WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.040 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:02.470 align:middle line:84% The following content is provided under a Creative 00:00:02.470 --> 00:00:03.880 align:middle line:90% Commons license. 00:00:03.880 --> 00:00:06.920 align:middle line:84% Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare continue to 00:00:06.920 --> 00:00:10.570 align:middle line:84% offer high quality educational resources for free. 00:00:10.570 --> 00:00:13.470 align:middle line:84% To make a donation, or view additional materials from 00:00:13.470 --> 00:00:17.875 align:middle line:84% hundreds of MIT courses, visit MIT OpenCourseWare at 00:00:17.875 --> 00:00:19.520 align:middle line:90% ocw.mit.edu. 00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:24.010 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Before we move on to the rest of the topics, 00:00:24.010 --> 00:00:26.740 align:middle line:84% maybe just some administrative stuff about the next 00:00:26.740 --> 00:00:28.470 align:middle line:90% assignment. 00:00:28.470 --> 00:00:31.940 align:middle line:84% So the idea is to model a system, right? 00:00:31.940 --> 00:00:34.600 align:middle line:84% So the idea is to pick some sort of dual system. 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:37.690 align:middle line:90% 00:00:37.690 --> 00:00:42.100 align:middle line:84% In the past people have picked stuff like applying for 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:45.550 align:middle line:84% college because they knew all about that. 00:00:45.550 --> 00:00:50.400 align:middle line:84% People have talked about any type of idea, you know, 00:00:50.400 --> 00:00:52.050 align:middle line:84% running a nuclear reactor or something. 00:00:52.050 --> 00:00:54.655 align:middle line:90% Specifically there's a-- 00:00:54.655 --> 00:00:59.438 align:middle line:84% but hey, any of you nuclear science majors?-- 00:00:59.438 --> 00:01:02.070 align:middle line:90% oh, perfect. 00:01:02.070 --> 00:01:05.674 align:middle line:84% One of my favorite Apple II games was actually nuclear 00:01:05.674 --> 00:01:09.119 align:middle line:84% reactor simulation, and it always melted down. 00:01:09.119 --> 00:01:12.430 align:middle line:90% That's why it was fun. 00:01:12.430 --> 00:01:18.930 align:middle line:84% But pick a real world system to start modeling. 00:01:18.930 --> 00:01:20.240 align:middle line:84% Obviously, you're trying to find the fun. 00:01:20.240 --> 00:01:22.100 align:middle line:84% Obviously, you're trying to make something that people are 00:01:22.100 --> 00:01:24.450 align:middle line:90% going to enjoy playing. 00:01:24.450 --> 00:01:27.510 align:middle line:84% But the idea is to start from a slightly different place 00:01:27.510 --> 00:01:31.590 align:middle line:84% from where we had in the first assignment. 00:01:31.590 --> 00:01:34.080 align:middle line:84% Now a couple of you guys already did that for the first 00:01:34.080 --> 00:01:34.600 align:middle line:90% assignment, though. 00:01:34.600 --> 00:01:37.490 align:middle line:84% I mean things like picking up girls at a party. 00:01:37.490 --> 00:01:40.620 align:middle line:84% You know, modeling real systems and things. 00:01:40.620 --> 00:01:43.958 align:middle line:84% Still haven't played yet, a genealogy game yet. 00:01:43.958 --> 00:01:46.303 align:middle line:84% So, we're going to play next March. 00:01:46.303 --> 00:01:47.553 align:middle line:90% So [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 00:01:47.553 --> 00:01:50.530 align:middle line:90% 00:01:50.530 --> 00:01:53.530 align:middle line:84% The survival horror game, I would say it's not a real 00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:56.565 align:middle line:90% world system. 00:01:56.565 --> 00:01:59.466 align:middle line:90% It was a system. 00:01:59.466 --> 00:02:02.410 align:middle line:90% Horror, wizards, trolls. 00:02:02.410 --> 00:02:06.470 align:middle line:90% So, yeah, pick something within 00:02:06.470 --> 00:02:11.620 align:middle line:90% games negotiating around-- 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:16.220 align:middle line:84% like negotiating greenhouse gas emissions, that was one 00:02:16.220 --> 00:02:18.160 align:middle line:84% which was really, really cutthroat. 00:02:18.160 --> 00:02:21.350 align:middle line:84% That's what probably you imagine. 00:02:21.350 --> 00:02:23.282 align:middle line:84% Actually I'll try to get that team to come in 00:02:23.282 --> 00:02:23.350 align:middle line:90% later in the semester. 00:02:23.350 --> 00:02:25.670 align:middle line:84% They did this and like talk about their card game. 00:02:25.670 --> 00:02:29.490 align:middle line:84% It was a freshman team on Terrascope. 00:02:29.490 --> 00:02:33.320 align:middle line:84% Let's see, On Wednesday, we're going to do the usual 00:02:33.320 --> 00:02:35.780 align:middle line:84% brainstorming inside of the second half of the 00:02:35.780 --> 00:02:36.310 align:middle line:90% upper-class. 00:02:36.310 --> 00:02:37.912 align:middle line:84% You know, everybody throw out your ideas. 00:02:37.912 --> 00:02:41.110 align:middle line:84% Come in with a bunch of ideas, we'll try to build on that. 00:02:41.110 --> 00:02:43.750 align:middle line:84% But this time around you're allowed to actually 00:02:43.750 --> 00:02:45.512 align:middle line:90% pre-build your team. 00:02:45.512 --> 00:02:48.470 align:middle line:84% You're allowed to ask people, hey, you guys 00:02:48.470 --> 00:02:50.180 align:middle line:90% want to work together? 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:53.730 align:middle line:84% You don't actually have to figure it out on the spot if 00:02:53.730 --> 00:02:55.090 align:middle line:90% you don't want to. 00:02:55.090 --> 00:02:57.480 align:middle line:84% I don't really care how you do it, as long as by Friday you 00:02:57.480 --> 00:02:59.750 align:middle line:90% know who your team is. 00:02:59.750 --> 00:03:00.540 align:middle line:90% And who's on your team. 00:03:00.540 --> 00:03:04.580 align:middle line:90% Team sizes are the same. 00:03:04.580 --> 00:03:07.330 align:middle line:90% So, any questions? 00:03:07.330 --> 00:03:09.440 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Are we allowed to simulate things that aren't 00:03:09.440 --> 00:03:10.730 align:middle line:90% from this era? 00:03:10.730 --> 00:03:12.820 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, like normal history? 00:03:12.820 --> 00:03:13.792 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah. 00:03:13.792 --> 00:03:16.070 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: OK, not from like the future. 00:03:16.070 --> 00:03:17.320 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:03:17.320 --> 00:03:19.310 align:middle line:90% 00:03:19.310 --> 00:03:20.450 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah, I'm serious. 00:03:20.450 --> 00:03:23.300 align:middle line:84% This is how I think [INAUDIBLE]. 00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:26.590 align:middle line:84% OK, yes, absolutely there are no historical stuff-- 00:03:26.590 --> 00:03:29.170 align:middle line:90% 00:03:29.170 --> 00:03:31.240 align:middle line:84% but you do have some liberties. 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:34.510 align:middle line:84% I'm not saying that your game has to be a faithful 00:03:34.510 --> 00:03:34.815 align:middle line:90% simulation. 00:03:34.815 --> 00:03:37.630 align:middle line:84% You can even build your model simulation [INAUDIBLE]. 00:03:37.630 --> 00:03:39.930 align:middle line:84% But it doesn't have to be a faithful simulation, that's 00:03:39.930 --> 00:03:41.110 align:middle line:90% certainly a poor design. 00:03:41.110 --> 00:03:44.210 align:middle line:84% But, you know, in a sense you're trying to capture the 00:03:44.210 --> 00:03:47.200 align:middle line:90% spirit of it. 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:49.880 align:middle line:84% If the point is, I'm running a nuclear reactor. 00:03:49.880 --> 00:03:52.123 align:middle line:84% And you can sort of capture the, oh my God, it's so 00:03:52.123 --> 00:03:55.954 align:middle line:84% dangerous , or the, oh my God, it's so boring aspect of it. 00:03:55.954 --> 00:03:58.060 align:middle line:84% Have you actually put the nuclear reactor-- 00:03:58.060 --> 00:04:00.000 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE:: Well, like, what's there. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.230 align:middle line:84% And I know the mechanics of it, I think, were there. 00:04:03.230 --> 00:04:05.620 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I have been told it's not necessarily the most 00:04:05.620 --> 00:04:06.350 align:middle line:90% exciting job in the world. 00:04:06.350 --> 00:04:08.750 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: No, you just sit there and do your homework. 00:04:08.750 --> 00:04:11.835 align:middle line:84% And every once in a while you look up. 00:04:11.835 --> 00:04:14.510 align:middle line:90% Very reasonable. 00:04:14.510 --> 00:04:16.010 align:middle line:90% And you get paid for it. 00:04:16.010 --> 00:04:17.985 align:middle line:90% Like $12 or $13 an hour. 00:04:17.985 --> 00:04:21.364 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So if your whole idea of the game is let's try 00:04:21.364 --> 00:04:24.940 align:middle line:84% to get as much homework done without letting [INAUDIBLE]. 00:04:24.940 --> 00:04:27.700 align:middle line:84% That might be more entertaining than just looking 00:04:27.700 --> 00:04:28.950 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE]. 00:04:28.950 --> 00:04:32.820 align:middle line:90% 00:04:32.820 --> 00:04:35.725 align:middle line:90% But I got my problems in then. 00:04:35.725 --> 00:04:37.630 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 00:04:37.630 --> 00:04:38.880 align:middle line:90% You have to do [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 00:04:38.880 --> 00:04:42.220 align:middle line:90% 00:04:42.220 --> 00:04:43.470 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:04:43.470 --> 00:04:52.542 align:middle line:90% 00:04:52.542 --> 00:04:54.880 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: And besides, I think we still have a time 00:04:54.880 --> 00:04:56.950 align:middle line:90% limit, like half an hour. 00:04:56.950 --> 00:04:58.390 align:middle line:90% It's not [INAUDIBLE] 00:04:58.390 --> 00:05:01.550 align:middle line:84% homework, it's really easy homework. 00:05:01.550 --> 00:05:04.050 align:middle line:90% Really not homework. 00:05:04.050 --> 00:05:08.300 align:middle line:84% Let's see, just a reminder for everyone who has been falling 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:10.270 align:middle line:84% off on the foreign posts, please make sure that you keep 00:05:10.270 --> 00:05:10.980 align:middle line:90% up on your foreign posts. 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:15.030 align:middle line:84% Those things actually do affect your grade. 00:05:15.030 --> 00:05:15.570 align:middle line:90% [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 00:05:15.570 --> 00:05:18.760 align:middle line:90% one person, not one team. 00:05:18.760 --> 00:05:21.610 align:middle line:90% If you have any-- 00:05:21.610 --> 00:05:24.910 align:middle line:84% since we're in between reading assignments right now, you can 00:05:24.910 --> 00:05:25.770 align:middle line:90% write about the assignment. 00:05:25.770 --> 00:05:28.900 align:middle line:84% But if you wrote up something, let's say a reflection on how 00:05:28.900 --> 00:05:31.680 align:middle line:84% the class assignment went, that's fine. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:34.052 align:middle line:84% We're not expecting more than one foreign post a week. 00:05:34.052 --> 00:05:36.010 align:middle line:84% Of course, feel free to comment on other people's 00:05:36.010 --> 00:05:38.520 align:middle line:90% foreign posts as well. 00:05:38.520 --> 00:05:40.890 align:middle line:84% If a discussion or a point has been raised that's kind of 00:05:40.890 --> 00:05:43.420 align:middle line:84% interesting, you want to kind of develop on that. 00:05:43.420 --> 00:05:44.870 align:middle line:90% Put some thought into it. 00:05:44.870 --> 00:05:46.715 align:middle line:84% Write something interesting you're going to keep on the 00:05:46.715 --> 00:05:49.720 align:middle line:90% compilation, that counts too. 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:50.985 align:middle line:90% And that's fine. 00:05:50.985 --> 00:05:54.130 align:middle line:90% 00:05:54.130 --> 00:05:55.490 align:middle line:90% OK, so puzzles. 00:05:55.490 --> 00:05:59.090 align:middle line:90% 00:05:59.090 --> 00:06:03.600 align:middle line:84% So Brenda's, before we start with Brenda's, let's start 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:04.990 align:middle line:90% with Scott's. 00:06:04.990 --> 00:06:08.520 align:middle line:84% What were some of the definitions, or some of the 00:06:08.520 --> 00:06:12.310 align:middle line:84% things that Scott's game was mentioning, that were good for 00:06:12.310 --> 00:06:16.810 align:middle line:90% puzzle design 00:06:16.810 --> 00:06:19.810 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The book or not in the book? 00:06:19.810 --> 00:06:24.310 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: This was on the web page. 00:06:24.310 --> 00:06:24.805 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:06:24.805 --> 00:06:29.130 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: --and had the right answer. 00:06:29.130 --> 00:06:30.380 align:middle line:90% [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 00:06:30.380 --> 00:06:32.292 align:middle line:90% 00:06:32.292 --> 00:06:37.550 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: He didn't really differentiate between puzzles 00:06:37.550 --> 00:06:42.226 align:middle line:84% that could be generated like a pseudo-GUI or something, where 00:06:42.226 --> 00:06:44.760 align:middle line:84% you kind of have an algorithm that lets you 00:06:44.760 --> 00:06:46.970 align:middle line:90% create multiple puzzles. 00:06:46.970 --> 00:06:51.180 align:middle line:84% But as long as that particular iteration had one answer. 00:06:51.180 --> 00:06:53.530 align:middle line:90% So that was really there. 00:06:53.530 --> 00:06:55.250 align:middle line:90% Anything else you remember? 00:06:55.250 --> 00:06:56.792 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Tactical difficulty. 00:06:56.792 --> 00:07:01.555 align:middle line:84% Make it accessible but not super easy. 00:07:01.555 --> 00:07:03.835 align:middle line:84% I think targeting a specific audience. 00:07:03.835 --> 00:07:08.180 align:middle line:84% It was also the ability to change difficulty, it was 00:07:08.180 --> 00:07:11.050 align:middle line:90% dynamic difficulty. 00:07:11.050 --> 00:07:16.650 align:middle line:84% So some areas may actually be easier settings, and then 00:07:16.650 --> 00:07:18.850 align:middle line:84% actually what they want to be is harder settings. 00:07:18.850 --> 00:07:20.240 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I think that was Brenda's. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:22.420 align:middle line:90% But, yeah, am I wrong? 00:07:22.420 --> 00:07:25.898 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There's also the distinction between types of 00:07:25.898 --> 00:07:26.370 align:middle line:90% difficulty. 00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:29.400 align:middle line:84% Things where, you know, the letter puzzle you had at the 00:07:29.400 --> 00:07:32.765 align:middle line:84% beginning where it requires thinking about 00:07:32.765 --> 00:07:35.960 align:middle line:90% it, figuring it out. 00:07:35.960 --> 00:07:37.600 align:middle line:84% It was patients versus something else. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:39.365 align:middle line:84% I can't remember what the editor used. 00:07:39.365 --> 00:07:41.610 align:middle line:84% But then you have things like mazes and locations where you 00:07:41.610 --> 00:07:45.610 align:middle line:84% have to be very careful, and separate your way through. 00:07:45.610 --> 00:07:49.500 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: And sometimes they bring in information from 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:49.990 align:middle line:90% other domains. 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:52.770 align:middle line:84% From outside the puzzle, it's not just like all the 00:07:52.770 --> 00:07:57.320 align:middle line:84% information that you currently need in the puzzle. 00:07:57.320 --> 00:07:59.340 align:middle line:84% But the interesting thing about the puzzle that he 00:07:59.340 --> 00:08:03.050 align:middle line:84% particularly shows, is that he shows a range of different 00:08:03.050 --> 00:08:04.530 align:middle line:90% ways to actually solve it. 00:08:04.530 --> 00:08:06.720 align:middle line:84% None of which are actually satisfying except for the 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:07.680 align:middle line:90% final answer. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:10.515 align:middle line:84% Which irritated me, I'm telling you. 00:08:10.515 --> 00:08:13.100 align:middle line:84% I'm not giving you another puzzle. 00:08:13.100 --> 00:08:15.440 align:middle line:90% [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 00:08:15.440 --> 00:08:19.060 align:middle line:84% But it's kind of interesting to think about, actually, what 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:21.420 align:middle line:84% audience it's for those kinds of specific puzzles. 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:23.500 align:middle line:84% I mean, there are magazines out of there like Games 00:08:23.500 --> 00:08:27.670 align:middle line:84% magazine in particular, but sometimes you see stuff 00:08:27.670 --> 00:08:31.150 align:middle line:84% nestled into magazines that are not just about games. 00:08:31.150 --> 00:08:34.177 align:middle line:84% You see stuff like crossword puzzles in newspapers and 00:08:34.177 --> 00:08:34.880 align:middle line:90% things like that. 00:08:34.880 --> 00:08:41.260 align:middle line:84% And now things like Sudoku and all that are way more popular 00:08:41.260 --> 00:08:43.510 align:middle line:84% that are meant to be really in mass audience. 00:08:43.510 --> 00:08:46.230 align:middle line:84% Whereas a magazine that is specifically targeted at 00:08:46.230 --> 00:08:48.380 align:middle line:84% puzzle enthusiasts can be super hardcore. 00:08:48.380 --> 00:08:51.270 align:middle line:84% With puzzles through the whole magazine then you can have a 00:08:51.270 --> 00:08:54.480 align:middle line:84% whole range of different difficulties in there. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:56.744 align:middle line:84% The assumption that you can solve something not so hard. 00:08:56.744 --> 00:09:02.050 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I'm kind of interested, does anybody know 00:09:02.050 --> 00:09:06.000 align:middle line:84% how people in newspapers generate crossword puzzles and 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:06.940 align:middle line:90% Sudoku puzzles? 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:11.110 align:middle line:84% Does anybody know what the actual process behind that is? 00:09:11.110 --> 00:09:13.530 align:middle line:84% I mean, I can imagine how you might do it. 00:09:13.530 --> 00:09:15.730 align:middle line:84% You might start with the filled out thing and then 00:09:15.730 --> 00:09:17.815 align:middle line:84% remove bits to get your Sudoku. 00:09:17.815 --> 00:09:21.990 align:middle line:84% Or you might brute force, dictionary search to come up 00:09:21.990 --> 00:09:23.950 align:middle line:84% with words which fit together in order to form a crossword. 00:09:23.950 --> 00:09:26.820 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: What they do with Sudoku now is, they have some 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:27.830 align:middle line:90% computer algorithm-- 00:09:27.830 --> 00:09:29.940 align:middle line:84% and it has scales of difficulty-- 00:09:29.940 --> 00:09:37.775 align:middle line:84% and it generates a random Sudoku puzzle from your input. 00:09:37.775 --> 00:09:39.790 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Sudoku is solved enough that you can actually 00:09:39.790 --> 00:09:42.660 align:middle line:84% just algorithmically generate [INAUDIBLE]. 00:09:42.660 --> 00:09:46.360 align:middle line:84% An actual numerical difficulty. 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:51.990 align:middle line:84% You scale it from 1 to 10, 10 being where where there's like 00:09:51.990 --> 00:09:53.650 align:middle line:84% literally only one step to take in each point. 00:09:53.650 --> 00:09:58.720 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The one that took them three months to solve. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:02.190 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: But like crosswords, there's people who actually 00:10:02.190 --> 00:10:04.242 align:middle line:84% just get paid to sit down and generate those. 00:10:04.242 --> 00:10:07.190 align:middle line:90% 00:10:07.190 --> 00:10:10.360 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I know that Premiere takes submissions from other 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:13.580 align:middle line:84% people and they're edited by [INAUDIBLE]. 00:10:13.580 --> 00:10:15.484 align:middle line:84% And then people submit that and he kind of 00:10:15.484 --> 00:10:18.010 align:middle line:90% like steps it up. 00:10:18.010 --> 00:10:19.660 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: So he kind of 00:10:19.660 --> 00:10:22.710 align:middle line:90% crowdsources crossword puzzles. 00:10:22.710 --> 00:10:25.070 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:10:25.070 --> 00:10:29.890 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: But the difficulty in a crossword puzzles isn't 00:10:29.890 --> 00:10:34.170 align:middle line:84% just in the geometrically how the words go. 00:10:34.170 --> 00:10:37.200 align:middle line:84% The specific clues that they give you can be more or less 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:38.440 align:middle line:90% obfuscated in some ways. 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:40.280 align:middle line:84% And New York Times, in particular, is super 00:10:40.280 --> 00:10:41.670 align:middle line:90% irritating with this. 00:10:41.670 --> 00:10:45.760 align:middle line:84% They'll give you two words with no grammatical context 00:10:45.760 --> 00:10:47.588 align:middle line:84% about how they're supposed to fit in. 00:10:47.588 --> 00:10:50.330 align:middle line:90% 00:10:50.330 --> 00:10:55.640 align:middle line:84% So you can actually compare it to see how they're difficulty 00:10:55.640 --> 00:10:57.230 align:middle line:84% scaling just by looking at the clues. 00:10:57.230 --> 00:10:59.044 align:middle line:84% Not even looking at the puzzle itself. 00:10:59.044 --> 00:11:02.800 align:middle line:84% And I thought the other thing about crosswords is, just to 00:11:02.800 --> 00:11:05.420 align:middle line:84% bring up a point that we talked about in the earlier 00:11:05.420 --> 00:11:08.770 align:middle line:84% class, the crosswords, [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 00:11:08.770 --> 00:11:11.080 align:middle line:84% that these are dependent upon the redundancy 00:11:11.080 --> 00:11:13.020 align:middle line:90% of the English language. 00:11:13.020 --> 00:11:17.170 align:middle line:84% You don't see every single letter of a word in order to 00:11:17.170 --> 00:11:18.330 align:middle line:90% figure out what the word is. 00:11:18.330 --> 00:11:20.250 align:middle line:84% So that if it's a word that you couldn't otherwise have 00:11:20.250 --> 00:11:23.265 align:middle line:84% gotten from a clue, you can still get just by seeing the 00:11:23.265 --> 00:11:23.880 align:middle line:90% letters that are available. 00:11:23.880 --> 00:11:26.660 align:middle line:84% Because the English language is kind of about [INAUDIBLE], 00:11:26.660 --> 00:11:28.220 align:middle line:90% redundant information. 00:11:28.220 --> 00:11:31.620 align:middle line:84% If you dropped every single vowel in a sentence, you could 00:11:31.620 --> 00:11:34.522 align:middle line:84% probably still make out what that sentence is. 00:11:34.522 --> 00:11:37.736 align:middle line:84% And you don't necessarily get that with Chinese. 00:11:37.736 --> 00:11:40.630 align:middle line:90% 00:11:40.630 --> 00:11:43.365 align:middle line:84% How many folks here have, [INAUDIBLE]. 00:11:43.365 --> 00:11:45.470 align:middle line:84% There are probably other languages here where like 00:11:45.470 --> 00:11:48.635 align:middle line:84% every single character means a word or something like that. 00:11:48.635 --> 00:11:51.116 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Hebrew has no vowels, right? 00:11:51.116 --> 00:11:55.070 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Well, they do up until third grade and we start 00:11:55.070 --> 00:11:56.140 align:middle line:90% dropping them after that. 00:11:56.140 --> 00:11:58.790 align:middle line:84% So it's basically, because it is understandable without 00:11:58.790 --> 00:12:01.300 align:middle line:84% vowels, you eventually just stop using them. 00:12:01.300 --> 00:12:02.970 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So that's interesting. 00:12:02.970 --> 00:12:06.300 align:middle line:84% If you had a crossword in Hebrew, where you were 00:12:06.300 --> 00:12:08.530 align:middle line:84% expected to write in the words with vowels, you probably 00:12:08.530 --> 00:12:14.433 align:middle line:84% could actually do one very similar to an English one. 00:12:14.433 --> 00:12:16.650 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's difficult because the vowels in Hebrew 00:12:16.650 --> 00:12:19.010 align:middle line:84% are attached to a letter, not a separate character. 00:12:19.010 --> 00:12:21.370 align:middle line:84% They're just down at the bottom of the lower letter. 00:12:21.370 --> 00:12:22.620 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:12:22.620 --> 00:12:27.880 align:middle line:90% 00:12:27.880 --> 00:12:31.110 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Another thing, in a crossword the letter can make 00:12:31.110 --> 00:12:32.757 align:middle line:90% a different sound in both. 00:12:32.757 --> 00:12:35.052 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:12:35.052 --> 00:12:38.250 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Because a "v" could be vo, or va, or 00:12:38.250 --> 00:12:39.710 align:middle line:90% ve, you don't know. 00:12:39.710 --> 00:12:40.940 align:middle line:90% You only know by context. 00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:41.940 align:middle line:90% [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 00:12:41.940 --> 00:12:43.940 align:middle line:90% like "c" could be sss or ca. 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:45.320 align:middle line:90% Like a hard or soft c. 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:47.576 align:middle line:90% Or "g" could be ga or ja. 00:12:47.576 --> 00:12:51.170 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: That is true, but although in English in 00:12:51.170 --> 00:12:56.110 align:middle line:84% particular the phonetic meaning, the way how a certain 00:12:56.110 --> 00:13:00.397 align:middle line:84% word is pronounced isn't necessarily essential for 00:13:00.397 --> 00:13:01.540 align:middle line:90% solving a crossword puzzle. 00:13:01.540 --> 00:13:03.520 align:middle line:84% Unless the clues happen to be phonetic clues. 00:13:03.520 --> 00:13:05.710 align:middle line:90% You know, sounds like a fish. 00:13:05.710 --> 00:13:09.060 align:middle line:90% 00:13:09.060 --> 00:13:12.700 align:middle line:84% So that may not come in so much to play when it comes to 00:13:12.700 --> 00:13:15.290 align:middle line:90% finishing a part of it. 00:13:15.290 --> 00:13:17.445 align:middle line:84% Jason, you had your hand up earlier about Sudoku. 00:13:17.445 --> 00:13:20.190 align:middle line:84% JASON: It was a comment about the algorithmic [INAUDIBLE]. 00:13:20.190 --> 00:13:23.773 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Also, one thing about algorithmic, about 00:13:23.773 --> 00:13:27.310 align:middle line:84% Sudoku difficulty, a lot of it comes from the selected 00:13:27.310 --> 00:13:27.875 align:middle line:90% removal of numbers. 00:13:27.875 --> 00:13:31.770 align:middle line:84% There's not what is the final pattern going to look like 00:13:31.770 --> 00:13:33.520 align:middle line:84% that's actually the difficulty. 00:13:33.520 --> 00:13:36.660 align:middle line:84% It's how do we remove the numbers in a way that gives 00:13:36.660 --> 00:13:41.900 align:middle line:84% multiple possible answers or multiple possible dead ends, 00:13:41.900 --> 00:13:45.690 align:middle line:84% because really there's only one solution. 00:13:45.690 --> 00:13:47.420 align:middle line:84% I'm not actually familiar with the algorithm with 00:13:47.420 --> 00:13:48.200 align:middle line:90% which it does so. 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:49.880 align:middle line:84% But it seems to be very clear that there are at least two 00:13:49.880 --> 00:13:50.130 align:middle line:90% algorithms. 00:13:50.130 --> 00:13:54.910 align:middle line:84% One of which is very easy, which is just provide a 00:13:54.910 --> 00:13:57.080 align:middle line:90% legitimate Sudoku solution. 00:13:57.080 --> 00:13:59.280 align:middle line:84% And then the one that is slightly harder is now which 00:13:59.280 --> 00:14:00.760 align:middle line:84% number is to be removed so that's it's still solvable. 00:14:00.760 --> 00:14:03.780 align:middle line:90% 00:14:03.780 --> 00:14:05.030 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR:: Have you all played Picross? 00:14:05.030 --> 00:14:08.040 align:middle line:90% 00:14:08.040 --> 00:14:10.685 align:middle line:84% Someone want to describe it for the folks who aren't 00:14:10.685 --> 00:14:12.625 align:middle line:90% familiar with it? 00:14:12.625 --> 00:14:17.475 align:middle line:84% We can use the white board if-- 00:14:17.475 --> 00:14:19.415 align:middle line:90% sure. 00:14:19.415 --> 00:14:23.650 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I think the green one works better. 00:14:23.650 --> 00:14:25.600 align:middle line:84% I remember green is better than black. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:28.405 align:middle line:84% NICK: I'm really only familiar with the [INAUDIBLE] 00:14:28.405 --> 00:14:30.345 align:middle line:90% 3D [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 00:14:30.345 --> 00:14:34.710 align:middle line:90% 00:14:34.710 --> 00:14:37.012 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE:: Sorry to put you on the spot Nick, as always. 00:14:37.012 --> 00:14:40.788 align:middle line:90% NICK: [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 00:14:40.788 --> 00:14:45.324 align:middle line:84% Here you'll have written poems. 00:14:45.324 --> 00:14:49.992 align:middle line:84% And then they all have something [INAUDIBLE]. 00:14:49.992 --> 00:14:51.560 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh, this. 00:14:51.560 --> 00:14:54.560 align:middle line:90% 00:14:54.560 --> 00:14:57.288 align:middle line:84% This one where you spell in the blocks. 00:14:57.288 --> 00:15:01.610 align:middle line:84% NICK: And then given bits of information, we have to work 00:15:01.610 --> 00:15:04.063 align:middle line:84% out which of these blocks is built and 00:15:04.063 --> 00:15:05.460 align:middle line:90% which can be removed. 00:15:05.460 --> 00:15:09.340 align:middle line:84% So the idea is the number tells you the number of blocks 00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:14.285 align:middle line:84% in that row or column which has a filled block in it. 00:15:14.285 --> 00:15:19.060 align:middle line:84% So in this case, nothing is in it's column. 00:15:19.060 --> 00:15:23.562 align:middle line:84% This column and that column have nothing in it. 00:15:23.562 --> 00:15:27.936 align:middle line:84% And this is probably not actually a very good example 00:15:27.936 --> 00:15:31.270 align:middle line:84% because I just pulled the numbers out of my head. 00:15:31.270 --> 00:15:35.410 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Then you have the sums are not the same. 00:15:35.410 --> 00:15:38.160 align:middle line:84% NICK: So it's not going to work, but you get the idea. 00:15:38.160 --> 00:15:40.800 align:middle line:84% And things can get more complicated, traditionally 00:15:40.800 --> 00:15:44.055 align:middle line:84% there's just, I think, three that are names. 00:15:44.055 --> 00:15:45.533 align:middle line:84% That's there a connected block of three. 00:15:45.533 --> 00:15:48.431 align:middle line:84% So, for instance, this, that, and that. 00:15:48.431 --> 00:15:49.710 align:middle line:84% And I thought it had to be broken. 00:15:49.710 --> 00:15:53.515 align:middle line:84% But if there's a three which, I think, is in a square or 00:15:53.515 --> 00:15:56.025 align:middle line:84% something along these lines, that means there are three in 00:15:56.025 --> 00:15:56.940 align:middle line:90% that column. 00:15:56.940 --> 00:15:59.480 align:middle line:84% But there's a gap in there somewhere. 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:03.360 align:middle line:84% And then if it's like a three inch circle or something else 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:03.820 align:middle line:90% complicated like that. 00:16:03.820 --> 00:16:05.650 align:middle line:84% Then that means that there are three but they all have gaps 00:16:05.650 --> 00:16:06.732 align:middle line:90% between them. 00:16:06.732 --> 00:16:09.335 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: But I've also seen versions where they have just 00:16:09.335 --> 00:16:10.760 align:middle line:90% a list of numbers. 00:16:10.760 --> 00:16:12.470 align:middle line:90% And those are the-- 00:16:12.470 --> 00:16:15.072 align:middle line:84% there are [INAUDIBLE] blocks of that length. 00:16:15.072 --> 00:16:19.000 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So if there's four in a column you might say two, 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:20.020 align:middle line:90% three, five. 00:16:20.020 --> 00:16:22.260 align:middle line:84% Which means there is a block of two, followed by a block of 00:16:22.260 --> 00:16:23.674 align:middle line:84% three, followed by a block of five. 00:16:23.674 --> 00:16:25.884 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: And they have to have a gap between them. 00:16:25.884 --> 00:16:27.390 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: And they will have to have a gap in between them. 00:16:27.390 --> 00:16:29.413 align:middle line:84% So it's not like you can actually get a block of eight 00:16:29.413 --> 00:16:29.965 align:middle line:90% in there somewhere. 00:16:29.965 --> 00:16:35.420 align:middle line:84% But the whole idea is that you've got this information 00:16:35.420 --> 00:16:37.021 align:middle line:90% that is actually redundant. 00:16:37.021 --> 00:16:39.598 align:middle line:84% You've got more information in there than you necessarily 00:16:39.598 --> 00:16:43.001 align:middle line:84% need to be able to figure out which box and the situation to 00:16:43.001 --> 00:16:43.604 align:middle line:90% be filled in. 00:16:43.604 --> 00:16:45.185 align:middle line:90% Whether this should be empty. 00:16:45.185 --> 00:16:48.635 align:middle line:84% But it's presented to you in this obfuscated way. 00:16:48.635 --> 00:16:52.630 align:middle line:84% The evidence, the clues that are given to you in a way that 00:16:52.630 --> 00:16:55.750 align:middle line:84% requires you to perform these algorithms in order to figure 00:16:55.750 --> 00:16:56.840 align:middle line:84% out which ones should be changed. 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:58.380 align:middle line:90% And usually that's an algorithm 00:16:58.380 --> 00:17:00.070 align:middle line:90% you can use to solve. 00:17:00.070 --> 00:17:03.960 align:middle line:84% Although, I think Kim was the one that was talking about 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:05.210 align:middle line:90% pattern matching. 00:17:05.210 --> 00:17:07.470 align:middle line:90% 00:17:07.470 --> 00:17:11.434 align:middle line:84% But eventually as you get good at these things, you start to 00:17:11.434 --> 00:17:13.505 align:middle line:84% recognize patterns right of the bat. 00:17:13.505 --> 00:17:14.270 align:middle line:90% Like, that's a zero. 00:17:14.270 --> 00:17:16.800 align:middle line:90% So that entire row is empty. 00:17:16.800 --> 00:17:19.612 align:middle line:84% That's the sort of thing that I do that becomes 00:17:19.612 --> 00:17:20.862 align:middle line:90% automatic for you. 00:17:20.862 --> 00:17:25.645 align:middle line:90% 00:17:25.645 --> 00:17:28.210 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: So, let's see. 00:17:28.210 --> 00:17:31.490 align:middle line:84% I don't have much left more to talk about Scott [INAUDIBLE]. 00:17:31.490 --> 00:17:36.884 align:middle line:84% Now these are, these are more generated stuff. 00:17:36.884 --> 00:17:39.880 align:middle line:90% [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:46.750 align:middle line:84% So this basically is along the lines of what Scott [? Pim ?] 00:17:46.750 --> 00:17:48.040 align:middle line:90% is talking about. 00:17:48.040 --> 00:17:50.613 align:middle line:84% But obviously this is more physical not the pen and paper 00:17:50.613 --> 00:17:51.084 align:middle line:90% kind of thing. 00:17:51.084 --> 00:17:52.968 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Will you print up a copy? 00:17:52.968 --> 00:17:54.852 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Oh, you want the copy? 00:17:54.852 --> 00:17:58.080 align:middle line:84% No, because I just want you to look at this. 00:17:58.080 --> 00:18:00.336 align:middle line:84% Look at this first, don't look at that. 00:18:00.336 --> 00:18:02.135 align:middle line:90% Don't look at that. 00:18:02.135 --> 00:18:06.390 align:middle line:84% So the basic idea is, let me just start with one, you get a 00:18:06.390 --> 00:18:10.455 align:middle line:84% card that is actually a puzzle. 00:18:10.455 --> 00:18:13.245 align:middle line:84% I wish we were doing these outside now, because we're 00:18:13.245 --> 00:18:15.240 align:middle line:90% going to zoom this out. 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:17.670 align:middle line:84% But the puzzle basically just tells you how you are supposed 00:18:17.670 --> 00:18:19.620 align:middle line:84% to set up your board initially. 00:18:19.620 --> 00:18:24.010 align:middle line:84% So, there's a-- oops wrong [INAUDIBLE]. 00:18:24.010 --> 00:18:25.490 align:middle line:90% There's a green guy there. 00:18:25.490 --> 00:18:26.960 align:middle line:90% There's a green guy there. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:29.690 align:middle line:84% This is supposed to be an easy puzzle, I hope it is. 00:18:29.690 --> 00:18:32.028 align:middle line:84% Because I'm getting bad at this. 00:18:32.028 --> 00:18:35.352 align:middle line:90% Red guy go to [INAUDIBLE] 00:18:35.352 --> 00:18:36.530 align:middle line:90% I think. 00:18:36.530 --> 00:18:39.000 align:middle line:90% Yeah, and that's the puzzle. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:41.850 align:middle line:84% And there's one little square on it, and 00:18:41.850 --> 00:18:43.130 align:middle line:90% that you have to check. 00:18:43.130 --> 00:18:48.340 align:middle line:90% 00:18:48.340 --> 00:18:53.700 align:middle line:84% So the basic idea is you tip over the pieces so 00:18:53.700 --> 00:18:55.740 align:middle line:90% that the guy moves. 00:18:55.740 --> 00:18:58.160 align:middle line:84% And you don't want to be tipping over the pieces in a 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:03.180 align:middle line:84% way where the white guy can't move anymore. 00:19:03.180 --> 00:19:06.540 align:middle line:90% 00:19:06.540 --> 00:19:09.670 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, so you're tipping over things to make a 00:19:09.670 --> 00:19:10.980 align:middle line:84% path that he can walk along, right. 00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:12.830 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: If I make a closed loop, he has 00:19:12.830 --> 00:19:13.480 align:middle line:90% to touch every piece? 00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:15.520 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I think he just has to get to this one. 00:19:15.520 --> 00:19:16.860 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, you have to get to the red one. 00:19:16.860 --> 00:19:19.590 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: There's a plus mark. 00:19:19.590 --> 00:19:20.840 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:19:20.840 --> 00:19:22.525 align:middle line:90% 00:19:22.525 --> 00:19:25.220 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I'm not exactly sure how to solve this one. 00:19:25.220 --> 00:19:28.370 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yellow that way, green, yellow that way. 00:19:28.370 --> 00:19:32.032 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Wait, you're allowed to tip him over? 00:19:32.032 --> 00:19:33.330 align:middle line:90% How do you die? 00:19:33.330 --> 00:19:36.570 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: My understanding is that he needs to fall onto 00:19:36.570 --> 00:19:38.370 align:middle line:90% another piece, actually. 00:19:38.370 --> 00:19:40.905 align:middle line:84% So let me just confirm I set this up right, actually. 00:19:40.905 --> 00:19:41.690 align:middle line:90% Yeah, I did. 00:19:41.690 --> 00:19:43.680 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: No, so you push the yellow that way. 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:44.780 align:middle line:90% And then the green that way. 00:19:44.780 --> 00:19:45.760 align:middle line:90% And the other green that way. 00:19:45.760 --> 00:19:47.680 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So put the yellow ones first? 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:49.140 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So do the green ones first. 00:19:49.140 --> 00:19:49.970 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, I don't actually have the 00:19:49.970 --> 00:19:52.218 align:middle line:90% rules for the guy. 00:19:52.218 --> 00:19:53.468 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:19:53.468 --> 00:19:56.412 align:middle line:90% 00:19:56.412 --> 00:19:58.230 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: How does he fall? 00:19:58.230 --> 00:19:59.480 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:01.590 align:middle line:90% 00:20:01.590 --> 00:20:06.160 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: He's actually allowed to move on anything 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:08.340 align:middle line:90% that's contiguously connected. 00:20:08.340 --> 00:20:12.770 align:middle line:84% So, as long as you can continuously connect up to 00:20:12.770 --> 00:20:14.160 align:middle line:90% this, you're fine. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:15.940 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:18.310 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: 10: So tip that first green. 00:20:18.310 --> 00:20:19.560 align:middle line:90% No, other one. 00:20:19.560 --> 00:20:22.380 align:middle line:90% 00:20:22.380 --> 00:20:25.555 align:middle line:84% And then form a path, right now, if you tip that. 00:20:25.555 --> 00:20:27.836 align:middle line:90% Oh, there's a hole. 00:20:27.836 --> 00:20:30.110 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: 11: Are you sure tip them over means more brown 00:20:30.110 --> 00:20:31.065 align:middle line:90% spot and not-- 00:20:31.065 --> 00:20:32.920 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: 12: Well, if doesn't then you can't reach 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:33.620 align:middle line:90% the red after it. 00:20:33.620 --> 00:20:36.220 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, I am absolutely sure it means that 00:20:36.220 --> 00:20:38.770 align:middle line:84% you're supposed to tip it over in a way that-- 00:20:38.770 --> 00:20:41.440 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:43.530 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: 13: Tip the yellow one first. 00:20:43.530 --> 00:20:45.520 align:middle line:84% Then move the guy out to the green. 00:20:45.520 --> 00:20:47.420 align:middle line:90% Then tip over the green. 00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:48.670 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:20:48.670 --> 00:20:55.610 align:middle line:90% 00:20:55.610 --> 00:20:58.257 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: That is why it's supposed to begin a 00:20:58.257 --> 00:21:00.045 align:middle line:90% [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 00:21:00.045 --> 00:21:01.503 align:middle line:90% You can actually do it. 00:21:01.503 --> 00:21:03.800 align:middle line:84% This is why this is puzzle one. 00:21:03.800 --> 00:21:06.270 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: 14: You can even fall on top of anything? 00:21:06.270 --> 00:21:08.490 align:middle line:90% That's bizarre. 00:21:08.490 --> 00:21:09.740 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:21:09.740 --> 00:21:18.225 align:middle line:90% 00:21:18.225 --> 00:21:20.750 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: But, you know, this is not entirely unlike the 00:21:20.750 --> 00:21:22.020 align:middle line:84% kind of puzzle that Scott does. 00:21:22.020 --> 00:21:26.860 align:middle line:84% I mean, sure, this is one particular piece of plastic 00:21:26.860 --> 00:21:29.570 align:middle line:84% that the game is designed to work with. 00:21:29.570 --> 00:21:31.735 align:middle line:84% But basically it's just like a book, right? 00:21:31.735 --> 00:21:35.120 align:middle line:90% It's like a book of puzzles. 00:21:35.120 --> 00:21:39.095 align:middle line:84% So there are also solutions in here, but I find the solutions 00:21:39.095 --> 00:21:41.873 align:middle line:90% harder to read. 00:21:41.873 --> 00:21:43.040 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: The [UNINTELLIGIBLE] 00:21:43.040 --> 00:21:44.825 align:middle line:90% was in the book. 00:21:44.825 --> 00:21:45.800 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: It was in Brenda's book? 00:21:45.800 --> 00:21:46.320 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah. 00:21:46.320 --> 00:21:50.700 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So, actually, that's probably a good excuse 00:21:50.700 --> 00:21:53.380 align:middle line:90% to switch over to Brenda's. 00:21:53.380 --> 00:21:55.102 align:middle line:84% Well, actually, before that I want to take 00:21:55.102 --> 00:21:57.706 align:middle line:90% a look at the tangrams. 00:21:57.706 --> 00:21:58.956 align:middle line:90% Everyone play the tangrams? 00:21:58.956 --> 00:22:02.100 align:middle line:90% 00:22:02.100 --> 00:22:04.808 align:middle line:84% So, the basic idea is you've got these shapes. 00:22:04.808 --> 00:22:08.055 align:middle line:84% Does this one get in, like this? 00:22:08.055 --> 00:22:13.980 align:middle line:84% You've got these shapes, and if you assemble them right as 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:16.950 align:middle line:84% is usually described on the side of the box somewhere. 00:22:16.950 --> 00:22:18.420 align:middle line:90% Where the heck? 00:22:18.420 --> 00:22:20.380 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: It's on the inside. 00:22:20.380 --> 00:22:24.040 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I've got a big picture on the side. 00:22:24.040 --> 00:22:28.430 align:middle line:84% Is that you can actually fit all of these shapes inside 00:22:28.430 --> 00:22:29.530 align:middle line:90% that square. 00:22:29.530 --> 00:22:33.472 align:middle line:84% So these are basically just a square that's been divided in 00:22:33.472 --> 00:22:36.530 align:middle line:90% a specific way. 00:22:36.530 --> 00:22:41.820 align:middle line:84% So once I've got this assembled everyone can just 00:22:41.820 --> 00:22:43.142 align:middle line:90% pass this around. 00:22:43.142 --> 00:22:47.370 align:middle line:84% Anyone who has already seen it can pass it on. 00:22:47.370 --> 00:22:51.080 align:middle line:84% That one doesn't fit very well, but it works. 00:22:51.080 --> 00:22:52.480 align:middle line:90% Hey, that's, ta da. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.110 align:middle line:90% OK, so this is the basic side. 00:22:55.110 --> 00:22:58.690 align:middle line:90% 00:22:58.690 --> 00:23:02.410 align:middle line:84% Now this is how it's been sold, at least, is that this 00:23:02.410 --> 00:23:03.730 align:middle line:90% is actually a calendar. 00:23:03.730 --> 00:23:08.260 align:middle line:84% So every day you get a different shape. 00:23:08.260 --> 00:23:10.200 align:middle line:90% It's a cute little thing. 00:23:10.200 --> 00:23:12.780 align:middle line:84% It's a pretty rudimentary geometrical shape. 00:23:12.780 --> 00:23:15.035 align:middle line:84% Some of them have, I think this is supposed to be a 00:23:15.035 --> 00:23:16.340 align:middle line:90% sphynx or something. 00:23:16.340 --> 00:23:20.164 align:middle line:90% It looks like a frog. 00:23:20.164 --> 00:23:22.108 align:middle line:84% This looks like a Pac Man thing. 00:23:22.108 --> 00:23:30.460 align:middle line:90% 00:23:30.460 --> 00:23:35.455 align:middle line:84% So the idea is that you rearrange those particular 00:23:35.455 --> 00:23:37.780 align:middle line:84% shapes into all of these different shapes. 00:23:37.780 --> 00:23:44.260 align:middle line:84% And you could play the game without getting these puzzle 00:23:44.260 --> 00:23:44.970 align:middle line:90% solutions, right? 00:23:44.970 --> 00:23:48.770 align:middle line:84% And it talks a lot about, if you've got a toy that's worth 00:23:48.770 --> 00:23:51.408 align:middle line:84% playing with, you've got the beginning of something that 00:23:51.408 --> 00:23:52.650 align:middle line:90% might make a good game. 00:23:52.650 --> 00:23:52.818 align:middle line:84% The nice thing about tipover is that it's kind of fun to 00:23:52.818 --> 00:23:54.068 align:middle line:90% tip over things. 00:23:54.068 --> 00:23:56.850 align:middle line:90% 00:23:56.850 --> 00:23:59.435 align:middle line:84% And the thing about tangrams is that I actually had more 00:23:59.435 --> 00:24:01.260 align:middle line:84% fun playing with tangrams than trying to solve specific 00:24:01.260 --> 00:24:03.440 align:middle line:84% problems just by just trying to rearrange these. 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:06.210 align:middle line:90% Who hasn't seen these before? 00:24:06.210 --> 00:24:08.750 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:24:08.750 --> 00:24:09.580 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Kind of embarrassing. 00:24:09.580 --> 00:24:13.420 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You should be ashamed of yourself. 00:24:13.420 --> 00:24:15.936 align:middle line:84% And all the work that you did is gone. 00:24:15.936 --> 00:24:19.212 align:middle line:90% 00:24:19.212 --> 00:24:22.600 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: But the thing is, as a toy it doesn't really 00:24:22.600 --> 00:24:23.140 align:middle line:90% matter, right? 00:24:23.140 --> 00:24:27.940 align:middle line:84% Because it's just a certain piece of anything. 00:24:27.940 --> 00:24:30.785 align:middle line:84% And you kind of want to take it apart and make new shapes 00:24:30.785 --> 00:24:34.860 align:middle line:90% with it, like a little house. 00:24:34.860 --> 00:24:38.260 align:middle line:84% So if you've got something that's kind of fun to fiddle 00:24:38.260 --> 00:24:41.960 align:middle line:84% with to begin with, you've got possibly the beginning of a 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:43.552 align:middle line:90% game in general. 00:24:43.552 --> 00:24:47.120 align:middle line:84% But the way how Scott was talking about it, there's this 00:24:47.120 --> 00:24:49.490 align:middle line:84% intermediate step where it's a puzzle. 00:24:49.490 --> 00:24:51.940 align:middle line:84% It's a toy with a specific solution that you're 00:24:51.940 --> 00:24:52.820 align:middle line:90% trying to get to. 00:24:52.820 --> 00:24:56.330 align:middle line:84% And a game is kind of one step beyond that where now there is 00:24:56.330 --> 00:24:59.010 align:middle line:84% multiple solutions and competitive. 00:24:59.010 --> 00:25:01.420 align:middle line:84% At least, that's how he's describing it. 00:25:01.420 --> 00:25:02.866 align:middle line:84% He's not really a game theorist. 00:25:02.866 --> 00:25:03.830 align:middle line:90% He just works with puzzles. 00:25:03.830 --> 00:25:07.070 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: He talks about it in terms of a goal, right? 00:25:07.070 --> 00:25:08.910 align:middle line:84% So then with a toy that you don't have a goal with them. 00:25:08.910 --> 00:25:11.910 align:middle line:84% With a puzzle, you have one goal with no interaction. 00:25:11.910 --> 00:25:14.330 align:middle line:84% And then a game is with interaction. 00:25:14.330 --> 00:25:17.120 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: And possibly multiple goals as well. 00:25:17.120 --> 00:25:20.190 align:middle line:84% But again it becomes more and more directed as toys 00:25:20.190 --> 00:25:22.310 align:middle line:90% are very free form. 00:25:22.310 --> 00:25:25.680 align:middle line:84% So there are people who describe games, like the Sims 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:27.490 align:middle line:84% for instance, as actually toys. 00:25:27.490 --> 00:25:30.300 align:middle line:84% In the same way that you describe a doll house as a 00:25:30.300 --> 00:25:33.760 align:middle line:84% toy, they're saying it's kind of like a digital doll house. 00:25:33.760 --> 00:25:37.010 align:middle line:84% But later versions of the Sims added more and 00:25:37.010 --> 00:25:37.980 align:middle line:90% more specific goals. 00:25:37.980 --> 00:25:41.090 align:middle line:84% Like now you have to throw a party with at least five 00:25:41.090 --> 00:25:42.490 align:middle line:90% people in it. 00:25:42.490 --> 00:25:46.440 align:middle line:84% Or you have to attain career level five or 00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:47.468 align:middle line:90% something like that. 00:25:47.468 --> 00:25:50.744 align:middle line:84% I can't remember exactly how they measured it. 00:25:50.744 --> 00:25:53.170 align:middle line:90% But that kind of has a goal. 00:25:53.170 --> 00:25:55.585 align:middle line:84% We are going to give more and more specific things for you 00:25:55.585 --> 00:25:56.420 align:middle line:90% to work towards. 00:25:56.420 --> 00:26:00.320 align:middle line:84% But the Sims is very careful not to lose it's toy sense. 00:26:00.320 --> 00:26:01.760 align:middle line:90% This adds up. 00:26:01.760 --> 00:26:04.983 align:middle line:84% If you really want to just dick around with these guys, 00:26:04.983 --> 00:26:06.530 align:middle line:90% go right ahead. 00:26:06.530 --> 00:26:11.540 align:middle line:84% Just play around with them and see what happens. 00:26:11.540 --> 00:26:15.280 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Why is there a distinction for physical 00:26:15.280 --> 00:26:17.830 align:middle line:84% objects between toys and games, but for like video 00:26:17.830 --> 00:26:21.700 align:middle line:84% games-- like Mindcraft it is technically still a game but-- 00:26:21.700 --> 00:26:23.880 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: It kind of has different modes. 00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:24.330 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:26:24.330 --> 00:26:26.400 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I guess it has different modes, but it's more 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:26.890 align:middle line:90% of a toy, I think. 00:26:26.890 --> 00:26:30.020 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I would say that's entirely marketing. 00:26:30.020 --> 00:26:34.170 align:middle line:84% The only reason is people haven't figured out how to 00:26:34.170 --> 00:26:35.570 align:middle line:90% sell digital toys. 00:26:35.570 --> 00:26:41.380 align:middle line:84% And there are games aisles in like Best Buy and so, well, 00:26:41.380 --> 00:26:43.160 align:middle line:84% this is a fun thing we're going to put it 00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:44.210 align:middle line:90% into the game section. 00:26:44.210 --> 00:26:45.310 align:middle line:84% Everyone starts calling it games. 00:26:45.310 --> 00:26:46.980 align:middle line:84% And that's kind of the same thing with the Sims. 00:26:46.980 --> 00:26:49.800 align:middle line:84% It's that really the Sims should be it's own genre, but 00:26:49.800 --> 00:26:52.066 align:middle line:84% you can't sell it's own genre that well. 00:26:52.066 --> 00:26:53.316 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:26:53.316 --> 00:26:55.890 align:middle line:90% 00:26:55.890 --> 00:26:57.324 align:middle line:90% Was there a hand over here? 00:26:57.324 --> 00:27:00.680 align:middle line:90% 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:05.120 align:middle line:84% OK, so let's start with Brenda's-- 00:27:05.120 --> 00:27:07.760 align:middle line:90% 00:27:07.760 --> 00:27:11.996 align:middle line:84% if it stops reading, so let's just move on to Brenda's. 00:27:11.996 --> 00:27:14.790 align:middle line:84% And she's very specific about the kinds of puzzles that 00:27:14.790 --> 00:27:15.530 align:middle line:90% she's talking about. 00:27:15.530 --> 00:27:19.950 align:middle line:84% Is that these things that get in the way of a very specific 00:27:19.950 --> 00:27:21.690 align:middle line:84% narrative experience that a game wants 00:27:21.690 --> 00:27:24.070 align:middle line:90% to guide you through. 00:27:24.070 --> 00:27:27.950 align:middle line:84% She describes them more as roadblocks than anything else. 00:27:27.950 --> 00:27:31.180 align:middle line:84% But, you know, things to make the challenge higher, but 00:27:31.180 --> 00:27:33.150 align:middle line:84% possibly so high that no one is going to be 00:27:33.150 --> 00:27:35.010 align:middle line:90% able to get past them. 00:27:35.010 --> 00:27:37.307 align:middle line:84% Some of her examples are things that come up as, sort 00:27:37.307 --> 00:27:40.450 align:middle line:84% of, intermittent but optional mechanics like 00:27:40.450 --> 00:27:43.140 align:middle line:90% hacking in Bio Shop. 00:27:43.140 --> 00:27:45.450 align:middle line:84% And sometimes there are things that you have to solve, 00:27:45.450 --> 00:27:47.445 align:middle line:90% especially in adventure games. 00:27:47.445 --> 00:27:49.690 align:middle line:84% There's this, you have to combine this object with that 00:27:49.690 --> 00:27:52.050 align:middle line:84% object and bring it to a specific location. 00:27:52.050 --> 00:27:58.407 align:middle line:84% And then now you can proceed with whatever narrative 00:27:58.407 --> 00:27:58.896 align:middle line:90% they've got. 00:27:58.896 --> 00:28:04.350 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: She had this specific axe to grind against 00:28:04.350 --> 00:28:07.675 align:middle line:84% puzzles having meaningful rewards or not being 00:28:07.675 --> 00:28:08.560 align:middle line:90% completely bought in. 00:28:08.560 --> 00:28:12.200 align:middle line:84% So, for instance, she says you should never have a puzzle 00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:14.320 align:middle line:90% being required to open a door. 00:28:14.320 --> 00:28:17.300 align:middle line:84% She said, solve a puzzle and then get some kind of tangible 00:28:17.300 --> 00:28:19.510 align:middle line:90% reward like loot or something. 00:28:19.510 --> 00:28:24.240 align:middle line:84% This is after I just spent the bus ride to New York City 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:25.570 align:middle line:90% playing Professor Layton's. 00:28:25.570 --> 00:28:28.450 align:middle line:90% 00:28:28.450 --> 00:28:32.278 align:middle line:84% Which was nonstop, with on the door, it's got a lock on it, 00:28:32.278 --> 00:28:33.528 align:middle line:90% looks like a puzzle. 00:28:33.528 --> 00:28:36.030 align:middle line:90% 00:28:36.030 --> 00:28:38.792 align:middle line:84% So I wasn't entirely to sure what to make of that. 00:28:38.792 --> 00:28:41.210 align:middle line:84% I thought that my Professor Layton experience was fine, 00:28:41.210 --> 00:28:45.510 align:middle line:84% and I didn't need to get fat Layton loot from some 00:28:45.510 --> 00:28:46.470 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE]. 00:28:46.470 --> 00:28:50.760 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: That's actually something, and there's a 00:28:50.760 --> 00:28:53.140 align:middle line:84% really good article actually written by 00:28:53.140 --> 00:28:55.250 align:middle line:90% Clara over in our lab. 00:28:55.250 --> 00:28:58.255 align:middle line:84% Actually, it wasn't an article, it was the transcript 00:28:58.255 --> 00:29:00.700 align:middle line:84% of a talk that she gave at Austin University-- 00:29:00.700 --> 00:29:02.760 align:middle line:84% I'll send on the link to everyone-- 00:29:02.760 --> 00:29:05.650 align:middle line:84% about how you can integrate, and why you should integrate, 00:29:05.650 --> 00:29:08.260 align:middle line:84% puzzles really, really well into the narrative. 00:29:08.260 --> 00:29:11.040 align:middle line:84% It's like really why is there a puzzle in your game at all 00:29:11.040 --> 00:29:14.470 align:middle line:84% unless it's been integrated into the narrative? 00:29:14.470 --> 00:29:18.750 align:middle line:84% And Brenda seems to be, sort of, providing a cautionary 00:29:18.750 --> 00:29:19.990 align:middle line:90% tale of the-- 00:29:19.990 --> 00:29:23.570 align:middle line:84% But if you do it badly, no one can get on with the story. 00:29:23.570 --> 00:29:25.150 align:middle line:84% No one can enjoy the rest of the game. 00:29:25.150 --> 00:29:27.770 align:middle line:84% It becomes this one thing that prevents you from proceeding? 00:29:27.770 --> 00:29:31.260 align:middle line:84% Is there anyone who had that moment? 00:29:31.260 --> 00:29:31.530 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:29:31.530 --> 00:29:33.748 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: About five minutes into Mist. 00:29:33.748 --> 00:29:43.330 align:middle line:90% 00:29:43.330 --> 00:29:44.270 align:middle line:90% I don't know. 00:29:44.270 --> 00:29:47.770 align:middle line:84% It had some sort of cool live action video and stuff. 00:29:47.770 --> 00:29:49.810 align:middle line:84% And it looked like it could be an interesting story. 00:29:49.810 --> 00:29:51.594 align:middle line:84% That's kind using technological prowess of 00:29:51.594 --> 00:29:54.050 align:middle line:90% integrating video into 3D. 00:29:54.050 --> 00:29:56.396 align:middle line:84% And then suddenly I looked in to the picture 00:29:56.396 --> 00:29:57.322 align:middle line:90% and I was on an island. 00:29:57.322 --> 00:29:59.637 align:middle line:84% And then there was nothing happening and I had to turn 00:29:59.637 --> 00:30:00.563 align:middle line:90% things to face each other. 00:30:00.563 --> 00:30:04.070 align:middle line:90% And I couldn't figure it out. 00:30:04.070 --> 00:30:07.620 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: When I originally played The Legend of Zelda. 00:30:07.620 --> 00:30:09.730 align:middle line:90% The original one. 00:30:09.730 --> 00:30:13.960 align:middle line:84% So they don't tell you anything pretty much. 00:30:13.960 --> 00:30:17.620 align:middle line:84% And so the temples, you just walk around the sun, then it's 00:30:17.620 --> 00:30:19.850 align:middle line:84% like, OK, there's a tree and a forest. 00:30:19.850 --> 00:30:22.580 align:middle line:84% You're supposed to burn [INAUDIBLE] 00:30:22.580 --> 00:30:27.070 align:middle line:84% and there's the entrance to this temple that you can't 00:30:27.070 --> 00:30:29.350 align:middle line:84% proceed until you do this thing. 00:30:29.350 --> 00:30:33.750 align:middle line:84% And so, it's just like, how am I supposed to know that I'm 00:30:33.750 --> 00:30:35.720 align:middle line:84% supposed to burn this particular tree in the middle 00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:36.750 align:middle line:90% of this huge map? 00:30:36.750 --> 00:30:40.230 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Did you beat any of the other-- 00:30:40.230 --> 00:30:41.340 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, and they didn't say anything. 00:30:41.340 --> 00:30:43.320 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: No, I mean the other Zeldas? 00:30:43.320 --> 00:30:46.040 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, actually yesterday we [INAUDIBLE]. 00:30:46.040 --> 00:30:48.660 align:middle line:90% 00:30:48.660 --> 00:30:51.510 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I was just saying, so the interesting thing is 00:30:51.510 --> 00:30:54.096 align:middle line:84% most people nowadays they end up playing, like the Ocarina 00:30:54.096 --> 00:30:56.740 align:middle line:84% of Time, Majora's Mask, they are moving backwards. 00:30:56.740 --> 00:30:59.115 align:middle line:84% So they end up playing the first Zelda after having 00:30:59.115 --> 00:31:00.470 align:middle line:90% played these old ones. 00:31:00.470 --> 00:31:02.610 align:middle line:84% So you sort of know that you're expected to do these 00:31:02.610 --> 00:31:05.520 align:middle line:84% random things to get like across. 00:31:05.520 --> 00:31:07.670 align:middle line:84% So I feel like it's easier for people, but then-- 00:31:07.670 --> 00:31:09.490 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: But with the original Zelda-- 00:31:09.490 --> 00:31:14.086 align:middle line:84% you know how in new ones they have, let's say, a wall that 00:31:14.086 --> 00:31:14.840 align:middle line:90% you can blow up. 00:31:14.840 --> 00:31:17.150 align:middle line:90% It's discolored or something. 00:31:17.150 --> 00:31:20.510 align:middle line:84% In this one every tree looks exactly the same. 00:31:20.510 --> 00:31:21.840 align:middle line:90% They use the same stripes. 00:31:21.840 --> 00:31:23.760 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: If I remember correctly, though, it's placed 00:31:23.760 --> 00:31:26.920 align:middle line:84% such that it's in the center of your screen, right? 00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:28.475 align:middle line:84% So it does look a little bit different. 00:31:28.475 --> 00:31:31.450 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: No, it was just a random tree. 00:31:31.450 --> 00:31:35.830 align:middle line:84% It was just a whole bunch of trees. 00:31:35.830 --> 00:31:41.520 align:middle line:84% And so you just really have to get, whatever a type of thing 00:31:41.520 --> 00:31:44.010 align:middle line:90% to burn it-- a specific one-- 00:31:44.010 --> 00:31:45.390 align:middle line:90% and burn it. 00:31:45.390 --> 00:31:47.630 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I remember it was a little suspicious. 00:31:47.630 --> 00:31:51.510 align:middle line:84% Because I think there was a one tile column, you kind of 00:31:51.510 --> 00:31:54.180 align:middle line:84% navigate around just this loop. 00:31:54.180 --> 00:31:56.350 align:middle line:90% You just entered and-- 00:31:56.350 --> 00:31:57.506 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: That's suspicious. 00:31:57.506 --> 00:32:02.470 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: And I'll feel very frustrated by games that 00:32:02.470 --> 00:32:04.830 align:middle line:84% require walk-throughs in order to play them. 00:32:04.830 --> 00:32:07.720 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Sure, and that was the other thing that she 00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:09.230 align:middle line:84% suggested some game designers do. 00:32:09.230 --> 00:32:13.480 align:middle line:84% They put the solution in the Prima Guide. 00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:15.485 align:middle line:84% So that you have to buy the Prima Guide in order to 00:32:15.485 --> 00:32:16.880 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE]. 00:32:16.880 --> 00:32:19.890 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Does Prima have a deal with the-- 00:32:19.890 --> 00:32:22.550 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Oh, they must have. 00:32:22.550 --> 00:32:26.786 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: They say "official" on the top for a reason. 00:32:26.786 --> 00:32:31.470 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's also ironic, because modern Zelda games, 00:32:31.470 --> 00:32:34.520 align:middle line:84% it's very obvious that you have to use this or that item. 00:32:34.520 --> 00:32:35.625 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: You've got a key. 00:32:35.625 --> 00:32:36.270 align:middle line:90% Use this key to open. 00:32:36.270 --> 00:32:38.110 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Oh, you got this item in the dungeon. 00:32:38.110 --> 00:32:40.640 align:middle line:84% You have to use this item to kill the boss. 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:42.480 align:middle line:90% That sort of thing. 00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:43.950 align:middle line:90% It's blatant. 00:32:43.950 --> 00:32:45.940 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Well, for people who are really, really hopeless, 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:47.930 align:middle line:90% there's that little fairy. 00:32:47.930 --> 00:32:49.688 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:32:49.688 --> 00:32:55.300 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: They're usually less useful than you think. 00:32:55.300 --> 00:32:58.590 align:middle line:84% So one big difference between the old Zelda games and the 00:32:58.590 --> 00:33:01.380 align:middle line:84% new Zelda games is just this continual refinement in their 00:33:01.380 --> 00:33:02.970 align:middle line:90% user interface. 00:33:02.970 --> 00:33:09.880 align:middle line:84% And it goes all the way from little things like the notes 00:33:09.880 --> 00:33:11.650 align:middle line:84% that you hear when you find a new dungeon. 00:33:11.650 --> 00:33:16.462 align:middle line:84% And exactly when, precisely, you hear the sound of, you 00:33:16.462 --> 00:33:18.201 align:middle line:90% know, too da loo-- 00:33:18.201 --> 00:33:20.943 align:middle line:84% at least I think that's how it sounds. 00:33:20.943 --> 00:33:25.080 align:middle line:84% You know, as a clue that now you have opened a door. 00:33:25.080 --> 00:33:28.600 align:middle line:84% That's one of those things that, if you look at post 00:33:28.600 --> 00:33:29.030 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:33:29.030 --> 00:33:29.950 align:middle line:90% Ocarina of Time. 00:33:29.950 --> 00:33:33.090 align:middle line:84% I think there's a couple on Gamasutra, exactly when that 00:33:33.090 --> 00:33:35.367 align:middle line:84% sounds plays is a decision that was 00:33:35.367 --> 00:33:36.920 align:middle line:90% very carefully designed. 00:33:36.920 --> 00:33:39.750 align:middle line:84% And it seems to me that in digital puzzles those kinds 00:33:39.750 --> 00:33:42.620 align:middle line:84% of, especially in some sort of narrative structure like in 00:33:42.620 --> 00:33:45.680 align:middle line:90% Ocarina, that's the big problem 00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:46.470 align:middle line:90% that you have to solve. 00:33:46.470 --> 00:33:47.660 align:middle line:90% You have to give enough clues. 00:33:47.660 --> 00:33:49.880 align:middle line:84% You have to give enough UI feedback. 00:33:49.880 --> 00:33:53.600 align:middle line:84% And you have to think about your UI so hard in a way that 00:33:53.600 --> 00:33:56.190 align:middle line:84% is going to make it possible so that we get all the 00:33:56.190 --> 00:33:56.910 align:middle line:90% information [INAUDIBLE]. 00:33:56.910 --> 00:34:01.580 align:middle line:84% So, say that burning fire tree situation, if there is nowhere 00:34:01.580 --> 00:34:04.615 align:middle line:84% else in the world where you can get that information, then 00:34:04.615 --> 00:34:05.690 align:middle line:90% it's back inside puzzle. 00:34:05.690 --> 00:34:09.010 align:middle line:90% If there is a guy in-- 00:34:09.010 --> 00:34:09.850 align:middle line:90% I can't remember Zelda I-- 00:34:09.850 --> 00:34:12.699 align:middle line:84% but there is a guy who actually tells you that that's 00:34:12.699 --> 00:34:13.949 align:middle line:84% the tree that you need to burn. 00:34:13.949 --> 00:34:16.627 align:middle line:84% But if it's not obvious, especially for someone who 00:34:16.627 --> 00:34:18.730 align:middle line:84% hasn't encountered that guy, that that's where you get that 00:34:18.730 --> 00:34:20.750 align:middle line:84% information it's still a bad designed puzzle. 00:34:20.750 --> 00:34:23.260 align:middle line:84% Even though now there's a solution. 00:34:23.260 --> 00:34:27.000 align:middle line:84% But thinking about, and some examples will be in a lot of 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:30.645 align:middle line:84% tech space adventures as well as text heavy graphical 00:34:30.645 --> 00:34:31.610 align:middle line:90% adventures. 00:34:31.610 --> 00:34:35.260 align:middle line:84% You have a, I can't solve this puzzle, but what my character 00:34:35.260 --> 00:34:39.090 align:middle line:84% says to the player about why you can't solve the puzzle is 00:34:39.090 --> 00:34:40.250 align:middle line:90% itself a clue. 00:34:40.250 --> 00:34:44.218 align:middle line:84% It's like, hm, I must not have the right item. 00:34:44.218 --> 00:34:46.110 align:middle line:84% Maybe there's something else I can use. 00:34:46.110 --> 00:34:48.016 align:middle line:90% That's a huge clue. 00:34:48.016 --> 00:34:50.553 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I feel like digital popular games have gotten 00:34:50.553 --> 00:34:56.120 align:middle line:84% really good at integrating hint systems in recent years. 00:34:56.120 --> 00:34:59.420 align:middle line:84% But I can't think of any physical puzzles that I've 00:34:59.420 --> 00:35:05.465 align:middle line:84% come across that may just not have quite been up to speed 00:35:05.465 --> 00:35:06.685 align:middle line:90% with crossword puzzles. 00:35:06.685 --> 00:35:11.690 align:middle line:84% That have that kind of not totally revealing the solution 00:35:11.690 --> 00:35:14.002 align:middle line:84% but giving you a gradual hint which can help 00:35:14.002 --> 00:35:15.496 align:middle line:90% you figure it out. 00:35:15.496 --> 00:35:20.560 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Well, mystery puzzles kind of do that. 00:35:20.560 --> 00:35:21.810 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:35:21.810 --> 00:35:23.930 align:middle line:90% 00:35:23.930 --> 00:35:26.515 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Describe the mystery puzzle for folks who 00:35:26.515 --> 00:35:26.920 align:middle line:90% don't have-- 00:35:26.920 --> 00:35:30.740 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's basically, it's a competition run by MIT over 00:35:30.740 --> 00:35:34.890 align:middle line:84% IAP where teams of people compete to solve a bunch of 00:35:34.890 --> 00:35:38.085 align:middle line:84% puzzles, like 70 puzzles, that kind of build on each other. 00:35:38.085 --> 00:35:40.310 align:middle line:84% So you have, say, 20 base puzzles. 00:35:40.310 --> 00:35:41.947 align:middle line:84% And if you solve those 20 puzzles you 00:35:41.947 --> 00:35:43.255 align:middle line:90% get 20 words as solutions. 00:35:43.255 --> 00:35:45.860 align:middle line:84% And then those 20 words become a new puzzle, and that's the 00:35:45.860 --> 00:35:46.790 align:middle line:90% meta-puzzle. 00:35:46.790 --> 00:35:48.460 align:middle line:84% And it kind of keeps them like that for a couple layers. 00:35:48.460 --> 00:35:50.770 align:middle line:84% But the point is the winning team from the previous year 00:35:50.770 --> 00:35:52.950 align:middle line:84% writes the next year's mystery hunt. 00:35:52.950 --> 00:35:55.310 align:middle line:84% So you get all kinds of varying puzzles of varying 00:35:55.310 --> 00:35:57.610 align:middle line:90% difficulties and styles. 00:35:57.610 --> 00:36:00.060 align:middle line:84% A very well-designed puzzle actually does that, because 00:36:00.060 --> 00:36:01.530 align:middle line:84% you have this thing called, flavor-- 00:36:01.530 --> 00:36:03.840 align:middle line:84% Oh, I guess I should say that the puzzles aren't like Sudoku 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:05.300 align:middle line:90% or crosswords. 00:36:05.300 --> 00:36:07.730 align:middle line:84% You literally just get something on a screen or 00:36:07.730 --> 00:36:09.580 align:middle line:84% something on a piece of paper, and you have to figure out 00:36:09.580 --> 00:36:10.190 align:middle line:90% what to do with it. 00:36:10.190 --> 00:36:11.861 align:middle line:84% You're not given any instructions for how to solve 00:36:11.861 --> 00:36:12.750 align:middle line:90% it whatsoever. 00:36:12.750 --> 00:36:15.780 align:middle line:84% And the only clues you get are either by the title of the 00:36:15.780 --> 00:36:18.970 align:middle line:84% puzzle, by the group of puzzles that it's in, or by 00:36:18.970 --> 00:36:20.610 align:middle line:90% this thing called flavor text. 00:36:20.610 --> 00:36:23.480 align:middle line:84% Which is like, they say some kind of random phrase that 00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:25.360 align:middle line:84% seems to not have anything to do with anything. 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:28.140 align:middle line:84% But that kind of gives you a clue about what to do in the 00:36:28.140 --> 00:36:29.846 align:middle line:90% thick of this puzzle. 00:36:29.846 --> 00:36:31.680 align:middle line:84% So that's kind of like what you were describing. 00:36:31.680 --> 00:36:33.380 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: That's interesting, because it's really 00:36:33.380 --> 00:36:36.022 align:middle line:84% challenging when you don't have any mechanism for giving 00:36:36.022 --> 00:36:39.860 align:middle line:84% feedback to the person who is working a puzzle. 00:36:39.860 --> 00:36:42.860 align:middle line:84% In Zelda, or what have you, you can see that they've spent 00:36:42.860 --> 00:36:46.410 align:middle line:90% a long time dicking around. 00:36:46.410 --> 00:36:49.551 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: It's kind of a double-edged sword, in that 00:36:49.551 --> 00:36:51.380 align:middle line:84% particular case, because you have so many mechanisms and 00:36:51.380 --> 00:36:57.050 align:middle line:84% now you're expected to use all of them in a game like that. 00:36:57.050 --> 00:37:00.386 align:middle line:84% You use sound, you have to use contextual buttons, you have 00:37:00.386 --> 00:37:02.896 align:middle line:90% to use the inventory. 00:37:02.896 --> 00:37:06.180 align:middle line:84% The position of the player matters or something. 00:37:06.180 --> 00:37:09.182 align:middle line:84% I've seen games where the main clues is what is the character 00:37:09.182 --> 00:37:11.270 align:middle line:90% looking at, for instance. 00:37:11.270 --> 00:37:13.333 align:middle line:84% And you walk around, why does my character keep looking that 00:37:13.333 --> 00:37:14.660 align:middle line:84% way every time something happens? 00:37:14.660 --> 00:37:15.750 align:middle line:90% Oh, that's because-- 00:37:15.750 --> 00:37:17.470 align:middle line:90% you know. 00:37:17.470 --> 00:37:22.490 align:middle line:84% So, yeah, as far as of a lot of physical stuff, I would say 00:37:22.490 --> 00:37:26.120 align:middle line:84% that one of the reasons is they're just starting to build 00:37:26.120 --> 00:37:27.420 align:middle line:84% these physical games from toys. 00:37:27.420 --> 00:37:31.080 align:middle line:90% 00:37:31.080 --> 00:37:34.490 align:middle line:84% A lot of the importance is, a lot of things you could 00:37:34.490 --> 00:37:37.650 align:middle line:84% possibly do, are kind of built into the physical object. 00:37:37.650 --> 00:37:40.650 align:middle line:84% And if you're building a puzzle based on what you could 00:37:40.650 --> 00:37:44.920 align:middle line:84% do with these things as a toy, then you're necessarily 00:37:44.920 --> 00:37:48.772 align:middle line:84% already using the constraints of what you can do with it as 00:37:48.772 --> 00:37:52.546 align:middle line:84% a toy in order to create the puzzle. 00:37:52.546 --> 00:37:55.480 align:middle line:90% 00:37:55.480 --> 00:37:59.080 align:middle line:84% This might be a good exercise actually, if time-- 00:37:59.080 --> 00:38:00.490 align:middle line:90% we could take a shot at this. 00:38:00.490 --> 00:38:01.930 align:middle line:84% And just by, you know, trying to come up with 00:38:01.930 --> 00:38:03.080 align:middle line:90% a puzzle and see. 00:38:03.080 --> 00:38:06.870 align:middle line:84% But instead of imagining one in a digital space, try to 00:38:06.870 --> 00:38:07.620 align:middle line:84% imagine one in a physical space. 00:38:07.620 --> 00:38:12.680 align:middle line:84% Because I suspect what you actually get is, you get a 00:38:12.680 --> 00:38:14.880 align:middle line:84% free language with physical puzzles. 00:38:14.880 --> 00:38:18.998 align:middle line:84% Because things physically have interactions that we 00:38:18.998 --> 00:38:21.413 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] from a digital puzzle. 00:38:21.413 --> 00:38:26.170 align:middle line:84% ADAM: I feel like Coral Reef or something, and that's a 00:38:26.170 --> 00:38:30.770 align:middle line:90% game where like the puzzle-- 00:38:30.770 --> 00:38:33.480 align:middle line:84% I mean obviously it's still a digital game-- but the puzzles 00:38:33.480 --> 00:38:34.610 align:middle line:84% are very much physical puzzles. 00:38:34.610 --> 00:38:37.310 align:middle line:84% Like you kind of have an idea about what-- 00:38:37.310 --> 00:38:39.940 align:middle line:84% has Patrick played Portal, of course? 00:38:39.940 --> 00:38:42.390 align:middle line:90% Or know the idea? 00:38:42.390 --> 00:38:46.540 align:middle line:84% I mean, you have these two portals and you understand 00:38:46.540 --> 00:38:48.310 align:middle line:84% what the physics is going to be like. 00:38:48.310 --> 00:38:50.590 align:middle line:84% So the puzzles aren't frustrating in the sense that 00:38:50.590 --> 00:38:52.635 align:middle line:84% it's like, oh, you realize there's this 00:38:52.635 --> 00:38:53.420 align:middle line:90% random statue here. 00:38:53.420 --> 00:38:56.610 align:middle line:84% And if you pull the lever it raises the water level or 00:38:56.610 --> 00:38:59.680 align:middle line:90% something like that. 00:38:59.680 --> 00:39:01.610 align:middle line:90% But it's very intuitive. 00:39:01.610 --> 00:39:04.800 align:middle line:84% It feels like a physical puzzle in a sense that I know 00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:06.900 align:middle line:90% what will happen if I do this. 00:39:06.900 --> 00:39:09.470 align:middle line:84% And I just figure out how to put the pieces together. 00:39:09.470 --> 00:39:12.290 align:middle line:84% And also Portal what I think it does a really good job of, 00:39:12.290 --> 00:39:15.720 align:middle line:84% as well as some physical puzzles do, is having a 00:39:15.720 --> 00:39:16.545 align:middle line:90% learning curve. 00:39:16.545 --> 00:39:20.430 align:middle line:84% Like Tangram will have some basic puzzles, or I'm sure the 00:39:20.430 --> 00:39:21.691 align:middle line:84% falling thing, a lot of them do it. 00:39:21.691 --> 00:39:25.255 align:middle line:84% Physical puzzle things where you like, I don't know, how to 00:39:25.255 --> 00:39:28.240 align:middle line:84% jump over pieces or whatever, have basic levels-- 00:39:28.240 --> 00:39:30.260 align:middle line:90% basic boards-- 00:39:30.260 --> 00:39:32.810 align:middle line:84% where they show you various techniques. 00:39:32.810 --> 00:39:34.410 align:middle line:84% And you only have to figure out one technique, and it's 00:39:34.410 --> 00:39:35.460 align:middle line:84% very obvious what you have to do. 00:39:35.460 --> 00:39:37.530 align:middle line:84% And later on you have to use those techniques. 00:39:37.530 --> 00:39:40.530 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Well in Tickle Her, this particular example does 00:39:40.530 --> 00:39:42.520 align:middle line:84% something that multiple portals does really well. 00:39:42.520 --> 00:39:45.710 align:middle line:84% Is that the very first puzzle that we did earlier only has 00:39:45.710 --> 00:39:46.650 align:middle line:90% one solution. 00:39:46.650 --> 00:39:50.185 align:middle line:84% And you do not get that solution unless you understand 00:39:50.185 --> 00:39:51.550 align:middle line:90% all the mechanics of the game. 00:39:51.550 --> 00:39:53.110 align:middle line:84% But we tried to solve it a whole bunch 00:39:53.110 --> 00:39:53.430 align:middle line:90% of different times. 00:39:53.430 --> 00:39:55.220 align:middle line:84% And it's like because we didn't quite understand the 00:39:55.220 --> 00:39:57.868 align:middle line:84% rules, we couldn't get it until we understood the 00:39:57.868 --> 00:39:58.760 align:middle line:90% mechanics of the game. 00:39:58.760 --> 00:40:00.150 align:middle line:90% Now we can suddenly solve it. 00:40:00.150 --> 00:40:03.767 align:middle line:84% So from puzzle number two onwards, we can't be confident 00:40:03.767 --> 00:40:05.138 align:middle line:90% unless you know it. 00:40:05.138 --> 00:40:06.970 align:middle line:90% Portal, and even-- 00:40:06.970 --> 00:40:09.210 align:middle line:84% actually just about any well-designed game-- but I 00:40:09.210 --> 00:40:11.160 align:middle line:84% would say Portal is a fine example-- if you've beaten a 00:40:11.160 --> 00:40:13.490 align:middle line:84% game, you can play through the game again with developer 00:40:13.490 --> 00:40:15.640 align:middle line:90% commentary. 00:40:15.640 --> 00:40:19.780 align:middle line:84% And when you show that, you actually realize that every 00:40:19.780 --> 00:40:24.070 align:middle line:84% single fairly intuitive physical thing that you pick 00:40:24.070 --> 00:40:26.490 align:middle line:84% up in the game had to be taught to you. 00:40:26.490 --> 00:40:28.700 align:middle line:84% And they've designed the level very clearly. 00:40:28.700 --> 00:40:30.920 align:middle line:84% So right in the beginning of the game, if folks can't 00:40:30.920 --> 00:40:33.950 align:middle line:84% remember, you're trapped in the middle cell. 00:40:33.950 --> 00:40:41.410 align:middle line:84% And the GlaDOS talk to you, and a portal opens and you can 00:40:41.410 --> 00:40:42.230 align:middle line:90% walk through it. 00:40:42.230 --> 00:40:44.935 align:middle line:84% What do you see out of the first portal that opens? 00:40:44.935 --> 00:40:46.830 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You see yourself going into the other one. 00:40:46.830 --> 00:40:47.800 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You see yourself going 00:40:47.800 --> 00:40:48.720 align:middle line:90% through the other portal. 00:40:48.720 --> 00:40:53.180 align:middle line:84% And it's like, they force you to have to look at what the 00:40:53.180 --> 00:40:55.390 align:middle line:84% basic game mechanic is going to be before you can do 00:40:55.390 --> 00:40:57.580 align:middle line:84% anything else that's productive in the game. 00:40:57.580 --> 00:40:59.440 align:middle line:84% You know, you can pick up the radio, but-- 00:40:59.440 --> 00:41:02.230 align:middle line:90% 00:41:02.230 --> 00:41:06.130 align:middle line:90% So that was a design decision. 00:41:06.130 --> 00:41:08.860 align:middle line:84% They could have decided not to make it. 00:41:08.860 --> 00:41:10.690 align:middle line:84% They could have just made you go through that into a 00:41:10.690 --> 00:41:14.130 align:middle line:84% different room, and the learning opportunity would 00:41:14.130 --> 00:41:16.050 align:middle line:90% have dissolved right there. 00:41:16.050 --> 00:41:19.335 align:middle line:84% So if you've got a copy of Portal, I would suggest go 00:41:19.335 --> 00:41:21.490 align:middle line:84% back and page through the commentaries 00:41:21.490 --> 00:41:23.670 align:middle line:90% because they are hilarious. 00:41:23.670 --> 00:41:28.350 align:middle line:84% And you're also rereading good form, demonstrating in this 00:41:28.350 --> 00:41:30.390 align:middle line:84% room, this is what we had to do in order to 00:41:30.390 --> 00:41:32.025 align:middle line:90% make people get it. 00:41:32.025 --> 00:41:35.490 align:middle line:84% I'm also thinking of games like Mario World I where you 00:41:35.490 --> 00:41:39.332 align:middle line:84% don't get very far on this kind of basic 00:41:39.332 --> 00:41:41.020 align:middle line:90% game mechanics now. 00:41:41.020 --> 00:41:44.682 align:middle line:84% But they make it really gentle in that I don't think there 00:41:44.682 --> 00:41:47.880 align:middle line:84% are any hits that instantly kill you. 00:41:47.880 --> 00:41:50.340 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: That's exactly what I was thinking in Mario. 00:41:50.340 --> 00:41:53.195 align:middle line:84% In the first Gamasutra article we read on late-game 00:41:53.195 --> 00:41:56.042 align:middle line:84% abstractions, we read about a Mario world. 00:41:56.042 --> 00:41:59.444 align:middle line:84% He's like, we expect the same kind of actions, key the 00:41:59.444 --> 00:42:00.902 align:middle line:90% system, all the time-jumping. 00:42:00.902 --> 00:42:03.818 align:middle line:84% And I guess you can kind of look at different things 00:42:03.818 --> 00:42:04.790 align:middle line:90% there, like double-jumping. 00:42:04.790 --> 00:42:06.248 align:middle line:84% And things like that in a specific puzzle. 00:42:06.248 --> 00:42:08.010 align:middle line:84% And the physical [INAUDIBLE] also. 00:42:08.010 --> 00:42:11.380 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I mean a lot of Mario's worlds are laid out 00:42:11.380 --> 00:42:13.980 align:middle line:84% basically as spatial puzzles, right? 00:42:13.980 --> 00:42:16.680 align:middle line:84% It's like you know you have to get there, but you don't know 00:42:16.680 --> 00:42:19.075 align:middle line:84% exactly how you're going to use all of the mechanics that 00:42:19.075 --> 00:42:19.844 align:middle line:90% you've got. 00:42:19.844 --> 00:42:25.220 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: In Mario 64, I think their way of solving the 00:42:25.220 --> 00:42:28.355 align:middle line:84% impasse problem of not locking up all the content in the game 00:42:28.355 --> 00:42:30.520 align:middle line:84% because of the one puzzle you can't get, they're giving you 00:42:30.520 --> 00:42:33.680 align:middle line:84% so much to do that even if they don't really tell you-- 00:42:33.680 --> 00:42:36.106 align:middle line:84% even if a good 30%, 40% are going to remain mysterious to 00:42:36.106 --> 00:42:38.050 align:middle line:84% you, you're not really going to figure them out-- 00:42:38.050 --> 00:42:40.800 align:middle line:84% there's so much [INAUDIBLE] between, you never walked off 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:42.106 align:middle line:84% with a significant amount of content. 00:42:42.106 --> 00:42:45.170 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So if you've got a hub-like structure you can do 00:42:45.170 --> 00:42:48.360 align:middle line:84% any one of five different things at any given time. 00:42:48.360 --> 00:42:51.960 align:middle line:84% Plus you have some secondary solutions, like you can always 00:42:51.960 --> 00:42:54.450 align:middle line:84% go back to a world that you've been to before and try to 00:42:54.450 --> 00:42:56.780 align:middle line:84% collect all the stars, for instance. 00:42:56.780 --> 00:42:59.700 align:middle line:84% I think that's kind of what Brenda was kind of indicating. 00:42:59.700 --> 00:43:03.630 align:middle line:84% You don't necessarily want, if you're putting puzzles in your 00:43:03.630 --> 00:43:05.870 align:middle line:90% game, she was advocating for-- 00:43:05.870 --> 00:43:08.860 align:middle line:84% Brenda and Ian were advocating for-- 00:43:08.860 --> 00:43:13.160 align:middle line:84% something that wouldn't necessarily progress 00:43:13.160 --> 00:43:14.390 align:middle line:90% on to the next one. 00:43:14.390 --> 00:43:20.220 align:middle line:84% But I think that's not a requirement. 00:43:20.220 --> 00:43:23.400 align:middle line:84% I think that's a, if you want to make your life easier, this 00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:24.225 align:middle line:90% is what you do. 00:43:24.225 --> 00:43:27.600 align:middle line:84% If you decide that you're up to the task, you can achieve 00:43:27.600 --> 00:43:30.980 align:middle line:84% some really amazing effects by having your puzzles 00:43:30.980 --> 00:43:33.075 align:middle line:90% narratively incorporate it. 00:43:33.075 --> 00:43:36.340 align:middle line:90% 00:43:36.340 --> 00:43:38.840 align:middle line:84% Has anyone heard of the game called Eternal Darkness? 00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:44.235 align:middle line:84% It's a sort of Lovecraftian horror game on the GameCube. 00:43:44.235 --> 00:43:47.200 align:middle line:84% I'll sort of describe it, but basically the whole basic idea 00:43:47.200 --> 00:43:52.180 align:middle line:84% is that you have four gods all warring against each other. 00:43:52.180 --> 00:43:54.450 align:middle line:84% Three of them hate one of them, but then those three 00:43:54.450 --> 00:43:55.480 align:middle line:90% also hate each other. 00:43:55.480 --> 00:43:58.750 align:middle line:84% And most of the puzzles are just sort of understanding 00:43:58.750 --> 00:44:03.010 align:middle line:84% that there is this mystical object. 00:44:03.010 --> 00:44:06.310 align:middle line:84% One god defeats another god defeats another god in a rock, 00:44:06.310 --> 00:44:07.300 align:middle line:90% paper, scissors circle. 00:44:07.300 --> 00:44:10.500 align:middle line:84% And all of them hate this one other [INAUDIBLE]. 00:44:10.500 --> 00:44:14.900 align:middle line:84% So early on in the game there is actually a puzzle, there 00:44:14.900 --> 00:44:17.100 align:middle line:84% are actually a number of different puzzles, where you 00:44:17.100 --> 00:44:18.020 align:middle line:90% see the symbols of these gods. 00:44:18.020 --> 00:44:19.602 align:middle line:84% And you have to kind of rearrange them 00:44:19.602 --> 00:44:21.190 align:middle line:90% in the correct order. 00:44:21.190 --> 00:44:23.800 align:middle line:84% And the rest of the game is all going to be variations of 00:44:23.800 --> 00:44:26.320 align:middle line:84% understanding what these gods do to each other. 00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:29.000 align:middle line:84% So those are all puzzles that inform you of 00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:32.132 align:middle line:90% how the world works. 00:44:32.132 --> 00:44:34.640 align:middle line:84% And that kind of works in two ways. 00:44:34.640 --> 00:44:37.195 align:middle line:84% One, information that you've already gathered about the 00:44:37.195 --> 00:44:39.390 align:middle line:84% world-- about how this world works-- 00:44:39.390 --> 00:44:42.390 align:middle line:84% gives you clues on how to beat the puzzles. 00:44:42.390 --> 00:44:44.650 align:middle line:84% Beating the puzzles, finding the solutions for the clues, 00:44:44.650 --> 00:44:46.810 align:middle line:84% gives you information about how the world works. 00:44:46.810 --> 00:44:49.740 align:middle line:84% And that's kind of like the holy grail for a puzzle 00:44:49.740 --> 00:44:52.710 align:middle line:84% designer in a digital game, is that you're going to design a 00:44:52.710 --> 00:44:55.130 align:middle line:84% puzzle that's going to reinforce how the world works. 00:44:55.130 --> 00:44:57.535 align:middle line:90% There's a chap-- 00:44:57.535 --> 00:45:00.175 align:middle line:84% who gave a talk, and I believe his name is Jeff Howard. 00:45:00.175 --> 00:45:05.290 align:middle line:84% He came to Camp [INAUDIBLE] and gave a talk last year. 00:45:05.290 --> 00:45:11.240 align:middle line:84% And he makes this case that games, and the logic that you 00:45:11.240 --> 00:45:19.750 align:middle line:84% present in games, do basically the equivalent of what magic 00:45:19.750 --> 00:45:22.370 align:middle line:84% systems actually do in the real world. 00:45:22.370 --> 00:45:28.530 align:middle line:84% What people like cultists or astrologers do is they 00:45:28.530 --> 00:45:35.340 align:middle line:84% basically give you logics that explain how the 00:45:35.340 --> 00:45:36.750 align:middle line:90% world is going to work. 00:45:36.750 --> 00:45:39.012 align:middle line:84% And while that may not necessarily be obvious, but if 00:45:39.012 --> 00:45:41.420 align:middle line:84% it is viewed as a whole knowledge you'll be able to 00:45:41.420 --> 00:45:42.520 align:middle line:84% understand how it's [INAUDIBLE] in you. 00:45:42.520 --> 00:45:46.081 align:middle line:84% But more importantly you'd be able to do things in the world 00:45:46.081 --> 00:45:50.250 align:middle line:84% that allow you to accomplish things that you wouldn't 00:45:50.250 --> 00:45:51.420 align:middle line:90% otherwise do. 00:45:51.420 --> 00:45:54.690 align:middle line:84% Learning a game is very much like that, it's like I don't 00:45:54.690 --> 00:45:56.580 align:middle line:84% know how this world works but if I understood these 00:45:56.580 --> 00:45:58.520 align:middle line:84% particular rules I could be able to 00:45:58.520 --> 00:46:01.180 align:middle line:90% accomplish greater things. 00:46:01.180 --> 00:46:04.210 align:middle line:84% And puzzles can be one of those things where 00:46:04.210 --> 00:46:05.390 align:middle line:90% it becomes a test. 00:46:05.390 --> 00:46:07.560 align:middle line:84% And it becomes a test of, just exactly how well do you 00:46:07.560 --> 00:46:08.850 align:middle line:90% understand this? 00:46:08.850 --> 00:46:14.010 align:middle line:84% Even if it is like in a combat game like Quake or God of War 00:46:14.010 --> 00:46:15.030 align:middle line:90% or something. 00:46:15.030 --> 00:46:17.710 align:middle line:84% I can understand how the combat system basically works 00:46:17.710 --> 00:46:20.088 align:middle line:84% if I just keep mashing the x button or something. 00:46:20.088 --> 00:46:23.200 align:middle line:84% Or just shoot everything with rockets. 00:46:23.200 --> 00:46:25.430 align:middle line:84% But if I really, really understand the combat system, 00:46:25.430 --> 00:46:27.390 align:middle line:84% I might be able to hit something that I wouldn't 00:46:27.390 --> 00:46:31.926 align:middle line:90% necessarily be able to hit. 00:46:31.926 --> 00:46:36.900 align:middle line:84% I might be able to take down a horde of enemies instead of 00:46:36.900 --> 00:46:39.220 align:middle line:84% hitting them down one at a time. 00:46:39.220 --> 00:46:40.670 align:middle line:84% I might be able to beat a boss. 00:46:40.670 --> 00:46:43.940 align:middle line:84% And actually a lot of boss battles in digital games are 00:46:43.940 --> 00:46:44.760 align:middle line:90% actually puzzles. 00:46:44.760 --> 00:46:48.700 align:middle line:84% There's not, how well do you generally react, it's can you 00:46:48.700 --> 00:46:50.740 align:middle line:90% figure out the pattern. 00:46:50.740 --> 00:46:54.360 align:middle line:84% But that pattern doesn't mean anything unless [INAUDIBLE] 00:46:54.360 --> 00:46:57.370 align:middle line:84% how all your other combat skills work. 00:46:57.370 --> 00:47:01.930 align:middle line:84% So a boss battle in Zelda only makes sense if you figured out 00:47:01.930 --> 00:47:04.420 align:middle line:84% how that one item that you picked up in that dungeon 00:47:04.420 --> 00:47:07.010 align:middle line:90% works really, really well. 00:47:07.010 --> 00:47:08.320 align:middle line:90% OK, it shoots fire. 00:47:08.320 --> 00:47:11.890 align:middle line:84% That means that not only does it hurt them from distance, it 00:47:11.890 --> 00:47:14.110 align:middle line:84% also lights some of the things on fire. 00:47:14.110 --> 00:47:16.880 align:middle line:84% And that's what I'll tell the boss, basically, is combining 00:47:16.880 --> 00:47:19.700 align:middle line:84% this leaders ability to hook up. 00:47:19.700 --> 00:47:22.050 align:middle line:84% Like everything else that you've done before 00:47:22.050 --> 00:47:23.120 align:middle line:90% into taking it out. 00:47:23.120 --> 00:47:26.015 align:middle line:84% That's why boss battles, that always kind of puzzled me. 00:47:26.015 --> 00:47:28.997 align:middle line:90% 00:47:28.997 --> 00:47:31.500 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: One thing I wanted to say, before I get going, 00:47:31.500 --> 00:47:34.210 align:middle line:84% you were asking about hints and a physical puzzle. 00:47:34.210 --> 00:47:38.240 align:middle line:84% The one thing that jumped to my mind was a couple years ago 00:47:38.240 --> 00:47:39.370 align:middle line:90% the weekly Day-- 00:47:39.370 --> 00:47:41.040 align:middle line:84% I don't know if anyone reads it, it's like 00:47:41.040 --> 00:47:42.030 align:middle line:90% a free Boston newspaper. 00:47:42.030 --> 00:47:43.373 align:middle line:84% And they always have crossword puzzles. 00:47:43.373 --> 00:47:47.240 align:middle line:84% For the longest time they were thematic, and so you would 00:47:47.240 --> 00:47:49.260 align:middle line:90% have a guest crossword. 00:47:49.260 --> 00:47:52.143 align:middle line:84% The first one I ever did was Hulk Hogan. 00:47:52.143 --> 00:47:55.800 align:middle line:84% So all of the hints in the crossword puzzles are related 00:47:55.800 --> 00:47:56.640 align:middle line:90% to Hulk Hogan. 00:47:56.640 --> 00:47:59.320 align:middle line:84% So it's a question of, not what does this mean to me but 00:47:59.320 --> 00:48:02.740 align:middle line:84% what would it mean to Hulk Hogan? 00:48:02.740 --> 00:48:05.480 align:middle line:84% And they don't do it anymore, which is really depressing, 00:48:05.480 --> 00:48:08.560 align:middle line:84% because every week it was something different and it was 00:48:08.560 --> 00:48:10.735 align:middle line:84% like a built-in hand write as you went. 00:48:10.735 --> 00:48:13.465 align:middle line:84% You didn't just pick them out literally, you have to kind of 00:48:13.465 --> 00:48:13.920 align:middle line:90% contextualize it. 00:48:13.920 --> 00:48:16.450 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You can think about all the things that come with 00:48:16.450 --> 00:48:19.890 align:middle line:84% the puzzle, that potential hook, [INAUDIBLE]. 00:48:19.890 --> 00:48:22.808 align:middle line:84% Like a title, like a data text-- as you were 00:48:22.808 --> 00:48:27.740 align:middle line:84% describing-- the fact that you get in puzzle and mystery 00:48:27.740 --> 00:48:29.490 align:middle line:84% crimes, they may be [UNINTELLIGIBLE] and they may 00:48:29.490 --> 00:48:32.830 align:middle line:84% be disillusioned but it lies on a different puzzle. 00:48:32.830 --> 00:48:35.630 align:middle line:84% Not the one I'm currently looking at right now, because 00:48:35.630 --> 00:48:36.880 align:middle line:90% that's how [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 00:48:36.880 --> 00:48:41.860 align:middle line:90% 00:48:41.860 --> 00:48:46.290 align:middle line:84% Metal Gear Solid has a really, really bizarre one where-- 00:48:46.290 --> 00:48:48.145 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Look in the back case. 00:48:48.145 --> 00:48:50.890 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Where they tell you, oh, there's a specific 00:48:50.890 --> 00:48:52.750 align:middle line:90% radio frequency that you need. 00:48:52.750 --> 00:48:53.780 align:middle line:84% It's written in the back of box. 00:48:53.780 --> 00:48:56.560 align:middle line:84% And it's like, the back of the box? 00:48:56.560 --> 00:48:57.556 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 00:48:57.556 --> 00:48:58.060 align:middle line:90% Anti-piracy. 00:48:58.060 --> 00:49:00.920 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yes, but it's still a puzzle. 00:49:00.920 --> 00:49:02.485 align:middle line:84% And I was like, I know how to solve that. 00:49:02.485 --> 00:49:05.800 align:middle line:84% I mean, it was pretty obvious, because maybe it's just me, 00:49:05.800 --> 00:49:09.200 align:middle line:84% because it about half an hour to figure that one out. 00:49:09.200 --> 00:49:10.180 align:middle line:90% It took me some effort. 00:49:10.180 --> 00:49:12.750 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I mean Metal Gear Solid a lot of 00:49:12.750 --> 00:49:14.200 align:middle line:90% meta-puzzles like that. 00:49:14.200 --> 00:49:17.910 align:middle line:84% Like when you fought Psycho Mantis for the first time. 00:49:17.910 --> 00:49:20.925 align:middle line:84% Well, so the scene you had to do is you went to unplug your 00:49:20.925 --> 00:49:22.610 align:middle line:84% controller and plug it into the second port because he 00:49:22.610 --> 00:49:24.620 align:middle line:90% would read your movements. 00:49:24.620 --> 00:49:28.850 align:middle line:84% And it was this cool, physical layer of it where you're 00:49:28.850 --> 00:49:29.490 align:middle line:90% playing the game. 00:49:29.490 --> 00:49:31.510 align:middle line:84% Then you realize I have to interact with the physical 00:49:31.510 --> 00:49:33.420 align:middle line:84% world so that he can't see what I'm doing. 00:49:33.420 --> 00:49:36.100 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: But that one [? cannot do, ?] 00:49:36.100 --> 00:49:40.770 align:middle line:84% because in that particular example that one gave you a 00:49:40.770 --> 00:49:44.600 align:middle line:84% very big clue because right at the beginning of that match 00:49:44.600 --> 00:49:46.920 align:middle line:84% that boss tells you to put your control on the ground. 00:49:46.920 --> 00:49:48.860 align:middle line:84% And he says, I'm going to control this 00:49:48.860 --> 00:49:49.840 align:middle line:90% controller with my mind. 00:49:49.840 --> 00:49:52.210 align:middle line:84% And actually, just [INAUDIBLE]. 00:49:52.210 --> 00:49:53.810 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: That's only if you have dualtech. 00:49:53.810 --> 00:49:57.480 align:middle line:84% So, because on PlayStation, if you didn't he just 00:49:57.480 --> 00:49:58.390 align:middle line:90% ignored that part. 00:49:58.390 --> 00:50:00.750 align:middle line:84% And you didn't get that clue at all. 00:50:00.750 --> 00:50:02.695 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, and that's a problem. 00:50:02.695 --> 00:50:04.536 align:middle line:90% But it's still very cool. 00:50:04.536 --> 00:50:09.060 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There were other clues, like you would talk 00:50:09.060 --> 00:50:11.830 align:middle line:84% about how you had been playing certain games by reading saves 00:50:11.830 --> 00:50:13.920 align:middle line:90% on your [INAUDIBLE]. 00:50:13.920 --> 00:50:15.590 align:middle line:90% At least not in Castlevania. 00:50:15.590 --> 00:50:17.630 align:middle line:90% I just remember being like-- 00:50:17.630 --> 00:50:17.895 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE]. 00:50:17.895 --> 00:50:22.390 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So basically it's giving you a clue that there's 00:50:22.390 --> 00:50:24.310 align:middle line:84% got to be something better about the way that you're 00:50:24.310 --> 00:50:25.296 align:middle line:90% currently playing. 00:50:25.296 --> 00:50:29.130 align:middle line:84% The funny thing about the radio channel is that one 00:50:29.130 --> 00:50:31.050 align:middle line:84% really did not give you any clue that there 00:50:31.050 --> 00:50:31.630 align:middle line:90% was something better. 00:50:31.630 --> 00:50:34.130 align:middle line:84% It just told you about the back of the box. 00:50:34.130 --> 00:50:38.672 align:middle line:84% It was like, it didn't tell you the back of the video game 00:50:38.672 --> 00:50:39.550 align:middle line:90% case, right. 00:50:39.550 --> 00:50:40.870 align:middle line:84% It's not going to be that specific. 00:50:40.870 --> 00:50:43.800 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It said CD case, specifically. 00:50:43.800 --> 00:50:47.394 align:middle line:84% I was really confused, because I think mine came in a slip of 00:50:47.394 --> 00:50:48.602 align:middle line:90% paper or something. 00:50:48.602 --> 00:50:50.650 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, if you buy it used or something. 00:50:50.650 --> 00:50:53.590 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, so it's anti-used game 00:50:53.590 --> 00:50:54.560 align:middle line:90% protection, as well. 00:50:54.560 --> 00:50:58.176 align:middle line:84% But yeah, mine was I think I actually said on the back of 00:50:58.176 --> 00:51:00.384 align:middle line:84% the CD case, but I was playing like a [INAUDIBLE] or 00:51:00.384 --> 00:51:03.040 align:middle line:84% something and that came in the DVD case. 00:51:03.040 --> 00:51:05.680 align:middle line:90% So I didn't make a connection. 00:51:05.680 --> 00:51:10.010 align:middle line:84% But if you look at the back of it, you see what the radio 00:51:10.010 --> 00:51:14.090 align:middle line:84% frequency is in the screenshot. 00:51:14.090 --> 00:51:17.590 align:middle line:84% One of the eight screenshots that they show to demonstrate 00:51:17.590 --> 00:51:20.180 align:middle line:84% this is what the game is all about, there's the number and 00:51:20.180 --> 00:51:21.660 align:middle line:90% it's just right in there. 00:51:21.660 --> 00:51:24.380 align:middle line:90% And then key it in. 00:51:24.380 --> 00:51:27.665 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Has anyone played any of those breakout games? 00:51:27.665 --> 00:51:30.830 align:middle line:84% Where it's lock you in a room and you have to-- 00:51:30.830 --> 00:51:33.316 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:51:33.316 --> 00:51:36.910 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, you find the thing, you find a slip of 00:51:36.910 --> 00:51:38.300 align:middle line:90% paper and escape [INAUDIBLE]. 00:51:38.300 --> 00:51:42.670 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So, actually who doesn't know 00:51:42.670 --> 00:51:43.976 align:middle line:90% what these are about? 00:51:43.976 --> 00:51:44.892 align:middle line:90% Escape the room. 00:51:44.892 --> 00:51:49.764 align:middle line:84% OK, so escape the room-- actually, could we bring up 00:51:49.764 --> 00:51:51.210 align:middle line:90% something on your computer? 00:51:51.210 --> 00:51:52.656 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I have to go grab the video thing. 00:51:52.656 --> 00:51:54.102 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Oh, the video cable. 00:51:54.102 --> 00:51:55.820 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's back there in my office. 00:51:55.820 --> 00:51:57.519 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Oh, OK cool. 00:51:57.519 --> 00:52:00.200 align:middle line:90% Call [? Becky ?] to send it. 00:52:00.200 --> 00:52:02.420 align:middle line:84% Escape the room games are typically flash games. 00:52:02.420 --> 00:52:07.150 align:middle line:84% And they're kind of like adventure games because 00:52:07.150 --> 00:52:10.250 align:middle line:84% there's usually only one room, although sometimes you have 00:52:10.250 --> 00:52:10.720 align:middle line:90% multiple rooms. 00:52:10.720 --> 00:52:12.870 align:middle line:84% It's a much smaller world in most adventure games. 00:52:12.870 --> 00:52:14.100 align:middle line:84% But the basic idea is the same. 00:52:14.100 --> 00:52:20.390 align:middle line:84% You pick up objects, you use objects in a room, and you try 00:52:20.390 --> 00:52:21.050 align:middle line:90% to make things happen. 00:52:21.050 --> 00:52:24.490 align:middle line:84% You know, if you haven't made anything, you are not 00:52:24.490 --> 00:52:25.360 align:middle line:90% progressing in the game. 00:52:25.360 --> 00:52:27.560 align:middle line:84% If you made something happen, you are almost always making 00:52:27.560 --> 00:52:29.870 align:middle line:90% forward progress in the game. 00:52:29.870 --> 00:52:33.965 align:middle line:84% And there is, actually, a guide for playing adventure 00:52:33.965 --> 00:52:38.850 align:middle line:84% games written by Roberta Williams, who did the Original 00:52:38.850 --> 00:52:39.480 align:middle line:90% King's Quest series. 00:52:39.480 --> 00:52:43.640 align:middle line:84% And her guide is like, pick-up everything, go everywhere, use 00:52:43.640 --> 00:52:46.020 align:middle line:90% everything on everything. 00:52:46.020 --> 00:52:47.450 align:middle line:84% That's actually what escape the room really is. 00:52:47.450 --> 00:52:49.460 align:middle line:84% But there's a little bit more to escape the room games, but 00:52:49.460 --> 00:52:51.420 align:middle line:84% there's just not that many things that you can explore. 00:52:51.420 --> 00:52:55.120 align:middle line:84% That's the idea is that you're stuck in a room. 00:52:55.120 --> 00:52:58.485 align:middle line:84% And basically it comes down to just use everything on 00:52:58.485 --> 00:53:01.440 align:middle line:84% everything until you figure out what comes up. 00:53:01.440 --> 00:53:04.860 align:middle line:84% Rarely is it logical, often pretty entertaining, because 00:53:04.860 --> 00:53:05.530 align:middle line:90% they're animation heavy. 00:53:05.530 --> 00:53:07.470 align:middle line:84% So every time you do something right, you 00:53:07.470 --> 00:53:08.520 align:middle line:90% get some crazy animation. 00:53:08.520 --> 00:53:12.410 align:middle line:84% I put the fish into the mail slot and 00:53:12.410 --> 00:53:15.490 align:middle line:90% out appears an octopus. 00:53:15.490 --> 00:53:17.870 align:middle line:90% It's fun to watch. 00:53:17.870 --> 00:53:22.210 align:middle line:84% For us, the kind of comparatively opposite of 00:53:22.210 --> 00:53:25.040 align:middle line:90% those are the Grow games. 00:53:25.040 --> 00:53:28.870 align:middle line:84% And they're a series of games called Grow. 00:53:28.870 --> 00:53:30.840 align:middle line:84% I think the guy who does them is called Eyezmaze. 00:53:30.840 --> 00:53:34.070 align:middle line:90% 00:53:34.070 --> 00:53:40.280 align:middle line:84% And the whole basic idea is that imagine that you have a 00:53:40.280 --> 00:53:41.850 align:middle line:90% flower pot. 00:53:41.850 --> 00:53:44.705 align:middle line:84% And every time you add something to 00:53:44.705 --> 00:53:46.260 align:middle line:90% it something happens. 00:53:46.260 --> 00:53:49.077 align:middle line:84% But the order in which you are adding things to it makes 00:53:49.077 --> 00:53:50.210 align:middle line:90% different things happen. 00:53:50.210 --> 00:53:54.680 align:middle line:84% And there are solutions, basically, in making the 00:53:54.680 --> 00:53:59.490 align:middle line:84% optimal number of things happen if you do it right. 00:53:59.490 --> 00:54:03.920 align:middle line:84% So what you can do is not a mystery at all. 00:54:03.920 --> 00:54:07.470 align:middle line:84% You have these six things that I could add to my pot. 00:54:07.470 --> 00:54:11.050 align:middle line:84% And I know those are the only six things I could add. 00:54:11.050 --> 00:54:14.030 align:middle line:84% The question is what order do I do them? 00:54:14.030 --> 00:54:15.830 align:middle line:84% And doing them in different orders give 00:54:15.830 --> 00:54:19.160 align:middle line:90% you different results. 00:54:19.160 --> 00:54:23.750 align:middle line:84% And I feel that these two genres are kind of linked, but 00:54:23.750 --> 00:54:26.060 align:middle line:84% they're playing off very different things. 00:54:26.060 --> 00:54:28.090 align:middle line:84% One of them is, I don't know what I'm going to do. 00:54:28.090 --> 00:54:31.710 align:middle line:84% But I know that whatever I do has got to leave this space. 00:54:31.710 --> 00:54:33.810 align:middle line:84% And the other one is very much, I know exactly what I 00:54:33.810 --> 00:54:37.462 align:middle line:84% can possibly do, I just don't know what order to do them in. 00:54:37.462 --> 00:54:39.430 align:middle line:84% So a couple of puzzles that you see online. 00:54:39.430 --> 00:54:43.830 align:middle line:84% These are fairly encapsulated things. 00:54:43.830 --> 00:54:45.712 align:middle line:84% One game is one series of puzzles. 00:54:45.712 --> 00:54:48.142 align:middle line:84% There's not like a professor-made encyclopedia 00:54:48.142 --> 00:54:49.392 align:middle line:90% puzzle kind of thing. 00:54:49.392 --> 00:54:54.460 align:middle line:90% 00:54:54.460 --> 00:54:56.420 align:middle line:90% What time is it? 00:54:56.420 --> 00:55:01.075 align:middle line:84% OK, I think I'm actually going to grab a few more puzzles and 00:55:01.075 --> 00:55:01.690 align:middle line:90% bring them in. 00:55:01.690 --> 00:55:05.360 align:middle line:84% But I do actually want to try to see whether we can put 00:55:05.360 --> 00:55:07.540 align:middle line:84% together a list of the kinds of puzzles that we haven't 00:55:07.540 --> 00:55:09.430 align:middle line:90% talked about today. 00:55:09.430 --> 00:55:11.260 align:middle line:84% These could be physical puzzles, these could be 00:55:11.260 --> 00:55:14.700 align:middle line:84% puzzles that you've seen in a book by their genre. 00:55:14.700 --> 00:55:17.550 align:middle line:84% Logic puzzles, you know, of a certain kind that you either 00:55:17.550 --> 00:55:20.270 align:middle line:84% really, really like or you really, really loathe. 00:55:20.270 --> 00:55:23.283 align:middle line:84% And just break up in groups of-- 00:55:23.283 --> 00:55:27.046 align:middle line:84% three, six, nine, Heather [INAUDIBLE], ten, eleven, 00:55:27.046 --> 00:55:30.648 align:middle line:90% twelve, seventeen people. 00:55:30.648 --> 00:55:32.121 align:middle line:90% Seventeen people? 00:55:32.121 --> 00:55:34.085 align:middle line:90% That doesn't divide at all. 00:55:34.085 --> 00:55:41.020 align:middle line:90% 00:55:41.020 --> 00:55:42.330 align:middle line:90% OK, two or three. 00:55:42.330 --> 00:55:44.430 align:middle line:84% Groups of two or three and just like-- 00:55:44.430 --> 00:55:45.965 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Jason should be back. 00:55:45.965 --> 00:55:48.630 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: OK, all right, then groups of three. 00:55:48.630 --> 00:55:54.485 align:middle line:90% 00:55:54.485 --> 00:55:56.080 align:middle line:90% How about we-- 00:55:56.080 --> 00:55:58.634 align:middle line:90% just like-- 00:55:58.634 --> 00:56:00.360 align:middle line:84% you know, just a couple of puzzles that we haven't 00:56:00.360 --> 00:56:04.670 align:middle line:84% discussed and a description about what they're like. 00:56:04.670 --> 00:56:07.715 align:middle line:84% And we'll quickly run through the class to sort of give 00:56:07.715 --> 00:56:11.030 align:middle line:90% everyone an idea of what-- 00:56:11.030 --> 00:56:14.980 align:middle line:84% As a toy, playing with a Rubik's Cube is more fun than 00:56:14.980 --> 00:56:16.530 align:middle line:90% the algorithm to solve it. 00:56:16.530 --> 00:56:18.252 align:middle line:84% That's not fun at all, in my opinion. 00:56:18.252 --> 00:56:21.030 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's fascinating, you can also solve it. 00:56:21.030 --> 00:56:23.013 align:middle line:84% But it's [INAUDIBLE], very tempting when 00:56:23.013 --> 00:56:24.486 align:middle line:90% you look at it also. 00:56:24.486 --> 00:56:27.923 align:middle line:90% 00:56:27.923 --> 00:56:30.869 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So, one of the things you were talking about 00:56:30.869 --> 00:56:34.797 align:middle line:90% was interactive fiction. 00:56:34.797 --> 00:56:36.280 align:middle line:90% Text adventures. 00:56:36.280 --> 00:56:40.882 align:middle line:84% And how sometimes they could be considered just like if 00:56:40.882 --> 00:56:43.056 align:middle line:84% you're playing a regular adventure game but just with 00:56:43.056 --> 00:56:44.042 align:middle line:90% text instead. 00:56:44.042 --> 00:56:48.600 align:middle line:84% And so the puzzle could be how you interact with the world, 00:56:48.600 --> 00:56:51.540 align:middle line:84% or it could be trying to figure out what actions are 00:56:51.540 --> 00:56:53.110 align:middle line:90% available to the user. 00:56:53.110 --> 00:56:54.950 align:middle line:84% Like sometimes not all actions are there. 00:56:54.950 --> 00:57:00.510 align:middle line:84% But also in some games the nature of text gives you 00:57:00.510 --> 00:57:02.250 align:middle line:84% different ways to have a puzzle. 00:57:02.250 --> 00:57:05.800 align:middle line:84% Like in Lost Pig, because you're playing an orc he 00:57:05.800 --> 00:57:08.440 align:middle line:84% doesn't know English very well. 00:57:08.440 --> 00:57:12.498 align:middle line:84% Or doesn't have full control of language, so you're trying 00:57:12.498 --> 00:57:14.161 align:middle line:84% to decipher his words to figure out what 00:57:14.161 --> 00:57:15.991 align:middle line:90% he's actually seeing. 00:57:15.991 --> 00:57:18.005 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Do you have an example you can do? 00:57:18.005 --> 00:57:19.775 align:middle line:84% To give with that to make it clearer? 00:57:19.775 --> 00:57:20.660 align:middle line:90% Because I haven't played it. 00:57:20.660 --> 00:57:24.320 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: In that game, there is one part where he's 00:57:24.320 --> 00:57:27.500 align:middle line:84% describing a box and it has a slot. 00:57:27.500 --> 00:57:30.790 align:middle line:84% And you put something in it and then it gives you 00:57:30.790 --> 00:57:31.120 align:middle line:90% something out. 00:57:31.120 --> 00:57:32.740 align:middle line:84% But the way he's describing it, you don't really know what 00:57:32.740 --> 00:57:34.672 align:middle line:84% he's describing until you realize he's talking about a 00:57:34.672 --> 00:57:36.675 align:middle line:90% vending machine. 00:57:36.675 --> 00:57:42.260 align:middle line:84% He describes it as a tall box with a slot in it. 00:57:42.260 --> 00:57:44.110 align:middle line:84% And another example we were talking about was the game 00:57:44.110 --> 00:57:49.870 align:middle line:84% Aisle, which is you're this guy in a grocery store. 00:57:49.870 --> 00:57:53.250 align:middle line:84% And it gives you this big prologue. 00:57:53.250 --> 00:57:55.440 align:middle line:84% And you have one action that you can do. 00:57:55.440 --> 00:57:58.700 align:middle line:84% So after you type in your one action, it tells you what 00:57:58.700 --> 00:58:01.780 align:middle line:84% happens and gives you an epilogue. 00:58:01.780 --> 00:58:03.990 align:middle line:90% And then the game starts over. 00:58:03.990 --> 00:58:07.490 align:middle line:84% But then using the information from that epilogue, you have a 00:58:07.490 --> 00:58:09.560 align:middle line:84% different choice of actions that you can take and 00:58:09.560 --> 00:58:10.770 align:middle line:90% different key words to use. 00:58:10.770 --> 00:58:14.752 align:middle line:84% And so by playing it over and over you're uncovering more of 00:58:14.752 --> 00:58:17.630 align:middle line:84% the story until you get somewhere. 00:58:17.630 --> 00:58:19.390 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:58:19.390 --> 00:58:20.270 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Aisle. 00:58:20.270 --> 00:58:27.206 align:middle line:90% A-I-S-L-E. 00:58:27.206 --> 00:58:32.170 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: We also thought about puzzles that were games 00:58:32.170 --> 00:58:34.250 align:middle line:84% put into a very contrived scenario. 00:58:34.250 --> 00:58:37.250 align:middle line:84% Like bridge puzzles, or chess puzzles, or back when the 00:58:37.250 --> 00:58:39.700 align:middle line:84% Duelist magazine still existed they had Magic 00:58:39.700 --> 00:58:40.680 align:middle line:90% the Gathering puzzles. 00:58:40.680 --> 00:58:42.637 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So like chess puzzles are 00:58:42.637 --> 00:58:43.780 align:middle line:90% like, here's this board. 00:58:43.780 --> 00:58:46.210 align:middle line:84% What was the move that led to this board. 00:58:46.210 --> 00:58:49.640 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Or like, black to win in three moves. 00:58:49.640 --> 00:58:51.110 align:middle line:90% Something like that. 00:58:51.110 --> 00:58:54.040 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So that's like, you are now placing additional 00:58:54.040 --> 00:58:56.620 align:middle line:90% constraints on the game. 00:58:56.620 --> 00:58:57.940 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah, exactly. 00:58:57.940 --> 00:59:00.630 align:middle line:84% It already puts you in a situation like, pretend you're 00:59:00.630 --> 00:59:01.490 align:middle line:90% in this game. 00:59:01.490 --> 00:59:04.220 align:middle line:84% Now, we promise you there's a way you can automatically win, 00:59:04.220 --> 00:59:07.255 align:middle line:90% you have to find it. 00:59:07.255 --> 00:59:10.876 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: There's a number of computer games like ChuChu 00:59:10.876 --> 00:59:12.700 align:middle line:84% Rocket and everything where it does like 00:59:12.700 --> 00:59:14.008 align:middle line:90% completely separate modes. 00:59:14.008 --> 00:59:17.880 align:middle line:90% 00:59:17.880 --> 00:59:21.130 align:middle line:84% ChuChu Rocket is a frenetic both player-- 00:59:21.130 --> 00:59:24.800 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's a mice-herding game. 00:59:24.800 --> 00:59:27.750 align:middle line:84% You have to get them into rocket ships, 00:59:27.750 --> 00:59:29.000 align:middle line:90% so they go in space. 00:59:29.000 --> 00:59:31.222 align:middle line:90% 00:59:31.222 --> 00:59:32.980 align:middle line:90% It was for the Dreamcast. 00:59:32.980 --> 00:59:34.230 align:middle line:90% It's so good. 00:59:34.230 --> 00:59:37.230 align:middle line:90% 00:59:37.230 --> 00:59:38.180 align:middle line:90% The idea's really simple. 00:59:38.180 --> 00:59:40.486 align:middle line:84% A bunch of mice wander around the streets, and each player 00:59:40.486 --> 00:59:41.930 align:middle line:90% gets to place three arrows. 00:59:41.930 --> 00:59:43.525 align:middle line:84% And when the mice run under the arrow 00:59:43.525 --> 00:59:44.705 align:middle line:90% they follow the arrow. 00:59:44.705 --> 00:59:47.010 align:middle line:84% So you want to get all your mice on your ship, and want to 00:59:47.010 --> 00:59:48.880 align:middle line:84% get the cats on the other ship so that they eat their mice. 00:59:48.880 --> 00:59:52.090 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: In puzzle-mode, you have three arrows in these 00:59:52.090 --> 00:59:52.735 align:middle line:90% particular directions. 00:59:52.735 --> 00:59:55.308 align:middle line:84% But the way you place them, you have as much time as you 00:59:55.308 --> 00:59:57.070 align:middle line:84% want, but there's only one right answer. 00:59:57.070 --> 00:59:58.790 align:middle line:84% And that immediately shows you the difference between a game 00:59:58.790 --> 00:59:59.030 align:middle line:90% and puzzle. 00:59:59.030 --> 00:59:59.990 align:middle line:90% Right there. 00:59:59.990 --> 01:00:03.350 align:middle line:84% Even though they are all in the same package. 01:00:03.350 --> 01:00:07.720 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So, first off I don't like jigsaw puzzles, but 01:00:07.720 --> 01:00:10.070 align:middle line:90% Michelle loves them. 01:00:10.070 --> 01:00:12.390 align:middle line:84% And then we also talked about whodunit's. 01:00:12.390 --> 01:00:15.190 align:middle line:84% And I really love whodunit's because you have to pay 01:00:15.190 --> 01:00:16.820 align:middle line:84% attention to the detail in the stories. 01:00:16.820 --> 01:00:18.990 align:middle line:90% Like the one thing that-- 01:00:18.990 --> 01:00:21.690 align:middle line:84% I guess the example that we were talking about is, if 01:00:21.690 --> 01:00:24.480 align:middle line:84% there's a mailman and it happens to be on a Sunday, he 01:00:24.480 --> 01:00:25.290 align:middle line:90% probably committed the crime. 01:00:25.290 --> 01:00:26.860 align:middle line:84% Because they don't have mail on Sundays. 01:00:26.860 --> 01:00:28.675 align:middle line:84% And it's like small details like that. 01:00:28.675 --> 01:00:30.995 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Are you talking about mystery books or just 01:00:30.995 --> 01:00:31.995 align:middle line:90% like little paragraphs? 01:00:31.995 --> 01:00:34.302 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Well, it's usually like a story. 01:00:34.302 --> 01:00:36.360 align:middle line:84% And they say, oh, here's the scenario, here's the 01:00:36.360 --> 01:00:39.188 align:middle line:84% background story, who is the murderer? 01:00:39.188 --> 01:00:43.571 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: They compare it though, [INAUDIBLE]. 01:00:43.571 --> 01:00:46.725 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: People have parties like that, like full-on 01:00:46.725 --> 01:00:47.060 align:middle line:90% whodunit parties. 01:00:47.060 --> 01:00:48.430 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: That's very true. 01:00:48.430 --> 01:00:50.366 align:middle line:84% I didn't see who was talking for a second. 01:00:50.366 --> 01:00:54.240 align:middle line:90% 01:00:54.240 --> 01:00:55.490 align:middle line:90% Who's talking? 01:00:55.490 --> 01:01:02.610 align:middle line:90% 01:01:02.610 --> 01:01:06.620 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Another puzzle we came up with, was the ones 01:01:06.620 --> 01:01:09.725 align:middle line:84% that you did in elementary school with like the big grid. 01:01:09.725 --> 01:01:12.350 align:middle line:84% And you would have someone's name, and maybe their favorite 01:01:12.350 --> 01:01:14.693 align:middle line:84% food, that you would give them a bunch of clues and you have 01:01:14.693 --> 01:01:15.760 align:middle line:90% to match them. 01:01:15.760 --> 01:01:17.640 align:middle line:84% Yes, with something like the checks and the xs and stuff. 01:01:17.640 --> 01:01:21.045 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So, that's just generally called logic 01:01:21.045 --> 01:01:22.400 align:middle line:90% puzzles, I believe. 01:01:22.400 --> 01:01:26.540 align:middle line:84% It's just you are given the incomplete set of information 01:01:26.540 --> 01:01:30.331 align:middle line:84% but enough constraints that you can figure out the rest of 01:01:30.331 --> 01:01:31.450 align:middle line:90% the information. 01:01:31.450 --> 01:01:34.870 align:middle line:84% And really the way to solve it is just write everybody's 01:01:34.870 --> 01:01:39.440 align:middle line:84% name, all the characters that you're given in the prose. 01:01:39.440 --> 01:01:41.400 align:middle line:84% Write down all the characters on one column. 01:01:41.400 --> 01:01:43.770 align:middle line:84% Write down all the things you're trying to figure out, 01:01:43.770 --> 01:01:46.662 align:middle line:84% like who's wearing what colored shirt, for instance, 01:01:46.662 --> 01:01:49.080 align:middle line:84% so just write out all the colors on the other column. 01:01:49.080 --> 01:01:52.540 align:middle line:84% And just by the process of elimination, just figuring 01:01:52.540 --> 01:01:56.610 align:middle line:84% out, usually the answers are mutually exclusive. 01:01:56.610 --> 01:01:59.772 align:middle line:84% So if somebody is wearing a red shirt, can not be wearing 01:01:59.772 --> 01:02:02.128 align:middle line:90% a green shirt. 01:02:02.128 --> 01:02:07.584 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So part of the much harder ones are every fourth 01:02:07.584 --> 01:02:08.576 align:middle line:90% statement is false. 01:02:08.576 --> 01:02:11.056 align:middle line:84% Like you don't know if one statement is definitely false. 01:02:11.056 --> 01:02:12.792 align:middle line:84% And I've seen one where every statement is 01:02:12.792 --> 01:02:14.032 align:middle line:90% false except for one. 01:02:14.032 --> 01:02:17.860 align:middle line:84% And I can bring in my book and there's like [INAUDIBLE]. 01:02:17.860 --> 01:02:23.452 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: The worst version of it is figuring out how 01:02:23.452 --> 01:02:25.444 align:middle line:84% puzzles see people in the world. 01:02:25.444 --> 01:02:29.926 align:middle line:90% 01:02:29.926 --> 01:02:32.416 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: They wouldn't fix it before because he pushed it 01:02:32.416 --> 01:02:33.666 align:middle line:90% out last week. 01:02:33.666 --> 01:02:36.948 align:middle line:90% 01:02:36.948 --> 01:02:38.766 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You guys want to throw in any? 01:02:38.766 --> 01:02:42.715 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Sure, we started by trying to think of all the 01:02:42.715 --> 01:02:44.170 align:middle line:84% puzzles that we really dislike. 01:02:44.170 --> 01:02:47.080 align:middle line:84% And we came up with a couple here. 01:02:47.080 --> 01:02:49.505 align:middle line:84% The sliding square puzzles, you know where you have like-- 01:02:49.505 --> 01:02:52.420 align:middle line:90% 01:02:52.420 --> 01:02:55.069 align:middle line:84% Basically just a variation on a jigsaw puzzle where the 01:02:55.069 --> 01:02:57.803 align:middle line:90% rules are more constrained. 01:02:57.803 --> 01:02:59.791 align:middle line:84% I don't like jigsaw puzzles either. 01:02:59.791 --> 01:03:03.270 align:middle line:90% So we're like-minded there. 01:03:03.270 --> 01:03:05.258 align:middle line:90% And then John had a couple. 01:03:05.258 --> 01:03:08.737 align:middle line:84% I guess there's a Light's Out puzzle. 01:03:08.737 --> 01:03:14.204 align:middle line:84% Inside the image you touch certain areas and [INAUDIBLE]. 01:03:14.204 --> 01:03:17.640 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So you've got like a grid of buttons and every 01:03:17.640 --> 01:03:23.085 align:middle line:84% button you push will invert all those neighboring buttons. 01:03:23.085 --> 01:03:26.830 align:middle line:84% Like implanting the top button, left and right, will-- 01:03:26.830 --> 01:03:28.080 align:middle line:90% [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. 01:03:28.080 --> 01:03:29.954 align:middle line:90% 01:03:29.954 --> 01:03:34.924 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: And then I guess I already described the 01:03:34.924 --> 01:03:36.070 align:middle line:90% concentric circle thing. 01:03:36.070 --> 01:03:38.481 align:middle line:84% Yeah, their puzzles are similar that we're taking an 01:03:38.481 --> 01:03:40.270 align:middle line:84% action on one item in the scene. 01:03:40.270 --> 01:03:42.982 align:middle line:84% These are incredibly difficult, the concentric 01:03:42.982 --> 01:03:45.994 align:middle line:84% circle ones, will have an effect on other 01:03:45.994 --> 01:03:47.850 align:middle line:90% things in the system. 01:03:47.850 --> 01:03:52.061 align:middle line:84% And typically these are used in games where there will be a 01:03:52.061 --> 01:03:55.260 align:middle line:84% center podium with a pathway leading off. 01:03:55.260 --> 01:03:56.760 align:middle line:84% On one side of the podium, then there will be a 01:03:56.760 --> 01:03:59.821 align:middle line:84% concentric circle around the concentric ring with a pathway 01:03:59.821 --> 01:04:01.533 align:middle line:84% off of that ring and another interval. 01:04:01.533 --> 01:04:05.498 align:middle line:84% Then more and more circles to each side and you get to 01:04:05.498 --> 01:04:08.746 align:middle line:84% rotate individual circles and that will rotate the other 01:04:08.746 --> 01:04:09.674 align:middle line:90% circles different ways. 01:04:09.674 --> 01:04:10.975 align:middle line:84% And you need to create a pathway. 01:04:10.975 --> 01:04:12.310 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Every time I rotate one, something 01:04:12.310 --> 01:04:13.535 align:middle line:90% else is going to rotate. 01:04:13.535 --> 01:04:17.720 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Then it's always going right before you're 01:04:17.720 --> 01:04:19.100 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE]. 01:04:19.100 --> 01:04:23.062 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I guess three of those are examples of games 01:04:23.062 --> 01:04:26.020 align:middle line:84% where you have to take action on an environment, but your 01:04:26.020 --> 01:04:28.732 align:middle line:84% action has direct effects throughout the environment. 01:04:28.732 --> 01:04:32.018 align:middle line:84% And it's just really annoying figuring out 01:04:32.018 --> 01:04:33.190 align:middle line:90% how to optimize that. 01:04:33.190 --> 01:04:35.020 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: But they are predictable effects. 01:04:35.020 --> 01:04:37.225 align:middle line:84% It's like every time I rotate this one left, that one's 01:04:37.225 --> 01:04:39.960 align:middle line:90% going to rotate right. 01:04:39.960 --> 01:04:42.290 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I think it's kind of funny how the context has a 01:04:42.290 --> 01:04:44.490 align:middle line:84% lot to do with whether these puzzles are annoying or not. 01:04:44.490 --> 01:04:47.911 align:middle line:84% Because I do enjoy Professor Layton quite a bit. 01:04:47.911 --> 01:04:54.170 align:middle line:84% And it's the most, through an arbitrary character in order 01:04:54.170 --> 01:04:57.040 align:middle line:84% to justifying that you're trying [INAUDIBLE]. 01:04:57.040 --> 01:04:58.393 align:middle line:90% It's just fun. 01:04:58.393 --> 01:05:01.045 align:middle line:84% Your intention on even playing the game is that you're going 01:05:01.045 --> 01:05:01.570 align:middle line:90% to be solving puzzles. 01:05:01.570 --> 01:05:03.340 align:middle line:90% Not as [INAUDIBLE]. 01:05:03.340 --> 01:05:03.700 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 01:05:03.700 --> 01:05:08.880 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Also, the way that is presented makes it funny in 01:05:08.880 --> 01:05:09.850 align:middle line:90% that as well, right. 01:05:09.850 --> 01:05:12.705 align:middle line:84% So the mafia goons come up to you and say, we're going to 01:05:12.705 --> 01:05:14.660 align:middle line:84% stop you from coming in here unless you solve this puzzle. 01:05:14.660 --> 01:05:17.392 align:middle line:90% 01:05:17.392 --> 01:05:20.780 align:middle line:90% Shouldn't you just shoot me? 01:05:20.780 --> 01:05:22.420 align:middle line:84% It would solve all your problems. 01:05:22.420 --> 01:05:23.740 align:middle line:90% No, no, solve this puzzle. 01:05:23.740 --> 01:05:26.542 align:middle line:90% 01:05:26.542 --> 01:05:30.750 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: It's like they're making fun of themselves even. 01:05:30.750 --> 01:05:32.000 align:middle line:90% All right, cool. 01:05:32.000 --> 01:05:34.735 align:middle line:90% 01:05:34.735 --> 01:05:37.475 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I'm not sure if we really commented on what we 01:05:37.475 --> 01:05:38.670 align:middle line:90% liked or didn't like. 01:05:38.670 --> 01:05:42.415 align:middle line:84% But some things that we came up with that haven't been 01:05:42.415 --> 01:05:46.880 align:middle line:84% brought up yet are cryptics, which are kind of a 01:05:46.880 --> 01:05:52.780 align:middle line:84% combination between crosswords and riddles, riddles, 01:05:52.780 --> 01:05:54.740 align:middle line:84% combinatory games as a puzzle apparatus. 01:05:54.740 --> 01:05:57.270 align:middle line:90% 01:05:57.270 --> 01:06:00.636 align:middle line:84% Logic puzzles in general, not just like typical logic 01:06:00.636 --> 01:06:01.450 align:middle line:90% puzzles like that. 01:06:01.450 --> 01:06:07.280 align:middle line:84% You can have state machines, or Sudoku, or any type of 01:06:07.280 --> 01:06:08.710 align:middle line:90% numerical puzzle. 01:06:08.710 --> 01:06:12.340 align:middle line:84% We also want to differentiate that a lot of those games, or 01:06:12.340 --> 01:06:13.670 align:middle line:84% some of those games, are spatially 01:06:13.670 --> 01:06:15.020 align:middle line:90% oriented and some aren't. 01:06:15.020 --> 01:06:17.010 align:middle line:84% Which we thought was an important aspect, but not 01:06:17.010 --> 01:06:19.590 align:middle line:84% necessarily definitive of a completely different genre. 01:06:19.590 --> 01:06:21.830 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I'm not sure I've seen a state machine puzzle, 01:06:21.830 --> 01:06:24.702 align:middle line:84% actually, outside of a computer science textbook. 01:06:24.702 --> 01:06:26.094 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I know some. 01:06:26.094 --> 01:06:28.916 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: I'll never ask you. 01:06:28.916 --> 01:06:30.850 align:middle line:84% I expect it's going to be more involved than 01:06:30.850 --> 01:06:33.470 align:middle line:90% we have time for. 01:06:33.470 --> 01:06:36.340 align:middle line:84% By combinatory puzzles you mean stuff like-- 01:06:36.340 --> 01:06:38.450 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Combinatory games. 01:06:38.450 --> 01:06:42.260 align:middle line:84% All the games that fall under combinatory game theory. 01:06:42.260 --> 01:06:44.590 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Like Nim's. 01:06:44.590 --> 01:06:47.400 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 01:06:47.400 --> 01:06:51.110 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: These are sort of exploration, so games where 01:06:51.110 --> 01:06:56.690 align:middle line:84% you have to see everything around you to know what is 01:06:56.690 --> 01:06:58.900 align:middle line:90% available for use. 01:06:58.900 --> 01:07:00.600 align:middle line:90% On the [INAUDIBLE] 01:07:00.600 --> 01:07:02.995 align:middle line:84% so in the book they talked about 01:07:02.995 --> 01:07:06.530 align:middle line:90% actually Zelda, and just-- 01:07:06.530 --> 01:07:10.780 align:middle line:84% So a situation in a game that I didn't like is, you're 01:07:10.780 --> 01:07:14.270 align:middle line:84% playing a game and something happens you don't step too 01:07:14.270 --> 01:07:15.640 align:middle line:90% fast or something. 01:07:15.640 --> 01:07:17.820 align:middle line:84% And because of that, you get too inert. 01:07:17.820 --> 01:07:20.960 align:middle line:84% You're in a spot where you don't have the tools necessary 01:07:20.960 --> 01:07:23.140 align:middle line:84% to beat the enemy right in front of you. 01:07:23.140 --> 01:07:25.990 align:middle line:84% But you also are trapped and can't go back. 01:07:25.990 --> 01:07:27.420 align:middle line:90% It happened to me one time. 01:07:27.420 --> 01:07:30.005 align:middle line:84% It was the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. 01:07:30.005 --> 01:07:34.390 align:middle line:90% 01:07:34.390 --> 01:07:37.530 align:middle line:84% There's an enemy, you couldn't go forward, and there was a 01:07:37.530 --> 01:07:39.800 align:middle line:84% cliff so you couldn't get back up. 01:07:39.800 --> 01:07:43.550 align:middle line:84% And so, since I couldn't do anything I was forced to 01:07:43.550 --> 01:07:46.410 align:middle line:84% completely go back to the last save. 01:07:46.410 --> 01:07:50.652 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: But is that a puzzle, or is that just a bug? 01:07:50.652 --> 01:07:55.130 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I mean, it's time worth expiration and 01:07:55.130 --> 01:07:57.010 align:middle line:90% it's an item use. 01:07:57.010 --> 01:08:00.360 align:middle line:84% So you need to get an item to go ahead. 01:08:00.360 --> 01:08:04.185 align:middle line:84% If you have this item, then the enemy that you-- 01:08:04.185 --> 01:08:06.650 align:middle line:84% I think it was like a Rancor or something-- 01:08:06.650 --> 01:08:08.950 align:middle line:84% you could beat the Rancor or at least put it to sleep and 01:08:08.950 --> 01:08:09.970 align:middle line:90% walk by it. 01:08:09.970 --> 01:08:13.340 align:middle line:84% But without it, you had to try and beat it or 01:08:13.340 --> 01:08:15.480 align:middle line:90% it would kill you. 01:08:15.480 --> 01:08:19.569 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: OK, so it was a item that would have made 01:08:19.569 --> 01:08:21.270 align:middle line:90% combat easier, basically. 01:08:21.270 --> 01:08:25.990 align:middle line:84% But they kind of made it this one way with-- 01:08:25.990 --> 01:08:27.010 align:middle line:90% yeah. 01:08:27.010 --> 01:08:29.136 align:middle line:84% So you see a lot of puzzle games where they have easy 01:08:29.136 --> 01:08:29.930 align:middle line:90% reset, right. 01:08:29.930 --> 01:08:32.875 align:middle line:84% And it's like you can stop trying to solve it and you 01:08:32.875 --> 01:08:35.485 align:middle line:84% really screw up something along the way You hit reset 01:08:35.485 --> 01:08:36.970 align:middle line:84% and go right back to the beginning. 01:08:36.970 --> 01:08:40.435 align:middle line:84% Nice that the Republic has no easy reset. 01:08:40.435 --> 01:08:42.167 align:middle line:84% You live with the consequences, I guess that's 01:08:42.167 --> 01:08:43.900 align:middle line:84% what they were trying to go for. 01:08:43.900 --> 01:08:48.688 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: All right, so we've also had a 01:08:48.688 --> 01:08:50.770 align:middle line:90% loathing sliding puzzles-- 01:08:50.770 --> 01:08:52.731 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Either with numbers or pictures, both of them are 01:08:52.731 --> 01:08:55.540 align:middle line:90% equally annoying. 01:08:55.540 --> 01:09:00.829 align:middle line:84% But, on the other hand, Alec loves Rush Hour. 01:09:00.829 --> 01:09:03.170 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's the traffic red light game where you have to 01:09:03.170 --> 01:09:06.186 align:middle line:84% fly cars out of the way to form a path. 01:09:06.186 --> 01:09:08.951 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: In Professor Layton there are an awful lot of 01:09:08.951 --> 01:09:12.270 align:middle line:84% sliding puzzles that have differently shaped pieces, or 01:09:12.270 --> 01:09:14.069 align:middle line:90% oddly shaped pieces. 01:09:14.069 --> 01:09:18.200 align:middle line:84% Which is slightly more interesting, or less annoying 01:09:18.200 --> 01:09:22.520 align:middle line:84% than regular sliding puzzles but it's still incredibly 01:09:22.520 --> 01:09:22.820 align:middle line:90% frustrating. 01:09:22.820 --> 01:09:24.769 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Well, I think the difference there is that when 01:09:24.769 --> 01:09:27.189 align:middle line:84% you have differently sized pieces-- 01:09:27.189 --> 01:09:29.310 align:middle line:84% When you're doing just like a sliding puzzle where you're 01:09:29.310 --> 01:09:32.010 align:middle line:84% trying to recreate an image there's definite patterns that 01:09:32.010 --> 01:09:33.800 align:middle line:84% you keep using over and over again, because you're just 01:09:33.800 --> 01:09:36.520 align:middle line:90% like a rotating spaces. 01:09:36.520 --> 01:09:37.700 align:middle line:84% So it's not actually interesting. 01:09:37.700 --> 01:09:39.899 align:middle line:84% Whereas Rush Hour you actually have to think 01:09:39.899 --> 01:09:41.840 align:middle line:90% about things fit together. 01:09:41.840 --> 01:09:43.800 align:middle line:84% So one other puzzle type that we haven't really mentioned, 01:09:43.800 --> 01:09:47.350 align:middle line:84% that I actually really enjoy, is pictographic puzzles. 01:09:47.350 --> 01:09:50.689 align:middle line:84% Where it relies on sort of your association with visual 01:09:50.689 --> 01:09:52.979 align:middle line:90% images and wordplay and stuff. 01:09:52.979 --> 01:09:56.580 align:middle line:84% Like, for example, you'll have a puzzle that's just an image 01:09:56.580 --> 01:10:02.210 align:middle line:84% of an eyeball, a bumblebee, and a screen shot of Judi 01:10:02.210 --> 01:10:05.090 align:middle line:90% Dench in a James Bond movie. 01:10:05.090 --> 01:10:09.390 align:middle line:90% And the idea is it's IBM. 01:10:09.390 --> 01:10:12.310 align:middle line:90% So I love puzzles like that. 01:10:12.310 --> 01:10:13.560 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 01:10:13.560 --> 01:10:15.130 align:middle line:90% 01:10:15.130 --> 01:10:17.760 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, so stuff like that where it relies on 01:10:17.760 --> 01:10:20.820 align:middle line:84% someone, like a human being, actually associating 01:10:20.820 --> 01:10:23.490 align:middle line:84% information with something visual. 01:10:23.490 --> 01:10:26.290 align:middle line:84% Rather than it being just a straight modern puzzle where 01:10:26.290 --> 01:10:30.337 align:middle line:84% you have this information and you use this to derive the 01:10:30.337 --> 01:10:30.880 align:middle line:90% rest of the information. 01:10:30.880 --> 01:10:35.110 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: There's R-E-B-U-S, and of course those are very 01:10:35.110 --> 01:10:37.935 align:middle line:84% language focused even though they're image-based. 01:10:37.935 --> 01:10:41.476 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: What one has the two lines and then [INAUDIBLE] in 01:10:41.476 --> 01:10:42.260 align:middle line:90% the middle? 01:10:42.260 --> 01:10:44.470 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Well, things like that, yeah. 01:10:44.470 --> 01:10:47.340 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You had Rebus where you are trying to basically 01:10:47.340 --> 01:10:48.420 align:middle line:90% reconstruct a sentence. 01:10:48.420 --> 01:10:53.060 align:middle line:84% And then I forget what's the classification of puzzles 01:10:53.060 --> 01:10:56.693 align:middle line:84% where you're given a certain lead of images and you're 01:10:56.693 --> 01:10:58.052 align:middle line:90% trying to write enough. 01:10:58.052 --> 01:11:05.790 align:middle line:90% But if I wrote it in-- 01:11:05.790 --> 01:11:10.882 align:middle line:84% this is not a good puzzle but just to give an example-- if I 01:11:10.882 --> 01:11:14.470 align:middle line:90% put [INAUDIBLE]. 01:11:14.470 --> 01:11:18.950 align:middle line:90% 01:11:18.950 --> 01:11:22.640 align:middle line:84% I think there is a specific word for these kind of things. 01:11:22.640 --> 01:11:24.781 align:middle line:84% But the whole idea is you're trying to reconstruct these 01:11:24.781 --> 01:11:26.900 align:middle line:90% sayings or these [INAUDIBLE] 01:11:26.900 --> 01:11:28.295 align:middle line:90% from individual theories. 01:11:28.295 --> 01:11:32.180 align:middle line:90% 01:11:32.180 --> 01:11:39.236 align:middle line:84% So I mean, these are usually spatial to begin with. 01:11:39.236 --> 01:11:41.447 align:middle line:84% I think there was a whole game show in the '80s 01:11:41.447 --> 01:11:42.790 align:middle line:90% that was just all-- 01:11:42.790 --> 01:11:45.590 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 01:11:45.590 --> 01:11:47.954 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Australia had a show called Catch 01:11:47.954 --> 01:11:49.415 align:middle line:90% Phrase which was-- 01:11:49.415 --> 01:11:51.850 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, I think Catch Phrase was the show. 01:11:51.850 --> 01:11:56.770 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So we wrote a B-list of different types of puzzles, 01:11:56.770 --> 01:11:59.770 align:middle line:84% so let's just run through them. 01:11:59.770 --> 01:12:00.750 align:middle line:84% All right, we've got lots of different 01:12:00.750 --> 01:12:01.900 align:middle line:90% sliding puzzle variants. 01:12:01.900 --> 01:12:04.315 align:middle line:84% We've got hidden object finding, the variance on 01:12:04.315 --> 01:12:08.560 align:middle line:84% Where's Waldo and then it's kind of [INAUDIBLE]. 01:12:08.560 --> 01:12:13.165 align:middle line:84% We have riddles, various kinds of logic puzzles, particularly 01:12:13.165 --> 01:12:16.170 align:middle line:84% two of which we've mentioned before. 01:12:16.170 --> 01:12:17.760 align:middle line:84% Several people, witnesses, give statements. 01:12:17.760 --> 01:12:19.376 align:middle line:84% One of them is a liar, which one's the liar. 01:12:19.376 --> 01:12:21.756 align:middle line:84% So find the hidden sinister person. 01:12:21.756 --> 01:12:25.700 align:middle line:84% And then there's the figment property x is next to figment 01:12:25.700 --> 01:12:28.030 align:middle line:84% property y, what order are they sitting in? 01:12:28.030 --> 01:12:28.992 align:middle line:90% That kind of puzzle. 01:12:28.992 --> 01:12:33.330 align:middle line:84% There's a million of them in Professor Layton. 01:12:33.330 --> 01:12:37.890 align:middle line:84% There's these kinds of unraveling, or 01:12:37.890 --> 01:12:39.570 align:middle line:84% reverse-engineering type, puzzles. 01:12:39.570 --> 01:12:43.110 align:middle line:84% Where some system has been permuted and you have to 01:12:43.110 --> 01:12:44.750 align:middle line:84% restore it to its original state. 01:12:44.750 --> 01:12:47.908 align:middle line:84% Which Rubik's Cube is like the canonical example, I guess. 01:12:47.908 --> 01:12:50.830 align:middle line:84% But then there's a bunch of other different good ones. 01:12:50.830 --> 01:12:52.679 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I mean that chess games is kind of in that 01:12:52.679 --> 01:12:53.752 align:middle line:90% category too. 01:12:53.752 --> 01:12:58.850 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There's tile rotation and swapping puzzles. 01:12:58.850 --> 01:13:01.690 align:middle line:84% One example of this is Bioshock hacking, but then 01:13:01.690 --> 01:13:05.875 align:middle line:84% there are 1 million other variations on exchanging tiles 01:13:05.875 --> 01:13:08.470 align:middle line:84% or swapping them around or this kind of thing. 01:13:08.470 --> 01:13:11.732 align:middle line:84% Lots of different kinds of math puzzles. 01:13:11.732 --> 01:13:14.575 align:middle line:84% This particular word transformation puzzle type 01:13:14.575 --> 01:13:17.750 align:middle line:84% that I used to see all the time when I was a kid, where 01:13:17.750 --> 01:13:22.480 align:middle line:84% by changing one letter or word per step, you had to transform 01:13:22.480 --> 01:13:24.610 align:middle line:90% one word into another. 01:13:24.610 --> 01:13:32.890 align:middle line:84% Mazes, jigsaw puzzles, code breaking nobody mentioned yet. 01:13:32.890 --> 01:13:38.360 align:middle line:84% And then also, these kind of full experiment type puzzles. 01:13:38.360 --> 01:13:40.660 align:middle line:84% I don't know how else you categorize them. 01:13:40.660 --> 01:13:41.797 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Give us an example. 01:13:41.797 --> 01:13:49.480 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: All right, so I'm trying to remember how this 01:13:49.480 --> 01:13:52.400 align:middle line:90% works but I think it is-- 01:13:52.400 --> 01:13:55.780 align:middle line:84% this one popped up on Day(9)s podcast the other day. 01:13:55.780 --> 01:13:59.245 align:middle line:84% I only give it because otherwise if I get it wrong 01:13:59.245 --> 01:14:02.490 align:middle line:84% then people will go oh my God, and try and puzzle it out. 01:14:02.490 --> 01:14:04.860 align:middle line:84% So it has to do with the piece of string and burning. 01:14:04.860 --> 01:14:06.666 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh, the 13 minutes? 01:14:06.666 --> 01:14:10.681 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, do you remember exactly how it goes? 01:14:10.681 --> 01:14:13.536 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: OK, you have two pieces of string. 01:14:13.536 --> 01:14:17.030 align:middle line:84% You know that the whole string takes an hour to burn but it's 01:14:17.030 --> 01:14:18.280 align:middle line:90% not linear. 01:14:18.280 --> 01:14:20.200 align:middle line:90% 01:14:20.200 --> 01:14:23.130 align:middle line:84% You have an infinite supply of matches, how can you measure 01:14:23.130 --> 01:14:26.560 align:middle line:90% 15 minutes with this string? 01:14:26.560 --> 01:14:29.990 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: One of those lateral thinking puzzles. 01:14:29.990 --> 01:14:35.380 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I would classify this under riddles, but-- 01:14:35.380 --> 01:14:37.570 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 01:14:37.570 --> 01:14:40.402 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Let them go, but they both take an hour-- 01:14:40.402 --> 01:14:41.818 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 01:14:41.818 --> 01:14:44.178 align:middle line:84% but they both take an hour to burn, non-linearly. 01:14:44.178 --> 01:14:48.310 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Couldn't you just be lighting matches the entire 01:14:48.310 --> 01:14:50.350 align:middle line:84% time, and see how many matches you can burn an hour. 01:14:50.350 --> 01:14:52.005 align:middle line:84% After that, just take four to that number-- 01:14:52.005 --> 01:14:56.160 align:middle line:90% 01:14:56.160 --> 01:14:57.470 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Then how are you going to measure 01:14:57.470 --> 01:14:59.250 align:middle line:90% that original hour? 01:14:59.250 --> 01:14:59.743 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 01:14:59.743 --> 01:15:02.577 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: But you know that the thing takes an hour to 01:15:02.577 --> 01:15:03.200 align:middle line:90% burn, yeah? 01:15:03.200 --> 01:15:04.577 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: The whole thing. 01:15:04.577 --> 01:15:06.767 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: It will take slightly longer than the 01:15:06.767 --> 01:15:10.410 align:middle line:84% amount of time it takes to get to class. 01:15:10.410 --> 01:15:11.310 align:middle line:90% We close by then. 01:15:11.310 --> 01:15:12.250 align:middle line:84% It would be nice to give people time to 01:15:12.250 --> 01:15:13.870 align:middle line:90% think about it too. 01:15:13.870 --> 01:15:15.970 align:middle line:90% So answer on Wednesday. 01:15:15.970 --> 01:15:19.027 align:middle line:90%