Contextual Studies: Puzzle games!

In this session we were shown a TED talk, JJ Abrams: The Mystery Box.We were told to look at the good aspects of how he presented the talk.

Humour: The talk was littered by jokes and funny experiences to keep the audience engaged with what he had to say. Humour is a good way of keeping audience interest up.

Personal Experiences: Talking about his family helped the audience relate to both the topic of mystery as well as anything else he had to say.

Using Props: The box was a perfect example of what can be used to represent mystery in a physical form, almost everybody wanted to know exactly what was in it. Yet it is never shown, leading to JJ Abrams explaining that sometimes some things are better left unknown.

http://www.ted.com/talks/j_j_abrams_mystery_box.html

List of Puzzle Games

Our group was given the genre of puzzle games, and had to list as many as we could think of. After seeming like one of the easiest genres I soon started to run out of ideas, as although there are many puzzle games out there I could not remember many!

Another problem was the number of games which had puzzle elements in them, in fact most games do! I included as many of these as I could think of at the time, adding a few in a later date.

Myst series
Angry Birds
Cut the rope
Forty Winks
Museum Madness
Knowledge Munchers
Zoombinis
Portal Series
Transformice
Minesweeper
World of Goo
Tetris
Bejeweled
Pipe Mania
Putt Putt

Games with Puzzle elements:
Skyrim
Dino Defender
Skylanders
Abes Odyssey
Batman Arkham Asylum

Questions Task

Zoombinis

Narrative/Structure
1. How is the game structured - does it have levels?

The game contains twelve puzzles, each with four levels of difficulty. The difficulty setting changes some of the visual aspects of the level, sometimes with more solution combinations, or a lower number of chances to complete the level.

Easy mode on the Hotel level.

The hardest mode of the Hotel level.

2. Do you have to follow a set path to complete the game?, How much freedom do you have to explore the game world?

The game is almost completely linear, with only  one section where the path splits. The camera is static with limited freedom to explore the game environment. A notable feature is the ability to interact with the landscape within the checkpoint level.
Visual Style

3. What does the game look like - its image and style?

The game has simple cartoon style graphics. Almost pixel art.
The characters encountered are stylized and memorable.

4. How do the visuals affect the player?

This gives the game a friendly welcoming feel, suitable for young children. Helping them engage with the puzzles and make them not seem too boring.

Here is a video showing the style and reinforcing the childlike theme which the visuals portray.