Designing Puzzles

Sumup of youtube video How to Design a Puzzle Game In 5 Steps

Start with random rules and no objectives

... when trying to design a new game-logic.

Experiment with objectives

and improve ruleset.

Keep it simple

Simple rules but hard puzzles

Let the player learn

Encourage experimantation. Dont ramp up difficulty to steep. One trick at a time.

A good puzzle looks nice

A good puzzle extends the rules

but not to fast.

A good puzzle includes all the information needed to solve it

A good puzzle is only as big as it needs

A good puzzle teaches you something new about the game system

A good puzzle toys with your expetations

Present a seemingly simple solution - that doesnt work. Now the player has to move that solution out of his head and find a different one.

Design backwards

or create random puzzles and verify them.