Puzzle Video Games

Who Plays these Games?!

Puzzle games have a broader demographic appeal than some of the other video game genres. Females of all ages and adults over the age of 35 are more likely to choose puzzle video games than action shooters, strategy or RPG games. Puzzle games have found a tremendous audience in online gamers; since they are often graphically minimalistic they can be downloaded quickly or played without a download. Many of the most popular free online games are puzzle games and a wide assortment of free puzzle video games can be found at sites like Yahoo Games and Popcap.

Tetris: The Archetypal Puzzle Game

One puzzle game many people are familiar with is Tetris. In the game of Tetris, the player moves and re-orients falling blocks of various shapes in order to most efficiently fit them together without leaving gaps. When an entire row of blocks is filled, the row is cleared from the screen; as the game is played the speed increases adding the variable of time pressure. Tetris was originally created in the 1980s by Russian programmer Alexey Pazhitnov. The game became a best-seller on multiple platforms and spawned myriad clones and variations.

Puzzle games are one of the most imitated and copied games around. The internet is strewn with sites that have many different versions of what amount to be the same game. Because of their easy-to-learn nature, simple graphics and relatively easy programming, puzzle games are commercially successful and a sound business investment. Sites such as Pogo.com are examples of this model.

Puzzle Video Game Types

It's possible to boil down the many types of puzzle games into a few basic categories.

Character Control

Character control games come in two varieties: multiple and single character. Multiple character control games such as Lemmings and King Arthur's World have a host of rather mindless creatures that the player must save or otherwise use to reach an exit within the stage. The single character variety of these games such as Deadly Rooms of Death have just one indirectly controlled character the player must save. Another example of this sub-genre is The Lost Vikings.

Construction

Construction puzzle games have the player create a picture or other object by completing certain puzzles. Sometimes the object is pre-defined, sometimes it isn't. Picross games, a type of puzzle popular in Japan, are a good example of this, as is Bridge Builder and Chain Reaction.

Hidden Object

This simple puzzle game is best exemplefied in the Windows game Minesweeper. Hidden object games are just as the name implies -- something is hidden and the player must find it by using clues and solving puzzles, earning points for successes and penalties for misses. Battleship and Where's Waldo, the children's book turned into a video game, are other examples.

Maze

Pac-Man, Bomberman and Marble Madness have more in common than being classic games. Each is a member of the maze sub-group of puzzle games. Maze games are often lighter on the puzzle aspects and focus on trial-and-error exploration. And as you guessed, there's a maze with a goal hidden somewhere inside. Players must navigate the environment and overcome puzzles and obstacles to make it to the end.

Visual Matching

Visual matching games outnumber the rest of the puzzle games by a huge margin. These games include Tetris, Zookeeper, Dr. Mario, Lumines, Meteos, Yoshi and hundreds more. The sub-genre itself can be further divided into game type.

Visual matching games present a field with different colored objects the player must somehow match. Placing like colors or shapes together, usually in groups of at least three, causes them to vanish. The more objects the player groups at a time, the more points he or she gets.

The Puzzle Story Game

Puzzle story games take the player through a scenario that involves solving puzzles in order to proceed through the game or attain a goal. These puzzles may be as basic as locating a lost key or performing actions in a set sequence. The game Myst is often lauded as one of the best early graphical puzzle games; its breakthrough graphics and otherworldly gameplay experience made it an exemplary example.

What Makes A Good Puzzle Game?

While video game developers have long sought the answer to this question, there are a few quantities known to make a good puzzle game. The difficulty level of the game should be challenging to play, but not frustrating; in order to appeal to a wide audience, this often means the game must have variable difficulties or be self-adjusting in response to the player's proven skills. A puzzle game should also be easy to learn so that new players can pick it up and immediately play; certainly subtleties may need to be learned over time but the basics should be immediately accessible. In addition, a puzzle game must be compelling – even addictive – enough to make a player keep playing. While many have tried to quantify and qualify what makes a game addictive, it is an elusive quotient. However, some of the elements that play into it include how rewarding the game payoff is, whether the pacing is enjoyable and whether the actual gameplay mechanic is pleasant.