Aporia As a Promise Requires Trust
In puzzle design, apoira—the state of puzzlement—can be used to promise a resolution: eureka. But in order for that promise to hold, for the player to believe that their puzzlement will lead to eureka, they must trust the puzzle.
Eylot Grant expands in a few different ways:
- With puzzles seen online, there’s often a large amount of doubt. Is the puzzle being replicated correctly? Are there missing or unclear instructions? Is the puzzle even solvable?
- In videogames, how do you distinguish between puzzles you can solve right now and puzzles you have to come back and solve later, possibly with new items, abilities, or after the world changes in some way?
- In videogames, what is in play and what is not? Are you supposed to bring an item from a large distance away? Does the puzzle require outside knowledge? (I’ll add that puzzles that rely on cultural knowledge are particularly rough with this.)
- Is there a bug in the game or puzzle?
That is: unclear rules, interactions, consequences, or goals can lead to a loss of trust.
Exceptions exist: The Witness, for example. But these work because the player’s trust is built up throughout the game.
- Eylot Grant. “30 Puzzle Design Lessons, Extended Director’s Cut” (external link). 1 September 2021. Accessed 29 May 2023.