1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,470 The following content is provided under a Creative 2 00:00:02,470 --> 00:00:03,880 Commons license. 3 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,920 Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare continue to 4 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:10,570 offer high quality educational resources for free. 5 00:00:10,570 --> 00:00:13,470 To make a donation, or view additional materials from 6 00:00:13,470 --> 00:00:17,875 hundreds of MIT courses, visit MIT OpenCourseWare at 7 00:00:17,875 --> 00:00:19,520 ocw.mit.edu. 8 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:24,010 PROFESSOR: Before we move on to the rest of the topics, 9 00:00:24,010 --> 00:00:26,740 maybe just some administrative stuff about the next 10 00:00:26,740 --> 00:00:28,470 assignment. 11 00:00:28,470 --> 00:00:31,940 So the idea is to model a system, right? 12 00:00:31,940 --> 00:00:34,600 So the idea is to pick some sort of dual system. 13 00:00:37,690 --> 00:00:42,100 In the past people have picked stuff like applying for 14 00:00:42,100 --> 00:00:45,550 college because they knew all about that. 15 00:00:45,550 --> 00:00:50,400 People have talked about any type of idea, you know, 16 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,050 running a nuclear reactor or something. 17 00:00:52,050 --> 00:00:54,655 Specifically there's a-- 18 00:00:54,655 --> 00:00:59,438 but hey, any of you nuclear science majors?-- 19 00:00:59,438 --> 00:01:02,070 oh, perfect. 20 00:01:02,070 --> 00:01:05,674 One of my favorite Apple II games was actually nuclear 21 00:01:05,674 --> 00:01:09,119 reactor simulation, and it always melted down. 22 00:01:09,119 --> 00:01:12,430 That's why it was fun. 23 00:01:12,430 --> 00:01:18,930 But pick a real world system to start modeling. 24 00:01:18,930 --> 00:01:20,240 Obviously, you're trying to find the fun. 25 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,100 Obviously, you're trying to make something that people are 26 00:01:22,100 --> 00:01:24,450 going to enjoy playing. 27 00:01:24,450 --> 00:01:27,510 But the idea is to start from a slightly different place 28 00:01:27,510 --> 00:01:31,590 from where we had in the first assignment. 29 00:01:31,590 --> 00:01:34,080 Now a couple of you guys already did that for the first 30 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:34,600 assignment, though. 31 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,490 I mean things like picking up girls at a party. 32 00:01:37,490 --> 00:01:40,620 You know, modeling real systems and things. 33 00:01:40,620 --> 00:01:43,958 Still haven't played yet, a genealogy game yet. 34 00:01:43,958 --> 00:01:46,303 So, we're going to play next March. 35 00:01:46,303 --> 00:01:47,553 So [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 36 00:01:50,530 --> 00:01:53,530 The survival horror game, I would say it's not a real 37 00:01:53,530 --> 00:01:56,565 world system. 38 00:01:56,565 --> 00:01:59,466 It was a system. 39 00:01:59,466 --> 00:02:02,410 Horror, wizards, trolls. 40 00:02:02,410 --> 00:02:06,470 So, yeah, pick something within 41 00:02:06,470 --> 00:02:11,620 games negotiating around-- 42 00:02:11,620 --> 00:02:16,220 like negotiating greenhouse gas emissions, that was one 43 00:02:16,220 --> 00:02:18,160 which was really, really cutthroat. 44 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,350 That's what probably you imagine. 45 00:02:21,350 --> 00:02:23,282 Actually I'll try to get that team to come in 46 00:02:23,282 --> 00:02:23,350 later in the semester. 47 00:02:23,350 --> 00:02:25,670 They did this and like talk about their card game. 48 00:02:25,670 --> 00:02:29,490 It was a freshman team on Terrascope. 49 00:02:29,490 --> 00:02:33,320 Let's see, On Wednesday, we're going to do the usual 50 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:35,780 brainstorming inside of the second half of the 51 00:02:35,780 --> 00:02:36,310 upper-class. 52 00:02:36,310 --> 00:02:37,912 You know, everybody throw out your ideas. 53 00:02:37,912 --> 00:02:41,110 Come in with a bunch of ideas, we'll try to build on that. 54 00:02:41,110 --> 00:02:43,750 But this time around you're allowed to actually 55 00:02:43,750 --> 00:02:45,512 pre-build your team. 56 00:02:45,512 --> 00:02:48,470 You're allowed to ask people, hey, you guys 57 00:02:48,470 --> 00:02:50,180 want to work together? 58 00:02:50,180 --> 00:02:53,730 You don't actually have to figure it out on the spot if 59 00:02:53,730 --> 00:02:55,090 you don't want to. 60 00:02:55,090 --> 00:02:57,480 I don't really care how you do it, as long as by Friday you 61 00:02:57,480 --> 00:02:59,750 know who your team is. 62 00:02:59,750 --> 00:03:00,540 And who's on your team. 63 00:03:00,540 --> 00:03:04,580 Team sizes are the same. 64 00:03:04,580 --> 00:03:07,330 So, any questions? 65 00:03:07,330 --> 00:03:09,440 AUDIENCE: Are we allowed to simulate things that aren't 66 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:10,730 from this era? 67 00:03:10,730 --> 00:03:12,820 PROFESSOR: Yeah, like normal history? 68 00:03:12,820 --> 00:03:13,792 AUDIENCE: Yeah. 69 00:03:13,792 --> 00:03:16,070 PROFESSOR: OK, not from like the future. 70 00:03:16,070 --> 00:03:17,320 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 71 00:03:19,310 --> 00:03:20,450 PROFESSOR: Yeah, I'm serious. 72 00:03:20,450 --> 00:03:23,300 This is how I think [INAUDIBLE]. 73 00:03:23,300 --> 00:03:26,590 OK, yes, absolutely there are no historical stuff-- 74 00:03:29,170 --> 00:03:31,240 but you do have some liberties. 75 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,510 I'm not saying that your game has to be a faithful 76 00:03:34,510 --> 00:03:34,815 simulation. 77 00:03:34,815 --> 00:03:37,630 You can even build your model simulation [INAUDIBLE]. 78 00:03:37,630 --> 00:03:39,930 But it doesn't have to be a faithful simulation, that's 79 00:03:39,930 --> 00:03:41,110 certainly a poor design. 80 00:03:41,110 --> 00:03:44,210 But, you know, in a sense you're trying to capture the 81 00:03:44,210 --> 00:03:47,200 spirit of it. 82 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,880 If the point is, I'm running a nuclear reactor. 83 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,123 And you can sort of capture the, oh my God, it's so 84 00:03:52,123 --> 00:03:55,954 dangerous , or the, oh my God, it's so boring aspect of it. 85 00:03:55,954 --> 00:03:58,060 Have you actually put the nuclear reactor-- 86 00:03:58,060 --> 00:04:00,000 AUDIENCE:: Well, like, what's there. 87 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,230 And I know the mechanics of it, I think, were there. 88 00:04:03,230 --> 00:04:05,620 PROFESSOR: I have been told it's not necessarily the most 89 00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:06,350 exciting job in the world. 90 00:04:06,350 --> 00:04:08,750 AUDIENCE: No, you just sit there and do your homework. 91 00:04:08,750 --> 00:04:11,835 And every once in a while you look up. 92 00:04:11,835 --> 00:04:14,510 Very reasonable. 93 00:04:14,510 --> 00:04:16,010 And you get paid for it. 94 00:04:16,010 --> 00:04:17,985 Like $12 or $13 an hour. 95 00:04:17,985 --> 00:04:21,364 PROFESSOR: So if your whole idea of the game is let's try 96 00:04:21,364 --> 00:04:24,940 to get as much homework done without letting [INAUDIBLE]. 97 00:04:24,940 --> 00:04:27,700 That might be more entertaining than just looking 98 00:04:27,700 --> 00:04:28,950 [INAUDIBLE]. 99 00:04:32,820 --> 00:04:35,725 But I got my problems in then. 100 00:04:35,725 --> 00:04:37,630 AUDIENCE: [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 101 00:04:37,630 --> 00:04:38,880 You have to do [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 102 00:04:42,220 --> 00:04:43,470 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 103 00:04:52,542 --> 00:04:54,880 PROFESSOR: And besides, I think we still have a time 104 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:56,950 limit, like half an hour. 105 00:04:56,950 --> 00:04:58,390 It's not [INAUDIBLE] 106 00:04:58,390 --> 00:05:01,550 homework, it's really easy homework. 107 00:05:01,550 --> 00:05:04,050 Really not homework. 108 00:05:04,050 --> 00:05:08,300 Let's see, just a reminder for everyone who has been falling 109 00:05:08,300 --> 00:05:10,270 off on the foreign posts, please make sure that you keep 110 00:05:10,270 --> 00:05:10,980 up on your foreign posts. 111 00:05:10,980 --> 00:05:15,030 Those things actually do affect your grade. 112 00:05:15,030 --> 00:05:15,570 [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 113 00:05:15,570 --> 00:05:18,760 one person, not one team. 114 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,610 If you have any-- 115 00:05:21,610 --> 00:05:24,910 since we're in between reading assignments right now, you can 116 00:05:24,910 --> 00:05:25,770 write about the assignment. 117 00:05:25,770 --> 00:05:28,900 But if you wrote up something, let's say a reflection on how 118 00:05:28,900 --> 00:05:31,680 the class assignment went, that's fine. 119 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,052 We're not expecting more than one foreign post a week. 120 00:05:34,052 --> 00:05:36,010 Of course, feel free to comment on other people's 121 00:05:36,010 --> 00:05:38,520 foreign posts as well. 122 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:40,890 If a discussion or a point has been raised that's kind of 123 00:05:40,890 --> 00:05:43,420 interesting, you want to kind of develop on that. 124 00:05:43,420 --> 00:05:44,870 Put some thought into it. 125 00:05:44,870 --> 00:05:46,715 Write something interesting you're going to keep on the 126 00:05:46,715 --> 00:05:49,720 compilation, that counts too. 127 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:50,985 And that's fine. 128 00:05:54,130 --> 00:05:55,490 OK, so puzzles. 129 00:05:59,090 --> 00:06:03,600 So Brenda's, before we start with Brenda's, let's start 130 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:04,990 with Scott's. 131 00:06:04,990 --> 00:06:08,520 What were some of the definitions, or some of the 132 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:12,310 things that Scott's game was mentioning, that were good for 133 00:06:12,310 --> 00:06:16,810 puzzle design 134 00:06:16,810 --> 00:06:19,810 AUDIENCE: The book or not in the book? 135 00:06:19,810 --> 00:06:24,310 PROFESSOR: This was on the web page. 136 00:06:24,310 --> 00:06:24,805 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 137 00:06:24,805 --> 00:06:29,130 AUDIENCE: --and had the right answer. 138 00:06:29,130 --> 00:06:30,380 [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 139 00:06:32,292 --> 00:06:37,550 PROFESSOR: He didn't really differentiate between puzzles 140 00:06:37,550 --> 00:06:42,226 that could be generated like a pseudo-GUI or something, where 141 00:06:42,226 --> 00:06:44,760 you kind of have an algorithm that lets you 142 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:46,970 create multiple puzzles. 143 00:06:46,970 --> 00:06:51,180 But as long as that particular iteration had one answer. 144 00:06:51,180 --> 00:06:53,530 So that was really there. 145 00:06:53,530 --> 00:06:55,250 Anything else you remember? 146 00:06:55,250 --> 00:06:56,792 AUDIENCE: Tactical difficulty. 147 00:06:56,792 --> 00:07:01,555 Make it accessible but not super easy. 148 00:07:01,555 --> 00:07:03,835 I think targeting a specific audience. 149 00:07:03,835 --> 00:07:08,180 It was also the ability to change difficulty, it was 150 00:07:08,180 --> 00:07:11,050 dynamic difficulty. 151 00:07:11,050 --> 00:07:16,650 So some areas may actually be easier settings, and then 152 00:07:16,650 --> 00:07:18,850 actually what they want to be is harder settings. 153 00:07:18,850 --> 00:07:20,240 PROFESSOR: I think that was Brenda's. 154 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,420 But, yeah, am I wrong? 155 00:07:22,420 --> 00:07:25,898 AUDIENCE: There's also the distinction between types of 156 00:07:25,898 --> 00:07:26,370 difficulty. 157 00:07:26,370 --> 00:07:29,400 Things where, you know, the letter puzzle you had at the 158 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,765 beginning where it requires thinking about 159 00:07:32,765 --> 00:07:35,960 it, figuring it out. 160 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:37,600 It was patients versus something else. 161 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:39,365 I can't remember what the editor used. 162 00:07:39,365 --> 00:07:41,610 But then you have things like mazes and locations where you 163 00:07:41,610 --> 00:07:45,610 have to be very careful, and separate your way through. 164 00:07:45,610 --> 00:07:49,500 PROFESSOR: And sometimes they bring in information from 165 00:07:49,500 --> 00:07:49,990 other domains. 166 00:07:49,990 --> 00:07:52,770 From outside the puzzle, it's not just like all the 167 00:07:52,770 --> 00:07:57,320 information that you currently need in the puzzle. 168 00:07:57,320 --> 00:07:59,340 But the interesting thing about the puzzle that he 169 00:07:59,340 --> 00:08:03,050 particularly shows, is that he shows a range of different 170 00:08:03,050 --> 00:08:04,530 ways to actually solve it. 171 00:08:04,530 --> 00:08:06,720 None of which are actually satisfying except for the 172 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:07,680 final answer. 173 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,515 Which irritated me, I'm telling you. 174 00:08:10,515 --> 00:08:13,100 I'm not giving you another puzzle. 175 00:08:13,100 --> 00:08:15,440 [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 176 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:19,060 But it's kind of interesting to think about, actually, what 177 00:08:19,060 --> 00:08:21,420 audience it's for those kinds of specific puzzles. 178 00:08:21,420 --> 00:08:23,500 I mean, there are magazines out of there like Games 179 00:08:23,500 --> 00:08:27,670 magazine in particular, but sometimes you see stuff 180 00:08:27,670 --> 00:08:31,150 nestled into magazines that are not just about games. 181 00:08:31,150 --> 00:08:34,177 You see stuff like crossword puzzles in newspapers and 182 00:08:34,177 --> 00:08:34,880 things like that. 183 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:41,260 And now things like Sudoku and all that are way more popular 184 00:08:41,260 --> 00:08:43,510 that are meant to be really in mass audience. 185 00:08:43,510 --> 00:08:46,230 Whereas a magazine that is specifically targeted at 186 00:08:46,230 --> 00:08:48,380 puzzle enthusiasts can be super hardcore. 187 00:08:48,380 --> 00:08:51,270 With puzzles through the whole magazine then you can have a 188 00:08:51,270 --> 00:08:54,480 whole range of different difficulties in there. 189 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,744 The assumption that you can solve something not so hard. 190 00:08:56,744 --> 00:09:02,050 AUDIENCE: I'm kind of interested, does anybody know 191 00:09:02,050 --> 00:09:06,000 how people in newspapers generate crossword puzzles and 192 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:06,940 Sudoku puzzles? 193 00:09:06,940 --> 00:09:11,110 Does anybody know what the actual process behind that is? 194 00:09:11,110 --> 00:09:13,530 I mean, I can imagine how you might do it. 195 00:09:13,530 --> 00:09:15,730 You might start with the filled out thing and then 196 00:09:15,730 --> 00:09:17,815 remove bits to get your Sudoku. 197 00:09:17,815 --> 00:09:21,990 Or you might brute force, dictionary search to come up 198 00:09:21,990 --> 00:09:23,950 with words which fit together in order to form a crossword. 199 00:09:23,950 --> 00:09:26,820 AUDIENCE: What they do with Sudoku now is, they have some 200 00:09:26,820 --> 00:09:27,830 computer algorithm-- 201 00:09:27,830 --> 00:09:29,940 and it has scales of difficulty-- 202 00:09:29,940 --> 00:09:37,775 and it generates a random Sudoku puzzle from your input. 203 00:09:37,775 --> 00:09:39,790 AUDIENCE: Sudoku is solved enough that you can actually 204 00:09:39,790 --> 00:09:42,660 just algorithmically generate [INAUDIBLE]. 205 00:09:42,660 --> 00:09:46,360 An actual numerical difficulty. 206 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:51,990 You scale it from 1 to 10, 10 being where where there's like 207 00:09:51,990 --> 00:09:53,650 literally only one step to take in each point. 208 00:09:53,650 --> 00:09:58,720 AUDIENCE: The one that took them three months to solve. 209 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,190 AUDIENCE: But like crosswords, there's people who actually 210 00:10:02,190 --> 00:10:04,242 just get paid to sit down and generate those. 211 00:10:07,190 --> 00:10:10,360 AUDIENCE: I know that Premiere takes submissions from other 212 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,580 people and they're edited by [INAUDIBLE]. 213 00:10:13,580 --> 00:10:15,484 And then people submit that and he kind of 214 00:10:15,484 --> 00:10:18,010 like steps it up. 215 00:10:18,010 --> 00:10:19,660 AUDIENCE: So he kind of 216 00:10:19,660 --> 00:10:22,710 crowdsources crossword puzzles. 217 00:10:22,710 --> 00:10:25,070 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 218 00:10:25,070 --> 00:10:29,890 PROFESSOR: But the difficulty in a crossword puzzles isn't 219 00:10:29,890 --> 00:10:34,170 just in the geometrically how the words go. 220 00:10:34,170 --> 00:10:37,200 The specific clues that they give you can be more or less 221 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:38,440 obfuscated in some ways. 222 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:40,280 And New York Times, in particular, is super 223 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:41,670 irritating with this. 224 00:10:41,670 --> 00:10:45,760 They'll give you two words with no grammatical context 225 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:47,588 about how they're supposed to fit in. 226 00:10:50,330 --> 00:10:55,640 So you can actually compare it to see how they're difficulty 227 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:57,230 scaling just by looking at the clues. 228 00:10:57,230 --> 00:10:59,044 Not even looking at the puzzle itself. 229 00:10:59,044 --> 00:11:02,800 And I thought the other thing about crosswords is, just to 230 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,420 bring up a point that we talked about in the earlier 231 00:11:05,420 --> 00:11:08,770 class, the crosswords, [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 232 00:11:08,770 --> 00:11:11,080 that these are dependent upon the redundancy 233 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,020 of the English language. 234 00:11:13,020 --> 00:11:17,170 You don't see every single letter of a word in order to 235 00:11:17,170 --> 00:11:18,330 figure out what the word is. 236 00:11:18,330 --> 00:11:20,250 So that if it's a word that you couldn't otherwise have 237 00:11:20,250 --> 00:11:23,265 gotten from a clue, you can still get just by seeing the 238 00:11:23,265 --> 00:11:23,880 letters that are available. 239 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:26,660 Because the English language is kind of about [INAUDIBLE], 240 00:11:26,660 --> 00:11:28,220 redundant information. 241 00:11:28,220 --> 00:11:31,620 If you dropped every single vowel in a sentence, you could 242 00:11:31,620 --> 00:11:34,522 probably still make out what that sentence is. 243 00:11:34,522 --> 00:11:37,736 And you don't necessarily get that with Chinese. 244 00:11:40,630 --> 00:11:43,365 How many folks here have, [INAUDIBLE]. 245 00:11:43,365 --> 00:11:45,470 There are probably other languages here where like 246 00:11:45,470 --> 00:11:48,635 every single character means a word or something like that. 247 00:11:48,635 --> 00:11:51,116 AUDIENCE: Hebrew has no vowels, right? 248 00:11:51,116 --> 00:11:55,070 AUDIENCE: Well, they do up until third grade and we start 249 00:11:55,070 --> 00:11:56,140 dropping them after that. 250 00:11:56,140 --> 00:11:58,790 So it's basically, because it is understandable without 251 00:11:58,790 --> 00:12:01,300 vowels, you eventually just stop using them. 252 00:12:01,300 --> 00:12:02,970 PROFESSOR: So that's interesting. 253 00:12:02,970 --> 00:12:06,300 If you had a crossword in Hebrew, where you were 254 00:12:06,300 --> 00:12:08,530 expected to write in the words with vowels, you probably 255 00:12:08,530 --> 00:12:14,433 could actually do one very similar to an English one. 256 00:12:14,433 --> 00:12:16,650 AUDIENCE: It's difficult because the vowels in Hebrew 257 00:12:16,650 --> 00:12:19,010 are attached to a letter, not a separate character. 258 00:12:19,010 --> 00:12:21,370 They're just down at the bottom of the lower letter. 259 00:12:21,370 --> 00:12:22,620 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 260 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:31,110 AUDIENCE: Another thing, in a crossword the letter can make 261 00:12:31,110 --> 00:12:32,757 a different sound in both. 262 00:12:32,757 --> 00:12:35,052 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 263 00:12:35,052 --> 00:12:38,250 AUDIENCE: Because a "v" could be vo, or va, or 264 00:12:38,250 --> 00:12:39,710 ve, you don't know. 265 00:12:39,710 --> 00:12:40,940 You only know by context. 266 00:12:40,940 --> 00:12:41,940 [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 267 00:12:41,940 --> 00:12:43,940 like "c" could be sss or ca. 268 00:12:43,940 --> 00:12:45,320 Like a hard or soft c. 269 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,576 Or "g" could be ga or ja. 270 00:12:47,576 --> 00:12:51,170 PROFESSOR: That is true, but although in English in 271 00:12:51,170 --> 00:12:56,110 particular the phonetic meaning, the way how a certain 272 00:12:56,110 --> 00:13:00,397 word is pronounced isn't necessarily essential for 273 00:13:00,397 --> 00:13:01,540 solving a crossword puzzle. 274 00:13:01,540 --> 00:13:03,520 Unless the clues happen to be phonetic clues. 275 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:05,710 You know, sounds like a fish. 276 00:13:09,060 --> 00:13:12,700 So that may not come in so much to play when it comes to 277 00:13:12,700 --> 00:13:15,290 finishing a part of it. 278 00:13:15,290 --> 00:13:17,445 Jason, you had your hand up earlier about Sudoku. 279 00:13:17,445 --> 00:13:20,190 JASON: It was a comment about the algorithmic [INAUDIBLE]. 280 00:13:20,190 --> 00:13:23,773 PROFESSOR: Also, one thing about algorithmic, about 281 00:13:23,773 --> 00:13:27,310 Sudoku difficulty, a lot of it comes from the selected 282 00:13:27,310 --> 00:13:27,875 removal of numbers. 283 00:13:27,875 --> 00:13:31,770 There's not what is the final pattern going to look like 284 00:13:31,770 --> 00:13:33,520 that's actually the difficulty. 285 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,660 It's how do we remove the numbers in a way that gives 286 00:13:36,660 --> 00:13:41,900 multiple possible answers or multiple possible dead ends, 287 00:13:41,900 --> 00:13:45,690 because really there's only one solution. 288 00:13:45,690 --> 00:13:47,420 I'm not actually familiar with the algorithm with 289 00:13:47,420 --> 00:13:48,200 which it does so. 290 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:49,880 But it seems to be very clear that there are at least two 291 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:50,130 algorithms. 292 00:13:50,130 --> 00:13:54,910 One of which is very easy, which is just provide a 293 00:13:54,910 --> 00:13:57,080 legitimate Sudoku solution. 294 00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,280 And then the one that is slightly harder is now which 295 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:00,760 number is to be removed so that's it's still solvable. 296 00:14:03,780 --> 00:14:05,030 PROFESSOR:: Have you all played Picross? 297 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:10,685 Someone want to describe it for the folks who aren't 298 00:14:10,685 --> 00:14:12,625 familiar with it? 299 00:14:12,625 --> 00:14:17,475 We can use the white board if-- 300 00:14:17,475 --> 00:14:19,415 sure. 301 00:14:19,415 --> 00:14:23,650 AUDIENCE: I think the green one works better. 302 00:14:23,650 --> 00:14:25,600 I remember green is better than black. 303 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,405 NICK: I'm really only familiar with the [INAUDIBLE] 304 00:14:28,405 --> 00:14:30,345 3D [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 305 00:14:34,710 --> 00:14:37,012 AUDIENCE:: Sorry to put you on the spot Nick, as always. 306 00:14:37,012 --> 00:14:40,788 NICK: [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 307 00:14:40,788 --> 00:14:45,324 Here you'll have written poems. 308 00:14:45,324 --> 00:14:49,992 And then they all have something [INAUDIBLE]. 309 00:14:49,992 --> 00:14:51,560 AUDIENCE: Oh, this. 310 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:57,288 This one where you spell in the blocks. 311 00:14:57,288 --> 00:15:01,610 NICK: And then given bits of information, we have to work 312 00:15:01,610 --> 00:15:04,063 out which of these blocks is built and 313 00:15:04,063 --> 00:15:05,460 which can be removed. 314 00:15:05,460 --> 00:15:09,340 So the idea is the number tells you the number of blocks 315 00:15:09,340 --> 00:15:14,285 in that row or column which has a filled block in it. 316 00:15:14,285 --> 00:15:19,060 So in this case, nothing is in it's column. 317 00:15:19,060 --> 00:15:23,562 This column and that column have nothing in it. 318 00:15:23,562 --> 00:15:27,936 And this is probably not actually a very good example 319 00:15:27,936 --> 00:15:31,270 because I just pulled the numbers out of my head. 320 00:15:31,270 --> 00:15:35,410 AUDIENCE: Then you have the sums are not the same. 321 00:15:35,410 --> 00:15:38,160 NICK: So it's not going to work, but you get the idea. 322 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:40,800 And things can get more complicated, traditionally 323 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,055 there's just, I think, three that are names. 324 00:15:44,055 --> 00:15:45,533 That's there a connected block of three. 325 00:15:45,533 --> 00:15:48,431 So, for instance, this, that, and that. 326 00:15:48,431 --> 00:15:49,710 And I thought it had to be broken. 327 00:15:49,710 --> 00:15:53,515 But if there's a three which, I think, is in a square or 328 00:15:53,515 --> 00:15:56,025 something along these lines, that means there are three in 329 00:15:56,025 --> 00:15:56,940 that column. 330 00:15:56,940 --> 00:15:59,480 But there's a gap in there somewhere. 331 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:03,360 And then if it's like a three inch circle or something else 332 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:03,820 complicated like that. 333 00:16:03,820 --> 00:16:05,650 Then that means that there are three but they all have gaps 334 00:16:05,650 --> 00:16:06,732 between them. 335 00:16:06,732 --> 00:16:09,335 AUDIENCE: But I've also seen versions where they have just 336 00:16:09,335 --> 00:16:10,760 a list of numbers. 337 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:12,470 And those are the-- 338 00:16:12,470 --> 00:16:15,072 there are [INAUDIBLE] blocks of that length. 339 00:16:15,072 --> 00:16:19,000 PROFESSOR: So if there's four in a column you might say two, 340 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:20,020 three, five. 341 00:16:20,020 --> 00:16:22,260 Which means there is a block of two, followed by a block of 342 00:16:22,260 --> 00:16:23,674 three, followed by a block of five. 343 00:16:23,674 --> 00:16:25,884 AUDIENCE: And they have to have a gap between them. 344 00:16:25,884 --> 00:16:27,390 PROFESSOR: And they will have to have a gap in between them. 345 00:16:27,390 --> 00:16:29,413 So it's not like you can actually get a block of eight 346 00:16:29,413 --> 00:16:29,965 in there somewhere. 347 00:16:29,965 --> 00:16:35,420 But the whole idea is that you've got this information 348 00:16:35,420 --> 00:16:37,021 that is actually redundant. 349 00:16:37,021 --> 00:16:39,598 You've got more information in there than you necessarily 350 00:16:39,598 --> 00:16:43,001 need to be able to figure out which box and the situation to 351 00:16:43,001 --> 00:16:43,604 be filled in. 352 00:16:43,604 --> 00:16:45,185 Whether this should be empty. 353 00:16:45,185 --> 00:16:48,635 But it's presented to you in this obfuscated way. 354 00:16:48,635 --> 00:16:52,630 The evidence, the clues that are given to you in a way that 355 00:16:52,630 --> 00:16:55,750 requires you to perform these algorithms in order to figure 356 00:16:55,750 --> 00:16:56,840 out which ones should be changed. 357 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:58,380 And usually that's an algorithm 358 00:16:58,380 --> 00:17:00,070 you can use to solve. 359 00:17:00,070 --> 00:17:03,960 Although, I think Kim was the one that was talking about 360 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:05,210 pattern matching. 361 00:17:07,470 --> 00:17:11,434 But eventually as you get good at these things, you start to 362 00:17:11,434 --> 00:17:13,505 recognize patterns right of the bat. 363 00:17:13,505 --> 00:17:14,270 Like, that's a zero. 364 00:17:14,270 --> 00:17:16,800 So that entire row is empty. 365 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,612 That's the sort of thing that I do that becomes 366 00:17:19,612 --> 00:17:20,862 automatic for you. 367 00:17:25,645 --> 00:17:28,210 AUDIENCE: So, let's see. 368 00:17:28,210 --> 00:17:31,490 I don't have much left more to talk about Scott [INAUDIBLE]. 369 00:17:31,490 --> 00:17:36,884 Now these are, these are more generated stuff. 370 00:17:36,884 --> 00:17:39,880 [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 371 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:46,750 So this basically is along the lines of what Scott [? Pim ?] 372 00:17:46,750 --> 00:17:48,040 is talking about. 373 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:50,613 But obviously this is more physical not the pen and paper 374 00:17:50,613 --> 00:17:51,084 kind of thing. 375 00:17:51,084 --> 00:17:52,968 AUDIENCE: Will you print up a copy? 376 00:17:52,968 --> 00:17:54,852 PROFESSOR: Oh, you want the copy? 377 00:17:54,852 --> 00:17:58,080 No, because I just want you to look at this. 378 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,336 Look at this first, don't look at that. 379 00:18:00,336 --> 00:18:02,135 Don't look at that. 380 00:18:02,135 --> 00:18:06,390 So the basic idea is, let me just start with one, you get a 381 00:18:06,390 --> 00:18:10,455 card that is actually a puzzle. 382 00:18:10,455 --> 00:18:13,245 I wish we were doing these outside now, because we're 383 00:18:13,245 --> 00:18:15,240 going to zoom this out. 384 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:17,670 But the puzzle basically just tells you how you are supposed 385 00:18:17,670 --> 00:18:19,620 to set up your board initially. 386 00:18:19,620 --> 00:18:24,010 So, there's a-- oops wrong [INAUDIBLE]. 387 00:18:24,010 --> 00:18:25,490 There's a green guy there. 388 00:18:25,490 --> 00:18:26,960 There's a green guy there. 389 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,690 This is supposed to be an easy puzzle, I hope it is. 390 00:18:29,690 --> 00:18:32,028 Because I'm getting bad at this. 391 00:18:32,028 --> 00:18:35,352 Red guy go to [INAUDIBLE] 392 00:18:35,352 --> 00:18:36,530 I think. 393 00:18:36,530 --> 00:18:39,000 Yeah, and that's the puzzle. 394 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,850 And there's one little square on it, and 395 00:18:41,850 --> 00:18:43,130 that you have to check. 396 00:18:48,340 --> 00:18:53,700 So the basic idea is you tip over the pieces so 397 00:18:53,700 --> 00:18:55,740 that the guy moves. 398 00:18:55,740 --> 00:18:58,160 And you don't want to be tipping over the pieces in a 399 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:03,180 way where the white guy can't move anymore. 400 00:19:06,540 --> 00:19:09,670 AUDIENCE: Yeah, so you're tipping over things to make a 401 00:19:09,670 --> 00:19:10,980 path that he can walk along, right. 402 00:19:10,980 --> 00:19:12,830 AUDIENCE: If I make a closed loop, he has 403 00:19:12,830 --> 00:19:13,480 to touch every piece? 404 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,520 AUDIENCE: I think he just has to get to this one. 405 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:16,860 PROFESSOR: Yeah, you have to get to the red one. 406 00:19:16,860 --> 00:19:19,590 AUDIENCE: There's a plus mark. 407 00:19:19,590 --> 00:19:20,840 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 408 00:19:22,525 --> 00:19:25,220 PROFESSOR: I'm not exactly sure how to solve this one. 409 00:19:25,220 --> 00:19:28,370 AUDIENCE: Yellow that way, green, yellow that way. 410 00:19:28,370 --> 00:19:32,032 AUDIENCE: Wait, you're allowed to tip him over? 411 00:19:32,032 --> 00:19:33,330 How do you die? 412 00:19:33,330 --> 00:19:36,570 PROFESSOR: My understanding is that he needs to fall onto 413 00:19:36,570 --> 00:19:38,370 another piece, actually. 414 00:19:38,370 --> 00:19:40,905 So let me just confirm I set this up right, actually. 415 00:19:40,905 --> 00:19:41,690 Yeah, I did. 416 00:19:41,690 --> 00:19:43,680 AUDIENCE: No, so you push the yellow that way. 417 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:44,780 And then the green that way. 418 00:19:44,780 --> 00:19:45,760 And the other green that way. 419 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:47,680 AUDIENCE: So put the yellow ones first? 420 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:49,140 AUDIENCE: So do the green ones first. 421 00:19:49,140 --> 00:19:49,970 AUDIENCE: Yeah, I don't actually have the 422 00:19:49,970 --> 00:19:52,218 rules for the guy. 423 00:19:52,218 --> 00:19:53,468 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 424 00:19:56,412 --> 00:19:58,230 AUDIENCE: How does he fall? 425 00:19:58,230 --> 00:19:59,480 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 426 00:20:01,590 --> 00:20:06,160 PROFESSOR: He's actually allowed to move on anything 427 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,340 that's contiguously connected. 428 00:20:08,340 --> 00:20:12,770 So, as long as you can continuously connect up to 429 00:20:12,770 --> 00:20:14,160 this, you're fine. 430 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:15,940 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 431 00:20:15,940 --> 00:20:18,310 AUDIENCE: 10: So tip that first green. 432 00:20:18,310 --> 00:20:19,560 No, other one. 433 00:20:22,380 --> 00:20:25,555 And then form a path, right now, if you tip that. 434 00:20:25,555 --> 00:20:27,836 Oh, there's a hole. 435 00:20:27,836 --> 00:20:30,110 AUDIENCE: 11: Are you sure tip them over means more brown 436 00:20:30,110 --> 00:20:31,065 spot and not-- 437 00:20:31,065 --> 00:20:32,920 AUDIENCE: 12: Well, if doesn't then you can't reach 438 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:33,620 the red after it. 439 00:20:33,620 --> 00:20:36,220 PROFESSOR: Yeah, I am absolutely sure it means that 440 00:20:36,220 --> 00:20:38,770 you're supposed to tip it over in a way that-- 441 00:20:38,770 --> 00:20:41,440 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 442 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,530 AUDIENCE: 13: Tip the yellow one first. 443 00:20:43,530 --> 00:20:45,520 Then move the guy out to the green. 444 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:47,420 Then tip over the green. 445 00:20:47,420 --> 00:20:48,670 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 446 00:20:55,610 --> 00:20:58,257 PROFESSOR: That is why it's supposed to begin a 447 00:20:58,257 --> 00:21:00,045 [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 448 00:21:00,045 --> 00:21:01,503 You can actually do it. 449 00:21:01,503 --> 00:21:03,800 This is why this is puzzle one. 450 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,270 AUDIENCE: 14: You can even fall on top of anything? 451 00:21:06,270 --> 00:21:08,490 That's bizarre. 452 00:21:08,490 --> 00:21:09,740 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 453 00:21:18,225 --> 00:21:20,750 PROFESSOR: But, you know, this is not entirely unlike the 454 00:21:20,750 --> 00:21:22,020 kind of puzzle that Scott does. 455 00:21:22,020 --> 00:21:26,860 I mean, sure, this is one particular piece of plastic 456 00:21:26,860 --> 00:21:29,570 that the game is designed to work with. 457 00:21:29,570 --> 00:21:31,735 But basically it's just like a book, right? 458 00:21:31,735 --> 00:21:35,120 It's like a book of puzzles. 459 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:39,095 So there are also solutions in here, but I find the solutions 460 00:21:39,095 --> 00:21:41,873 harder to read. 461 00:21:41,873 --> 00:21:43,040 AUDIENCE: The [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 462 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:44,825 was in the book. 463 00:21:44,825 --> 00:21:45,800 PROFESSOR: It was in Brenda's book? 464 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:46,320 AUDIENCE: Yeah. 465 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:50,700 PROFESSOR: So, actually, that's probably a good excuse 466 00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:53,380 to switch over to Brenda's. 467 00:21:53,380 --> 00:21:55,102 Well, actually, before that I want to take 468 00:21:55,102 --> 00:21:57,706 a look at the tangrams. 469 00:21:57,706 --> 00:21:58,956 Everyone play the tangrams? 470 00:22:02,100 --> 00:22:04,808 So, the basic idea is you've got these shapes. 471 00:22:04,808 --> 00:22:08,055 Does this one get in, like this? 472 00:22:08,055 --> 00:22:13,980 You've got these shapes, and if you assemble them right as 473 00:22:13,980 --> 00:22:16,950 is usually described on the side of the box somewhere. 474 00:22:16,950 --> 00:22:18,420 Where the heck? 475 00:22:18,420 --> 00:22:20,380 AUDIENCE: It's on the inside. 476 00:22:20,380 --> 00:22:24,040 PROFESSOR: I've got a big picture on the side. 477 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:28,430 Is that you can actually fit all of these shapes inside 478 00:22:28,430 --> 00:22:29,530 that square. 479 00:22:29,530 --> 00:22:33,472 So these are basically just a square that's been divided in 480 00:22:33,472 --> 00:22:36,530 a specific way. 481 00:22:36,530 --> 00:22:41,820 So once I've got this assembled everyone can just 482 00:22:41,820 --> 00:22:43,142 pass this around. 483 00:22:43,142 --> 00:22:47,370 Anyone who has already seen it can pass it on. 484 00:22:47,370 --> 00:22:51,080 That one doesn't fit very well, but it works. 485 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:52,480 Hey, that's, ta da. 486 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:55,110 OK, so this is the basic side. 487 00:22:58,690 --> 00:23:02,410 Now this is how it's been sold, at least, is that this 488 00:23:02,410 --> 00:23:03,730 is actually a calendar. 489 00:23:03,730 --> 00:23:08,260 So every day you get a different shape. 490 00:23:08,260 --> 00:23:10,200 It's a cute little thing. 491 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,780 It's a pretty rudimentary geometrical shape. 492 00:23:12,780 --> 00:23:15,035 Some of them have, I think this is supposed to be a 493 00:23:15,035 --> 00:23:16,340 sphynx or something. 494 00:23:16,340 --> 00:23:20,164 It looks like a frog. 495 00:23:20,164 --> 00:23:22,108 This looks like a Pac Man thing. 496 00:23:30,460 --> 00:23:35,455 So the idea is that you rearrange those particular 497 00:23:35,455 --> 00:23:37,780 shapes into all of these different shapes. 498 00:23:37,780 --> 00:23:44,260 And you could play the game without getting these puzzle 499 00:23:44,260 --> 00:23:44,970 solutions, right? 500 00:23:44,970 --> 00:23:48,770 And it talks a lot about, if you've got a toy that's worth 501 00:23:48,770 --> 00:23:51,408 playing with, you've got the beginning of something that 502 00:23:51,408 --> 00:23:52,650 might make a good game. 503 00:23:52,650 --> 00:23:52,818 The nice thing about tipover is that it's kind of fun to 504 00:23:52,818 --> 00:23:54,068 tip over things. 505 00:23:56,850 --> 00:23:59,435 And the thing about tangrams is that I actually had more 506 00:23:59,435 --> 00:24:01,260 fun playing with tangrams than trying to solve specific 507 00:24:01,260 --> 00:24:03,440 problems just by just trying to rearrange these. 508 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,210 Who hasn't seen these before? 509 00:24:06,210 --> 00:24:08,750 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 510 00:24:08,750 --> 00:24:09,580 AUDIENCE: Kind of embarrassing. 511 00:24:09,580 --> 00:24:13,420 AUDIENCE: You should be ashamed of yourself. 512 00:24:13,420 --> 00:24:15,936 And all the work that you did is gone. 513 00:24:19,212 --> 00:24:22,600 PROFESSOR: But the thing is, as a toy it doesn't really 514 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:23,140 matter, right? 515 00:24:23,140 --> 00:24:27,940 Because it's just a certain piece of anything. 516 00:24:27,940 --> 00:24:30,785 And you kind of want to take it apart and make new shapes 517 00:24:30,785 --> 00:24:34,860 with it, like a little house. 518 00:24:34,860 --> 00:24:38,260 So if you've got something that's kind of fun to fiddle 519 00:24:38,260 --> 00:24:41,960 with to begin with, you've got possibly the beginning of a 520 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:43,552 game in general. 521 00:24:43,552 --> 00:24:47,120 But the way how Scott was talking about it, there's this 522 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:49,490 intermediate step where it's a puzzle. 523 00:24:49,490 --> 00:24:51,940 It's a toy with a specific solution that you're 524 00:24:51,940 --> 00:24:52,820 trying to get to. 525 00:24:52,820 --> 00:24:56,330 And a game is kind of one step beyond that where now there is 526 00:24:56,330 --> 00:24:59,010 multiple solutions and competitive. 527 00:24:59,010 --> 00:25:01,420 At least, that's how he's describing it. 528 00:25:01,420 --> 00:25:02,866 He's not really a game theorist. 529 00:25:02,866 --> 00:25:03,830 He just works with puzzles. 530 00:25:03,830 --> 00:25:07,070 AUDIENCE: He talks about it in terms of a goal, right? 531 00:25:07,070 --> 00:25:08,910 So then with a toy that you don't have a goal with them. 532 00:25:08,910 --> 00:25:11,910 With a puzzle, you have one goal with no interaction. 533 00:25:11,910 --> 00:25:14,330 And then a game is with interaction. 534 00:25:14,330 --> 00:25:17,120 PROFESSOR: And possibly multiple goals as well. 535 00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:20,190 But again it becomes more and more directed as toys 536 00:25:20,190 --> 00:25:22,310 are very free form. 537 00:25:22,310 --> 00:25:25,680 So there are people who describe games, like the Sims 538 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:27,490 for instance, as actually toys. 539 00:25:27,490 --> 00:25:30,300 In the same way that you describe a doll house as a 540 00:25:30,300 --> 00:25:33,760 toy, they're saying it's kind of like a digital doll house. 541 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,010 But later versions of the Sims added more and 542 00:25:37,010 --> 00:25:37,980 more specific goals. 543 00:25:37,980 --> 00:25:41,090 Like now you have to throw a party with at least five 544 00:25:41,090 --> 00:25:42,490 people in it. 545 00:25:42,490 --> 00:25:46,440 Or you have to attain career level five or 546 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:47,468 something like that. 547 00:25:47,468 --> 00:25:50,744 I can't remember exactly how they measured it. 548 00:25:50,744 --> 00:25:53,170 But that kind of has a goal. 549 00:25:53,170 --> 00:25:55,585 We are going to give more and more specific things for you 550 00:25:55,585 --> 00:25:56,420 to work towards. 551 00:25:56,420 --> 00:26:00,320 But the Sims is very careful not to lose it's toy sense. 552 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:01,760 This adds up. 553 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,983 If you really want to just dick around with these guys, 554 00:26:04,983 --> 00:26:06,530 go right ahead. 555 00:26:06,530 --> 00:26:11,540 Just play around with them and see what happens. 556 00:26:11,540 --> 00:26:15,280 AUDIENCE: Why is there a distinction for physical 557 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:17,830 objects between toys and games, but for like video 558 00:26:17,830 --> 00:26:21,700 games-- like Mindcraft it is technically still a game but-- 559 00:26:21,700 --> 00:26:23,880 PROFESSOR: It kind of has different modes. 560 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:24,330 Yeah. 561 00:26:24,330 --> 00:26:26,400 AUDIENCE: I guess it has different modes, but it's more 562 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:26,890 of a toy, I think. 563 00:26:26,890 --> 00:26:30,020 PROFESSOR: I would say that's entirely marketing. 564 00:26:30,020 --> 00:26:34,170 The only reason is people haven't figured out how to 565 00:26:34,170 --> 00:26:35,570 sell digital toys. 566 00:26:35,570 --> 00:26:41,380 And there are games aisles in like Best Buy and so, well, 567 00:26:41,380 --> 00:26:43,160 this is a fun thing we're going to put it 568 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:44,210 into the game section. 569 00:26:44,210 --> 00:26:45,310 Everyone starts calling it games. 570 00:26:45,310 --> 00:26:46,980 And that's kind of the same thing with the Sims. 571 00:26:46,980 --> 00:26:49,800 It's that really the Sims should be it's own genre, but 572 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,066 you can't sell it's own genre that well. 573 00:26:52,066 --> 00:26:53,316 [INAUDIBLE] 574 00:26:55,890 --> 00:26:57,324 Was there a hand over here? 575 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:05,120 OK, so let's start with Brenda's-- 576 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,996 if it stops reading, so let's just move on to Brenda's. 577 00:27:11,996 --> 00:27:14,790 And she's very specific about the kinds of puzzles that 578 00:27:14,790 --> 00:27:15,530 she's talking about. 579 00:27:15,530 --> 00:27:19,950 Is that these things that get in the way of a very specific 580 00:27:19,950 --> 00:27:21,690 narrative experience that a game wants 581 00:27:21,690 --> 00:27:24,070 to guide you through. 582 00:27:24,070 --> 00:27:27,950 She describes them more as roadblocks than anything else. 583 00:27:27,950 --> 00:27:31,180 But, you know, things to make the challenge higher, but 584 00:27:31,180 --> 00:27:33,150 possibly so high that no one is going to be 585 00:27:33,150 --> 00:27:35,010 able to get past them. 586 00:27:35,010 --> 00:27:37,307 Some of her examples are things that come up as, sort 587 00:27:37,307 --> 00:27:40,450 of, intermittent but optional mechanics like 588 00:27:40,450 --> 00:27:43,140 hacking in Bio Shop. 589 00:27:43,140 --> 00:27:45,450 And sometimes there are things that you have to solve, 590 00:27:45,450 --> 00:27:47,445 especially in adventure games. 591 00:27:47,445 --> 00:27:49,690 There's this, you have to combine this object with that 592 00:27:49,690 --> 00:27:52,050 object and bring it to a specific location. 593 00:27:52,050 --> 00:27:58,407 And then now you can proceed with whatever narrative 594 00:27:58,407 --> 00:27:58,896 they've got. 595 00:27:58,896 --> 00:28:04,350 AUDIENCE: She had this specific axe to grind against 596 00:28:04,350 --> 00:28:07,675 puzzles having meaningful rewards or not being 597 00:28:07,675 --> 00:28:08,560 completely bought in. 598 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:12,200 So, for instance, she says you should never have a puzzle 599 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:14,320 being required to open a door. 600 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,300 She said, solve a puzzle and then get some kind of tangible 601 00:28:17,300 --> 00:28:19,510 reward like loot or something. 602 00:28:19,510 --> 00:28:24,240 This is after I just spent the bus ride to New York City 603 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:25,570 playing Professor Layton's. 604 00:28:28,450 --> 00:28:32,278 Which was nonstop, with on the door, it's got a lock on it, 605 00:28:32,278 --> 00:28:33,528 looks like a puzzle. 606 00:28:36,030 --> 00:28:38,792 So I wasn't entirely to sure what to make of that. 607 00:28:38,792 --> 00:28:41,210 I thought that my Professor Layton experience was fine, 608 00:28:41,210 --> 00:28:45,510 and I didn't need to get fat Layton loot from some 609 00:28:45,510 --> 00:28:46,470 [INAUDIBLE]. 610 00:28:46,470 --> 00:28:50,760 PROFESSOR: That's actually something, and there's a 611 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,140 really good article actually written by 612 00:28:53,140 --> 00:28:55,250 Clara over in our lab. 613 00:28:55,250 --> 00:28:58,255 Actually, it wasn't an article, it was the transcript 614 00:28:58,255 --> 00:29:00,700 of a talk that she gave at Austin University-- 615 00:29:00,700 --> 00:29:02,760 I'll send on the link to everyone-- 616 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:05,650 about how you can integrate, and why you should integrate, 617 00:29:05,650 --> 00:29:08,260 puzzles really, really well into the narrative. 618 00:29:08,260 --> 00:29:11,040 It's like really why is there a puzzle in your game at all 619 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,470 unless it's been integrated into the narrative? 620 00:29:14,470 --> 00:29:18,750 And Brenda seems to be, sort of, providing a cautionary 621 00:29:18,750 --> 00:29:19,990 tale of the-- 622 00:29:19,990 --> 00:29:23,570 But if you do it badly, no one can get on with the story. 623 00:29:23,570 --> 00:29:25,150 No one can enjoy the rest of the game. 624 00:29:25,150 --> 00:29:27,770 It becomes this one thing that prevents you from proceeding? 625 00:29:27,770 --> 00:29:31,260 Is there anyone who had that moment? 626 00:29:31,260 --> 00:29:31,530 Yeah. 627 00:29:31,530 --> 00:29:33,748 AUDIENCE: About five minutes into Mist. 628 00:29:43,330 --> 00:29:44,270 I don't know. 629 00:29:44,270 --> 00:29:47,770 It had some sort of cool live action video and stuff. 630 00:29:47,770 --> 00:29:49,810 And it looked like it could be an interesting story. 631 00:29:49,810 --> 00:29:51,594 That's kind using technological prowess of 632 00:29:51,594 --> 00:29:54,050 integrating video into 3D. 633 00:29:54,050 --> 00:29:56,396 And then suddenly I looked in to the picture 634 00:29:56,396 --> 00:29:57,322 and I was on an island. 635 00:29:57,322 --> 00:29:59,637 And then there was nothing happening and I had to turn 636 00:29:59,637 --> 00:30:00,563 things to face each other. 637 00:30:00,563 --> 00:30:04,070 And I couldn't figure it out. 638 00:30:04,070 --> 00:30:07,620 AUDIENCE: When I originally played The Legend of Zelda. 639 00:30:07,620 --> 00:30:09,730 The original one. 640 00:30:09,730 --> 00:30:13,960 So they don't tell you anything pretty much. 641 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:17,620 And so the temples, you just walk around the sun, then it's 642 00:30:17,620 --> 00:30:19,850 like, OK, there's a tree and a forest. 643 00:30:19,850 --> 00:30:22,580 You're supposed to burn [INAUDIBLE] 644 00:30:22,580 --> 00:30:27,070 and there's the entrance to this temple that you can't 645 00:30:27,070 --> 00:30:29,350 proceed until you do this thing. 646 00:30:29,350 --> 00:30:33,750 And so, it's just like, how am I supposed to know that I'm 647 00:30:33,750 --> 00:30:35,720 supposed to burn this particular tree in the middle 648 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:36,750 of this huge map? 649 00:30:36,750 --> 00:30:40,230 PROFESSOR: Did you beat any of the other-- 650 00:30:40,230 --> 00:30:41,340 AUDIENCE: Yeah, and they didn't say anything. 651 00:30:41,340 --> 00:30:43,320 PROFESSOR: No, I mean the other Zeldas? 652 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,040 AUDIENCE: Yeah, actually yesterday we [INAUDIBLE]. 653 00:30:48,660 --> 00:30:51,510 AUDIENCE: I was just saying, so the interesting thing is 654 00:30:51,510 --> 00:30:54,096 most people nowadays they end up playing, like the Ocarina 655 00:30:54,096 --> 00:30:56,740 of Time, Majora's Mask, they are moving backwards. 656 00:30:56,740 --> 00:30:59,115 So they end up playing the first Zelda after having 657 00:30:59,115 --> 00:31:00,470 played these old ones. 658 00:31:00,470 --> 00:31:02,610 So you sort of know that you're expected to do these 659 00:31:02,610 --> 00:31:05,520 random things to get like across. 660 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,670 So I feel like it's easier for people, but then-- 661 00:31:07,670 --> 00:31:09,490 AUDIENCE: But with the original Zelda-- 662 00:31:09,490 --> 00:31:14,086 you know how in new ones they have, let's say, a wall that 663 00:31:14,086 --> 00:31:14,840 you can blow up. 664 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,150 It's discolored or something. 665 00:31:17,150 --> 00:31:20,510 In this one every tree looks exactly the same. 666 00:31:20,510 --> 00:31:21,840 They use the same stripes. 667 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:23,760 AUDIENCE: If I remember correctly, though, it's placed 668 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,920 such that it's in the center of your screen, right? 669 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:28,475 So it does look a little bit different. 670 00:31:28,475 --> 00:31:31,450 AUDIENCE: No, it was just a random tree. 671 00:31:31,450 --> 00:31:35,830 It was just a whole bunch of trees. 672 00:31:35,830 --> 00:31:41,520 And so you just really have to get, whatever a type of thing 673 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,010 to burn it-- a specific one-- 674 00:31:44,010 --> 00:31:45,390 and burn it. 675 00:31:45,390 --> 00:31:47,630 AUDIENCE: I remember it was a little suspicious. 676 00:31:47,630 --> 00:31:51,510 Because I think there was a one tile column, you kind of 677 00:31:51,510 --> 00:31:54,180 navigate around just this loop. 678 00:31:54,180 --> 00:31:56,350 You just entered and-- 679 00:31:56,350 --> 00:31:57,506 AUDIENCE: That's suspicious. 680 00:31:57,506 --> 00:32:02,470 AUDIENCE: And I'll feel very frustrated by games that 681 00:32:02,470 --> 00:32:04,830 require walk-throughs in order to play them. 682 00:32:04,830 --> 00:32:07,720 PROFESSOR: Sure, and that was the other thing that she 683 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:09,230 suggested some game designers do. 684 00:32:09,230 --> 00:32:13,480 They put the solution in the Prima Guide. 685 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,485 So that you have to buy the Prima Guide in order to 686 00:32:15,485 --> 00:32:16,880 [INAUDIBLE]. 687 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,890 AUDIENCE: Does Prima have a deal with the-- 688 00:32:19,890 --> 00:32:22,550 PROFESSOR: Oh, they must have. 689 00:32:22,550 --> 00:32:26,786 AUDIENCE: They say "official" on the top for a reason. 690 00:32:26,786 --> 00:32:31,470 AUDIENCE: It's also ironic, because modern Zelda games, 691 00:32:31,470 --> 00:32:34,520 it's very obvious that you have to use this or that item. 692 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:35,625 AUDIENCE: You've got a key. 693 00:32:35,625 --> 00:32:36,270 Use this key to open. 694 00:32:36,270 --> 00:32:38,110 AUDIENCE: Oh, you got this item in the dungeon. 695 00:32:38,110 --> 00:32:40,640 You have to use this item to kill the boss. 696 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:42,480 That sort of thing. 697 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:43,950 It's blatant. 698 00:32:43,950 --> 00:32:45,940 AUDIENCE: Well, for people who are really, really hopeless, 699 00:32:45,940 --> 00:32:47,930 there's that little fairy. 700 00:32:47,930 --> 00:32:49,688 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 701 00:32:49,688 --> 00:32:55,300 PROFESSOR: They're usually less useful than you think. 702 00:32:55,300 --> 00:32:58,590 So one big difference between the old Zelda games and the 703 00:32:58,590 --> 00:33:01,380 new Zelda games is just this continual refinement in their 704 00:33:01,380 --> 00:33:02,970 user interface. 705 00:33:02,970 --> 00:33:09,880 And it goes all the way from little things like the notes 706 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:11,650 that you hear when you find a new dungeon. 707 00:33:11,650 --> 00:33:16,462 And exactly when, precisely, you hear the sound of, you 708 00:33:16,462 --> 00:33:18,201 know, too da loo-- 709 00:33:18,201 --> 00:33:20,943 at least I think that's how it sounds. 710 00:33:20,943 --> 00:33:25,080 You know, as a clue that now you have opened a door. 711 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:28,600 That's one of those things that, if you look at post 712 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:29,030 [INAUDIBLE] 713 00:33:29,030 --> 00:33:29,950 Ocarina of Time. 714 00:33:29,950 --> 00:33:33,090 I think there's a couple on Gamasutra, exactly when that 715 00:33:33,090 --> 00:33:35,367 sounds plays is a decision that was 716 00:33:35,367 --> 00:33:36,920 very carefully designed. 717 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:39,750 And it seems to me that in digital puzzles those kinds 718 00:33:39,750 --> 00:33:42,620 of, especially in some sort of narrative structure like in 719 00:33:42,620 --> 00:33:45,680 Ocarina, that's the big problem 720 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:46,470 that you have to solve. 721 00:33:46,470 --> 00:33:47,660 You have to give enough clues. 722 00:33:47,660 --> 00:33:49,880 You have to give enough UI feedback. 723 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,600 And you have to think about your UI so hard in a way that 724 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,190 is going to make it possible so that we get all the 725 00:33:56,190 --> 00:33:56,910 information [INAUDIBLE]. 726 00:33:56,910 --> 00:34:01,580 So, say that burning fire tree situation, if there is nowhere 727 00:34:01,580 --> 00:34:04,615 else in the world where you can get that information, then 728 00:34:04,615 --> 00:34:05,690 it's back inside puzzle. 729 00:34:05,690 --> 00:34:09,010 If there is a guy in-- 730 00:34:09,010 --> 00:34:09,850 I can't remember Zelda I-- 731 00:34:09,850 --> 00:34:12,699 but there is a guy who actually tells you that that's 732 00:34:12,699 --> 00:34:13,949 the tree that you need to burn. 733 00:34:13,949 --> 00:34:16,627 But if it's not obvious, especially for someone who 734 00:34:16,627 --> 00:34:18,730 hasn't encountered that guy, that that's where you get that 735 00:34:18,730 --> 00:34:20,750 information it's still a bad designed puzzle. 736 00:34:20,750 --> 00:34:23,260 Even though now there's a solution. 737 00:34:23,260 --> 00:34:27,000 But thinking about, and some examples will be in a lot of 738 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,645 tech space adventures as well as text heavy graphical 739 00:34:30,645 --> 00:34:31,610 adventures. 740 00:34:31,610 --> 00:34:35,260 You have a, I can't solve this puzzle, but what my character 741 00:34:35,260 --> 00:34:39,090 says to the player about why you can't solve the puzzle is 742 00:34:39,090 --> 00:34:40,250 itself a clue. 743 00:34:40,250 --> 00:34:44,218 It's like, hm, I must not have the right item. 744 00:34:44,218 --> 00:34:46,110 Maybe there's something else I can use. 745 00:34:46,110 --> 00:34:48,016 That's a huge clue. 746 00:34:48,016 --> 00:34:50,553 AUDIENCE: I feel like digital popular games have gotten 747 00:34:50,553 --> 00:34:56,120 really good at integrating hint systems in recent years. 748 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,420 But I can't think of any physical puzzles that I've 749 00:34:59,420 --> 00:35:05,465 come across that may just not have quite been up to speed 750 00:35:05,465 --> 00:35:06,685 with crossword puzzles. 751 00:35:06,685 --> 00:35:11,690 That have that kind of not totally revealing the solution 752 00:35:11,690 --> 00:35:14,002 but giving you a gradual hint which can help 753 00:35:14,002 --> 00:35:15,496 you figure it out. 754 00:35:15,496 --> 00:35:20,560 AUDIENCE: Well, mystery puzzles kind of do that. 755 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:21,810 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 756 00:35:23,930 --> 00:35:26,515 PROFESSOR: Describe the mystery puzzle for folks who 757 00:35:26,515 --> 00:35:26,920 don't have-- 758 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:30,740 AUDIENCE: It's basically, it's a competition run by MIT over 759 00:35:30,740 --> 00:35:34,890 IAP where teams of people compete to solve a bunch of 760 00:35:34,890 --> 00:35:38,085 puzzles, like 70 puzzles, that kind of build on each other. 761 00:35:38,085 --> 00:35:40,310 So you have, say, 20 base puzzles. 762 00:35:40,310 --> 00:35:41,947 And if you solve those 20 puzzles you 763 00:35:41,947 --> 00:35:43,255 get 20 words as solutions. 764 00:35:43,255 --> 00:35:45,860 And then those 20 words become a new puzzle, and that's the 765 00:35:45,860 --> 00:35:46,790 meta-puzzle. 766 00:35:46,790 --> 00:35:48,460 And it kind of keeps them like that for a couple layers. 767 00:35:48,460 --> 00:35:50,770 But the point is the winning team from the previous year 768 00:35:50,770 --> 00:35:52,950 writes the next year's mystery hunt. 769 00:35:52,950 --> 00:35:55,310 So you get all kinds of varying puzzles of varying 770 00:35:55,310 --> 00:35:57,610 difficulties and styles. 771 00:35:57,610 --> 00:36:00,060 A very well-designed puzzle actually does that, because 772 00:36:00,060 --> 00:36:01,530 you have this thing called, flavor-- 773 00:36:01,530 --> 00:36:03,840 Oh, I guess I should say that the puzzles aren't like Sudoku 774 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:05,300 or crosswords. 775 00:36:05,300 --> 00:36:07,730 You literally just get something on a screen or 776 00:36:07,730 --> 00:36:09,580 something on a piece of paper, and you have to figure out 777 00:36:09,580 --> 00:36:10,190 what to do with it. 778 00:36:10,190 --> 00:36:11,861 You're not given any instructions for how to solve 779 00:36:11,861 --> 00:36:12,750 it whatsoever. 780 00:36:12,750 --> 00:36:15,780 And the only clues you get are either by the title of the 781 00:36:15,780 --> 00:36:18,970 puzzle, by the group of puzzles that it's in, or by 782 00:36:18,970 --> 00:36:20,610 this thing called flavor text. 783 00:36:20,610 --> 00:36:23,480 Which is like, they say some kind of random phrase that 784 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:25,360 seems to not have anything to do with anything. 785 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:28,140 But that kind of gives you a clue about what to do in the 786 00:36:28,140 --> 00:36:29,846 thick of this puzzle. 787 00:36:29,846 --> 00:36:31,680 So that's kind of like what you were describing. 788 00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:33,380 AUDIENCE: That's interesting, because it's really 789 00:36:33,380 --> 00:36:36,022 challenging when you don't have any mechanism for giving 790 00:36:36,022 --> 00:36:39,860 feedback to the person who is working a puzzle. 791 00:36:39,860 --> 00:36:42,860 In Zelda, or what have you, you can see that they've spent 792 00:36:42,860 --> 00:36:46,410 a long time dicking around. 793 00:36:46,410 --> 00:36:49,551 PROFESSOR: It's kind of a double-edged sword, in that 794 00:36:49,551 --> 00:36:51,380 particular case, because you have so many mechanisms and 795 00:36:51,380 --> 00:36:57,050 now you're expected to use all of them in a game like that. 796 00:36:57,050 --> 00:37:00,386 You use sound, you have to use contextual buttons, you have 797 00:37:00,386 --> 00:37:02,896 to use the inventory. 798 00:37:02,896 --> 00:37:06,180 The position of the player matters or something. 799 00:37:06,180 --> 00:37:09,182 I've seen games where the main clues is what is the character 800 00:37:09,182 --> 00:37:11,270 looking at, for instance. 801 00:37:11,270 --> 00:37:13,333 And you walk around, why does my character keep looking that 802 00:37:13,333 --> 00:37:14,660 way every time something happens? 803 00:37:14,660 --> 00:37:15,750 Oh, that's because-- 804 00:37:15,750 --> 00:37:17,470 you know. 805 00:37:17,470 --> 00:37:22,490 So, yeah, as far as of a lot of physical stuff, I would say 806 00:37:22,490 --> 00:37:26,120 that one of the reasons is they're just starting to build 807 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:27,420 these physical games from toys. 808 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:34,490 A lot of the importance is, a lot of things you could 809 00:37:34,490 --> 00:37:37,650 possibly do, are kind of built into the physical object. 810 00:37:37,650 --> 00:37:40,650 And if you're building a puzzle based on what you could 811 00:37:40,650 --> 00:37:44,920 do with these things as a toy, then you're necessarily 812 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:48,772 already using the constraints of what you can do with it as 813 00:37:48,772 --> 00:37:52,546 a toy in order to create the puzzle. 814 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,080 This might be a good exercise actually, if time-- 815 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:00,490 we could take a shot at this. 816 00:38:00,490 --> 00:38:01,930 And just by, you know, trying to come up with 817 00:38:01,930 --> 00:38:03,080 a puzzle and see. 818 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:06,870 But instead of imagining one in a digital space, try to 819 00:38:06,870 --> 00:38:07,620 imagine one in a physical space. 820 00:38:07,620 --> 00:38:12,680 Because I suspect what you actually get is, you get a 821 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:14,880 free language with physical puzzles. 822 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:18,998 Because things physically have interactions that we 823 00:38:18,998 --> 00:38:21,413 [INAUDIBLE] from a digital puzzle. 824 00:38:21,413 --> 00:38:26,170 ADAM: I feel like Coral Reef or something, and that's a 825 00:38:26,170 --> 00:38:30,770 game where like the puzzle-- 826 00:38:30,770 --> 00:38:33,480 I mean obviously it's still a digital game-- but the puzzles 827 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:34,610 are very much physical puzzles. 828 00:38:34,610 --> 00:38:37,310 Like you kind of have an idea about what-- 829 00:38:37,310 --> 00:38:39,940 has Patrick played Portal, of course? 830 00:38:39,940 --> 00:38:42,390 Or know the idea? 831 00:38:42,390 --> 00:38:46,540 I mean, you have these two portals and you understand 832 00:38:46,540 --> 00:38:48,310 what the physics is going to be like. 833 00:38:48,310 --> 00:38:50,590 So the puzzles aren't frustrating in the sense that 834 00:38:50,590 --> 00:38:52,635 it's like, oh, you realize there's this 835 00:38:52,635 --> 00:38:53,420 random statue here. 836 00:38:53,420 --> 00:38:56,610 And if you pull the lever it raises the water level or 837 00:38:56,610 --> 00:38:59,680 something like that. 838 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:01,610 But it's very intuitive. 839 00:39:01,610 --> 00:39:04,800 It feels like a physical puzzle in a sense that I know 840 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:06,900 what will happen if I do this. 841 00:39:06,900 --> 00:39:09,470 And I just figure out how to put the pieces together. 842 00:39:09,470 --> 00:39:12,290 And also Portal what I think it does a really good job of, 843 00:39:12,290 --> 00:39:15,720 as well as some physical puzzles do, is having a 844 00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:16,545 learning curve. 845 00:39:16,545 --> 00:39:20,430 Like Tangram will have some basic puzzles, or I'm sure the 846 00:39:20,430 --> 00:39:21,691 falling thing, a lot of them do it. 847 00:39:21,691 --> 00:39:25,255 Physical puzzle things where you like, I don't know, how to 848 00:39:25,255 --> 00:39:28,240 jump over pieces or whatever, have basic levels-- 849 00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:30,260 basic boards-- 850 00:39:30,260 --> 00:39:32,810 where they show you various techniques. 851 00:39:32,810 --> 00:39:34,410 And you only have to figure out one technique, and it's 852 00:39:34,410 --> 00:39:35,460 very obvious what you have to do. 853 00:39:35,460 --> 00:39:37,530 And later on you have to use those techniques. 854 00:39:37,530 --> 00:39:40,530 PROFESSOR: Well in Tickle Her, this particular example does 855 00:39:40,530 --> 00:39:42,520 something that multiple portals does really well. 856 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:45,710 Is that the very first puzzle that we did earlier only has 857 00:39:45,710 --> 00:39:46,650 one solution. 858 00:39:46,650 --> 00:39:50,185 And you do not get that solution unless you understand 859 00:39:50,185 --> 00:39:51,550 all the mechanics of the game. 860 00:39:51,550 --> 00:39:53,110 But we tried to solve it a whole bunch 861 00:39:53,110 --> 00:39:53,430 of different times. 862 00:39:53,430 --> 00:39:55,220 And it's like because we didn't quite understand the 863 00:39:55,220 --> 00:39:57,868 rules, we couldn't get it until we understood the 864 00:39:57,868 --> 00:39:58,760 mechanics of the game. 865 00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:00,150 Now we can suddenly solve it. 866 00:40:00,150 --> 00:40:03,767 So from puzzle number two onwards, we can't be confident 867 00:40:03,767 --> 00:40:05,138 unless you know it. 868 00:40:05,138 --> 00:40:06,970 Portal, and even-- 869 00:40:06,970 --> 00:40:09,210 actually just about any well-designed game-- but I 870 00:40:09,210 --> 00:40:11,160 would say Portal is a fine example-- if you've beaten a 871 00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,490 game, you can play through the game again with developer 872 00:40:13,490 --> 00:40:15,640 commentary. 873 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:19,780 And when you show that, you actually realize that every 874 00:40:19,780 --> 00:40:24,070 single fairly intuitive physical thing that you pick 875 00:40:24,070 --> 00:40:26,490 up in the game had to be taught to you. 876 00:40:26,490 --> 00:40:28,700 And they've designed the level very clearly. 877 00:40:28,700 --> 00:40:30,920 So right in the beginning of the game, if folks can't 878 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:33,950 remember, you're trapped in the middle cell. 879 00:40:33,950 --> 00:40:41,410 And the GlaDOS talk to you, and a portal opens and you can 880 00:40:41,410 --> 00:40:42,230 walk through it. 881 00:40:42,230 --> 00:40:44,935 What do you see out of the first portal that opens? 882 00:40:44,935 --> 00:40:46,830 AUDIENCE: You see yourself going into the other one. 883 00:40:46,830 --> 00:40:47,800 PROFESSOR: You see yourself going 884 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:48,720 through the other portal. 885 00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:53,180 And it's like, they force you to have to look at what the 886 00:40:53,180 --> 00:40:55,390 basic game mechanic is going to be before you can do 887 00:40:55,390 --> 00:40:57,580 anything else that's productive in the game. 888 00:40:57,580 --> 00:40:59,440 You know, you can pick up the radio, but-- 889 00:41:02,230 --> 00:41:06,130 So that was a design decision. 890 00:41:06,130 --> 00:41:08,860 They could have decided not to make it. 891 00:41:08,860 --> 00:41:10,690 They could have just made you go through that into a 892 00:41:10,690 --> 00:41:14,130 different room, and the learning opportunity would 893 00:41:14,130 --> 00:41:16,050 have dissolved right there. 894 00:41:16,050 --> 00:41:19,335 So if you've got a copy of Portal, I would suggest go 895 00:41:19,335 --> 00:41:21,490 back and page through the commentaries 896 00:41:21,490 --> 00:41:23,670 because they are hilarious. 897 00:41:23,670 --> 00:41:28,350 And you're also rereading good form, demonstrating in this 898 00:41:28,350 --> 00:41:30,390 room, this is what we had to do in order to 899 00:41:30,390 --> 00:41:32,025 make people get it. 900 00:41:32,025 --> 00:41:35,490 I'm also thinking of games like Mario World I where you 901 00:41:35,490 --> 00:41:39,332 don't get very far on this kind of basic 902 00:41:39,332 --> 00:41:41,020 game mechanics now. 903 00:41:41,020 --> 00:41:44,682 But they make it really gentle in that I don't think there 904 00:41:44,682 --> 00:41:47,880 are any hits that instantly kill you. 905 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:50,340 AUDIENCE: That's exactly what I was thinking in Mario. 906 00:41:50,340 --> 00:41:53,195 In the first Gamasutra article we read on late-game 907 00:41:53,195 --> 00:41:56,042 abstractions, we read about a Mario world. 908 00:41:56,042 --> 00:41:59,444 He's like, we expect the same kind of actions, key the 909 00:41:59,444 --> 00:42:00,902 system, all the time-jumping. 910 00:42:00,902 --> 00:42:03,818 And I guess you can kind of look at different things 911 00:42:03,818 --> 00:42:04,790 there, like double-jumping. 912 00:42:04,790 --> 00:42:06,248 And things like that in a specific puzzle. 913 00:42:06,248 --> 00:42:08,010 And the physical [INAUDIBLE] also. 914 00:42:08,010 --> 00:42:11,380 PROFESSOR: I mean a lot of Mario's worlds are laid out 915 00:42:11,380 --> 00:42:13,980 basically as spatial puzzles, right? 916 00:42:13,980 --> 00:42:16,680 It's like you know you have to get there, but you don't know 917 00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:19,075 exactly how you're going to use all of the mechanics that 918 00:42:19,075 --> 00:42:19,844 you've got. 919 00:42:19,844 --> 00:42:25,220 AUDIENCE: In Mario 64, I think their way of solving the 920 00:42:25,220 --> 00:42:28,355 impasse problem of not locking up all the content in the game 921 00:42:28,355 --> 00:42:30,520 because of the one puzzle you can't get, they're giving you 922 00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:33,680 so much to do that even if they don't really tell you-- 923 00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:36,106 even if a good 30%, 40% are going to remain mysterious to 924 00:42:36,106 --> 00:42:38,050 you, you're not really going to figure them out-- 925 00:42:38,050 --> 00:42:40,800 there's so much [INAUDIBLE] between, you never walked off 926 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:42,106 with a significant amount of content. 927 00:42:42,106 --> 00:42:45,170 PROFESSOR: So if you've got a hub-like structure you can do 928 00:42:45,170 --> 00:42:48,360 any one of five different things at any given time. 929 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:51,960 Plus you have some secondary solutions, like you can always 930 00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:54,450 go back to a world that you've been to before and try to 931 00:42:54,450 --> 00:42:56,780 collect all the stars, for instance. 932 00:42:56,780 --> 00:42:59,700 I think that's kind of what Brenda was kind of indicating. 933 00:42:59,700 --> 00:43:03,630 You don't necessarily want, if you're putting puzzles in your 934 00:43:03,630 --> 00:43:05,870 game, she was advocating for-- 935 00:43:05,870 --> 00:43:08,860 Brenda and Ian were advocating for-- 936 00:43:08,860 --> 00:43:13,160 something that wouldn't necessarily progress 937 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:14,390 on to the next one. 938 00:43:14,390 --> 00:43:20,220 But I think that's not a requirement. 939 00:43:20,220 --> 00:43:23,400 I think that's a, if you want to make your life easier, this 940 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:24,225 is what you do. 941 00:43:24,225 --> 00:43:27,600 If you decide that you're up to the task, you can achieve 942 00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:30,980 some really amazing effects by having your puzzles 943 00:43:30,980 --> 00:43:33,075 narratively incorporate it. 944 00:43:36,340 --> 00:43:38,840 Has anyone heard of the game called Eternal Darkness? 945 00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:44,235 It's a sort of Lovecraftian horror game on the GameCube. 946 00:43:44,235 --> 00:43:47,200 I'll sort of describe it, but basically the whole basic idea 947 00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:52,180 is that you have four gods all warring against each other. 948 00:43:52,180 --> 00:43:54,450 Three of them hate one of them, but then those three 949 00:43:54,450 --> 00:43:55,480 also hate each other. 950 00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:58,750 And most of the puzzles are just sort of understanding 951 00:43:58,750 --> 00:44:03,010 that there is this mystical object. 952 00:44:03,010 --> 00:44:06,310 One god defeats another god defeats another god in a rock, 953 00:44:06,310 --> 00:44:07,300 paper, scissors circle. 954 00:44:07,300 --> 00:44:10,500 And all of them hate this one other [INAUDIBLE]. 955 00:44:10,500 --> 00:44:14,900 So early on in the game there is actually a puzzle, there 956 00:44:14,900 --> 00:44:17,100 are actually a number of different puzzles, where you 957 00:44:17,100 --> 00:44:18,020 see the symbols of these gods. 958 00:44:18,020 --> 00:44:19,602 And you have to kind of rearrange them 959 00:44:19,602 --> 00:44:21,190 in the correct order. 960 00:44:21,190 --> 00:44:23,800 And the rest of the game is all going to be variations of 961 00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:26,320 understanding what these gods do to each other. 962 00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:29,000 So those are all puzzles that inform you of 963 00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:32,132 how the world works. 964 00:44:32,132 --> 00:44:34,640 And that kind of works in two ways. 965 00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:37,195 One, information that you've already gathered about the 966 00:44:37,195 --> 00:44:39,390 world-- about how this world works-- 967 00:44:39,390 --> 00:44:42,390 gives you clues on how to beat the puzzles. 968 00:44:42,390 --> 00:44:44,650 Beating the puzzles, finding the solutions for the clues, 969 00:44:44,650 --> 00:44:46,810 gives you information about how the world works. 970 00:44:46,810 --> 00:44:49,740 And that's kind of like the holy grail for a puzzle 971 00:44:49,740 --> 00:44:52,710 designer in a digital game, is that you're going to design a 972 00:44:52,710 --> 00:44:55,130 puzzle that's going to reinforce how the world works. 973 00:44:55,130 --> 00:44:57,535 There's a chap-- 974 00:44:57,535 --> 00:45:00,175 who gave a talk, and I believe his name is Jeff Howard. 975 00:45:00,175 --> 00:45:05,290 He came to Camp [INAUDIBLE] and gave a talk last year. 976 00:45:05,290 --> 00:45:11,240 And he makes this case that games, and the logic that you 977 00:45:11,240 --> 00:45:19,750 present in games, do basically the equivalent of what magic 978 00:45:19,750 --> 00:45:22,370 systems actually do in the real world. 979 00:45:22,370 --> 00:45:28,530 What people like cultists or astrologers do is they 980 00:45:28,530 --> 00:45:35,340 basically give you logics that explain how the 981 00:45:35,340 --> 00:45:36,750 world is going to work. 982 00:45:36,750 --> 00:45:39,012 And while that may not necessarily be obvious, but if 983 00:45:39,012 --> 00:45:41,420 it is viewed as a whole knowledge you'll be able to 984 00:45:41,420 --> 00:45:42,520 understand how it's [INAUDIBLE] in you. 985 00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:46,081 But more importantly you'd be able to do things in the world 986 00:45:46,081 --> 00:45:50,250 that allow you to accomplish things that you wouldn't 987 00:45:50,250 --> 00:45:51,420 otherwise do. 988 00:45:51,420 --> 00:45:54,690 Learning a game is very much like that, it's like I don't 989 00:45:54,690 --> 00:45:56,580 know how this world works but if I understood these 990 00:45:56,580 --> 00:45:58,520 particular rules I could be able to 991 00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:01,180 accomplish greater things. 992 00:46:01,180 --> 00:46:04,210 And puzzles can be one of those things where 993 00:46:04,210 --> 00:46:05,390 it becomes a test. 994 00:46:05,390 --> 00:46:07,560 And it becomes a test of, just exactly how well do you 995 00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:08,850 understand this? 996 00:46:08,850 --> 00:46:14,010 Even if it is like in a combat game like Quake or God of War 997 00:46:14,010 --> 00:46:15,030 or something. 998 00:46:15,030 --> 00:46:17,710 I can understand how the combat system basically works 999 00:46:17,710 --> 00:46:20,088 if I just keep mashing the x button or something. 1000 00:46:20,088 --> 00:46:23,200 Or just shoot everything with rockets. 1001 00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:25,430 But if I really, really understand the combat system, 1002 00:46:25,430 --> 00:46:27,390 I might be able to hit something that I wouldn't 1003 00:46:27,390 --> 00:46:31,926 necessarily be able to hit. 1004 00:46:31,926 --> 00:46:36,900 I might be able to take down a horde of enemies instead of 1005 00:46:36,900 --> 00:46:39,220 hitting them down one at a time. 1006 00:46:39,220 --> 00:46:40,670 I might be able to beat a boss. 1007 00:46:40,670 --> 00:46:43,940 And actually a lot of boss battles in digital games are 1008 00:46:43,940 --> 00:46:44,760 actually puzzles. 1009 00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:48,700 There's not, how well do you generally react, it's can you 1010 00:46:48,700 --> 00:46:50,740 figure out the pattern. 1011 00:46:50,740 --> 00:46:54,360 But that pattern doesn't mean anything unless [INAUDIBLE] 1012 00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:57,370 how all your other combat skills work. 1013 00:46:57,370 --> 00:47:01,930 So a boss battle in Zelda only makes sense if you figured out 1014 00:47:01,930 --> 00:47:04,420 how that one item that you picked up in that dungeon 1015 00:47:04,420 --> 00:47:07,010 works really, really well. 1016 00:47:07,010 --> 00:47:08,320 OK, it shoots fire. 1017 00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:11,890 That means that not only does it hurt them from distance, it 1018 00:47:11,890 --> 00:47:14,110 also lights some of the things on fire. 1019 00:47:14,110 --> 00:47:16,880 And that's what I'll tell the boss, basically, is combining 1020 00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:19,700 this leaders ability to hook up. 1021 00:47:19,700 --> 00:47:22,050 Like everything else that you've done before 1022 00:47:22,050 --> 00:47:23,120 into taking it out. 1023 00:47:23,120 --> 00:47:26,015 That's why boss battles, that always kind of puzzled me. 1024 00:47:28,997 --> 00:47:31,500 AUDIENCE: One thing I wanted to say, before I get going, 1025 00:47:31,500 --> 00:47:34,210 you were asking about hints and a physical puzzle. 1026 00:47:34,210 --> 00:47:38,240 The one thing that jumped to my mind was a couple years ago 1027 00:47:38,240 --> 00:47:39,370 the weekly Day-- 1028 00:47:39,370 --> 00:47:41,040 I don't know if anyone reads it, it's like 1029 00:47:41,040 --> 00:47:42,030 a free Boston newspaper. 1030 00:47:42,030 --> 00:47:43,373 And they always have crossword puzzles. 1031 00:47:43,373 --> 00:47:47,240 For the longest time they were thematic, and so you would 1032 00:47:47,240 --> 00:47:49,260 have a guest crossword. 1033 00:47:49,260 --> 00:47:52,143 The first one I ever did was Hulk Hogan. 1034 00:47:52,143 --> 00:47:55,800 So all of the hints in the crossword puzzles are related 1035 00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:56,640 to Hulk Hogan. 1036 00:47:56,640 --> 00:47:59,320 So it's a question of, not what does this mean to me but 1037 00:47:59,320 --> 00:48:02,740 what would it mean to Hulk Hogan? 1038 00:48:02,740 --> 00:48:05,480 And they don't do it anymore, which is really depressing, 1039 00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:08,560 because every week it was something different and it was 1040 00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:10,735 like a built-in hand write as you went. 1041 00:48:10,735 --> 00:48:13,465 You didn't just pick them out literally, you have to kind of 1042 00:48:13,465 --> 00:48:13,920 contextualize it. 1043 00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:16,450 PROFESSOR: You can think about all the things that come with 1044 00:48:16,450 --> 00:48:19,890 the puzzle, that potential hook, [INAUDIBLE]. 1045 00:48:19,890 --> 00:48:22,808 Like a title, like a data text-- as you were 1046 00:48:22,808 --> 00:48:27,740 describing-- the fact that you get in puzzle and mystery 1047 00:48:27,740 --> 00:48:29,490 crimes, they may be [UNINTELLIGIBLE] and they may 1048 00:48:29,490 --> 00:48:32,830 be disillusioned but it lies on a different puzzle. 1049 00:48:32,830 --> 00:48:35,630 Not the one I'm currently looking at right now, because 1050 00:48:35,630 --> 00:48:36,880 that's how [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 1051 00:48:41,860 --> 00:48:46,290 Metal Gear Solid has a really, really bizarre one where-- 1052 00:48:46,290 --> 00:48:48,145 AUDIENCE: Look in the back case. 1053 00:48:48,145 --> 00:48:50,890 PROFESSOR: Where they tell you, oh, there's a specific 1054 00:48:50,890 --> 00:48:52,750 radio frequency that you need. 1055 00:48:52,750 --> 00:48:53,780 It's written in the back of box. 1056 00:48:53,780 --> 00:48:56,560 And it's like, the back of the box? 1057 00:48:56,560 --> 00:48:57,556 AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 1058 00:48:57,556 --> 00:48:58,060 Anti-piracy. 1059 00:48:58,060 --> 00:49:00,920 PROFESSOR: Yes, but it's still a puzzle. 1060 00:49:00,920 --> 00:49:02,485 And I was like, I know how to solve that. 1061 00:49:02,485 --> 00:49:05,800 I mean, it was pretty obvious, because maybe it's just me, 1062 00:49:05,800 --> 00:49:09,200 because it about half an hour to figure that one out. 1063 00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:10,180 It took me some effort. 1064 00:49:10,180 --> 00:49:12,750 AUDIENCE: I mean Metal Gear Solid a lot of 1065 00:49:12,750 --> 00:49:14,200 meta-puzzles like that. 1066 00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:17,910 Like when you fought Psycho Mantis for the first time. 1067 00:49:17,910 --> 00:49:20,925 Well, so the scene you had to do is you went to unplug your 1068 00:49:20,925 --> 00:49:22,610 controller and plug it into the second port because he 1069 00:49:22,610 --> 00:49:24,620 would read your movements. 1070 00:49:24,620 --> 00:49:28,850 And it was this cool, physical layer of it where you're 1071 00:49:28,850 --> 00:49:29,490 playing the game. 1072 00:49:29,490 --> 00:49:31,510 Then you realize I have to interact with the physical 1073 00:49:31,510 --> 00:49:33,420 world so that he can't see what I'm doing. 1074 00:49:33,420 --> 00:49:36,100 PROFESSOR: But that one [? cannot do, ?] 1075 00:49:36,100 --> 00:49:40,770 because in that particular example that one gave you a 1076 00:49:40,770 --> 00:49:44,600 very big clue because right at the beginning of that match 1077 00:49:44,600 --> 00:49:46,920 that boss tells you to put your control on the ground. 1078 00:49:46,920 --> 00:49:48,860 And he says, I'm going to control this 1079 00:49:48,860 --> 00:49:49,840 controller with my mind. 1080 00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:52,210 And actually, just [INAUDIBLE]. 1081 00:49:52,210 --> 00:49:53,810 AUDIENCE: That's only if you have dualtech. 1082 00:49:53,810 --> 00:49:57,480 So, because on PlayStation, if you didn't he just 1083 00:49:57,480 --> 00:49:58,390 ignored that part. 1084 00:49:58,390 --> 00:50:00,750 And you didn't get that clue at all. 1085 00:50:00,750 --> 00:50:02,695 PROFESSOR: Yeah, and that's a problem. 1086 00:50:02,695 --> 00:50:04,536 But it's still very cool. 1087 00:50:04,536 --> 00:50:09,060 AUDIENCE: There were other clues, like you would talk 1088 00:50:09,060 --> 00:50:11,830 about how you had been playing certain games by reading saves 1089 00:50:11,830 --> 00:50:13,920 on your [INAUDIBLE]. 1090 00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:15,590 At least not in Castlevania. 1091 00:50:15,590 --> 00:50:17,630 I just remember being like-- 1092 00:50:17,630 --> 00:50:17,895 [INAUDIBLE]. 1093 00:50:17,895 --> 00:50:22,390 PROFESSOR: So basically it's giving you a clue that there's 1094 00:50:22,390 --> 00:50:24,310 got to be something better about the way that you're 1095 00:50:24,310 --> 00:50:25,296 currently playing. 1096 00:50:25,296 --> 00:50:29,130 The funny thing about the radio channel is that one 1097 00:50:29,130 --> 00:50:31,050 really did not give you any clue that there 1098 00:50:31,050 --> 00:50:31,630 was something better. 1099 00:50:31,630 --> 00:50:34,130 It just told you about the back of the box. 1100 00:50:34,130 --> 00:50:38,672 It was like, it didn't tell you the back of the video game 1101 00:50:38,672 --> 00:50:39,550 case, right. 1102 00:50:39,550 --> 00:50:40,870 It's not going to be that specific. 1103 00:50:40,870 --> 00:50:43,800 AUDIENCE: It said CD case, specifically. 1104 00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:47,394 I was really confused, because I think mine came in a slip of 1105 00:50:47,394 --> 00:50:48,602 paper or something. 1106 00:50:48,602 --> 00:50:50,650 AUDIENCE: Yeah, if you buy it used or something. 1107 00:50:50,650 --> 00:50:53,590 PROFESSOR: Yeah, so it's anti-used game 1108 00:50:53,590 --> 00:50:54,560 protection, as well. 1109 00:50:54,560 --> 00:50:58,176 But yeah, mine was I think I actually said on the back of 1110 00:50:58,176 --> 00:51:00,384 the CD case, but I was playing like a [INAUDIBLE] or 1111 00:51:00,384 --> 00:51:03,040 something and that came in the DVD case. 1112 00:51:03,040 --> 00:51:05,680 So I didn't make a connection. 1113 00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:10,010 But if you look at the back of it, you see what the radio 1114 00:51:10,010 --> 00:51:14,090 frequency is in the screenshot. 1115 00:51:14,090 --> 00:51:17,590 One of the eight screenshots that they show to demonstrate 1116 00:51:17,590 --> 00:51:20,180 this is what the game is all about, there's the number and 1117 00:51:20,180 --> 00:51:21,660 it's just right in there. 1118 00:51:21,660 --> 00:51:24,380 And then key it in. 1119 00:51:24,380 --> 00:51:27,665 AUDIENCE: Has anyone played any of those breakout games? 1120 00:51:27,665 --> 00:51:30,830 Where it's lock you in a room and you have to-- 1121 00:51:30,830 --> 00:51:33,316 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 1122 00:51:33,316 --> 00:51:36,910 AUDIENCE: Yeah, you find the thing, you find a slip of 1123 00:51:36,910 --> 00:51:38,300 paper and escape [INAUDIBLE]. 1124 00:51:38,300 --> 00:51:42,670 PROFESSOR: So, actually who doesn't know 1125 00:51:42,670 --> 00:51:43,976 what these are about? 1126 00:51:43,976 --> 00:51:44,892 Escape the room. 1127 00:51:44,892 --> 00:51:49,764 OK, so escape the room-- actually, could we bring up 1128 00:51:49,764 --> 00:51:51,210 something on your computer? 1129 00:51:51,210 --> 00:51:52,656 AUDIENCE: I have to go grab the video thing. 1130 00:51:52,656 --> 00:51:54,102 PROFESSOR: Oh, the video cable. 1131 00:51:54,102 --> 00:51:55,820 AUDIENCE: It's back there in my office. 1132 00:51:55,820 --> 00:51:57,519 PROFESSOR: Oh, OK cool. 1133 00:51:57,519 --> 00:52:00,200 Call [? Becky ?] to send it. 1134 00:52:00,200 --> 00:52:02,420 Escape the room games are typically flash games. 1135 00:52:02,420 --> 00:52:07,150 And they're kind of like adventure games because 1136 00:52:07,150 --> 00:52:10,250 there's usually only one room, although sometimes you have 1137 00:52:10,250 --> 00:52:10,720 multiple rooms. 1138 00:52:10,720 --> 00:52:12,870 It's a much smaller world in most adventure games. 1139 00:52:12,870 --> 00:52:14,100 But the basic idea is the same. 1140 00:52:14,100 --> 00:52:20,390 You pick up objects, you use objects in a room, and you try 1141 00:52:20,390 --> 00:52:21,050 to make things happen. 1142 00:52:21,050 --> 00:52:24,490 You know, if you haven't made anything, you are not 1143 00:52:24,490 --> 00:52:25,360 progressing in the game. 1144 00:52:25,360 --> 00:52:27,560 If you made something happen, you are almost always making 1145 00:52:27,560 --> 00:52:29,870 forward progress in the game. 1146 00:52:29,870 --> 00:52:33,965 And there is, actually, a guide for playing adventure 1147 00:52:33,965 --> 00:52:38,850 games written by Roberta Williams, who did the Original 1148 00:52:38,850 --> 00:52:39,480 King's Quest series. 1149 00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:43,640 And her guide is like, pick-up everything, go everywhere, use 1150 00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:46,020 everything on everything. 1151 00:52:46,020 --> 00:52:47,450 That's actually what escape the room really is. 1152 00:52:47,450 --> 00:52:49,460 But there's a little bit more to escape the room games, but 1153 00:52:49,460 --> 00:52:51,420 there's just not that many things that you can explore. 1154 00:52:51,420 --> 00:52:55,120 That's the idea is that you're stuck in a room. 1155 00:52:55,120 --> 00:52:58,485 And basically it comes down to just use everything on 1156 00:52:58,485 --> 00:53:01,440 everything until you figure out what comes up. 1157 00:53:01,440 --> 00:53:04,860 Rarely is it logical, often pretty entertaining, because 1158 00:53:04,860 --> 00:53:05,530 they're animation heavy. 1159 00:53:05,530 --> 00:53:07,470 So every time you do something right, you 1160 00:53:07,470 --> 00:53:08,520 get some crazy animation. 1161 00:53:08,520 --> 00:53:12,410 I put the fish into the mail slot and 1162 00:53:12,410 --> 00:53:15,490 out appears an octopus. 1163 00:53:15,490 --> 00:53:17,870 It's fun to watch. 1164 00:53:17,870 --> 00:53:22,210 For us, the kind of comparatively opposite of 1165 00:53:22,210 --> 00:53:25,040 those are the Grow games. 1166 00:53:25,040 --> 00:53:28,870 And they're a series of games called Grow. 1167 00:53:28,870 --> 00:53:30,840 I think the guy who does them is called Eyezmaze. 1168 00:53:34,070 --> 00:53:40,280 And the whole basic idea is that imagine that you have a 1169 00:53:40,280 --> 00:53:41,850 flower pot. 1170 00:53:41,850 --> 00:53:44,705 And every time you add something to 1171 00:53:44,705 --> 00:53:46,260 it something happens. 1172 00:53:46,260 --> 00:53:49,077 But the order in which you are adding things to it makes 1173 00:53:49,077 --> 00:53:50,210 different things happen. 1174 00:53:50,210 --> 00:53:54,680 And there are solutions, basically, in making the 1175 00:53:54,680 --> 00:53:59,490 optimal number of things happen if you do it right. 1176 00:53:59,490 --> 00:54:03,920 So what you can do is not a mystery at all. 1177 00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:07,470 You have these six things that I could add to my pot. 1178 00:54:07,470 --> 00:54:11,050 And I know those are the only six things I could add. 1179 00:54:11,050 --> 00:54:14,030 The question is what order do I do them? 1180 00:54:14,030 --> 00:54:15,830 And doing them in different orders give 1181 00:54:15,830 --> 00:54:19,160 you different results. 1182 00:54:19,160 --> 00:54:23,750 And I feel that these two genres are kind of linked, but 1183 00:54:23,750 --> 00:54:26,060 they're playing off very different things. 1184 00:54:26,060 --> 00:54:28,090 One of them is, I don't know what I'm going to do. 1185 00:54:28,090 --> 00:54:31,710 But I know that whatever I do has got to leave this space. 1186 00:54:31,710 --> 00:54:33,810 And the other one is very much, I know exactly what I 1187 00:54:33,810 --> 00:54:37,462 can possibly do, I just don't know what order to do them in. 1188 00:54:37,462 --> 00:54:39,430 So a couple of puzzles that you see online. 1189 00:54:39,430 --> 00:54:43,830 These are fairly encapsulated things. 1190 00:54:43,830 --> 00:54:45,712 One game is one series of puzzles. 1191 00:54:45,712 --> 00:54:48,142 There's not like a professor-made encyclopedia 1192 00:54:48,142 --> 00:54:49,392 puzzle kind of thing. 1193 00:54:54,460 --> 00:54:56,420 What time is it? 1194 00:54:56,420 --> 00:55:01,075 OK, I think I'm actually going to grab a few more puzzles and 1195 00:55:01,075 --> 00:55:01,690 bring them in. 1196 00:55:01,690 --> 00:55:05,360 But I do actually want to try to see whether we can put 1197 00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:07,540 together a list of the kinds of puzzles that we haven't 1198 00:55:07,540 --> 00:55:09,430 talked about today. 1199 00:55:09,430 --> 00:55:11,260 These could be physical puzzles, these could be 1200 00:55:11,260 --> 00:55:14,700 puzzles that you've seen in a book by their genre. 1201 00:55:14,700 --> 00:55:17,550 Logic puzzles, you know, of a certain kind that you either 1202 00:55:17,550 --> 00:55:20,270 really, really like or you really, really loathe. 1203 00:55:20,270 --> 00:55:23,283 And just break up in groups of-- 1204 00:55:23,283 --> 00:55:27,046 three, six, nine, Heather [INAUDIBLE], ten, eleven, 1205 00:55:27,046 --> 00:55:30,648 twelve, seventeen people. 1206 00:55:30,648 --> 00:55:32,121 Seventeen people? 1207 00:55:32,121 --> 00:55:34,085 That doesn't divide at all. 1208 00:55:41,020 --> 00:55:42,330 OK, two or three. 1209 00:55:42,330 --> 00:55:44,430 Groups of two or three and just like-- 1210 00:55:44,430 --> 00:55:45,965 AUDIENCE: Jason should be back. 1211 00:55:45,965 --> 00:55:48,630 PROFESSOR: OK, all right, then groups of three. 1212 00:55:54,485 --> 00:55:56,080 How about we-- 1213 00:55:56,080 --> 00:55:58,634 just like-- 1214 00:55:58,634 --> 00:56:00,360 you know, just a couple of puzzles that we haven't 1215 00:56:00,360 --> 00:56:04,670 discussed and a description about what they're like. 1216 00:56:04,670 --> 00:56:07,715 And we'll quickly run through the class to sort of give 1217 00:56:07,715 --> 00:56:11,030 everyone an idea of what-- 1218 00:56:11,030 --> 00:56:14,980 As a toy, playing with a Rubik's Cube is more fun than 1219 00:56:14,980 --> 00:56:16,530 the algorithm to solve it. 1220 00:56:16,530 --> 00:56:18,252 That's not fun at all, in my opinion. 1221 00:56:18,252 --> 00:56:21,030 AUDIENCE: It's fascinating, you can also solve it. 1222 00:56:21,030 --> 00:56:23,013 But it's [INAUDIBLE], very tempting when 1223 00:56:23,013 --> 00:56:24,486 you look at it also. 1224 00:56:27,923 --> 00:56:30,869 AUDIENCE: So, one of the things you were talking about 1225 00:56:30,869 --> 00:56:34,797 was interactive fiction. 1226 00:56:34,797 --> 00:56:36,280 Text adventures. 1227 00:56:36,280 --> 00:56:40,882 And how sometimes they could be considered just like if 1228 00:56:40,882 --> 00:56:43,056 you're playing a regular adventure game but just with 1229 00:56:43,056 --> 00:56:44,042 text instead. 1230 00:56:44,042 --> 00:56:48,600 And so the puzzle could be how you interact with the world, 1231 00:56:48,600 --> 00:56:51,540 or it could be trying to figure out what actions are 1232 00:56:51,540 --> 00:56:53,110 available to the user. 1233 00:56:53,110 --> 00:56:54,950 Like sometimes not all actions are there. 1234 00:56:54,950 --> 00:57:00,510 But also in some games the nature of text gives you 1235 00:57:00,510 --> 00:57:02,250 different ways to have a puzzle. 1236 00:57:02,250 --> 00:57:05,800 Like in Lost Pig, because you're playing an orc he 1237 00:57:05,800 --> 00:57:08,440 doesn't know English very well. 1238 00:57:08,440 --> 00:57:12,498 Or doesn't have full control of language, so you're trying 1239 00:57:12,498 --> 00:57:14,161 to decipher his words to figure out what 1240 00:57:14,161 --> 00:57:15,991 he's actually seeing. 1241 00:57:15,991 --> 00:57:18,005 PROFESSOR: Do you have an example you can do? 1242 00:57:18,005 --> 00:57:19,775 To give with that to make it clearer? 1243 00:57:19,775 --> 00:57:20,660 Because I haven't played it. 1244 00:57:20,660 --> 00:57:24,320 AUDIENCE: In that game, there is one part where he's 1245 00:57:24,320 --> 00:57:27,500 describing a box and it has a slot. 1246 00:57:27,500 --> 00:57:30,790 And you put something in it and then it gives you 1247 00:57:30,790 --> 00:57:31,120 something out. 1248 00:57:31,120 --> 00:57:32,740 But the way he's describing it, you don't really know what 1249 00:57:32,740 --> 00:57:34,672 he's describing until you realize he's talking about a 1250 00:57:34,672 --> 00:57:36,675 vending machine. 1251 00:57:36,675 --> 00:57:42,260 He describes it as a tall box with a slot in it. 1252 00:57:42,260 --> 00:57:44,110 And another example we were talking about was the game 1253 00:57:44,110 --> 00:57:49,870 Aisle, which is you're this guy in a grocery store. 1254 00:57:49,870 --> 00:57:53,250 And it gives you this big prologue. 1255 00:57:53,250 --> 00:57:55,440 And you have one action that you can do. 1256 00:57:55,440 --> 00:57:58,700 So after you type in your one action, it tells you what 1257 00:57:58,700 --> 00:58:01,780 happens and gives you an epilogue. 1258 00:58:01,780 --> 00:58:03,990 And then the game starts over. 1259 00:58:03,990 --> 00:58:07,490 But then using the information from that epilogue, you have a 1260 00:58:07,490 --> 00:58:09,560 different choice of actions that you can take and 1261 00:58:09,560 --> 00:58:10,770 different key words to use. 1262 00:58:10,770 --> 00:58:14,752 And so by playing it over and over you're uncovering more of 1263 00:58:14,752 --> 00:58:17,630 the story until you get somewhere. 1264 00:58:17,630 --> 00:58:19,390 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 1265 00:58:19,390 --> 00:58:20,270 AUDIENCE: Aisle. 1266 00:58:20,270 --> 00:58:27,206 A-I-S-L-E. 1267 00:58:27,206 --> 00:58:32,170 AUDIENCE: We also thought about puzzles that were games 1268 00:58:32,170 --> 00:58:34,250 put into a very contrived scenario. 1269 00:58:34,250 --> 00:58:37,250 Like bridge puzzles, or chess puzzles, or back when the 1270 00:58:37,250 --> 00:58:39,700 Duelist magazine still existed they had Magic 1271 00:58:39,700 --> 00:58:40,680 the Gathering puzzles. 1272 00:58:40,680 --> 00:58:42,637 PROFESSOR: So like chess puzzles are 1273 00:58:42,637 --> 00:58:43,780 like, here's this board. 1274 00:58:43,780 --> 00:58:46,210 What was the move that led to this board. 1275 00:58:46,210 --> 00:58:49,640 AUDIENCE: Or like, black to win in three moves. 1276 00:58:49,640 --> 00:58:51,110 Something like that. 1277 00:58:51,110 --> 00:58:54,040 PROFESSOR: So that's like, you are now placing additional 1278 00:58:54,040 --> 00:58:56,620 constraints on the game. 1279 00:58:56,620 --> 00:58:57,940 AUDIENCE: Yeah, exactly. 1280 00:58:57,940 --> 00:59:00,630 It already puts you in a situation like, pretend you're 1281 00:59:00,630 --> 00:59:01,490 in this game. 1282 00:59:01,490 --> 00:59:04,220 Now, we promise you there's a way you can automatically win, 1283 00:59:04,220 --> 00:59:07,255 you have to find it. 1284 00:59:07,255 --> 00:59:10,876 PROFESSOR: There's a number of computer games like ChuChu 1285 00:59:10,876 --> 00:59:12,700 Rocket and everything where it does like 1286 00:59:12,700 --> 00:59:14,008 completely separate modes. 1287 00:59:17,880 --> 00:59:21,130 ChuChu Rocket is a frenetic both player-- 1288 00:59:21,130 --> 00:59:24,800 AUDIENCE: It's a mice-herding game. 1289 00:59:24,800 --> 00:59:27,750 You have to get them into rocket ships, 1290 00:59:27,750 --> 00:59:29,000 so they go in space. 1291 00:59:31,222 --> 00:59:32,980 It was for the Dreamcast. 1292 00:59:32,980 --> 00:59:34,230 It's so good. 1293 00:59:37,230 --> 00:59:38,180 The idea's really simple. 1294 00:59:38,180 --> 00:59:40,486 A bunch of mice wander around the streets, and each player 1295 00:59:40,486 --> 00:59:41,930 gets to place three arrows. 1296 00:59:41,930 --> 00:59:43,525 And when the mice run under the arrow 1297 00:59:43,525 --> 00:59:44,705 they follow the arrow. 1298 00:59:44,705 --> 00:59:47,010 So you want to get all your mice on your ship, and want to 1299 00:59:47,010 --> 00:59:48,880 get the cats on the other ship so that they eat their mice. 1300 00:59:48,880 --> 00:59:52,090 PROFESSOR: In puzzle-mode, you have three arrows in these 1301 00:59:52,090 --> 00:59:52,735 particular directions. 1302 00:59:52,735 --> 00:59:55,308 But the way you place them, you have as much time as you 1303 00:59:55,308 --> 00:59:57,070 want, but there's only one right answer. 1304 00:59:57,070 --> 00:59:58,790 And that immediately shows you the difference between a game 1305 00:59:58,790 --> 00:59:59,030 and puzzle. 1306 00:59:59,030 --> 00:59:59,990 Right there. 1307 00:59:59,990 --> 01:00:03,350 Even though they are all in the same package. 1308 01:00:03,350 --> 01:00:07,720 AUDIENCE: So, first off I don't like jigsaw puzzles, but 1309 01:00:07,720 --> 01:00:10,070 Michelle loves them. 1310 01:00:10,070 --> 01:00:12,390 And then we also talked about whodunit's. 1311 01:00:12,390 --> 01:00:15,190 And I really love whodunit's because you have to pay 1312 01:00:15,190 --> 01:00:16,820 attention to the detail in the stories. 1313 01:00:16,820 --> 01:00:18,990 Like the one thing that-- 1314 01:00:18,990 --> 01:00:21,690 I guess the example that we were talking about is, if 1315 01:00:21,690 --> 01:00:24,480 there's a mailman and it happens to be on a Sunday, he 1316 01:00:24,480 --> 01:00:25,290 probably committed the crime. 1317 01:00:25,290 --> 01:00:26,860 Because they don't have mail on Sundays. 1318 01:00:26,860 --> 01:00:28,675 And it's like small details like that. 1319 01:00:28,675 --> 01:00:30,995 PROFESSOR: Are you talking about mystery books or just 1320 01:00:30,995 --> 01:00:31,995 like little paragraphs? 1321 01:00:31,995 --> 01:00:34,302 AUDIENCE: Well, it's usually like a story. 1322 01:00:34,302 --> 01:00:36,360 And they say, oh, here's the scenario, here's the 1323 01:00:36,360 --> 01:00:39,188 background story, who is the murderer? 1324 01:00:39,188 --> 01:00:43,571 PROFESSOR: They compare it though, [INAUDIBLE]. 1325 01:00:43,571 --> 01:00:46,725 AUDIENCE: People have parties like that, like full-on 1326 01:00:46,725 --> 01:00:47,060 whodunit parties. 1327 01:00:47,060 --> 01:00:48,430 AUDIENCE: That's very true. 1328 01:00:48,430 --> 01:00:50,366 I didn't see who was talking for a second. 1329 01:00:54,240 --> 01:00:55,490 Who's talking? 1330 01:01:02,610 --> 01:01:06,620 AUDIENCE: Another puzzle we came up with, was the ones 1331 01:01:06,620 --> 01:01:09,725 that you did in elementary school with like the big grid. 1332 01:01:09,725 --> 01:01:12,350 And you would have someone's name, and maybe their favorite 1333 01:01:12,350 --> 01:01:14,693 food, that you would give them a bunch of clues and you have 1334 01:01:14,693 --> 01:01:15,760 to match them. 1335 01:01:15,760 --> 01:01:17,640 Yes, with something like the checks and the xs and stuff. 1336 01:01:17,640 --> 01:01:21,045 PROFESSOR: So, that's just generally called logic 1337 01:01:21,045 --> 01:01:22,400 puzzles, I believe. 1338 01:01:22,400 --> 01:01:26,540 It's just you are given the incomplete set of information 1339 01:01:26,540 --> 01:01:30,331 but enough constraints that you can figure out the rest of 1340 01:01:30,331 --> 01:01:31,450 the information. 1341 01:01:31,450 --> 01:01:34,870 And really the way to solve it is just write everybody's 1342 01:01:34,870 --> 01:01:39,440 name, all the characters that you're given in the prose. 1343 01:01:39,440 --> 01:01:41,400 Write down all the characters on one column. 1344 01:01:41,400 --> 01:01:43,770 Write down all the things you're trying to figure out, 1345 01:01:43,770 --> 01:01:46,662 like who's wearing what colored shirt, for instance, 1346 01:01:46,662 --> 01:01:49,080 so just write out all the colors on the other column. 1347 01:01:49,080 --> 01:01:52,540 And just by the process of elimination, just figuring 1348 01:01:52,540 --> 01:01:56,610 out, usually the answers are mutually exclusive. 1349 01:01:56,610 --> 01:01:59,772 So if somebody is wearing a red shirt, can not be wearing 1350 01:01:59,772 --> 01:02:02,128 a green shirt. 1351 01:02:02,128 --> 01:02:07,584 AUDIENCE: So part of the much harder ones are every fourth 1352 01:02:07,584 --> 01:02:08,576 statement is false. 1353 01:02:08,576 --> 01:02:11,056 Like you don't know if one statement is definitely false. 1354 01:02:11,056 --> 01:02:12,792 And I've seen one where every statement is 1355 01:02:12,792 --> 01:02:14,032 false except for one. 1356 01:02:14,032 --> 01:02:17,860 And I can bring in my book and there's like [INAUDIBLE]. 1357 01:02:17,860 --> 01:02:23,452 PROFESSOR: The worst version of it is figuring out how 1358 01:02:23,452 --> 01:02:25,444 puzzles see people in the world. 1359 01:02:29,926 --> 01:02:32,416 AUDIENCE: They wouldn't fix it before because he pushed it 1360 01:02:32,416 --> 01:02:33,666 out last week. 1361 01:02:36,948 --> 01:02:38,766 PROFESSOR: You guys want to throw in any? 1362 01:02:38,766 --> 01:02:42,715 AUDIENCE: Sure, we started by trying to think of all the 1363 01:02:42,715 --> 01:02:44,170 puzzles that we really dislike. 1364 01:02:44,170 --> 01:02:47,080 And we came up with a couple here. 1365 01:02:47,080 --> 01:02:49,505 The sliding square puzzles, you know where you have like-- 1366 01:02:52,420 --> 01:02:55,069 Basically just a variation on a jigsaw puzzle where the 1367 01:02:55,069 --> 01:02:57,803 rules are more constrained. 1368 01:02:57,803 --> 01:02:59,791 I don't like jigsaw puzzles either. 1369 01:02:59,791 --> 01:03:03,270 So we're like-minded there. 1370 01:03:03,270 --> 01:03:05,258 And then John had a couple. 1371 01:03:05,258 --> 01:03:08,737 I guess there's a Light's Out puzzle. 1372 01:03:08,737 --> 01:03:14,204 Inside the image you touch certain areas and [INAUDIBLE]. 1373 01:03:14,204 --> 01:03:17,640 PROFESSOR: So you've got like a grid of buttons and every 1374 01:03:17,640 --> 01:03:23,085 button you push will invert all those neighboring buttons. 1375 01:03:23,085 --> 01:03:26,830 Like implanting the top button, left and right, will-- 1376 01:03:26,830 --> 01:03:28,080 [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 1377 01:03:29,954 --> 01:03:34,924 AUDIENCE: And then I guess I already described the 1378 01:03:34,924 --> 01:03:36,070 concentric circle thing. 1379 01:03:36,070 --> 01:03:38,481 Yeah, their puzzles are similar that we're taking an 1380 01:03:38,481 --> 01:03:40,270 action on one item in the scene. 1381 01:03:40,270 --> 01:03:42,982 These are incredibly difficult, the concentric 1382 01:03:42,982 --> 01:03:45,994 circle ones, will have an effect on other 1383 01:03:45,994 --> 01:03:47,850 things in the system. 1384 01:03:47,850 --> 01:03:52,061 And typically these are used in games where there will be a 1385 01:03:52,061 --> 01:03:55,260 center podium with a pathway leading off. 1386 01:03:55,260 --> 01:03:56,760 On one side of the podium, then there will be a 1387 01:03:56,760 --> 01:03:59,821 concentric circle around the concentric ring with a pathway 1388 01:03:59,821 --> 01:04:01,533 off of that ring and another interval. 1389 01:04:01,533 --> 01:04:05,498 Then more and more circles to each side and you get to 1390 01:04:05,498 --> 01:04:08,746 rotate individual circles and that will rotate the other 1391 01:04:08,746 --> 01:04:09,674 circles different ways. 1392 01:04:09,674 --> 01:04:10,975 And you need to create a pathway. 1393 01:04:10,975 --> 01:04:12,310 AUDIENCE: Every time I rotate one, something 1394 01:04:12,310 --> 01:04:13,535 else is going to rotate. 1395 01:04:13,535 --> 01:04:17,720 AUDIENCE: Then it's always going right before you're 1396 01:04:17,720 --> 01:04:19,100 [INAUDIBLE]. 1397 01:04:19,100 --> 01:04:23,062 AUDIENCE: I guess three of those are examples of games 1398 01:04:23,062 --> 01:04:26,020 where you have to take action on an environment, but your 1399 01:04:26,020 --> 01:04:28,732 action has direct effects throughout the environment. 1400 01:04:28,732 --> 01:04:32,018 And it's just really annoying figuring out 1401 01:04:32,018 --> 01:04:33,190 how to optimize that. 1402 01:04:33,190 --> 01:04:35,020 PROFESSOR: But they are predictable effects. 1403 01:04:35,020 --> 01:04:37,225 It's like every time I rotate this one left, that one's 1404 01:04:37,225 --> 01:04:39,960 going to rotate right. 1405 01:04:39,960 --> 01:04:42,290 AUDIENCE: I think it's kind of funny how the context has a 1406 01:04:42,290 --> 01:04:44,490 lot to do with whether these puzzles are annoying or not. 1407 01:04:44,490 --> 01:04:47,911 Because I do enjoy Professor Layton quite a bit. 1408 01:04:47,911 --> 01:04:54,170 And it's the most, through an arbitrary character in order 1409 01:04:54,170 --> 01:04:57,040 to justifying that you're trying [INAUDIBLE]. 1410 01:04:57,040 --> 01:04:58,393 It's just fun. 1411 01:04:58,393 --> 01:05:01,045 Your intention on even playing the game is that you're going 1412 01:05:01,045 --> 01:05:01,570 to be solving puzzles. 1413 01:05:01,570 --> 01:05:03,340 Not as [INAUDIBLE]. 1414 01:05:03,340 --> 01:05:03,700 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 1415 01:05:03,700 --> 01:05:08,880 AUDIENCE: Also, the way that is presented makes it funny in 1416 01:05:08,880 --> 01:05:09,850 that as well, right. 1417 01:05:09,850 --> 01:05:12,705 So the mafia goons come up to you and say, we're going to 1418 01:05:12,705 --> 01:05:14,660 stop you from coming in here unless you solve this puzzle. 1419 01:05:17,392 --> 01:05:20,780 Shouldn't you just shoot me? 1420 01:05:20,780 --> 01:05:22,420 It would solve all your problems. 1421 01:05:22,420 --> 01:05:23,740 No, no, solve this puzzle. 1422 01:05:26,542 --> 01:05:30,750 PROFESSOR: It's like they're making fun of themselves even. 1423 01:05:30,750 --> 01:05:32,000 All right, cool. 1424 01:05:34,735 --> 01:05:37,475 AUDIENCE: I'm not sure if we really commented on what we 1425 01:05:37,475 --> 01:05:38,670 liked or didn't like. 1426 01:05:38,670 --> 01:05:42,415 But some things that we came up with that haven't been 1427 01:05:42,415 --> 01:05:46,880 brought up yet are cryptics, which are kind of a 1428 01:05:46,880 --> 01:05:52,780 combination between crosswords and riddles, riddles, 1429 01:05:52,780 --> 01:05:54,740 combinatory games as a puzzle apparatus. 1430 01:05:57,270 --> 01:06:00,636 Logic puzzles in general, not just like typical logic 1431 01:06:00,636 --> 01:06:01,450 puzzles like that. 1432 01:06:01,450 --> 01:06:07,280 You can have state machines, or Sudoku, or any type of 1433 01:06:07,280 --> 01:06:08,710 numerical puzzle. 1434 01:06:08,710 --> 01:06:12,340 We also want to differentiate that a lot of those games, or 1435 01:06:12,340 --> 01:06:13,670 some of those games, are spatially 1436 01:06:13,670 --> 01:06:15,020 oriented and some aren't. 1437 01:06:15,020 --> 01:06:17,010 Which we thought was an important aspect, but not 1438 01:06:17,010 --> 01:06:19,590 necessarily definitive of a completely different genre. 1439 01:06:19,590 --> 01:06:21,830 PROFESSOR: I'm not sure I've seen a state machine puzzle, 1440 01:06:21,830 --> 01:06:24,702 actually, outside of a computer science textbook. 1441 01:06:24,702 --> 01:06:26,094 AUDIENCE: I know some. 1442 01:06:26,094 --> 01:06:28,916 PROFESSOR: I'll never ask you. 1443 01:06:28,916 --> 01:06:30,850 I expect it's going to be more involved than 1444 01:06:30,850 --> 01:06:33,470 we have time for. 1445 01:06:33,470 --> 01:06:36,340 By combinatory puzzles you mean stuff like-- 1446 01:06:36,340 --> 01:06:38,450 AUDIENCE: Combinatory games. 1447 01:06:38,450 --> 01:06:42,260 All the games that fall under combinatory game theory. 1448 01:06:42,260 --> 01:06:44,590 AUDIENCE: Like Nim's. 1449 01:06:44,590 --> 01:06:47,400 [INAUDIBLE] 1450 01:06:47,400 --> 01:06:51,110 AUDIENCE: These are sort of exploration, so games where 1451 01:06:51,110 --> 01:06:56,690 you have to see everything around you to know what is 1452 01:06:56,690 --> 01:06:58,900 available for use. 1453 01:06:58,900 --> 01:07:00,600 On the [INAUDIBLE] 1454 01:07:00,600 --> 01:07:02,995 so in the book they talked about 1455 01:07:02,995 --> 01:07:06,530 actually Zelda, and just-- 1456 01:07:06,530 --> 01:07:10,780 So a situation in a game that I didn't like is, you're 1457 01:07:10,780 --> 01:07:14,270 playing a game and something happens you don't step too 1458 01:07:14,270 --> 01:07:15,640 fast or something. 1459 01:07:15,640 --> 01:07:17,820 And because of that, you get too inert. 1460 01:07:17,820 --> 01:07:20,960 You're in a spot where you don't have the tools necessary 1461 01:07:20,960 --> 01:07:23,140 to beat the enemy right in front of you. 1462 01:07:23,140 --> 01:07:25,990 But you also are trapped and can't go back. 1463 01:07:25,990 --> 01:07:27,420 It happened to me one time. 1464 01:07:27,420 --> 01:07:30,005 It was the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. 1465 01:07:34,390 --> 01:07:37,530 There's an enemy, you couldn't go forward, and there was a 1466 01:07:37,530 --> 01:07:39,800 cliff so you couldn't get back up. 1467 01:07:39,800 --> 01:07:43,550 And so, since I couldn't do anything I was forced to 1468 01:07:43,550 --> 01:07:46,410 completely go back to the last save. 1469 01:07:46,410 --> 01:07:50,652 PROFESSOR: But is that a puzzle, or is that just a bug? 1470 01:07:50,652 --> 01:07:55,130 AUDIENCE: I mean, it's time worth expiration and 1471 01:07:55,130 --> 01:07:57,010 it's an item use. 1472 01:07:57,010 --> 01:08:00,360 So you need to get an item to go ahead. 1473 01:08:00,360 --> 01:08:04,185 If you have this item, then the enemy that you-- 1474 01:08:04,185 --> 01:08:06,650 I think it was like a Rancor or something-- 1475 01:08:06,650 --> 01:08:08,950 you could beat the Rancor or at least put it to sleep and 1476 01:08:08,950 --> 01:08:09,970 walk by it. 1477 01:08:09,970 --> 01:08:13,340 But without it, you had to try and beat it or 1478 01:08:13,340 --> 01:08:15,480 it would kill you. 1479 01:08:15,480 --> 01:08:19,569 PROFESSOR: OK, so it was a item that would have made 1480 01:08:19,569 --> 01:08:21,270 combat easier, basically. 1481 01:08:21,270 --> 01:08:25,990 But they kind of made it this one way with-- 1482 01:08:25,990 --> 01:08:27,010 yeah. 1483 01:08:27,010 --> 01:08:29,136 So you see a lot of puzzle games where they have easy 1484 01:08:29,136 --> 01:08:29,930 reset, right. 1485 01:08:29,930 --> 01:08:32,875 And it's like you can stop trying to solve it and you 1486 01:08:32,875 --> 01:08:35,485 really screw up something along the way You hit reset 1487 01:08:35,485 --> 01:08:36,970 and go right back to the beginning. 1488 01:08:36,970 --> 01:08:40,435 Nice that the Republic has no easy reset. 1489 01:08:40,435 --> 01:08:42,167 You live with the consequences, I guess that's 1490 01:08:42,167 --> 01:08:43,900 what they were trying to go for. 1491 01:08:43,900 --> 01:08:48,688 AUDIENCE: All right, so we've also had a 1492 01:08:48,688 --> 01:08:50,770 loathing sliding puzzles-- 1493 01:08:50,770 --> 01:08:52,731 AUDIENCE: Either with numbers or pictures, both of them are 1494 01:08:52,731 --> 01:08:55,540 equally annoying. 1495 01:08:55,540 --> 01:09:00,829 But, on the other hand, Alec loves Rush Hour. 1496 01:09:00,829 --> 01:09:03,170 AUDIENCE: It's the traffic red light game where you have to 1497 01:09:03,170 --> 01:09:06,186 fly cars out of the way to form a path. 1498 01:09:06,186 --> 01:09:08,951 AUDIENCE: In Professor Layton there are an awful lot of 1499 01:09:08,951 --> 01:09:12,270 sliding puzzles that have differently shaped pieces, or 1500 01:09:12,270 --> 01:09:14,069 oddly shaped pieces. 1501 01:09:14,069 --> 01:09:18,200 Which is slightly more interesting, or less annoying 1502 01:09:18,200 --> 01:09:22,520 than regular sliding puzzles but it's still incredibly 1503 01:09:22,520 --> 01:09:22,820 frustrating. 1504 01:09:22,820 --> 01:09:24,769 AUDIENCE: Well, I think the difference there is that when 1505 01:09:24,769 --> 01:09:27,189 you have differently sized pieces-- 1506 01:09:27,189 --> 01:09:29,310 When you're doing just like a sliding puzzle where you're 1507 01:09:29,310 --> 01:09:32,010 trying to recreate an image there's definite patterns that 1508 01:09:32,010 --> 01:09:33,800 you keep using over and over again, because you're just 1509 01:09:33,800 --> 01:09:36,520 like a rotating spaces. 1510 01:09:36,520 --> 01:09:37,700 So it's not actually interesting. 1511 01:09:37,700 --> 01:09:39,899 Whereas Rush Hour you actually have to think 1512 01:09:39,899 --> 01:09:41,840 about things fit together. 1513 01:09:41,840 --> 01:09:43,800 So one other puzzle type that we haven't really mentioned, 1514 01:09:43,800 --> 01:09:47,350 that I actually really enjoy, is pictographic puzzles. 1515 01:09:47,350 --> 01:09:50,689 Where it relies on sort of your association with visual 1516 01:09:50,689 --> 01:09:52,979 images and wordplay and stuff. 1517 01:09:52,979 --> 01:09:56,580 Like, for example, you'll have a puzzle that's just an image 1518 01:09:56,580 --> 01:10:02,210 of an eyeball, a bumblebee, and a screen shot of Judi 1519 01:10:02,210 --> 01:10:05,090 Dench in a James Bond movie. 1520 01:10:05,090 --> 01:10:09,390 And the idea is it's IBM. 1521 01:10:09,390 --> 01:10:12,310 So I love puzzles like that. 1522 01:10:12,310 --> 01:10:13,560 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 1523 01:10:15,130 --> 01:10:17,760 AUDIENCE: Yeah, so stuff like that where it relies on 1524 01:10:17,760 --> 01:10:20,820 someone, like a human being, actually associating 1525 01:10:20,820 --> 01:10:23,490 information with something visual. 1526 01:10:23,490 --> 01:10:26,290 Rather than it being just a straight modern puzzle where 1527 01:10:26,290 --> 01:10:30,337 you have this information and you use this to derive the 1528 01:10:30,337 --> 01:10:30,880 rest of the information. 1529 01:10:30,880 --> 01:10:35,110 PROFESSOR: There's R-E-B-U-S, and of course those are very 1530 01:10:35,110 --> 01:10:37,935 language focused even though they're image-based. 1531 01:10:37,935 --> 01:10:41,476 AUDIENCE: What one has the two lines and then [INAUDIBLE] in 1532 01:10:41,476 --> 01:10:42,260 the middle? 1533 01:10:42,260 --> 01:10:44,470 AUDIENCE: Well, things like that, yeah. 1534 01:10:44,470 --> 01:10:47,340 PROFESSOR: You had Rebus where you are trying to basically 1535 01:10:47,340 --> 01:10:48,420 reconstruct a sentence. 1536 01:10:48,420 --> 01:10:53,060 And then I forget what's the classification of puzzles 1537 01:10:53,060 --> 01:10:56,693 where you're given a certain lead of images and you're 1538 01:10:56,693 --> 01:10:58,052 trying to write enough. 1539 01:10:58,052 --> 01:11:05,790 But if I wrote it in-- 1540 01:11:05,790 --> 01:11:10,882 this is not a good puzzle but just to give an example-- if I 1541 01:11:10,882 --> 01:11:14,470 put [INAUDIBLE]. 1542 01:11:18,950 --> 01:11:22,640 I think there is a specific word for these kind of things. 1543 01:11:22,640 --> 01:11:24,781 But the whole idea is you're trying to reconstruct these 1544 01:11:24,781 --> 01:11:26,900 sayings or these [INAUDIBLE] 1545 01:11:26,900 --> 01:11:28,295 from individual theories. 1546 01:11:32,180 --> 01:11:39,236 So I mean, these are usually spatial to begin with. 1547 01:11:39,236 --> 01:11:41,447 I think there was a whole game show in the '80s 1548 01:11:41,447 --> 01:11:42,790 that was just all-- 1549 01:11:42,790 --> 01:11:45,590 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 1550 01:11:45,590 --> 01:11:47,954 AUDIENCE: Australia had a show called Catch 1551 01:11:47,954 --> 01:11:49,415 Phrase which was-- 1552 01:11:49,415 --> 01:11:51,850 AUDIENCE: Yeah, I think Catch Phrase was the show. 1553 01:11:51,850 --> 01:11:56,770 AUDIENCE: So we wrote a B-list of different types of puzzles, 1554 01:11:56,770 --> 01:11:59,770 so let's just run through them. 1555 01:11:59,770 --> 01:12:00,750 All right, we've got lots of different 1556 01:12:00,750 --> 01:12:01,900 sliding puzzle variants. 1557 01:12:01,900 --> 01:12:04,315 We've got hidden object finding, the variance on 1558 01:12:04,315 --> 01:12:08,560 Where's Waldo and then it's kind of [INAUDIBLE]. 1559 01:12:08,560 --> 01:12:13,165 We have riddles, various kinds of logic puzzles, particularly 1560 01:12:13,165 --> 01:12:16,170 two of which we've mentioned before. 1561 01:12:16,170 --> 01:12:17,760 Several people, witnesses, give statements. 1562 01:12:17,760 --> 01:12:19,376 One of them is a liar, which one's the liar. 1563 01:12:19,376 --> 01:12:21,756 So find the hidden sinister person. 1564 01:12:21,756 --> 01:12:25,700 And then there's the figment property x is next to figment 1565 01:12:25,700 --> 01:12:28,030 property y, what order are they sitting in? 1566 01:12:28,030 --> 01:12:28,992 That kind of puzzle. 1567 01:12:28,992 --> 01:12:33,330 There's a million of them in Professor Layton. 1568 01:12:33,330 --> 01:12:37,890 There's these kinds of unraveling, or 1569 01:12:37,890 --> 01:12:39,570 reverse-engineering type, puzzles. 1570 01:12:39,570 --> 01:12:43,110 Where some system has been permuted and you have to 1571 01:12:43,110 --> 01:12:44,750 restore it to its original state. 1572 01:12:44,750 --> 01:12:47,908 Which Rubik's Cube is like the canonical example, I guess. 1573 01:12:47,908 --> 01:12:50,830 But then there's a bunch of other different good ones. 1574 01:12:50,830 --> 01:12:52,679 PROFESSOR: I mean that chess games is kind of in that 1575 01:12:52,679 --> 01:12:53,752 category too. 1576 01:12:53,752 --> 01:12:58,850 AUDIENCE: There's tile rotation and swapping puzzles. 1577 01:12:58,850 --> 01:13:01,690 One example of this is Bioshock hacking, but then 1578 01:13:01,690 --> 01:13:05,875 there are 1 million other variations on exchanging tiles 1579 01:13:05,875 --> 01:13:08,470 or swapping them around or this kind of thing. 1580 01:13:08,470 --> 01:13:11,732 Lots of different kinds of math puzzles. 1581 01:13:11,732 --> 01:13:14,575 This particular word transformation puzzle type 1582 01:13:14,575 --> 01:13:17,750 that I used to see all the time when I was a kid, where 1583 01:13:17,750 --> 01:13:22,480 by changing one letter or word per step, you had to transform 1584 01:13:22,480 --> 01:13:24,610 one word into another. 1585 01:13:24,610 --> 01:13:32,890 Mazes, jigsaw puzzles, code breaking nobody mentioned yet. 1586 01:13:32,890 --> 01:13:38,360 And then also, these kind of full experiment type puzzles. 1587 01:13:38,360 --> 01:13:40,660 I don't know how else you categorize them. 1588 01:13:40,660 --> 01:13:41,797 PROFESSOR: Give us an example. 1589 01:13:41,797 --> 01:13:49,480 AUDIENCE: All right, so I'm trying to remember how this 1590 01:13:49,480 --> 01:13:52,400 works but I think it is-- 1591 01:13:52,400 --> 01:13:55,780 this one popped up on Day(9)s podcast the other day. 1592 01:13:55,780 --> 01:13:59,245 I only give it because otherwise if I get it wrong 1593 01:13:59,245 --> 01:14:02,490 then people will go oh my God, and try and puzzle it out. 1594 01:14:02,490 --> 01:14:04,860 So it has to do with the piece of string and burning. 1595 01:14:04,860 --> 01:14:06,666 AUDIENCE: Oh, the 13 minutes? 1596 01:14:06,666 --> 01:14:10,681 AUDIENCE: Yeah, do you remember exactly how it goes? 1597 01:14:10,681 --> 01:14:13,536 AUDIENCE: OK, you have two pieces of string. 1598 01:14:13,536 --> 01:14:17,030 You know that the whole string takes an hour to burn but it's 1599 01:14:17,030 --> 01:14:18,280 not linear. 1600 01:14:20,200 --> 01:14:23,130 You have an infinite supply of matches, how can you measure 1601 01:14:23,130 --> 01:14:26,560 15 minutes with this string? 1602 01:14:26,560 --> 01:14:29,990 AUDIENCE: One of those lateral thinking puzzles. 1603 01:14:29,990 --> 01:14:35,380 AUDIENCE: I would classify this under riddles, but-- 1604 01:14:35,380 --> 01:14:37,570 [INTERPOSING VOICES] 1605 01:14:37,570 --> 01:14:40,402 AUDIENCE: Let them go, but they both take an hour-- 1606 01:14:40,402 --> 01:14:41,818 [INAUDIBLE] 1607 01:14:41,818 --> 01:14:44,178 but they both take an hour to burn, non-linearly. 1608 01:14:44,178 --> 01:14:48,310 AUDIENCE: Couldn't you just be lighting matches the entire 1609 01:14:48,310 --> 01:14:50,350 time, and see how many matches you can burn an hour. 1610 01:14:50,350 --> 01:14:52,005 After that, just take four to that number-- 1611 01:14:56,160 --> 01:14:57,470 AUDIENCE: Then how are you going to measure 1612 01:14:57,470 --> 01:14:59,250 that original hour? 1613 01:14:59,250 --> 01:14:59,743 [INAUDIBLE] 1614 01:14:59,743 --> 01:15:02,577 AUDIENCE: But you know that the thing takes an hour to 1615 01:15:02,577 --> 01:15:03,200 burn, yeah? 1616 01:15:03,200 --> 01:15:04,577 AUDIENCE: The whole thing. 1617 01:15:04,577 --> 01:15:06,767 PROFESSOR: It will take slightly longer than the 1618 01:15:06,767 --> 01:15:10,410 amount of time it takes to get to class. 1619 01:15:10,410 --> 01:15:11,310 We close by then. 1620 01:15:11,310 --> 01:15:12,250 It would be nice to give people time to 1621 01:15:12,250 --> 01:15:13,870 think about it too. 1622 01:15:13,870 --> 01:15:15,970 So answer on Wednesday.