Worst Puzzles You've Ever Encountered

[Hayden]

While puzzles are one of the main attractions of adventure games, I think we can all agree that we've come across some that have been absolutely horrible. Horrible puzzles may include puzzles that are ridiculously difficult, puzzles that are illogical, or puzzles that are unexplained and cause the player to have no idea what they're meant to be doing. Those are the three most common cases anyway, but puzzles can also be terrible if they're too easy, too cruel, too nonsensical (and not in a good way), involve too much guesswork, etc. - there are many things that make a bad puzzle, and I'm sure we've all come across our fair share of bad puzzles in our adventure gaming experiences. So, here's your chance to vent and tell us what some of your most hated puzzles are, and why they're so bad.

[waroftheworlds01]

I haven't played many adventure games. But two come to mind that had puzzles that got me really confused or stuck. I won't go into details for I do not want to ruin it for anyone who decides to play these games.

But the games are "The Dig" and "Scratches"

I needed an online guide for both of those. The Dig was just insane in my opinion. And for scratches, the items that you had to find to progress further into the game at one point was just way out there. I mean, there was no way anyone could have figured that out without help.

As a side note. The original Metal Gear. You had to find a bomb blast suit so you could walk across the roof of the building because of the strong winds. The only hint you got was that it was somewhere in the building..... yeah.... that didn't help much. A whoe week of searching and finally resorted a an online guide. Stupid suit was behind a wall you had to blow up with explosives....how the hell... was I suposed to know that. lol

[DAISHI]

Ugh. The Dig. I love that game from a story, music and presentation perspective. Some of the puzzles were bloody unintuitive, or maybe I just don't perceive geographical shapes the way the game wanted me to.

Duck>Grips>Bandaid puzzle in the Longest Journey was a dazzling moment in which I realized I just didn't see the world as the designer did.

[Hayden]

Originally Posted by DAISHI

Duck>Grips>Bandaid puzzle in the Longest Journey was a dazzling moment in which I realized I just didn't see the world as the designer did.

I was able to get that puzzle fine. It was the damn statues puzzle on Alais that I freaking hated. The crystal twiddling puzzle underwater was pretty annoying as well.

These two sights...



...alone may be what prevents me from actually replaying that game (in the near future, anyway).

[Darth Marsden]

PEANUT. MOTHERF***ING. BUTTER.

EDIT: Actually, the first Runaway (the only one I've played, though I do own the others) is full of puzzles like this. Getting water for the train. Retrieving the trowel. Freezing a battery. This game was made of stupid. Peanut Butter's just the one that sticks in my mind the most due to its sheer, utter, complete, epic failure on every conceivable level as a puzzle. Seriously, peanuts do not melt! How do you screw that up?

[corruptbiggins]

Gabriel Knight 3. The moustache. I mean, oh my god! Why do we need a moustache when the person we're trying to impersonate doesn't have one? Oh because we're going to draw one on a passport photograph. Like no-one would notice that! And the moustache it self...just well!

Here's a more detailed look into that puzzle: http://www.gabrielknight4campaign.com/cat_hair.php

[coolsome]

Does Monkey Kombat count?

[Irishmile]

Originally Posted by coolsome

Does Monkey Kombat count?

Yes... I think it does .... I still have the nightmares

[Secret Fawful]

Originally Posted by Hayden

Horrible puzzles may include puzzles that are ridiculously difficult

I think you and I have entirely different ideas about what a horrible puzzle is. To me a horrible puzzle is any puzzle that is too easy. That's about it.

You know the cat and mouse in King's Quest 5? I love that sort of thing.

[thesporkman]

Originally Posted by corruptbiggins

Gabriel Knight 3. The moustache. I mean, oh my god! Why do we need a moustache when the person we're trying to impersonate doesn't have one? Oh because we're going to draw one on a passport photograph. Like no-one would notice that! And the moustache it self...just well!

Here's a more detailed look into that puzzle: http://www.gabrielknight4campaign.com/cat_hair.php

The idea behind the puzzle was that the false mustache and the drawn on mustache would obscure Gabriel and Mosley's facial features making it harder for the rental guy to tell the difference at a glance. It's still a stupid puzzle, but there was a stupid sort of logic to it.

What was really frustrating was that there seemed to be a more obvious solution to the puzzle that the game wouldn't let you pursue. If I recall correctly, at that point in the game, Gabriel was also carrying around a picture of himself. Any sensible person would have been going around looking for a way to cut out his picture and paste it onto the ID.

[puzzlebox]

Originally Posted by coolsome

Does Monkey Kombat count?

Originally Posted by Irishmile

Yes... I think it does .... I still have the nightmares

I actually didn't mind Monkey Kombat that much (just did me up a little table and trundled onwards)... I didn't realise how much hate it got until I turned up here for Tales.

[Hayden]

Originally Posted by Irishmile

Yes... I think it does .... I still have the nightmares

Is Monkey Kombat not popular? Wow, I've never heard anybody say they don't like it before.

Originally Posted by Secret Fawful

I think you and I have entirely different ideas about what a horrible puzzle is. To me a horrible puzzle is any puzzle that is too easy. That's about it.

I didn't mean that I don't like difficult puzzles, I just don't like ones that are ridiculously difficult or cruel. These usually involve twiddling or rotating certain objects until you reach the right combination - I hate that crap.

I also dislike puzzles that are too easy, and plainly spelled out to the player. I don't like one extreme or the other.

[coolsome]

Originally Posted by puzzlebox

I actually didn't mind Monkey Kombat that much (just did me up a little table and trundled onwards)... I didn't realise how much hate it got until I turned up here for Tales.

Even with the ps2 cheat table I hated it. It wasn't funny like insult sword fighting just the tedious parts.

[Secret Fawful]

Originally Posted by Hayden

I didn't mean that I don't like difficult puzzles, I just don't like ones that are ridiculously difficult or cruel. These usually involve twiddling or rotating certain objects until you reach the right combination - I hate that crap.

I also dislike puzzles that are too easy, and plainly spelled out to the player. I don't like one extreme or the other.

Aha. I like ridiculously cruel puzzles too, but that's mostly because they've become a bit of a rarity.

[Irishmile]

Originally Posted by puzzlebox

I actually didn't mind Monkey Kombat that much (just did me up a little table and trundled onwards)... I didn't realise how much hate it got until I turned up here for Tales.

I knew your kind existed.. there were legends of the gamers who didn't mind Monkey Kombat.. I never thought I would meet one.

[Captain Mickey]

The hours spent...

[puzzlebox]

Originally Posted by Irishmile

I knew your kind existed.. there were legends of the gamers who didn't mind Monkey Kombat.. I never thought I would meet one.

Some cultures hang bits of tin foil in their windows to ward us off.

[Alcoremortis]

Originally Posted by puzzlebox

I actually didn't mind Monkey Kombat that much (just did me up a little table and trundled onwards)... I didn't realise how much hate it got until I turned up here for Tales.

You and my brother. Every time I play Escape, I get him to do that bit for me, because he likes it.

Though, on occasion, I do write up a table for completion's sake.

[JedExodus]

Originally Posted by Hayden

I was able to get that puzzle fine. It was the damn statues puzzle on Alais that I freaking hated

Why is nobody mentioning the making scary shadows puzzle. That shit was clown shoes. And Longest Journey is up there in my adventure most favouritest adventuretacular games

Originally Posted by puzzlebox

I actually didn't mind Monkey Kombat that much

What are you, sick?

[DAISHI]

Originally Posted by Hayden

I was able to get that puzzle fine. It was the damn statues puzzle on Alais that I freaking hated. The crystal twiddling puzzle underwater was pretty annoying as well.

The statue puzzle is, I think, a prime example of a violation of the Lucasarts rules of puzzle creation. The puzzle itself would be more durable if you were able to experiment more easily more quickly, but travel around the island makes it even more frustrating.