It's been a slow month of progress for PSI, mostly focused on getting the game to save properly. There's more testing needed, but we really wanted to make sure that a player could save the game mid-puzzle, as it can take 30 - 60 minutes to complete a single puzzle! But things are looking hopeful...
So this month seems like a good time to talk a bit about the puzzle design in Puzzle Spy International. We (Talia and I) were first introduced to these brain-teasery puzzles by our good friend Jay. (He also introduced us to RL escape rooms and the monthly in-person puzzle challenges of Puzzled Pint.) Jay has not only been a long-time fan of complicated paper puzzles and Puzzle Hunts but has also written quite a number of puzzles himself, for Puzzled Pint, Microsoft Puzzle Hunt and more.
The original impetus for PSI came from our asking Jay for permission to repurpose his puzzles.Something along the lines of "Hey, we have this idea for a spy story, could we incorporate some of your old puzzles into it?" Jay granted permission and we've reused several of his puzzles in the game. In other places, we've had to write our own puzzles to dovetail nicely with our story and situations. We've leaned more towards puzzles that have longer solutions: The PSI puzzles needed answers that formed full directions like "Meet your contact next to Big Ben in London." (NOT an actual puzzle answer in the game!)
Like puzzles from Puzzled Pint and similar events, the puzzles don't display their instructions up front. Part of the challenge - and, we argue, the FUN - comes from analyzing what little is given and figuring out what you're supposed to do. Here are a bunch of boxes that you can type in, but what goes in those boxes? Here are a bunch of letters or words, what's their connection? If we told you everything that you're supposed to do, that would be hand-holding your way halfway through the puzzle, and we want players to experience the thrill of figuring out those connections themselves. That's what leads to the fun A-HA moments that make puzzle-solving a joy.
Of course not every puzzler can get into the mind of the puzzle creator so we've provided an EXTENSIVE hint system (and there is NO penalty for using hints!) The hint system ensures that no one will ever be in a position to not be able to finish a puzzle and move forward if the solution isn't clicking.
We're still planning on releasing the Puzzle Spy International: Prelude and Demo next month so stay tuned for the chance to try it and experience these a-ha moments yourselves!