If a puzzle has more than one solution, and you are writing hints or a walkthrough, do you give the solutions descriptive names or give information to help the player figure out which solution they want if they have already started solving it one way or the other? Or do you just call them “solution 1” and “solution 2” or something like that?
1 Like
I like to organize my hints hierarchically (numbered lists inside numbered lists), so I can make a separate embedded list for each solution, where the first hint or two probably shows which one you’re already working on.
As a player reading hints, I would want informative titles instead of numbered titles. The trick is to find a way to describe the solution categories at the current hinting level. Maybe a sort of ‘if you know, you know’ title that makes sense if you’ve started solving it that way, and is obscure if you haven’t? (Although I suppose this is the same problem with hint category titles in general.)
If I was reading a walkthrough, I would assume that everything is already completely spoiled, so wouldn’t worry about the names of the two solutions being too explicit.
1 Like
If you’re doing invisiclues or some kind of graduated hinting system, it may be possible to ask questions like “what good is the plover’s egg?” rather than “how do I get past the egg-collector?”
1 Like