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The Number One Educational Resource for the Game Industry

Session Name: Puzzle Writing: Best Practices
Speaker(s): Clara Fernandez-Vara
Company Name(s): Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab
Track / Format: Game Narrative Summit

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Overview: This lecture provides a guide for writers and designers who want to create better puzzles in their games. The first step to good puzzle design is understanding how puzzles work: their design patterns, what makes them fun, and how they relate to the story of the game.

Every puzzle in a game is a contract between the designer and the player, where the designer must provide all the necessary information to solve the puzzle, and still make it challenging enough to engage the player. The puzzle must also be integrated in the game world and help advance the story, which can be evaluated through a series of questions that writers/designers can ask themselves before going into playtesting.

GDC Online 2010

Clara Fernandez-Vara

Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab

free content

Game Narrative Summit

Game Narrative