the same game, with the same rules, all over the world but with the simple change of street names and this is one of the reasons for monopoly being so successful over the years.

After this the family board games industries were focusing on creating games to help families through the great depression - Cluedo and Scrabble quickly became popular family games during this time, which then fully  influenced the start of one of the biggest games companies at the time and even today as they are producing the same games now and are just as successful. 

Nowadays however the board games popularity has drastically declined due to the rapid increase in technology and what people can now do with a computer and games consoles, but I personally bet that every person reading this article has a copy of Scrabble, Monopoly or Cluedo in their household or all three which still shows the influential characteristics of the board game and the joining of friends and family that they create. Board games in production nowadays are still sticking to premise of teaching the players about what is happening in the world as they originally started with but with 'Innovative' changes/improvements, such as War on Terror which is a board game designed, obviously to teach the players about the modern day battles and wars that are happening around us all like the board games that were created years ago to help the players get through the great depression these games are here to help us get understand the War on Terror, on a basic level. But due to the views and satirical nature of the game it is hard to find a store that will stock it.

From this I have learnt the influences that a board game has and how important they all are. Boards games are created for entertainment and to help the players join together and get through difficult times. With the increase of digital technology and digital gaming it is important to note board games and the influences they have and what they have done to the gaming world, because I believe that if there were no board games their would be modern day computer games but not to the standard that they are at now, at distracting the players from everyday life as a chance to escape, how to cope with everyday life and mainly as a method of joining people together in the community or just in the family home.

Games Britannia part 3 - Joystick Generation

In this instalment of Games Britannia Woolley follows on with his journey in history of the games in British society from board games to the first fantasy RPG and the progression from classic board games to the modern (at the time of the documentary) computer gaming world.

Woolley start off by talking about the influence of board games during The Winter of Discontent in the 1970's, linking back to part 2 where board games are used to help the players escape from the modern world. From the freezing colds and houses with no heat, electricity and mounds of rubbish being left in the streets a drastic distraction was needed. One such distraction from the modern world was found, Dungeons and Dragons, one of the most famous and influential RPG's ever created and is just as successful today as it was back then, due to its unique methods of play and narrative and the fact that the player could immerse themselves in this completely make believe world and choose their own paths of either fighting or avoiding conflicts and the consequences of the actions you took, again linking to the real world in a dramatised view.

From Dungeons and Dragons and the uniqueness of the game kicked off the creation of the computer game, I believe as it was from the unique method of play and control the players had compared to other board games. This lead to the creation of God games,  modern examples include The Sims and Roller Coaster Tycoon. These types of games gave the players more possibilities of what they could do and taught them the effects of what they do, the consequences of their actions and an escape from the modern world where you can create the perfect world or at least attempt to, when your world isn't so perfect. The player creates their own story and character meaning they can determine everything which was a very unique playing method for the time making these types of games extremely successful.

As the progression of technology and the skills used within games, the players have the highest emotional ties to games because of the narrative and skills learnt over the years starting with the basics from board games. This is why the influences and power of board games should not be discarded, as without board games we would not have the knowledge and capabilities that we now have within the gaming industry and I probably wouldn't even be sitting here typing this blog and studying a Computer Games Design course if they never existed or had the effect on the players that they so successfully did. 

Modern games allow you to make a deep connection with the characters which is directly linked to Dungeons and Dragons and the character you play. This gives the player the feeling of responsibility to the character as they will know their story, attitudes and have a greater connection with them and this is only my personal description and views but I believe this to only be a possible emotional response from games as you control the outcome and are effected by your every decision, much like the real world and because of this no other form of media can even come close to games.

Roger Caillois' Terminology

Here we have some very useful examples of terminology from Caillois's about games and their different types of play and how they link to the many different and vastly growing games out on the current market.


Agon is the competitive nature of play, and it is the form to which Huizinga gave the most attention. Agon depends on competition and oposition, so races, chess games, fencing, and any televised sport easily falls under this category. The point of agon is to have one’s superiority recognized, and this superiority maintains a culturally endowed significance outside of the space of the game. In physical conflicts, violence or harm is not the object, but simply superiority. Games of agon frequently require training and investment, to learn and master the rules, and master one’s own power within the game.


Alea is the element of chance, and in these games, it is destiny that governs the outcome. In games of alea, the player is passive, at least in terms of affecting the outcome. Partaking in games of alea is a sign of courage, as one invests and risks, and then waits anxiously for the outcome. The player in games of alea thus has none of the professionalism of the player of agon. The most prevalent forms of alea are games like roulette or lotteries. Card games where the player plays cards are a combination of alea and agon, because elements of competition and chance are predominant. Caillois explains “Agon is a vindication of personal responsibility; alea is a negation of the will, a surrener to destiny.” (p. 18)


Mimicry is about developing and participating in an imaginary universe. Both agon and alea enable a world where the rules of the game are sacred, within which the game is self contained. Mimicry is about becoming another, to participate within this illusory world. Mimicry is about becoming another character and behaving as that character, temporarily shedding one’s actual identity. Mimicry is found in animal behavior, but in animals (especially in insects), the alternate character is integrated into the body, is essentially a mask that presents the creature as something that it is not. Human mimicry is found in ritual and performance, as well as in make-believe. The simulated nature of make believe is the essence of spectacle, and lives on in the eyes of the witnesses in addition to the players. Agon is inherently spectacular (as to prove one’s superiority, there must be witnesses to acknowledge it), and thus players of agon become celebrities. Sports stars maintain a role as-player even outside of the game when dealing with fans. Mimicry exhibits all the formal characteristics of play except for the element of rules. It can be seen to have rules, but these are the rules of performance, which requires maintenance and cooperation of the imaginary world.


Ilinx is a topic described by Caillois that does not tend to have nearly as much attention as his other categories. This is the element of vertigo, and the pursuit of vertigo. Sports of pleasure, where the goal is the bodily experience, are derived from Ilinx. The kinds of examples given by Caillois are games of spinning, voladores, and are associated with vertigo, panic, and hypnosis. I think that this category could easily be seen to include skiing, bungee jupmping, skydiving, driving cars very fast, sex, rollercoaster rides, drug use, mountaineering, dancing, and so on. The pursuit of vertigo from a lucid state is extremely common. Unlike mimicry, where the goal is to don a mask and participate in an imaginary world, the goal of ilinx is to touch a trans-sensual world at the limits of human perception through a visceral and bodily experience. Ilinx and alea are common in that they involve a submission of oneself to forces outside of one’s control. Gamblers often describe their experiences as being totally intoxicating. This can also be seen as a common thread with mimicry, where, having donned a mask, one submits oneself to that masks power (as described by Johnstone). Ilinx can be easily compared to the joy of immersion, where the goal is a sensually captivating experience of being in a world, often being lost within it.


Paidia is defined with some reservation and difficulty. Paidia corresponds to the basic level of freedom within play. Rules and freedom have an antithetical relationship, because play is dependent on rules, but simultaneously is about freedom from rules. Paidia is that dimension of freedom. It is tied integrally to the feeling of pleasure and joy. Pidia is spontaneous and wrapped up in the experience of sensation and response. Developmentally, childrens’ play is paidia (as the word paidia itself implies), but gradually it moves to take on rules, to structure the experience of play, and in doing so play bifurcates from a single activity into the many forms of agon, alea, mimicry, and ilinx.


Ludus works very differently. As defined, it is a desire to find amusement in arbitrary obstacles. This is a definition that leads to the sense of what games are, but the definition alone does not imply it immediately. The existence of the obstacle is what is intrinsic to ludus. The intensity of ludus defines the significance and importance of the obstacle, which leads to more structure. Caillois stresses that agon and ludus are not the same thing, though they may have correlation. There are two things that must be stressed about ludus. The first is that it is wrapped up in the idea of amusement. The amusement in overcoming the obstacle is integral. The imposition of an obstacle is not enough to make ludus; there must be pleasure as well. The second thing is that the obstacle is arbitrary. This arbitrariness becomes surprising sometimes when the absurdities of some games are brought to attention, for instance the restrictions on what parts of the body can used to touch the ball in ball games, or the role of the costume in theatre, or the significance of the roulette wheel in gambling. Ludus is how importance and meaning is endowed onto the space of objects within the magic circle and the world of the game.


//This information was provided from the below website and is only used to display the different definitions of the terminology and not at all to claim it as my own or to be used other than for academic reference. http://www.icosilune.com/2009/03/roger-caillois-man-play-and-games/

la decima vittima

Hello,
Another short post talking about an Italian film called La Decima Vittima.
The film was created in 1965, so is dated with its special effects and as you can guess the film is subtitled. But it is a still a good watch as The 10th Victim (English translation, based on Robert Sheckley's short story "Seventh Victim" (1953)) starts with the introduction to a world of which is run by assassins and the better killer you are the more respected, feared and threatened you are by the other members of the assassin's guild. This guild started off as a game and quickly became a way of life for all who participated in it, which we can only hope to achieve in the games and productions that we will hopefully be creating in the future.

Again as I mentioned earlier it is a dated film but still a key study for anyone in the industry and I would personally love to see a English modern day re make as modern day technology and cinema would only emphasize the effectiveness of this film if done so correctly and could be a key candidate for Remediation in films.

My 1st year at University Campus Suffolk

Hello all,

This is just a quick blog entry to show you what I have managed to pull together somehow in one year at university. And believe me if I can do it any one can, I have had a lot of help from the tutors and other members of my class and have enjoyed it this far.

Below is a list of links and images of the work i have done so far including my 3D model of a IronMan helmet, my individual Flash game project, Earth Defence and my group project Caveman Chris. The links on the games will take you to Waterfrontgames.com which is the website dedicated to the students studying Computer Games Design at UCS, of which all the content is created souly by students, so please leave feedback as it will help us to make better more appealing games now and in the future.

3D Model

The 3D model that i have created is a basic model of Marvel's Iron Man helmet as i am a big fan of Marvel and Iron Man and thought this would be a good way to start my first real 3 Dimensional model using  3Ds Max. The last 4 images are of the final renders and the different materials i have used to give the model a metallic effect. Now the renders are done I will be importing this into UDK editor and get it set up for my presentation.


Individual Project - Earth Defence


http://www.waterfrontgames.com/game/index/26

My game is a top down shooter of which you control a space shuttle defending Earth from invading UFO's. You are Earth's last hope, and must survive for as long as you can so man kind can escape before the alien horde overruns Earth.

Group Project - Caveman Chris


http://www.waterfrontgames.com/game/index/12

Caveman Chris is a game of which you play a Caveman protecting his family from attacking prehistoric creatures. The aim of the game is to get as far into the game as possible. At the moment we have just revamped the game so is not a complete as we would all hope but will be fully completed by the end of the academic year, so follow on waterfrontgames.com for the latest versions of the game.

This is not all that i have done over this year but i believe it to be the parts of the course that the general public are able to give feedback and rate my work and generally look and take an interest in what us computer gamers actually do and hope provide inspiration to younger, aspiring games designers.

Many thanks again
Daniel Brown

remediation and games

Bolter and Grusin:-

"We call the representation of one medium in another remediation, and we will argue that remediation is a defining characteristic of the new digital media.  What might seem at first to be an esoteric practice is so widespread that we can identify a spectrum of different ways in which digital media remediate their predecessors."

Below is the spectrum of ways new media 'remediates' the older media.

IMMEDIACY                                                                          HYPERMEDIACY

Media that aspire to a condition of transparency.            Artefacts that are aware of and wish to

The aim is to make the viewer ‘forget’ that they               display their own constructed nature.

are watching a movie, for example, and be drawn          They call attention to their own constructed

in to the experience.                                                            nature all the time.

•Immersive virtual reality                                                     *WWW

•Photo realistic images                                                      *Video Game HUDS

•So remediation can refer to a whole range of conventions.For example we find examples of Aesthetic conventions being constantly traded between different media.

•‘Photorealism’ an example of ‘immediacy’ as it is not to preserve the medium of ‘photography’

•Similarly ‘Hypermediacy’ is not the aesthetic preserve of the world wide web, its conventions have been picked up by, for example, television rolling news.

The rules governing the `perspective` of 3D shapes on a flat surface that dominate contemporary computer games, were first worked out during the Renaissance.

                                                     The  Masaccio Trinity  circ 1430

Example of images made to look 3d in computer games below.

Why does remediation take place?

•It may take time for a new medium to develop unique forms of content.

•Similarly it is not so surprising that successful conventions end up being traded between different media. The ‘goal’ of computer games was to render into visual 3D the text based narratives of early computer games.

•Television programme makers took the successful format of ‘Variety’ programmes from radio, who had themselves taken the convention from the music halls.

Remdiation in films and games

Video Gaming and Film:

Bittanti (2003) looks at the history of video gaming in film and claims that there is a convergence taking place.

Bittanti claims that there are now a body of films that remediate, comment on, quote and adapt video games.

So much so these films are a genre of film in their own right. He calls them Technoludic Films. A combination of Technology and Ludus (Latin for play).

Technoludic Film as Commentary

Here, Bittanti says, the video game is subordinated to the film.  Film is used to

critique the other medium (the video game).  Film projects societies deepest

anxieties about the medium of the video game, especially in relation to the escape of the self and the body from `reality`.

Among the films that exemplify this are The Lawnmower Man (1991) eXistenZ (1999) The Matrix Trilogy (1999ff)

Technoludic film as quotation

Here video games appear in films for illustrative purposes. They are not the central theme of the film but form part of the fictional world that the film is attempting to create.

Films that exemplify this approach are Blade Runner (1982)  Clockers (1997) a modern example of this sort of film would be Inception (2010)

Technoludic film as remediation (1) adaptation

Brittanti uses remediation in its most straight forward form to refer to the direct adaptation of computer games as a source text for a film, not simply a theme. These are often translations or tie-ins of successful games however the films – as films – have often been critiqued for the low quality of the scripting and acting.

Films that exemplify this approach are Super Mario Brothers (1993) and Lara Croft : Tomb Raider (2001) Dead or Alive (2006)

Technoludic film as remediation (2)

We have seen that there is a broader conception of remediation which is about the incorporation of aesthetic and narrative codes from one form of media into another.

There are a number of films embody into their narratives and / or style some of the conventions that we usually find within video games.  Films that appear to exemplify this are Groundhog Day (1993)  Toy Story (1995) Run Lola Run (1998) 

Hello all again this has been a good reading and I didn't want to foul it with my rubbish so I have copied a majority of this from the source and added my own slight changes to it i.e. spelling and punctuation but that is it as i don't see a need to change something that conveys what they are trying to portray effectively already.

Many Thanks

-Dan 

Chris Crawford - Interactive Storytelling

A few Fundamentals to Nature Of Stories:
Strong Structure:
"Stories must satisfy tight structural requirements to be acceptable."
There are fundamental expectations of a story that when you here a certain story you will believe that the tale your listening to isn't a story. - "Lesson #1 Stories are complex structures that must meet hard-to-specify requirements"

People:

In it's most basic form all stories are about people even if a person or people aren't physically mentioned the main part of a story is making it possible for the reader to relate to or understand from the perspective of a person telling the story. For example in itsy-bitsy spider obviously the spider isn't a person but the moral of the story to keep persevering  makes the reader relate to the story as if it really is a bout a person persevering up the water spout.

"Lesson #2 Stories are about the most fascinating thing in the universe: people."

Conflict:

All stories have conflict whether that be directly presented as good and evil in white and black or the bad guy looks ugly and horrific where the good guys are handsome admirable characters of which we as the audience would admire to become.

However stories conflict isn't always so direct, for example in Jurassic Park 2, the main conflict is between the business man and the scientist and their different views on how the dinosaurs should be treated, as creatures or as a money making scheme. The dinosaurs appear to be the main conflict but are actually not needed at all in the film as the main point of the story is that the business man should have listened to the scientist because he predicts that the creatures will act on their primal instincts. Basically the dinosaurs actions are natural to their instinctive hunter-gatherer ways, much like if a lion escaped at a zoo and ate someone, a very drastic example but it gets my point across. The film could have been done without the dinosaurs completely but that wouldn't make an interesting film or wouldn't make Spielberg any money.

Puzzles:

"Stories are not puzzles. It's true that puzzles often form a part of the story: indeed, puzzles play a large role in mystery stories." But again the puzzles and story is primarily about the people within them i.e. the Saw movies wouldn't be as good if the traps where made but no one went through them and we just had to figure out how to escape, we follow the people in the story and traps and see how and what they do to escape, the traps needn't be there either they could just get told by Jigsaw what they have done wrong and promise to change, but again this doesn't make compelling films but the puzzles are what gives the people within them the challenges to overcome. Giving the people within the stories something to beat or overcome makes a compelling story again like Itsy-Bitsy Spider, the Spiders puzzle is making it up the water spout, puzzles help make the story compelling by giving the people a challenge.

Plenty of stories do well without puzzles however but puzzles do add to a compelling story and especially game.

"Lesson #3 Puzzles are not a necessary component of Stories"

Choices:

Spectacle:

"Lesson #4 Spectacle does not make stories"

The Tyranny of the Visual:

Similar to the above as the age of technology is upon us and is greatly achieving more and more great things the modern day observers of film, tv and games are so fixated on the epic visual effects, fight scenes and CGI that if a younger modern audience was to watch a black and white film they would find it boring and not be drawn into the film because of the lack of technology, effects and visual pleasure they are used to from modern day technology, so from this we can say that yes you do not need visual pleasure to create a story but in a modern age like today they are needed i believe to make game or film a success as without visual dynamics now only a small minority of people will enjoy, understand and believe it, for example image Transformers with out the CGI, Star Wars without lightsabers and the force or The Matrix without the amazing special effects and wall running.

"The Rise of the Image, The Fall of the Word"

"What i want to concentrate on here is the way in which visual thinking has come to dominate out thinking, to the exclusion of everything else."

"Lesson #5 Visual thinking should not dominate storytelling"

Spatial Thinking:

I am going to be completely honest here i say that i didn't fully understand this enough to write and example in my our terms until i read this extract so instead of trying to put this is simpler terms i am going to add it in here because if it can make me understand it it can make anyone understand spatial thinking.

"Lesson #6 Stories take place on stages, not maps"

Temporal Discontinuity:

This i have understood thankfully. Basically this in the order and length of time in real life and within the film, television or theatrical industry. A key example to this is that in films a gap of many years is simply shorten for our viewing needs by the line "a few years later" but we don't fully know what has happened in those years and we don't care all we want to know is how do they look now or what is going to happen not what happened in the bit we didn't see. Films, theatre etc can use this to their advantage as travelling miles across an ocean doesn't take days it takes minutes showing us the main point of the story if it is needed i.e. what the people are doing on the boat, if nothing interesting or nothing that continues the story is going to happen on the boat then the boat is simply shown leaving one place and arriving at the next, our brain fills in the blanks.

However with computer games this is not done so much, in fact the main concern for game creators is actually the physical time it takes a player to finish a game from start to finish, perhaps some games include captions like "some time later" for example when the player is knocked unconscious and the surrounding area has changed dramatically  or something similar, otherwise the caption is not used and you would normally see the player standing up as the screen fades in from a black screen.

-Dan 

Dave Perry & Russel DeMaria - Game Design: a Brain Storming Toolbox

What is a Puzzle?:

"A baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution"

There is a solution to the puzzle and it can be found in many ways by deduction, induction or random chance.

Challenges and puzzles are different, a puzzle can contain a challenges but challenges aren't always puzzles.

Dilemmas:

Puzzles which don't have definite correct answers and choosing an answer can have a drastic knock on affect so which choice do you make? this is a dilemma.

Puzzles in Games:

Putting pieces together:

One type of puzzle where the player has to find pieces of something to accomplish the goal for example finding pieces of armour, ingredients for a potions, parts of the Animus Data Fragments (Assassins Creed Revelations)

Missing Persons, Creatures, or Things:

Putting it simply in any game where you have had to go and find a mystical being or creature to reach the next level or mission, or where a person has got lost, kidnapped, or wandered off, this is an example of missing persons etc.

Hard Choices:

Making tough decisions without knowing the result of the decisions you are making, "The red pill or the blue pill" from Alice in Wonderland and The Matrix is a key example as neither characters knew the full consequences of what they were taking.

What's behind the door - again making a decision without knowing the end result i.e. picking a door to walk through without knowing what is on the other side.

Freeing the prisoners - basically picking between characters and determining the good and the bad and normally who lives and dies - Who do you Save?

Sacrifice - self explanatory

Kill Tasks:

Killing a monster, creature, taking out a hit on a target etc. to complete a task or to unlock an event which is key to the progression of the story. To make the kill tasks more interesting alterations to the target can be made so that the player has to figure out how to kill them, who the target is in a big group of people, the target is a friend or on your team etc.

Getting it Right;

To answer the puzzle correctly the NPC (Non Playable Character) will give hints and tips from the environment or documents which will aid you in making a difficult decision, normally giving you hints at what you will receive if you do the task a certain way.

Unusual Objects You Can Carry or Move:

In game if you come a cross something unusually big or different that you can interact with, pick up or move there is normally a puzzle associated with it.

Ordering Things:

Doing things in a certain order to achieve the overall goal of the puzzle. Like completing smaller puzzles to complete the larger puzzle but having to answer the puzzles in order.

Buttons and Switches:

Many buttons and switches are used in games and will either give a single answer to what happens if i press this button? or multiple choices, of what to do or where to go, the difficult part of this is deciding what way to go and if there is a way back and also where is the button that opens this door etc. This is very useful as it makes the player stop and think, a small puzzle.

Keys

Keys are exactly the same as buttons, you have to find them and use them in the right order and may have to use more than one to open the door, case, safe etc. they can also be used as a reward for accomplishing smaller side missions which means that the player has to figure out what side mission to complete to continue in the main missions, creating yet another puzzle for the player to accomplish to progress but making it not as annoying. Also keys aren't just keys they can be a specific weapon that is the only weapon which can kill certain enemies, a note, a glass of wine, a headline etc.

Configuration:

Configurations puzzles are puzzles of which the player has to move objects to certain places or move multiple objects in a specific order to accomplish the goal to progress. There  is usually an immediate effect once the configuration is completed so the player knows they have done it correctly.

Sequence of Tasks;

Self explanatory i believe - a set number of tasks which may or may not be completed in order (being done in order make the puzzle more challenging) to achieve an overall bigger goal, i.e. starting multiple mechanisms in order to open the massive door at the end of the great hall.

 Follow the Leaders:

Key examples of follow the leader are: Following an NPC's footsteps, an ordered sequence of lights etc.

Timing Challenges:

Another self explanatory one i think, basically the player has to complete a challenge with the added difficulty of having to complete it within a time limit or as quick as possible so that the player can beat his friends in competitions i.e. score boards etc.

The obscure Object of Desire:

Basically a challenge that the player will want to complete because of the rewards they will receive from it but the player is normally taunted for a period of time before they can actually accomplish or even start the challenge to receive the object of desire, like Prince of Persia when the Dagger of Time is visible for a long period of time but you cannot reach it for a little while making the player anxious to get it.

You Can't Do That...Yet:

Much similar to the object of desire but normally the player can see something they want but can't get it until they have unlocked something of better value or until a skill has been learnt or gadget unlocked later on in  the game and they have to venture back later on and remember where it is so they can get it once they have learnt the new trick etc. It tells you, you can come back and get it later basically.

Barriers:

Anything that impends your progress whether that be a physical barrier, locked door or difficult enemies.

Thinking Outside the Box:

A relatively normal situation or series events but with a twist so the player has to think of a different way to achieve the goal but an out of the ordinary way, i.e. escaping out of a room without using the doors or windows.

Managing Chaos (Too Much Too Fast):

Basically quite difficult decisions are thrown at you left, right and centre and you have to answer them all quickly, normally the challenges starts off slowly and build up in pace as the game progresses.

Moral Dilemmas;

Making decisions which are immoral or out of character and completely different to the rest of the decisions and choices your character has had to make. From this games can use the players thoughts and moral compass to their advantage meaning for example if a player is assigned to kill someone the choice they make whether to do it or not or give the appearance of doing it can open up different story lines and quests for the player to complete meaning the players decision is yet another difficult one.

Riddles:

To a degree all puzzles are riddles but more specifically some puzzles are purely riddles for example in Batman Arkham City and Asylum you have to find and answer the Riddler's riddles and in doing so you unlock items and gain more level progression points just by simply answering the riddle's correctly.

Riddle's can be given all at once, in parts or in clues that the player has to figure out without the telling of the riddle at all. Riddle's are normally told the player by an NPC or read from notes, books etc.

Signs and Wonders;

These are basically elements included in the game which divert or distract the player due to a noise, footprints or clues scattered around the world without being told what they are following or looking at actually does, it could be a trap, a big dragon ready to kill you or a massive treasure cove but finding these challenges and accomplishing them are very successful examples of puzzles in games.

Devices:

Devices are in all types of games ranging from doors to mobile phones and computers. Their purpose may be hard to work out or simple but the puzzle is getting them to work and to work to your advantage.They can also be hard or easy to operate but again the purpose of them is to use them to overcome a puzzle and to work. Also if a device is not operational being able to get the device to work is a great method of achieving a puzzle through a device.

Sudden Responsabilites;

Basically where an under experienced or under qualified character is given the sudden responsibility of a task which they are not able to complete without a lot of hard work and competing of puzzles and challenges. 

These can be short range of long range puzzles. from gaining a power up or achieving lots of mini puzzles to unlock your character full potential to save the world or achieve the end puzzle in the game, the responsibility set on to them at the start.

Sudden Loss of Power:

In games where the player has achieved greater power from something i.e. a mystical being, armour or special mythical item and then the power is suddenly taken away the player must find away to achieve the goals of tasks that would normally be easy with their old powers but now needs to find another way to figure out the puzzle.

Whodunit:

Basically a mystery and you have to figure out who done it normally by answering lots of mini puzzles or by figuring out a grand puzzle at the end of the game or a mini side mission where you have to find a missing person for example.

Mental Puzzles;

"Some puzzles require a lot of concentration and mental effort, such as;

Spotting the difference, Chinese puzzle boxes, fitting pieces together, Sudoku, arranging and ordering, chess games, finding what's wrong, matching patterns."

Puzzle Based Games:

From this we can see that the puzzle types mentioned above are normally sub games or mini games that are a part of a larger game giving the player more tasks to accomplish.

But some games are completely based on the completion of puzzle aspects and to continue and win the game overall the game must stick to these puzzle mechanics. A key example of a game that uses puzzle elements of which the entire game depends on that struct is Tetris.

Codes and Cryptography:

A means of communication by which the player has to figure it out to understand it i.e. an alien language, cav man scribbles on a cave wall, message from an ancient race etc. And upon doing so the player receives enlightenment and of course a prize.

You need to figure out these languages, scripts etc but looking at the code they use and connecting the dots to understand it, or to have a key to figuring it out whether that key be physically a key or not.

Shouldn't be over used in games as a lot of players don't like searching for hours to find out the hidden meaning of the a coded message or the message hidden in a long list of names or images.

Goals:

Goals are what need to be accomplished to finish or move on in the story whatever the goal takes the form of, killing someone, finding something etc.

Methods you might use:

Simply out how will the player achieve these goals? and what does accomplishing and being set these tasks to achieve open up to the player. i.e. from accepting to attempt the task he receives a gold coin but for completing the task and achieving the goal he receives a bag of coins as an example.

May be best to add more than one way to solve the puzzle if the puzzle is very difficult as not all players will look at the puzzle in the same way as each other but for more simpler puzzles the amount of correct ways to answer the puzzle doesn't need to be as much. Also answering one thing or doing one thing can open up new decisions and choices to make making the game have a lot more depth.

Tools, Skills and Objects;

These are normally determined when creating the puzzle so as a designer, you know what the player needs to have obtained , do in a certain order or posses on his person to complete the puzzle and achieve the goals i.e. the correct keys to the safe or the overpowered weapon of god which no enemy can with stand as an example.

Output:

When the player is faced with a decision they have to decided how to over come it for example, when opening a generic treasure chest do you: use the key, pick the lock, smash it, take the whole chest, leave it or burn it so no one else can have it?  and from this the way they overcome what they are shown can or will unlock different paths for them to follow, i.e. what they just broke may have been a key element to make this next battle easier  or because they touched it a demon appears and kills you etc.

-Dan