January 20th 2017
Today in class I found out what my assignment is for the rest of the semester. To design a video game based on the W.B Yeats poem “The Stolen Child”. One of the deliverables that struck me the most was to incorporate a puzzle into my game.
Upon beginning my research the first game that came to mind is called “Inside” for the PlayStation 4.
The reason for this is because it’s a game that I have played recently and I consider it one of the most excellent games of last year. Inside was created by the now infamous independent studio called Playdead. The same studio behind the smash hit game “Limbo”.
In the game “Inside” you play a young boy in a strange, almost surreal environment. Some elements of the game are 2.5D but sometimes plays like a 2D platform game.
The puzzles in this game are mostly environment puzzles. To discuss this point I will use a section of the game that is roughly half way through the storyline. I will leave this YouTube video that has a walkthrough of this particular level.
The section I am discussing takes places from 0:00 to 17:09
In this level the boy needs to open the large doors to continue on his journey but the only way to get through is by filling the platform in the middle of the floor with 20 people.
The boy then goes back to the elevator shaft to go down to the 2 lower floor levels. Upon reaching the next floor down the boy is confronted by a large container that looks like it needs to be moved somewhere. The only visual clues as to how to solve this puzzle is the red light shining through from the ceiling. When you try to move the container by yourself it doesn’t work so you need to find a way to move it somewhere nearby.
You then head back to the elevator shaft and go the the right to check and see what you can find there. You then drop down a ladder and head right again. The next thing you are confronted with is a group of zombie-like men. At this point above the zombie-like men you will see a head device glowing yellow. Earlier on in the game you discover that this helps you control the zombie-like men to help you solve puzzles in the game.
Next, you continue moving right until you come to the water. You must swim underneath two bits of land before you reach another room. In here you climb up onto the edge and must jump off and swing across on the ropes hanging in the room.
Upon completing this you reach the upper levels and now you attach your character to the head device. Due to the weight of the character, the connection snaps but thankfully the men catch the boy, breaking his fall.
Now you have these men under your control, you go back to the ladder you came down earlier and you get the men to give you a boost up. Next you bring them over to a train track lift, lower it down and then bring the men up to the upper level of room.
Now you have enough men to help you drag that container from earlier on. You drag this container over to the gap in the ceiling where the red light is shining through. Then you get the men to give you a boost up to reach the ceiling.
When you reach the ceiling you travel to the left. You then reach another room with yet another puzzle to solve. You must somehow rescue the men that are stuck in this pod hanging from the ceiling. You are only given this box that shoots up when you pull the lever on it and also a box. To solve this puzzle and reach the men you have to pull the lever on the box to shoot it up into the air and then slide the box underneath. Finally you must climb on top of both, pull the lever and then jump at the highest point to reach the pod and free the men.
The men that were left behind will push the container over to give you a safe landing back to where you started.
Instead of boring you with more talk about the several other puzzles on this particular level I will skip to how this level ends.
After solving all the environment puzzles you are left with enough men to open the large door. But then you find that you need 2 more. Unfortunately one of the men died so you have to drag his body onto the platform and also place yourself on there. And finally the doors open and you can continue onto the next level.
Inside is a fantastic game with a large variety of puzzles to solve. If you would like to read more about the puzzles that are in the game I will leave this link to an article talking through all the puzzles from the game
I’m still unsure as to what puzzles to incorporate into the game I will be making but Inside will definitely be one of my inspirations when making one.
Thank you for reading,
Trevor Barry