Good puzzles in AGS games released in 2023

[heltenjon]

The Best Puzzles award may be water under the bridge, but that doesn't mean we can't have a thread to discuss it. The question is simply: What puzzles in AGS games released in 2023 did you like? Why did you like them?

Please make the thread user-friendly with well marked spoilers, for instance like this:
The Sleeping Castle:

Spoiler

And something about it in here.

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Hopefully, this may give devs some feedback on what type of puzzles work well, and the players a chance to discuss and (dis)agree.

(In addition, I could imagine similar threads for the current year could be useful if we started them now and run them all year. It may be helpful when the year is over and we try to remember what games we liked months back and a help for nominating to the AGS awards. If the interest for such threads is there, of course.)

[heltenjon]

I'll try to start this ball rolling.

Spoilers forthcoming.

Metro City - while investigating Alexander's apartment.

Spoiler

I really liked how the police officer found the secret passage. You have to notice a mark in the floor and realize a cupboard has been moved (in front of the secret door). Further, you need to ask for help to move it. This isn't a hard puzzle, but it felt right - like something an investigator could notice in a real case. Bringing in the other officer made it even more real, like we were a team. This helps the immersion, and the other officer becomes "alive".

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The Sleeping Castle - finding the way inside the castle.

Spoiler

Elentigirl's puzzles often have revolving cylinders or cogs intertwining. I liked that this time it was on a big scale. Turning the wheel shifts which exits are available, and I had to picture how this worked to set it up right. There was also a poster that showed the basic layout, but it had to be interpreted in order to understand it. I got this great aha!-feeling when I suddenly got it and saw it pictured in my mind.

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[Kastchey]

That's a really cool (and useful!) thread.

Trapped on the Balcony is one huge streak of enjoyable puzzles, but I particularly liked

Spoiler

the one where you forge the third token using the fresh cement on the roof. It felt like the several elements of this puzzle had to be sourced from all over the game, which was really cool.

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[CaptainD]

I wish I could remember a specific puzzle to contribute to this thread! There was definitely one in Metro City that I thought was really nice, but I can't for the life of me remember the details.

[Rik_Vargard]

I wish I could remember a specific puzzle to contribute to this thread! There was definitely one in Metro City that I thought was really nice, but I can't for the life of me remember the details.

If it's an object-based puzzle it might be that one in that abandoned room where you get the emp mine at the end of it? 

Trapped on the Balcony is one huge streak of enjoyable puzzles, but I particularly liked

Spoiler

the one where you forge the third token using the fresh cement on the roof. It felt like the several elements of this puzzle had to be sourced from all over the game, which was really cool.

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I have to second this (actually I was about to use it as an example). That whole puzzle was one of those that made me understand better how object-based puzzles can work.

Here's another one for me (simpler can be more complicated )
Shards of God - Getting all four lamp-levers down

Spoiler

I've been looking so hard to find that 4th object or fruit to get that last lever down when obviously I didn't have to. Smart. 

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[heltenjon]

I wish I could remember a specific puzzle to contribute to this thread! There was definitely one in Metro City that I thought was really nice, but I can't for the life of me remember the details.

If it's an object-based puzzle it might be that one in that abandoned room where you get the emp mine at the end of it? 

Or perhaps opening the door in the basement underneath Alexander's house? Metro City spoiler:

Spoiler

This one had two things going for it. There is the nice thing that the player made this problem by grabbing the wires to solve another puzzle, which shows consequences - always cool. And secondly, there is great re-use of items. The player may think that the futuristic drill is now junk, and the hacking tool is very useful, yet in this situation, it's reversed. Add the visual clue with wires sticking out of the hacking tool, and there you have a very satisfying puzzle.

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Trapped on the Balcony is one huge streak of enjoyable puzzles, but I particularly liked

Spoiler

the one where you forge the third token using the fresh cement on the roof. It felt like the several elements of this puzzle had to be sourced from all over the game, which was really cool.

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I have to second this (actually I was about to use it as an example). That whole puzzle was one of those that made me understand better how object-based puzzles can work.

Agreed. I liked that

Spoiler

we got to know why the cement was there in the first place, giving extra character development to the janitor npc. And to the player character as well, because she recognizes this as sloppy work.

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Here's another one for me (simpler can be more complicated )
Shards of God - Getting all four lamp-levers down

Spoiler

I've been looking so hard to find that 4th object or fruit to get that last lever down when obviously I didn't have to. Smart. 

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This one is also great. And after solving it, the game will do it automatically the next time, avoiding any unnecessary frustration. Textbook game design.

[RootBound]

Yes, have to agree about Trapped on the Balcony. Best puzzles of the year out of the games I managed to play.

[heltenjon]

Tunnel Vision:

Spoiler

I think my favourites from this game is lassoing a passing pole, and the whole of the last puzzle where the player needs to stop the train. I liked that several items could be used in different spots, but I needed to come up with a combination where everything worked simultanously. Usually an item will only fit in one spot - not so in this game!

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Sorrow of a Furry Father:

Spoiler

I liked the maze where I had to decipher clues in a poem before finding the hidden room. I also liked making the foodstuffs placed in the maze taste right.

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Trapped on the Balcony:

Spoiler

It's cool how the game makes you forget that you are carrying around a pair of pants, presumably looking for a person in need of clothing. Admittedly, this is a bit of "finding a blue key/keycard before finding a blue door". But then the janitor guy exposes himself (hmm) in a very funny way, and him needing pants turns out to be the very reason he's still there, and the explanation ties into the sloppy work he's done. This helps connect the locations and items, integrating them into the story. And of course, the pants need to be cleaned, too. After all that, I've completely forgotten about that "I happen to carry an extra pair of pants" feeling. (It was also funny in a meta-way to see his walk, and how it was explained that no extra walkcycle was needed.)

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