My parser puzzles all tend to be of the medium-sized-dry-goods variety. I don’t go in for code-breaking, acrostics or pure logic puzzles, partly because my first introduction to parser games was the Scott Adams Adventure series, partly because I can never think of any, and partly because I find those sorts of puzzles harder to integrate seamlessly into the story. And for me that’s the most important aspect of parser puzzle design, that your player is not just solving puzzles for the sake of it, but that the puzzles should serve the story, and have implications not just for the player character but for the other characters in the story too.
A couple of years ago I wrote a post about how I see puzzles relating to story, which I illustrated with an example from P. G. Wodehouse:
Here are some very spoilery examples of how I apply this principle to my own games:
Alias 'The Magpie'
In this game the titular character is out to steal a valuable jewelled scarab from a country house, but in doing so he saves Lord and Lady Hamcester’s marriage, helps Major Hilary Buff-Orpington recover from the tragic death of his best friend / lover, allows Sir Humphry Leghorn to finally beat Lord Hamcester in the annual cucumber growing competition, and permits beleaguered butler Hives to finally take his well-earned retirement.
In a sense this is a reversal of the Wodehouse example, in that the Magpie is motivated purely by wanting to acquire a particular object, but in doing so he completely incidentally makes everyone else’s life better. It’s collateral beneficence, if you like, but it’s also the real reward for the player.
To Hell in a Hamper / To Sea in a Sieve
Both of these games involve throwing out all manner of medium-sized-dry-goods, belonging to your travelling companion, from a sinking vehicle, but the ultimate goal of each is to save yourself (and your companion) from death. In both games (but in To Sea in a Sieve especially) you do so at the cost of your friendship.
And this is why I’m making it a trilogy.
Yak Shaving for Kicks and Giggles!
In this game your objective is no less than to learn the meaning of life, but to do so you have to shave a yak, knit a pair of socks for a yeti and melt a glacier with a hairdryer (among other things). It’s intended as a parody of to-do-this-you-must-first-do-this adventure game puzzles.
Ultimately it turns out that doing these sorts of humdrum(!) everyday tasks is what life is all about, as long as you get some kicks and have some giggles along the way.
“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” — Zen Kōan (note the verb / noun construction of “chop wood” and “carry water”!)
Apologies for wittering on about my own games, but I can only really speak about how I see things. And because I work very intuitively I often don’t know how I see things until somebody poses a question and I have to think about it.