Puzzle Script Tips

Made-up scripts and ciphers can be great for puzzles, whether for tabletop role-playing games, escape rooms, or gamebooks.

Beyond just providing a mere puzzle, a script can also set the theme and add flavor.

Here are a few guiding principals to keep in mind when designing a script for a puzzle:

1. Readers should be able to tell letters apart (unless telling them apart is the actual puzzle).

2. If readers will need to write down the letters as part of solving puzzles, the letters should be easy to write.

3. Letters should ideally have enough "character" (no pun intended) that they are easy to remember.

It might get frustrating for players to constantly need to consult a reference in order to decrypt each individual letter when they're trying to read something.

These are just guides, and they're meant to be broken.

Sometimes for a puzzle's sake you'll want the letters to look alike, so that they can rotate and become other letters. Or make the streets of a city map form a hidden message.

It's your call.

One more thing to consider is inclusiveness.

Would people with dyslexia have a hard time with your script? What about other visual impairments?

You can't always solve this (especially not with a graphic-heavy puzzle game), but it's something to always keep in mind.

Gamebooks Dos and Don'ts

Gamebooks combine storytelling with interactivity, allowing the reader to make choices that affect the outcome of the story. Choices (and, quite often, combat) are critical elements of gamebooks, and they play a significant role in making the experience enjoyable for readers. Here are some dos and don'ts of making choices and combat in gamebooks be fun.

Dos:

1. Choices should matter: Some choices mighy serve to provide personal flavor and style, but otherwise choices should actually affect the story.

2. Signal the consequences! Players musy understand their choices. They should have some idea of where the choice might lead. And once they face the consequences, they should feel that it's because of their choice and not because The Author Decided To Say So.

3. Combat should enrich the story: Combat is an integral part of many gamebooks, but it needs to serve a purpose. It can advance the plot, or make the player feel heroic, or add a sense of real danger to the game.

4. Combat should be fun: Enough said.

5. Paths should be rewarding: Readers should want to explore different paths. Different paths should let them explore the world, the story, the lore, various characters, and sub-plots.

6. Make satisfying endings: Not all endings have to be good, but they must be satisfying. Bad endings can serve to make the good endings more meaningful and rewarding, so they do serve a purpose; but they should make the readers feel engaged rather than enraged.

Don'ts:

1. Don't do the opposite of the Dos section.

2. Don't make combat too easy.

3. Don't make combat too difficult.

4. Don't add combat as a space-filler.

5. Don't make only One True Path.

6. Don't covet they neighbor's house.

7. Don't drag readers along multiple passages if they're headed toward a bad ending. Get it over with quickly.

In conclusion, making choices and combat in gamebooks be fun is all about finding the right balance. Meaningful choices, engaging combat, consequences, and multiple paths can all contribute to a fun and enjoyable gamebook experience.

I have made more than one of these mistakes in my own gamebooks, and I'll probably make new mistakes in the future. So if you've got any tips of your own, please let me know in the comments!

Hello, worlds

If you're reading this, you're probably a nerd like me. And if you're a nerd like me, you probably love roleplaying games, puzzles, and gamebooks.

But what if I told you that these were more than just a fun way to spend an evening? What if I told you that they could actually make you smarter?

I'd be lying, that's what. However, games are a great way to spend time.

In this blog, I plan to wrote about a variety of topics related to gamebooks, TTRPGs, and puzzles. I'll be sharing my thoughts on new gamebooks, tips for running a successful game, my own puzzles for others to solve, and tips on good puzzle design.

I hope you'll join me on this journey! I'm excited to share my passion for gamebooks, TTRPGs, and puzzles with you.

Welcome.