As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

Help, I've created a puzzle game eating monster

Belasco32Belasco32 Registered User regular
Around Christmas I introduced my mom to Steam and from there to The Room, The Room 2, and Myst.

She's finished them all now and, well, lemme just share the email I just got:
I finished the room, and the room two. Is there anything similar I could purchase? I'm hooked. I looked for the room 3, and I saw such a thing when I showed the game to my sister last night - she went looking for it to buy. But, Steam didn't have one.
This is all your fault. You have to help me.
*manic grin*

I've been digging around the interwebz and did get her The Tiny Bang Story, but I've got a feeling this isn't going to scratch the same itch.

She's playing all of these on a laptop that's a few years old, it's got a decent amount of ram and an i7 processor, but I'm not sure what the graphics situation is.

So, dearest forumers, what games would you suggest for a slightly older laptop that can be found on Steam that would scratch The Room itch?

«1

Posts

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    Bel, send your mom to a puzzle room

    for real

  • Blameless ClericBlameless Cleric An angel made of sapphires each more flawlessly cut than the last Registered User regular
    edited January 2017
    Get her The Witness

    it works fine on my surface on medium to low graphics

    Blameless Cleric on
    Orphane wrote: »

    one flower ring to rule them all and in the sunlightness bind them

    I'd love it if you took a look at my art and my PATREON!
  • Belasco32Belasco32 Registered User regular
    Atomika wrote: »
    Bel, send your mom to a puzzle room

    for real

    unfortunately, this isn't an option :/ I know she'd love it, but it would take moving heaven and earth to make it happen...and wouldn't help with when she gets up at 4am obsessing about shit, which is what she uses these games to quell

  • Blameless ClericBlameless Cleric An angel made of sapphires each more flawlessly cut than the last Registered User regular
    idk if she listens to podcasts or something while playing though but some of the puzzles require audio in the witness jsyk

    Orphane wrote: »

    one flower ring to rule them all and in the sunlightness bind them

    I'd love it if you took a look at my art and my PATREON!
  • Blameless ClericBlameless Cleric An angel made of sapphires each more flawlessly cut than the last Registered User regular
    Stephen's Sausage Roll

    idk if she'd like it but it is a top tier puzzle game

    Orphane wrote: »

    one flower ring to rule them all and in the sunlightness bind them

    I'd love it if you took a look at my art and my PATREON!
  • Belasco32Belasco32 Registered User regular
    Stephen's Sausage Roll

    idk if she'd like it but it is a top tier puzzle game

    are you trying to give your grandmother porn?

    I mean, I'm not against it, just wondering....

  • OnTheLastCastleOnTheLastCastle let's keep it haimish for the peripatetic Registered User regular
    So if your mom is ready....

    It's time for your mom to go into the world of Online Riddles.

    http://ask.metafilter.com/298800/Best-online-riddles

  • Blameless ClericBlameless Cleric An angel made of sapphires each more flawlessly cut than the last Registered User regular
    Belasco32 wrote: »
    Stephen's Sausage Roll

    idk if she'd like it but it is a top tier puzzle game

    are you trying to give your grandmother porn?

    I mean, I'm not against it, just wondering....

    no I'm just trying to give her puzzles about evenly cooked meat!

    Orphane wrote: »

    one flower ring to rule them all and in the sunlightness bind them

    I'd love it if you took a look at my art and my PATREON!
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    edited January 2017
    People enjoy various things about these sorts of games. If it's just the puzzle solving, then there's like an infinite number of games in the genre, like all of the Zachtronics games, Hexcells, Lyne, Threes, etc. See [here](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/05/08/best-puzzle-games/2/) for a nice list. If she likes the exploration + puzzle solving sort of thing, then Obduction might run on the laptop (maybe not though), there are all the other Myst/Riven/Uru games, and maybe even just puzzley adventure games generally, like the Wadget Eye games, the old Lucasarts games, etc.

    TychoCelchuuu on
  • Belasco32Belasco32 Registered User regular
    So if your mom is ready....

    It's time for your mom to go into the world of Online Riddles.

    http://ask.metafilter.com/298800/Best-online-riddles

    it's about the game aspect of it, the time eating and brain distracting bit

    somehow she doesn't think she's smart enough for riddles, though she just blew through several difficult games in less than a month

  • SanderJKSanderJK Crocodylus Pontifex Sinterklasicus Madrid, 3000 ADRegistered User regular
    Spacechem is the kind of game that if it clicks, it can eat up you up
    It'll run on a toaster

    The theme isn't one you would expect to immediately resonate (It's supposedly about building space chemistry buildings, though it doesn't really have anything to do with real chemistry), but the nice thing about it that it both has solutions, and really optimized solutions.

    So you solve a puzzle, and feel great, and then get a graph where you rate worldwide, and then you can choose to further optimize or move on to the next one.
    After a while you end up thinking in Widgets.

    A bit friendlier in the same space are Mini Metro (Make metro lines) or Big Pharma (Optimize making pharma factories). I think all of these are also available on tablets, though not recommended on phones.

    Obduction is basically Myst 2016. I never played it though.

    If you can log into someone elses steam account with The Witness installed, or quietly buy it, download, test, and refund if it doesn't run, that is definitely recommended.

    Stephen Sausage Roll is supposed to be deceptively hard. It's a lot like the block puzzles that were popular in the 90s.

    You could also see if she enjoys the 90s adventure game genre. There's a humble bundle with the Day of the Tentacle remake up right now.

    Steam: SanderJK Origin: SanderJK
  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    Kerbel Space Program? Certainty is time eating and distracting.

  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    Braid?

    Also how does she feel about tower defense? And if she likes it, do you think if I got her this game and she played it she could give me tips on how to beat this one level? I am seriously stuck.

    what

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • MadicanMadican No face Registered User regular
    Talos Principle maybe?

  • WiseManTobesWiseManTobes Registered User regular
    Mini Metro

    Steam! Battlenet:Wisemantobes#1508
  • DoctorArchDoctorArch Curmudgeon Registered User regular
    @Belasco32 , I would also hop into the G&T Steam thread to ask this question and/or post a link to this thread. Lots of people there with diverse tastes and huge libraries so I'm sure you'll get a glut of good recommendations.

    Switch Friend Code: SW-6732-9515-9697
  • schussschuss Registered User regular
    Also, based on the games described check into adventure games, as they scratch a similar itch (Myst was really just a minimalist adventure game at the time).

  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    Belasco32 wrote: »
    Around Christmas I introduced my mom to Steam and from there to The Room, The Room 2, and Myst.

    She's finished them all now and, well, lemme just share the email I just got:
    I finished the room, and the room two. Is there anything similar I could purchase? I'm hooked. I looked for the room 3, and I saw such a thing when I showed the game to my sister last night - she went looking for it to buy. But, Steam didn't have one.
    This is all your fault. You have to help me.
    *manic grin*

    I've been digging around the interwebz and did get her The Tiny Bang Story, but I've got a feeling this isn't going to scratch the same itch.

    She's playing all of these on a laptop that's a few years old, it's got a decent amount of ram and an i7 processor, but I'm not sure what the graphics situation is.

    So, dearest forumers, what games would you suggest for a slightly older laptop that can be found on Steam that would scratch The Room itch?

    What about the 999 series. (Zero Hour is on Steam...9 hours 9 persons 9 doors im not sure about.)

    Oh. If shes looking for something more quirky...how bout some old Lucasarts adventure games like the Maniac Mansion series, or monkey island.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • BlazeFireBlazeFire Registered User regular
    What about Portal 1/2? Also, Talos Principle like someone else mentioned.

  • djmitchelladjmitchella Registered User regular
    Already mentioned, but Hexcells (series), very definitely. It's still the puzzle series that gives me the most "ha! take that, puzzle, I have defeated you" sense -- and if you get stuck, there's walkthroughs on Steam that explain not just the answers but the logic behind getting to the answers. It's more abstract than The Room series, but still great. They are a super good way to start up a puzzle and solve a bit and stop, too, I have one level I've been picking away at for about four hours so far and I just save it and come back later on as I go.

    For more 'real-world', Lumino City, and the Machinarium / other Amanita ones, they'll all run on older laptops just fine.

    Little Inferno's fairly non-cpu-intensive and "puzzle solving" (-vs- world of goo, which definitely requires more speed)

    The Kentucky Route Zero series might be worth a look, though they're pretty distinctive so if she doesn't like them she probably really won't like them.

    I played through Zenge recently, it's short and easy but also pretty relaxed.

  • firewaterwordfirewaterword Satchitananda Pais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    Splice is probably my favorite puzzle game of all time. Still haven't found anything that hits that note for me.

    Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    I would also suggest picross3d if its available away from nintendo.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • OrogogusOrogogus San DiegoRegistered User regular
    edited January 2017
    If she likes the exploration + puzzle solving sort of thing, then Obduction might run on the laptop (maybe not though), there are all the other Myst/Riven/Uru games.

    I'd strongly recommend following up with Riven. It's not for everybody, but for people it clicks with there aren't many other games like it. It's kind of the antithesis of adventure games where you just click stuff together when you get stuck. Riven is very much a logic puzzler that requires the player to take notes.

    EDIT: There are also a bunch of free Flash games on Kongregate that might be good for killing 10 or 20 minutes: http://www.kongregate.com/escape-games

    Orogogus on
  • tinwhiskerstinwhiskers Registered User regular
    The Room Three is Android/iOS/FireOS only. So if she has a tablet/smart phone she can play it there.

    6ylyzxlir2dz.png
  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    edited January 2017
    Splice is probably my favorite puzzle game of all time. Still haven't found anything that hits that note for me.

    Just make sure you don't accidentally get her anyone the movie...

    MichaelLC on
  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    no but seriously though

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • Psychotic OnePsychotic One The Lord of No Pants Parts UnknownRegistered User regular
    Phoenix Wright and the Professor Layton games might do the trick. If she wants something thats a hybrid between puzzle games and a novel the Zero Escape series [ 9/9/9 - Virtues Last Reward - Zero Time Dilemma] will help kill some time.

  • VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    MichaelLC wrote: »
    Kerbel Space Program? Certainty is time eating and distracting.

    This is the first thought I had.

    There's a career mode where you progress through a tech tree, have to purchase parts to build the rockets, do science experiments, complete contracts to do certain things (Put satelites in an exact orbit, explore other planets, etc), etc. There's also a Sandbox mode where you get all the parts, money and contracts are turned off, there's no need to do science, etc.

    However, the game itself is essentially an unlimited create-your-own-puzzles-within-puzzles game. You create a space station (the puzzle), and then it's also up to you to figure out the best way to get it where you want it to go (the solution). How you do that is completely up to the user by figuring out how much to break it down into sections, how to get those sections where they need to be, and then how best to put it all together.

    It's definitely not for everyone as it's absolutely driven by the user's imagination in what they want to do next and their ability to make that happen, but if she get's into it it can easily take her mind off of other things when needed. Plus she'd also end up learning and mastering basic orbital mechanics and fancy words like apoapsis/periapsis and prograde/retrograde.

  • SiskaSiska Shorty Registered User regular
    Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons, an adventure game. On sale right now for $2.99 http://store.steampowered.com/app/225080/?snr=1_4_4__139

    I have not played it myself but it got great reviews.

  • ThroThro pgroome@penny-arcade.com Registered User regular
    Siska wrote: »
    Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons, an adventure game. On sale right now for $2.99 http://store.steampowered.com/app/225080/?snr=1_4_4__139

    I have not played it myself but it got great reviews.

    Oh hey, I just finished that game; was also on sale on GoG recently.
    Extremely short and easy. No puzzle took longer than a minute to do, and most time was spent trying to position the two bros.
    It wasn't bad, exactly. Just simpler than I had hoped.

    Also controlling the two bros together was more annoying than fun.

  • Ark EvensongArk Evensong The NetherlandsRegistered User regular
    Re: Brothers-AToTS, did you play with a controller (w/ rumble)? I imagine it loses a lot if you just use a keyboard.

    I might second World of Goo? My mom liked and finished it, and she's not much of a gamer at all. If I don't count "bubble shooter", that is. (Some no-name Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move clone.)

    I couldn't get into Little Inferno, too sandboxy for me.

  • CelestialBadgerCelestialBadger Registered User regular
    Point her towards the GameBoomers forum - full of older folk who like that sort of game.

    http://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/2/1/ADVENTURE_GAME_DISCUSSIONS

  • legallytiredlegallytired Registered User regular
    Maybe she'd like Syberia. I know my mom loved it. It's from 2002 and can be found on steam.

  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    Machinarium?

  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    Or Botanicula, which is better IMO.

    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • The EnderThe Ender Registered User regular
    +1 for Kerbal Space Program.

    With Love and Courage
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    Monument Valley, Limbo, Machinarium, Mekorama, Please Don't Touch anything, Shadowmatic.... Just try a bunch of puzzles games. They're usually cheap so if she doesn't like one, try a different one.

    What is this I don't even.
  • ArbitraryDescriptorArbitraryDescriptor changed Registered User regular
    edited January 2017
    Zach Barth (Zachotronics) compared the Dismantlement series to Myst and 'escape the room' puzzlers.
    RPS: The realm of absurdly taxing puzzle games – of which I consider SpaceChem an example of – seems unpopulated to me. Or am I not looking in the right place?

    ZB: When I think about “puzzle games” I usually divide them up into a few categories, such as:

    -Pattern matching games, which require you to have eyes and a brainstem (Bejeweled);
    logic games, which present you with a situation that can be solved by deduction or other logic-based heuristics (minesweeper, sokoban, picross);

    -Rule-discovery games, which present you with a system and require you to figure out the rules (Myst, “escape the room” games, the Dismantlement series); and

    -Design-based games, which present you with a goal, perfect information, and a set of combinable tools to achieve it, possibly focusing on an emergent behavior that must be discovered or invented (SpaceChem, Manufactoria, Light Bot, other games I’ve made).

    (I have not played them.)

    ArbitraryDescriptor on
  • TehSlothTehSloth Hit Or Miss I Guess They Never Miss, HuhRegistered User regular
    schuss wrote: »
    Also, based on the games described check into adventure games, as they scratch a similar itch (Myst was really just a minimalist adventure game at the time).

    Yeah, my mom is real big into adventure/puzzle/mystery games where there's a good mix of like hidden item and other puzzles along with some standard adventure game type stuff. I think she gets most of them from Big Fish Games which has lots of cheap games and trials available although I'm pretty sure it also used to come with tons of bloatware.

    FC: 1993-7778-8872 PSN: TehSloth Xbox: SlothTeh
    twitch.tv/tehsloth
  • amateurhouramateurhour One day I'll be professionalhour The woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered User regular
    If she can run flash games in a browser there's a ton of good ones (and a lot of bad ones) but the http://www.cubeescape.com/ cube escape series is pretty awesome

    are YOU on the beer list?
Sign In or Register to comment.