Final puzzles: How do you end a point & click adventure game?

In which we take a look at the tricky task of making point and click adventure games climactic with final and endgame puzzles.

Adventure Gamers forum thread:

#indie​ #devlog​

[pcd]

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[MatrixQ]

By the time you're in the finale, the player should be so hooked on your story, they won't even notice that things are getting "easier", because it's no longer the puzzles that kep them going forward. They need closure.

[DavidM]

My approach to the final puzzle in Supraland was actually inspired by the Monkey Island 2 ending. You have to do a bunch of things you already know, but you have to find an alternate way for every step because the regular ways are all not possible for different reasons.

[GoodPunk]

I think another good way to design the end of the game is surprising the player with something new. If the puzzle at the end really stands out because of its presentation or mechanic it feels special and can be very fitting for a finale. Another good idea is to up the stakes... not with a time limit but narrativley... if you have a character that you built up through the whole game, now you can cash in by threatening to kill it and you might even foreshadow what exactly would happen if it wasn't for your clever thinking preventing that bad outcome.

[NoCodeFilmmaker]

I think it's quite possible to achieve the feeling of progress into a final puzzle without losing the comfort factor of the genre. My own strategy would be to use the puzzles to allow the player to gradually build on their skillets and mechanics until the end where they would be faced with a puzzle that would challenge them to utilize all the skills and mechanics learned along the way. Maybe I'm wrong but I think this would still capture the feeling of progress developed in other genres while remaining faithful to the core enjoyment of this one.

[Pingwn]

I think an adventure game can use tension in its final puzzle, one of my favourite endgame puzzles is Gabriel Knight sins of the fathers and I was dreadful when I got to it, the tension was in its peak. But instead of asking me to solve a very difficult and elaborate puzzle or having an action sequence it just tied everything nicely, the stakes were high story wise and it showed how Gabriel have matured through the game. The conclusion was just satisfying.
I don't think every adventure game need to have a dread inducing final showdown but rather that it should feel satisfying, like things end and we had an appropriate conclusion. A throwback to the information from the start of the game is excellent in that, especially if there is a twist in how it is implemented.
An action sequence or a maze just take away from what ab adventure game puzzle should be, that is an experience where every step you make is taking the story forward rather than just a challenge you need to overcome to be rewarded with it afterwards. Because do we really care about which direction should I go to find the exit? How much information about the story would I lose without the exact moves out character made in this action sequence? Instead of weaving the storytelling into gameplay you just have an obstacle between you and the rest of the story now.

[Selrisitai]

Never say "never."
Have you ever played Gray Matter? Highly recommended. Your main character is a magician, and there's a section, not to be too spoilery, where you're traversing this magician's maze-house area. There are multiple rooms, each with multiple doors. That's not the maze.

There's a section where you walk into a room from the south, and you're looking forward into a house of mirrors, and there are only two directions: Left and right. If you don't go left and right through these corridors in the right sequence, you start back at the beginning.

The _real_ puzzle is that there are paintings on the wall that give you clues about what to do, and if you figure out the clue, then it's exceedingly easy to solve how to go through this mirror maze. What's interesting is that despite being a sort of "endless loop maze puzzle, " it was the first puzzle in this magician's fun-house that I solved.

So, if you're going to do a maze, make sure you specifically inform the audience, "Don't randomly try to walk through this maze. There's a clear trick. If you don't know the trick, then there's no point in wandering around the maze."

Thematically, a maze could make sense. There's no reason to swear them off when you can really just swear off badly done ones.

[arvetis]

I've always thought the Telltale Sam and Max games did final puzzles very well. They always had an epic showdown feel without actually rushing the player or imposing frustrating limitations. Usually that was done with a repeatable loop that ran through several screens and made use of many objects or concepts from previous puzzles.

[dbweb.creative]

I think an epic ending would be 2-3 different pathways/puzzles that lead to a little different endings. These 2 separate or interweaving puzzles might be in the same room or completely separate pathways to end. Maybe let's say 2 puzzle paths, but they intersect on some key item somewhere midway and then diverge, so this way for example player can start on path 1 and end on path 2. So from 2 puzzles you get 4 ways to end a game and arrive to 2 similar but different endings.

[seanimo]

My favorite late-game puzzles are the ones that call back to earlier points in the adventure and make the player realize how far they've come. The submachine series is the best example I can think of currently but I'm sure there are plenty others out there.

[yuanyuanliu]

I'm just working on my first point and click game and I find this dev logs are actually very helpful! Don't bother if you haven't get enough subscribers yet. I believe your channel has good quality videos and all you need is time for people to realize your existence.

[RealTwig]

Great to see your still working on the game

[doopman]

I never really took into consideration the endings of point and click games before! This was really interesting to hear about, thank you for sharing!!

[jeremyfryc]

Thanks for this video. In my game, Dexter Stardust, the last part is actually really easy, and doesn't really have any puzzles, just a few callbacks to previous items. But it does have a bit of an underwater maze... and I think you bring up a good point about mazes. Maybe it's time to rethink that portion. Much appreciated video. Keep up the good work!

[cdexus]

I think the ending has to serve two purposes. First to let the player know the end of the game is coming so you don't just solve a regular puzzle and are surprised it's the end. Ideally the player knows when its the last click of the game and it should be satisfying. It should also be the climax of the story where you go from despair to victory, often in the form of a big showdown.

In most adventure games, the ending is a small chapter in which the player is very restricted in mobility. It makes sense that it's too late to go back to the village to have a chat with the NPCs. It's common that you can't move at all, sometimes you have a few rooms available. This creates a feeling of claustrophobic tension.

The problem is that a regular puzzle with a very limited number of items is going to feel way too easy, like being back in the tutorial room. That's why you need some kind of disrupting element. I noticed two common patterns:

- The "window of opportunity" type of puzzle when you have to start an action at a specific time.
- The "cycle" in which there are several states or rooms that you are forced to go through repeatedly (ex the player has to run away from the villain) and each one has some part of the puzzle and every time you only get a limited number of attempts to get it right.

I think those a very effective and are only a problem if done wrong such such as having too short delays or killing the player.

[LittleCave]

Great video and interesting topic! I personally don’t mind timed puzzles near the end of the game as long as 1. Less difficult timed puzzles were present earlier in the game so you know what to expect and 2. Punishment for failure isn’t extremely severe. I think the Nancy Drew games for the most part do this well, though there are some stinker and nonsensical ending puzzles in those games as well. Lol

[kboid]

3/4 is a good rule. I remember playing Grim Fandago. I was so much happy with my progress that after 3/4 of the game I wanted it to be already over. The part in the mountains was very annoying to me, completely opposite to the prevous parts.

[DarioAnzalone]

Good topic...I also really hate mazes A LOT

[isatche]

Great video. Thank you.
Can you please put the link to that forum thread? I'd love to read all of the answers. Cheers

[ericag]

This is really impressive, the animations are very well done! I'm looking forward to finding out more about this game.
Can I ask what tool you're using to map out the puzzles?