None of these puzzles are the least bit sensible. In fact they are obtuse beyond reason. And reading the actual answers are just as nonsensical as the puzzles are obtuse. How the hell is "An array of Saturn, from based to saited" equal to twelve? What the hell is "an array of Saturn"? What kind of puzzle are these with alphabets wrapped around geometric shapes? Do the alphabets matter at all?
I think it's fair to call the puzzles obtuse. They were designed to be that way. Part of designing these puzzles was that they were for people who do enjoy puzzles of this difficulty level, which is also part of the reason for the frustration disclaimer.
As for Haily's puzzle, there is a logical through line, but it does also require a certain amount of knowledge on topics that can be considered esoteric. The array of Saturn is a reference to the Saturn Square, a specific arrangement of the numbers 1-9 in a 3x3 square where each line drawn through it is equal to 15. However it is also from based to sated, a common element in arrays and coding is that things are generally zero based, which is the first element is index 0 (it makes the math work a lot better). Sated is a play on the word ate/eight. If you use the numbers 0-8 instead of 1-9 in a square of Saturn, each line through it will equal 12.
The alphabet squares are essentially a puzzle within a puzzle, working on common elements and themes across all the other puzzles.
I think if I make another puzzle game it will not be for the crowd of people who do enjoy these obtuse puzzles... but this one is.
The hint in the bathroom claims they all have a plane of symmetry.
This is incorrect. None of them do. They're all 2-dimensional.
So I assume the hint was supposed to be they all have line symmetry (mirrored).
Unfortunately, that's also incorrect. Using sadgamer7x's mapping, only 3,4;1,3;3,3;4,3;1,2;2,2;3,2;1,1;3,1 have line symmetry.
So I assumed the hint was supposed to be they all have rotational symmetry.
Unfortunately, that's incorrect. 1,3 that looks like a downward arrow is not rotationally symmetric.
So I thought, maybe the pairs upon pairs was trying to say only look at symbols that have line symmetry on two axes. That gives 3,4;3,3;4,3;1,2;1,1;3,1.
And so on... I could do this all day. Hence, why I can't see the path to the correct answer here.
This is why these puzzles are poor. Follow me here...
A riddle with a mapping of 1-to-1 of riddle to answer isn't a riddle, it's a question with a correct answer. That's a quiz. Can be fun, but not what your audience is expecting when you call your game "Lisa's Cryptic Quest".
A riddle with a mapping of 1-to-several answers with one answer being most probable is a riddle most people will get and is fun.
A riddle with a mapping of 1-to-many answers and only a few being probable is a good riddle. A lot of people will get it and have fun by solving something with some risk of being wrong. As not everyone will get it, those that do will feel like they're "smart" or in an exclusive group.
A riddle with a mapping of 1-to-2 magnitude answers is an exhaustible (brute force) guessing game. Only enjoyable by people with time on their hands. Those people will enjoy it due to the cascade of dopamine when they finally solve it and feel even more "exclusive". However, most people will start to feel frustrated and left out.
A riddle with a mapping of 1-to-3+ magnitude answers is a lottery. This is not what you want if you want the majority of people to enjoy the riddle. Almost everybody will leave feeling frustrated.
These mappings get compounded when to solve a particular riddle multiple algorithms are needed and there's no guidance/constraints/context to know when an algorithm change is necessary. And what may be "obvious" never is without sufficient context. For example, this entire post is gibberish to someone unfamiliar with English even though what I'm saying here is obvious to the English-reading world.
As a result, unfortunately, what you have in this game is a bunch of lotteries. But now armed with this knowledge, hopefully the next riddle game you make will be more enjoyable for more people and you can find the sweet spot you're aiming for with your game.
Sorry this was so long, but it should be obvious I really like Cabin by the Lake or I wouldn't care this much about your game design. :)
The puzzles in this game are extremely hard. I had several testers and they are all solvable... In the case of symmetry, There may be a fundamental misunderstanding that you are operating under, such as that they are pairs of matching numbers. For the failings of these puzzles, I do think I managed to stay to the philosophy that successfully completing each step gives a coherent output. This ties into what you're saying with the different answers (which you are right about) that riddles can have, and while several might have those multiple answers, there is actually a pattern that shaves that number back down again.
Of course, I'm not gloating that the puzzles are hard and that I have a very big brain. After all, it's not difficult to make a very hard puzzle... it's trivially easy to do. Making a hard puzzle that's fun? That's the big brain thing and as you point out... A lot of these are not successes by that metric. It is a sliding scale and the intended (very niche) audience did very much enjoy these, but that enjoyment was at the cost of accessibility to almost everyone. I think the next time I do puzzles... I'll do something a little easier, both in terms of challenge and required design effort.
Honestly, I'm really surprised by the complexity of these puzzles. Most adult games with puzzles are pretty easy and kinda get tossed aside, but I'm actually struggling with this lol
yeahhh I haven't solved any of them lol. Hailey's is supposed to be the easiest I think, but still have no idea what I'm supposed to do. If you make the square a grid it's just random letters
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How do I figure out how to solve the urn ?
The urn quest is not currently solvable until it is voted for by the patrons
is there any idea what the nine letter c word is ?
If this is the regular puzzle from Cabin by the lake that Carla helps you with, it is related to a certain pastry that Haily is fond of.
i give up plus i guess the urn puzzle might not be finished just yet. And any hints to other pics to trade lin i've only got haileys
If you explore your room when Sami is sleeping in there, you can take another picture. Also if you visit C5 Alex on friday night.
What was it
Something creamy
None of these puzzles are the least bit sensible. In fact they are obtuse beyond reason. And reading the actual answers are just as nonsensical as the puzzles are obtuse. How the hell is "An array of Saturn, from based to saited" equal to twelve? What the hell is "an array of Saturn"? What kind of puzzle are these with alphabets wrapped around geometric shapes? Do the alphabets matter at all?
I think it's fair to call the puzzles obtuse. They were designed to be that way. Part of designing these puzzles was that they were for people who do enjoy puzzles of this difficulty level, which is also part of the reason for the frustration disclaimer.
As for Haily's puzzle, there is a logical through line, but it does also require a certain amount of knowledge on topics that can be considered esoteric. The array of Saturn is a reference to the Saturn Square, a specific arrangement of the numbers 1-9 in a 3x3 square where each line drawn through it is equal to 15. However it is also from based to sated, a common element in arrays and coding is that things are generally zero based, which is the first element is index 0 (it makes the math work a lot better). Sated is a play on the word ate/eight. If you use the numbers 0-8 instead of 1-9 in a square of Saturn, each line through it will equal 12.
The alphabet squares are essentially a puzzle within a puzzle, working on common elements and themes across all the other puzzles.
I think if I make another puzzle game it will not be for the crowd of people who do enjoy these obtuse puzzles... but this one is.
puzzle answer spoilers, peek at your own risk
cleavage just gets unique dialogue with lin, it's not a solution.
Also thanks for posting this
i didnt bother clarifying for brevity
on cassidy's, referring to the bottom left most symbol as 1,1;
1,4 (top left) seems to be a 7 or a Z rotated around; 2,3 looks like a 6 or 9 on its side and rotated; and 2,1 is a 2 rotated
4,3 looks kinda like an 8; 1,2 might be a 3 flipped; 3,2 might be a five flipped.
none of the others are interpretable and I don't see an overall pattern to it.
The hint in the bathroom claims they all have a plane of symmetry.
This is incorrect. None of them do. They're all 2-dimensional.
So I assume the hint was supposed to be they all have line symmetry (mirrored).
Unfortunately, that's also incorrect. Using sadgamer7x's mapping, only 3,4;1,3;3,3;4,3;1,2;2,2;3,2;1,1;3,1 have line symmetry.
So I assumed the hint was supposed to be they all have rotational symmetry.
Unfortunately, that's incorrect. 1,3 that looks like a downward arrow is not rotationally symmetric.
So I thought, maybe the pairs upon pairs was trying to say only look at symbols that have line symmetry on two axes. That gives 3,4;3,3;4,3;1,2;1,1;3,1.
And so on... I could do this all day. Hence, why I can't see the path to the correct answer here.
This is why these puzzles are poor. Follow me here...
A riddle with a mapping of 1-to-1 of riddle to answer isn't a riddle, it's a question with a correct answer. That's a quiz. Can be fun, but not what your audience is expecting when you call your game "Lisa's Cryptic Quest".
A riddle with a mapping of 1-to-several answers with one answer being most probable is a riddle most people will get and is fun.
A riddle with a mapping of 1-to-many answers and only a few being probable is a good riddle. A lot of people will get it and have fun by solving something with some risk of being wrong. As not everyone will get it, those that do will feel like they're "smart" or in an exclusive group.
A riddle with a mapping of 1-to-2 magnitude answers is an exhaustible (brute force) guessing game. Only enjoyable by people with time on their hands. Those people will enjoy it due to the cascade of dopamine when they finally solve it and feel even more "exclusive". However, most people will start to feel frustrated and left out.
A riddle with a mapping of 1-to-3+ magnitude answers is a lottery. This is not what you want if you want the majority of people to enjoy the riddle. Almost everybody will leave feeling frustrated.
These mappings get compounded when to solve a particular riddle multiple algorithms are needed and there's no guidance/constraints/context to know when an algorithm change is necessary. And what may be "obvious" never is without sufficient context. For example, this entire post is gibberish to someone unfamiliar with English even though what I'm saying here is obvious to the English-reading world.
As a result, unfortunately, what you have in this game is a bunch of lotteries. But now armed with this knowledge, hopefully the next riddle game you make will be more enjoyable for more people and you can find the sweet spot you're aiming for with your game.
Sorry this was so long, but it should be obvious I really like Cabin by the Lake or I wouldn't care this much about your game design. :)
The puzzles in this game are extremely hard. I had several testers and they are all solvable... In the case of symmetry, There may be a fundamental misunderstanding that you are operating under, such as that they are pairs of matching numbers. For the failings of these puzzles, I do think I managed to stay to the philosophy that successfully completing each step gives a coherent output. This ties into what you're saying with the different answers (which you are right about) that riddles can have, and while several might have those multiple answers, there is actually a pattern that shaves that number back down again.
Of course, I'm not gloating that the puzzles are hard and that I have a very big brain. After all, it's not difficult to make a very hard puzzle... it's trivially easy to do. Making a hard puzzle that's fun? That's the big brain thing and as you point out... A lot of these are not successes by that metric. It is a sliding scale and the intended (very niche) audience did very much enjoy these, but that enjoyment was at the cost of accessibility to almost everyone. I think the next time I do puzzles... I'll do something a little easier, both in terms of challenge and required design effort.
I count 26 boobs on alex's sheet but that isn't the answer
It’s 54
I suppose if you count each one twice (forwards and backwards) and add 2 for alex's then that makes sense.
Unfortunately that was the only riddle I had a hope for. None of the others make any sort of sense to me even with the bathroom hints.
Yeah for me the hint in the bathroom make me more confused
esketit Mac version lfGOOOOOOOO
Yo people anyone got an answer for all of this
Honestly, I'm really surprised by the complexity of these puzzles. Most adult games with puzzles are pretty easy and kinda get tossed aside, but I'm actually struggling with this lol
At this point I'm just throwing stones to the moon
yeahhh I haven't solved any of them lol. Hailey's is supposed to be the easiest I think, but still have no idea what I'm supposed to do. If you make the square a grid it's just random letters
Well I think we, smooth brains , are better off letting the galaxy brains do these ridles XD
Idk man, I think more instruction would help with these puzzles lol
Like what's the whole bring paper and a pen bit about?
Have you checked the bathroom?