Puzzle Games Megathread - Feel brilliant and dumb at the same time

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Puzzle Games Megathread - Feel brilliant and dumb at the same time

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

That cosmos something game where you put down train tracks to pick up and drop off aliens is really good actually

# ¿ Jun 7, 2021 18:52

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 03:38

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

For some reason I really can't stand 3d, first-person puzzle games like The Talos Principle, Portal, etc. I don't know what it is but they just aren't fun for me, maybe I tend to get a bit lost more easily whereas with a standard perspective you can see everything at once.

I'm trying to remember some from memory but it's kind of tough. Creaks was really good, a puzzler with some light platforming. Sunblaze is a new game that kind of straddles the line between puzzle game and platformer. Each room is a puzzle that you need to figure out before you can beat it. But then you need to execute your plan which is drat hard in the brutal platformer nature.

I also have a tile-based puzzle game on android that has you moving various bugs around a tiled field (every field is different and every bud moves differently) to get them all to one of the final tiles. Much harder than it sounds.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2021 22:39

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

Superrodan posted:

Every year my parents and I have a tradition to take some time to play through some puzzle games when I'm visiting. This year we're going to tackle Manifold Garden, Portal Reloaded (A mod where they add a green portal that takes you through time), and Maquette. I might make recommendations in this thread after giving them a shot.

Plus, I have vowed to show them Outer Wilds. It's not their style of game (they like a lot of levels and structure) but I want to show them why I love it so much. I'm kind of surprised it's not in the OP now that I look again, actually, considering how popular it seems to be. Maybe it's more of a mystery than a puzzle?

I forgot to ask this in my other post, but has anyone played Call of the Sea? I am curious if it's more story/exploration with a few simple puzzles, or if you would consider it more of a puzzle game with a story? I don't want to look up reviews that spoil anything but I'm wondering if anyone has a high level description of how they feel it hit the balance of puzzles and story and what kinds of puzzles there are?

Outer Wilds is definitely borderline. The whole overarching plot is a grand puzzle, and there are some puzzle-type things in certain rooms, but it also has action and exploration and narrative. More so than Obra Dinn where there is explicitly one puzzle and you just walk around a bit solving it. Great game but I'd call it exploration/adventure before puzzle, probably.

I mean, I suppose at some point you could just abstract anything into being a puzzle game. What is Dark Souls but a complex puzzle about how to use the available mechanics to defeat a particular boss or whatever? lol

Call of the Sea was just crap for my money. It does have puzzles but I found it to be a poorly-designed slog and quit after like the third main room.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2021 00:23

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

grate deceiver posted:

oh poo poo, I just realised that in Slipways asteroids do not give you passive income, you consume them for a one time payout

Yeah and the more settled planets you have nearby the more you'll get from them so it makes sense to wait until you're fully settled around them.

Maybe I need to give Slipways another chance. I never even finished a game because it just seemed repetitive. I also didn't understand how tech works at all.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2021 17:27

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

WhiteHowler posted:

I've been playing Slipways obsessively for the past few days. I'm still not great at it, but here are some tips that have worked for me:

1. Use the right-click option to plan out your planets before you start colonizing. You'll probably need to change the plan several times to get something that works.

2. Always know where each planet's needs are coming from. If you're going to colonize a planet that can never have its needs met, it should be fulfilling at least TWO needs for nearby planets that have no other way to get their needs met. There are probably some exceptions to this that I haven't figured out yet.

3. Two-way trade routes are amazing. They provide more cash per slipway, meet needs on both ends, and make it much easier to plan out a cluster of planets. There's a council perk that makes them worth even more money. Always two-way when possible.

I'm sure I'm still missing a ton of strategy, but my last run everything started to click. I got to tier 4 research (right at the end) and finished with a happiness of 101%. Still only three stars, but I juuuuust under the four star cutoff, and I already see a bunch of things I could have done better.

I'm loving the game so far.

Can you explain how you get to tier 4 research? Or how you research anything at all?

# ¿ Jun 8, 2021 17:52

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

WhiteHowler posted:

Build labs using the "structure" button (wrenches at the bottom of the screen). The input to labs is one person and one of (almost) any resource. The more resources you put into the same lab, the more research it will generate.

Research points amass each year. So if I have one lab cranking out three research, after three years I'll have nine research.

You can then spend the points with the middle flask button at the bottom of the screen. As you research more techs, it unlocks higher tiers (and locks lower tiers, so be careful!).

In this particular game I somehow had an excess of people and a few areas with tons of the same resource. By the end I was making 13 research per year, and could have had a few more if I'd prioritized it.

Thanks. When would you say is a good time to build the first lab, after how many settled planets?

# ¿ Jun 8, 2021 18:01

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

Llamadeus posted:

I can't blame anyone for finding Shenzhen I/O difficult (it's considered one of the harder Zachtronics games even), but also I don't think the early-mid part of the game is impenetrable unless you're having trouble with one of the core mechanics (how xbus works trips up a lot of people).

Unrelated puzzle game stuff: I am playing Filament and it is extremely difficult.

Yeah I recall getting stuck in like the tenth room in Filament. It is tough. There obviously was some trick I wasn't figuring out but it devolved into repeating the same tactics with the same results over and over again.

# ¿ Jun 9, 2021 16:28

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

One thing I don't quite understand is whether unused goods can travel THROUGH one or more planets that don't need them and to one that does. It seems like not, but that kinda doesn't make sense. Obviously I haven't played too deep into this game but understanding it better would probably get me to do that.

# ¿ Jun 9, 2021 19:26

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

You guys weren't kidding about Snakebird. Fun af game, I really like the look and the concept is unique, but it is HARD. Especially when you have to start messing with multiple guys at the same time, the variables just expand to the point where there are so many different things you could try and it's almost impossible to conceive them all perfectly in your head and decide which one will work. Resulting in lots of trial and error, at least for me, but I generally get it in the end. Good game. I foolishly opted for the original version, not the primer and am paying the price lol

# ¿ Jun 10, 2021 16:59

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

Puzzle Games Megathread - make bondage gear disappear from a bird to get a vegetable

# ¿ Jun 11, 2021 20:41

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

skeleton warrior posted:

Valley of No Roads released today, and I didn't even get twenty minutes in before asking for a refund. Poorly done, poorly defined tutorial; a game board that has lots of different pieces with no help tool or mouse-over to tell you what they do (though the tutorial does!); a procedurally generated map that might randomly decide not to give you the building that gives you more pieces to keep playing.

Play Dorfromantik or The Islanders instead.

Yeah that game was hilariously bad. I mentioned that in the new released thread, it's honestly like a high school project looking thing. Doesn't look great, doesn't explain anything, very weird game.

I won't do the whole effortpost again but I really enjoyed Fossil Corner. The good thing about its puzzles is that they are endlessly iteratable (if that's a word) and also a consistent application of observation and logic will always reach the answer. Sometimes I want puzzles games that won't completely stump me and instead will always respond to careful application of the rules. A bit like an easy sudoku book or those number picture puzzles.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2021 18:22

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

I wish Signal State actually took some time to explain how all the inputs and outputs WORK to adjust the frequency. Are you just supposed to trial and error and see how it changes each time or is there a way to know ahead of time? It's a really interesting game but when it all the sudden set me free to start doing levels I did a few successfully but I had no idea WHY or HOW I succeeded lol

# ¿ Oct 6, 2021 18:29

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1289990/Alans_Automaton_Workshop/

https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/256867051/movie480_vp9.webm?t=1640757203

Anyone seen this one? I'm pretty interested just based on how it looks

# ¿ Jan 21, 2022 19:07

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

Evil Trout posted:

I don't think anyone's mentioned Linelight here yet. I recently found out about it and am enjoying it quite a bit. It's on Steam/PS4/iOS/Android.

The premise is you are a tiny beam of light and have to navigate line shaped puzzles. There are a bunch of mechanics that are explored quite intuitively.

Here's the steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/469790/Linelight/.

This looks great. Really wanna check that out

I've got a couple new ones too. Haven't played them quite yet though.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1851120/File_Under_Kingdom/

Mix between a puzzle game, city builder, and narrative game of some kind. Enough to interest me.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1456770/Sketchbots/

Pretty involved-looking programming puzzle game. Really curious about this one.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1712810/Minimal_Crypt/

Another 'simple rules, tough puzzles' style game where i looks like you control a little circle and the different tiles you land on cast different effect on your circle allowing you to do different things.

Also if someone REALLY wants a bunch of new puzzles to solve, this is a pretty great bundle that includes a bunch of games discussed before itt:

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/9045/The__Bundle/

Play fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Jan 25, 2022

# ¿ Jan 25, 2022 18:54

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 03:38

Play: Apr 25, 2006; Strong stroll for a mangy stray

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1967510/Railbound/
https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/256904460/movie480_vp9.webm?t=1662449082

Good puzzle game. And don't let the cutesy graphics fool you it can be genuinely challenging. And it's a type of puzzle I haven't seen all that much of recently. I recommend checking it out for some puzzly goodness

Megazver posted:

I've always enjoyed substitution ciphers whenever some game would use one as a puzzle, so I jumped on Prose & Codes. It's nothing but four hundred or so different enciphered paragraphs to uncode, wrapped in some pretty graphic design and soothing piano music, and I love it.

Yeah I really like this one too, it's fun and something you don't see that often.

# ¿ Sep 19, 2022 01:57

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Puzzle Games Megathread - Feel brilliant and dumb at the same time