Puzzle Design
Creating "Aha!"
There's something extremely special about creating a space that leads players to a moment where everything clicks into place.
In this section, I'll be breaking down my process for creating puzzles to delight.
Starting with OOOO
The first step in my process is to create a list of interesting interactions. Something that is satisfying to perform or would make for a lightbulb moment.
About my Portal Project
I worked in the Portal 2 Editor for 3 weeks, spending roughly 10 hours per week. In that time I found myself constantly getting pulled into the puzzle process and learned that making puzzles is just as much fun as solving them.
Project Specs
Engine: Portal 2 Editor
Duration: 3 weeks
Solo Student Project
You can play these levels by subscribing to them from the steam workshop and playing them in Portal 2 as Single Player Community Chambers.
4.5? Why's there a 4.5?
This is the best way to describe technically the fifth level because I learned I needed extra reinforcement for players to confidently go into level 5. Solving level 5 went up in speed and the pleasure of doing so after introducing 4.5.
Finding the Fun
The start of my process is actually in excel where I can organize skill themes and brainstorm exciting solutions. It's a low-cost area where I can just focus on what might be interesting, satisfying, or make players feel clever. By starting with what's fun, I build a foundation where I can later guide the players to these novel 'ahas'.
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For me, coming up with these 'ahas' is all about playing with the mechanics provided. Puzzle mechanics are super inspiring, and by experimenting and playing with the mechanics themselves we can come across what might make a really fun 'aha!' solution.
Some Excel Snipets
Setting Goals
Choosing an interesting interaction from the list is coming up, but first we need goals for the set of levels. It's important that you have strong goals for what type of experience you are delivering. By using goals when designing, the experience will be more cohesive.
For my puzzles I built using the Portal 2 Editor, I focused on the following goals:
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The method of solving should be akin to 'Order of Operations' - the method of solving has to do with performing steps in an interesting order
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Minimal Noise - Noise, or elements in the puzzles distracting players from the solution, should be kept as close to zero as possible
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Unique Purpose - Each puzzle should contribute something unique to the overall experience- if this isn't true it's a reason to cut the puzzle
*Note! What do I mean by unique purpose? It's an easy thing to say sure, but what's the test?
For me, for the level to earn it's spot in my set it needs to accomplish one of these things:
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Teach something new
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Reinforce a skill
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Has a unique, identifiable moment
Building out a Puzzle
Armed with the mechanics I want to focus on, my skill theme, and my goals I'm ready to jump into working. For me, this is the stage at which I begin to block out the space and get that fun, defining moment in.
Let's take a look at the early stages of the third puzzle in my set.
Process
My first puzzle used the 'aha' moment of use a bridge wall to catch yourself off a faith launcher. The second puzzle reinforced that and added the special sauce of 'you sometimes need to turn things off to reach your goal'.
For this third puzzle I wanted to reinforce the 'you sometimes need to turn things off to reach your goal' and add a new lesson of 'setting up save spots' that allow you to return a puzzle to its previous state.
To do this I focused on the key moment of the player needing a bridge to get to the exit, but also needing to turn off the bridge to use the exit. This works well with both, because turning things off is required to reach the goal, and doing so will require a save point.
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I got to work creating a separation of space and methods that required the player to use the bridges to get to where they wanted to go while also making the bridges be in their way of solving the puzzle.
Here's an image from in editor of the puzzle. This is a little later then first pass as I've added some lighting and done work to make sure important elements like the exit and the things the player will use to solve the puzzle are all in view.
Here's a minute long video of the solution at this stage of the puzzle.
At this point in time players are taking about 5 minutes to complete the puzzle, finding the solution at about 3 minutes and using the last two to solve.
Reducing Noise
When I'm building my puzzles I try to be mindful of how much noise is in the level. This is the reason that I start portal puzzles with no portable walls- by only places portable walls where the player will need a portal I reduce the noise in the space by lowering the possibility space.
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Another way I reduce noise is by looking for extraneous steps in the puzzle. If a puzzle can be just as satisfying with less steps then why shouldn't we do that? By removing extraneous bits we can have a more enjoyable puzzle that costs less cognitive load.
A place to start
I have a living puzzle document that I update as I build puzzles. It's in this place that I break down the purposes of puzzles, their exciting moments, and- important for this part of the process- the steps to completion
Steps to Solution
Right now, these are the things the player must do to reach the solution.
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Press Button
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Move block to turn on bridges
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Create bridge to ledge
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Press button to turn on portable wall near exit
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Create bridge to exit
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Save a portal on the wall
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Move block to turn off bridges
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Use portal to get to the exit
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Exit
The possibility space for the player when they enter the room is:
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Press the button that drops the block
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Move the block to turn on the bridges
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move the block to turn off the bridges
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create a bridge to the exit if bridges are on
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create a bridge to the ledge if bridges are on
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Press the button that flips the panel near the exit
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exit if bridges are off (player can't do unless they have a way there, but this still occupies working memory)
Now we can look back at our solution. The solution to the puzzle is use the bridge to set up a save spot and turn off the bridges to to exit.
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So to cut noise, what steps and elements may extraneous?
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Press the button that drops the block
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Move the block to turn on the bridges
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move the block to turn off the bridges
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create a bridge to the exit if bridges are on
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create a bridge to the ledge if bridges are on
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Press the button that flips the panel near the exit
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exit if bridges are off (player can't do unless they have a way there, but this still occupies working memory)
Simplfying like this will always break things. But if we can put the puzzle back together, it will be stronger and more elegant for it. Here we're looking at steps and elements that while the player must move through them to solve, are hiding that exciting bit we set out for. This extra noise detracts from the solution and makes it longer to execute once players figure the puzzle out.
Noise Reduction Pass
Results
Not only have we eleminated the noise that was not a part of our solution above, but this version cleaned up and reduced player interactions. Once the button is pressed the bridges will automatically turn on along with the block drop. This means that moving the block will only turn off the bridges.
The exit has also been positioned in a way that when the bridges are turning off an on it becomes more clear that the bridges also lock you out of traversing.
There's no longer a flip panel, instead there's a portable wall that can only be reached by moving to the exit.
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If we look at our steps now, we have:
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Press Button To turn on bridge
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Create a bridge that goes to the exit
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Use Bridge to create portal near exit
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Drop down and turn off Bridge with laser relay cube, Open exit
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Use portal to get to the exit
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Exit
Reducing Noise is an ongoing process
After we've cut and cut and cut, sometimes you still find more to cut. Every step in the puzzle needs to pull its wheight.
In the case of our current puzzle, step one is extraneous. Players try to press the button multiple times during the level, but for the solution it only needs pressed once. That means- you guessed it- the button is creating extra noise in our puzzle.
Time to cut again!
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Before and After
Early Iteration
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Press Button
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Move block to turn on bridges
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Create bridge to ledge
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Press button to turn on portable wall near exit
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Create bridge to exit
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Save a portal on the wall
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Move block to turn off bridges
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Use portal to get to the exit
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Exit
About 5 minutes to solve.
Current Iteration
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Create a bridge that goes to the exit
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Use Bridge to create portal near exit
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Drop down and turn off Bridge with laser relay cube, open exit
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Use portal to get to the exit
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Exit
About 4 minutes to solve.
By cutting this section of the noise we kept the solution the same, but we lowered the amount of cognitive load required to solve the puzzle at this stage in the set. This does make the puzzle easier, but since we're still early in the set and teaching it's the right difficulty for the pacing of the experience. After getting to the eureka moment, players are able to finish the puzzle faster creating a more satisfying expierence.​
Other things to note:
Cutting steps and extra elements isn't the only way to reduce noise. Another method I use to meet this goal is ​to make sure that all elements of the puzzle are visible. This doesn't work for all puzzles, but with my skill theme being order of operations, it's important that the player has all the possible interactions visible and available to them.
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In this puzzle, I do this by having the player enter and have each moving part of the puzzle in front of them. The exit is also visible because I used a glass wall rather then a solid wall. The portable wall that is a part of the solution is fully framed by lights.
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It is elements like these that help make sure the player doesn't accidently stumble into the solution or feel as though the puzzle tricked them. "Aha!" is very different then "are you kidding?".
Puzzle Documenation
This is the living document that gets updated as I create puzzles. It helps me vet puzzles that aren't making the cut. This document is in the final state for the published puzzles linked above.
Puzzle Solution Reel
Here are all the puzzles in this set of Portal 2 Puzzles following the skill theme Order of Operations.
Level One
Purpose:
Learn how to catch yourself using bridges and learn that you sometimes need to turn things off
Main Key:
Use bridges on the ceiling to stop yourself from over launching
Common thread:
Use tools and turn them off at different stages to complete the puzzle
In the case of this puzzle, the way on is locked by a laser catcher and you must turn it off
Lessons Learned:
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You can use bridges to catch yourself
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You sometimes need to turn things off to get to your goal
Level Two
Purpose:
Use the last learned skill in a way where sometimes it’s needed and sometimes it’s not, mastery
Main Key:
Get the laser cubes and normal cubes to the right positions
Common thread:
Use tools and turn them off at different stages to complete the puzzle
In the case of this puzzle, you must turn the bridges used as blockers on and off as you navigate the puzzle, trying to get the correct cubes into their correct locations so you can move on.
Lessons Used:
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You can use bridges to catch yourself
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You sometimes need to turn things off to get to your goal
Level Three
Purpose:
Sometimes you both need to have and to not have bridges
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Main Key:
Activate a bridge temporarily to unlock a different way to get to your goal
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Common thread:
Use tools and turn them off at different stages and set yourself ‘save’ spots to complete the puzzle
In the case of this puzzle, you only want the bridge temporarily on as it blocks your exit
The save spot is the portal beside the door
Lessons Learned and Used:
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You sometimes need to turn things off to get to your goal
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Setting up ‘save spots’ will allow you to return the puzzle to previous states
Level Four
Purpose:
Mastery of Past level, know when to have and not have the bridge with a set up twist
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Main Key:
Set a reflect block in position and position yourself where you can use it later
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Common thread:
Use tools and turn them off at different stages to complete the puzzle
In the case of this puzzle, you can’t both have the bridge you need to get to the door and the door open at the same time, so you must set your
The save spot is the portal behind the door and placing the cube to refract a laser properly
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Lessons Used:
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You sometimes need to turn things off to get to your goal
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Setting up ‘save spots’ will allow you to return the puzzle to previous states
Level Four Point Five
Purpose:
Teach that you may need to reflect multiple lasers through one portal and further reinforce turning things you’ve set up off temporarily
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Main Key:
Use both refract cubes to refract the lasers through the portals so all lasers pass through them
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Common thread:
Use tools and turn them off at different stages to complete the puzzle
In the case of this puzzle, you only want the bridge temporarily on as it blocks your exit
The save spot is the portal beside the door
Lessons Learned and Used:
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You sometimes need to turn things off to get to your goal
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Setting up ‘save spots’ will allow you to return the puzzle to previous states
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You can reflect multiple lasers through one portal
Level Five - The Finale!
Purpose:
Use all that you’ve learned to exit. This activation is all about turning things off in the correct order
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Main Key:
Turn off one laser relay while turning the others on
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Common thread:
Use tools and turn them off at different stages to complete the puzzle
In the case of this puzzle, you must first set up the lasers then you have to use the principles learned before of turning the lasers off, temporarily turning the bridges on, then turning the lasers on while also turning off the bridge. Just turning the lasers back on again or leaving them on is not enough here, all these pieces working together make this puzzle the climax.
Lessons Used:
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You can use bridges to catch yourself
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You sometimes need to turn things off to get to your goal
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Setting up ‘save spots’ will allow you to return the puzzle to previous states
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You can reflect multiple lasers through one portal