Introduction

What this guide is about

Puzzles are the heart of an adventure. A good puzzle feels as if the player had a clever idea of their own. A bad one feels as if the author tricked them. The difference almost never lies in the graphics but in the craft: How clear is the goal? Are there hints? Is the solution logical?

This guide sums up the most important rules, including those of Ron Gilbert, the creator of Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, and shows how to put them into practice in Visionaire Studio.

What you can do after this guide

• break a puzzle down into its building blocks and check whether it is fair
• plan several puzzles with a dependency chart
• choose the right puzzle types for your story
• place hints so nobody gets stuck, without giving the solution away
• test puzzles with players who don't know your game and improve them in a targeted way

If you have never built an adventure before, start with the guide "Your First Adventure in a Weekend". The examples here build on it.