NEW COMPETITION: Puzzle-Making Practice (RESULT)

[RootBound]

EDIT: The results are in! We have winners!
-----------------------

Hello all,

I've been given the go-ahead to resurrect a long-dead competition from almost twenty years ago: a puzzle design competition to practice your skills at creating logical solutions to constrained situations. It's just like playing an adventure game except you get to make your own solution!

Here are the rules:

The host provides a narrow scenario:

A. No more than two rooms, described in detail. For example, if the rooms is indoors, what type of building is it in? Are there windows? Is there furniture? Shelves attached to the walls? Pipes? Describe everything that is part of the room itself, especially things that might be interacted with, like control panels, climbable trees, openable air vents, and so on.

B. A very specific goal to accomplish. Escape the room? Burn it down? Find a specific hidden item? Open a safe? Restart a car? Convince an NPC to leave? Convince an NPS to give you needed information? The goal should require multiple steps.

C. At least 10 specific items, NPCs, or available interactions. This includes inventory, logical things that would be lying around, people, and room components as mentioned above. This should be a long enough list that participants can come up with multiple solutions. There should be no intended "correct solution."

Participants write entries that must do the following:
1. Use at least 3 of the provided elements (inventory, NPCs, a piece of the room like a cabinet or faucet etc.).
2. Give a step-by-step walktrough of your puzzle solution.
3. Don't add new elements. For example, if the room is a forest, breaking a thin branch off a tree makes sense unless the host said the trees were huge and tall. But adding a hollowed-out stump with a bear sleeping in it is too specific. Assume all important elements have been mentioned by the host.
4. Keep any dialog elements summarized rather than typing out the whole conversation (for example, "threaten the mailman", "ask the child for advice", and so on, instead of giving every spoken line).

Each contest runs for two weeks to allow for a good number of entries, and then it switches to voting for one week. The participant whose solution gets the most votes gets to come up with the next scenario! (Please also provide a link to these rules).

Voters use the criteria of
a) how logical the puzzle seems
b) how creative or unexpected (but still sensible) is the use of elements
c) how satisfying is the solution (Is it too simple? Way too complicated? Or just right?)

Since I'm hosting the first round, I'll provide the first scenario. I'll check back to answer any questions and can moderate future rounds if needed. The first scenario is below, in its own post, to provide a model for future hosts.

[RootBound]

Welcome to PUZZLE MAKING PRACTICE!

Please see the Contest Rules above. 

This round's scenario is as follows (please note: future rooms are allowed to be much simpler )

ROOM:
A large, high-ceilinged section of an old power plant. A large entryway leaves the room open to the weather and lets in natural light. (You have already collected all useful items from outside.)

What does the room hold?
- A few waist-height carts full of coal.
- Two shovels on the ground next to the carts.
- A fenced metal second-story catwalk around the perimeter of the room.
- Ladders to the catwalk have rusted away and fallen. They lie in pieces on the ground.
- Up on the catwalk is a door that leads to another section of the power plant.
- The door opens with a simple handle but it is rusted shut.
- On the wall of the ground level is an electrical panel. A large switch set to "ON" with a dark lightbulb next to it that shows there is no electricity.
- Various small holes in the wall provide many entrances and exits for rodents.
- A pile of old wreckage including large, heavy chains, a spare metal wheel for one of the coal carts, some sheet metal, and several long pipes.
- A giant ground-level furnace with a human-sized door.
- On the outside of the furnace are a few pipes with valve handles. The pipes extend to the ceiling and within reach of the catwalk but do not have obvious footholds. The handles on the valves can be operated. It is unclear what they do.
- Through the furnace door is a mini-room with a pile of ancient ashes and a powerful fan out of reach in the ceiling to pull smoke up into a smokestack. The fan is not running.

GOAL:
-Find a way to reach the second-story catwalk and open the locked door to get to the next area.

AVAILABLE INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS:
- Everything mentioned in the room description
- A rat (NPC) that comes in and out of the various holes in the wall, and sometimes runs across the catwalk.
- Items in your inventory:
    -Lunchbox containing an apple, a piece of cheese, a bottle of water, and a sandwich
    -Two old computer speakers, each containing a magnet that may be removed
    -Crowbar
    -Can of lighter fluid
    -Umbrella with curved handle
    -A brick
    -Superglue
    -Sledgehammer
    -Greasy rag
    -Box of fish hooks and fishing line

Play around and come up with a solution! Remember, it doesn't have to be complicated – as outlined above, it just needs to use at least 3 elements. The point is not only to practice your puzzle design skills but also to have fun! 

Please submit your solutions no later than January 31!

[cat]

Awesome! To get this going, here is the first entry.

The Sledgehammer Approach

Spoiler

> USE sledgehammer WITH brick
> PICK UP brick fragments
> USE superglue WITH brick fragments
> USE sticky brick fragments WITH furnace pipes
> CLIMB furnace pipes
> USE sledgehammer WITH door hinges
> OPEN door

[close]

[RootBound]

@cat I like how your solution is extremely simple and makes very short work of what appears to be a complicated setup. I certainly wouldn't have thought of it!

If anyone else is thinking of entering but isn't sure where to start, combining inventory items is a good way to dive in, even if your solution ends up elsewhere.

And remember, there are no "wrong" solutions! If it gets the job done, it's valid!

[cat]

I'm surprised by the missing activity in this competition. I thought more people would come up with fun ideas.

[RootBound]

I'm surprised by the missing activity in this competition. I thought more people would come up with fun ideas.

I'm wondering if the rules post and room post were too long. Maybe for the next round I can make an abbreviated version of the rules with a link to the full rules post.

Also, my room description may have been too involved. I wanted to err on the side of more possibilities, but maybe I went too far. If you end up being the only entrant, maybe you can write a simpler room prompt for the next round. 

In general I'm trying to treat this as an experiment at first, and to see if things can get refined slightly as more rounds happen so that the contest becomes as accessible as possible. We'll see what happens.

[Creamy]

Are you ready for the long approach? 

Spoiler

Use WATER on GREASY RAG.
Then use DAMP RAG on DARK LIGHTBULB. Surprise! The light is on and the old furnace is still working. The lightbulb was just extremely dirty.

A thorough inspection of the LONG PIPES reveals that they are actually SPARE ELECTRICAL RESISTANCES.
They fit within the walls of the furnace.
Yeah, the furnace has been modernized at some point and it's electric now.
The plant employees couldn't be bothered to remove the coal carts. Therefore they're still  lying around in the power plant.
Another adventurer came before you and failed to figure this out. So he tried to burn coal in the furnace. Hence the ashes. You'll have to SHOVEL them out before you can use the furnace.

Pick up the PIECES OF LADDER scattered on the ground.
Put them on the floor in the furnace.
Mini game: you need to reassemble the ladder.
The pieces won't hold together but at least it looks like a ladder now.

Taking a closer look on the LARGE METAL SHEET, you discover that it's THIN TIN with which the plant employees coated steel plates to produce tin cans. You pick it up. It's thin but not enough to be torn up with your bare hands.

Use SLEDGEHAMMER on BRICK to get BRICK FRAGMENTS
Use SUPERGLUE on BRICK FRAGMENTS to get STICKY BRICK FRAGMENTS.
Use STICKY BRICK FRAGMENTS on the wall to cover all the holes used by the rat, but one.
Place the LARGE THIN TIN SHEET against the last hole in the wall, holding it with your hands.
In front of it, put a PIECE OF CHEESE on the floor.
The hungry rodent soon starts to cut through the sheet with its teeth to access the cheese (it acts kind of like an electrical jigsaw).
Mini game: by manipulating the plate around the teeth of the rat, you get SMALL TIN SHEETS.

Wrap the SMALL TIN SHEETS around the broken ladder parts in the furnace.
Get out of it, close the door and turn the valve handle. The furnace heats up.
After a while, the TIN melts on the LADDER PARTS.

The temperature cools down and you pick up the REPAIRED LADDER in the furnace.
Now, you can access the catwalk upstairs!
There's a door up there. Its handle is rusty and you can't turn it.
Wrap the CHAINS around the handle.
Insert the CROWBAR in the CHAINS to get extra leverage. After some efforts, the handle gives in and you're able to leave this area.

[close]

[RootBound]

@Creamy your solution is so involved it's almost an entire game in itself!  I had a lot of fun reading it. Thanks for jumping straight into the deep end on this one! It's great to have another entry.

[The Great Underground Empire]

I think the new(old) competition just hasn't been noticed yet is all.  I didn't realize it existed until I randomly checked the Discord today. 

I'll try to come up with something!

[The Great Underground Empire]

Be ye prepared for the Heavy Approach? 

Spoiler

Take SHOVEL.

Shovel COAL out of CARTS until you have a COAL RAMP leading up to the CATWALK.

Push EMPTY CART up COAL RAMP.  Oh no, it's a little too heavy and the COAL is too shifty!

Insert PIPE into WHEEL.

Set MAKESHIFT PULLEY against CATWALK railings.

Feed HEAVY CHAIN over MAKESHIFT PULLEY.

Attach HEAVY CHAIN to front coupler of EMPTY CART, using CROWBAR as hitch pin.

Pull HEAVY CHAIN to trundle EMPTY CART up to top of COAL RAMP on its wheels.

Dang it, as soon as you let go, the EMPTY CART rolls back down again.

Pulley it back to the top of the COAL RAMP, and this time, wedge a SHOVEL behind each rear wheel, keeping the EMPTY CART in place.

Attach other end of HEAVY CHAIN to DOOR HANDLE.

Combine LUNCHBOX and FISHING LINE to make a tasty FOOD HAMMOCK for the rat, and hang this near the holes.  This does not solve puzzle, but is adorable.

Load remaining PILE OF WRECKAGE into EMPTY CART.

Pull SHOVELS out.

The now HEAVY CART finally overwhelms the DOOR, breaking it open.

[close]

[RootBound]

Just a couple more days until voting! If anyone wants to throw in another solution, now's the time.

Huge thanks to all the entrants so far! 

[heltenjon]

Are you game for the ridiculously long and silly approach?
(I haven't read the other entries yet. Any overlaps will just show we are a crazy crowd.)

Spoiler

THROW CHAINS AT CATWALK
You have earned the achievement for most ineffectual attempt at a solution. Got tired.
BREAK SPEAKERS (WITH HAMMER/CROWBAR)
Obtained magnets. Scared the rat. Got more tired.
EAT LUNCH
Got energy back. The Rat peeks out from a hole in the wall, seems interested.
TEMPT RAT (WITH FOOD)
The Rat scurries into the wall and reappears at the ground level. It eats some food. Obtained rat.
PUT MAGNET INSIDE FOOD
GIVE IT TO THE RAT
Okay, you now have a attractive rat, so to speak.
FASTEN FISH HOOKS AND LINES TO OTHER MAGNET
ATTACH MAGNET TO RAT
REALIZE THIS IS NEVER GOING TO WORK (cut scene, stuffs rat in pocket for the time being. Realizes it will eat the food in the pocket and puts it inside the furnace room instead, closing the door.)
USE GLUE WITH PIPES, SCRAP METAL AND VALVES
Okay, you have makeshift footholds that extend to the catwalk. But will it hold your weight?
USE HAMMER AND CROWBAR TO EXTEND HOLES IN THE WALL OR MAKE NEW ONES
Okay, these can be useful for support when climbing.
BREAK BRICK INTO SMALLER PIECES
TIE/GLUE BRICK PIECES TO FISHING LINES
THROW PIECES AT FOOTHOLDS
With some effort, you manage to bolo the footholds, making the fishing line swirl around them. They seem a bit more secure now.
CLIMB UP, USING A COMBINATION OF THE NOW PARTIALLY SECURE FOOTHOLDS AND THE HOLES IN THE WALLS
Hot damn! It worked!
OPEN DOOR
Hot damn! It is rusted shut!
The makeshift ladder won't hold for many more attempts. You need to be clever now.
MAKE A LIFTING CONTRAPTION WITH FISH LINES (the box was possible to carry while climbing)
LOWER IT TO THE GROUND
The line is long enough to go to the ground, but you need to attach it to another line to pull on to make it work. (The other lines are attached to the rat, remember?) The line now has hoops of a sort on the end on the catwalk.
METICULOUSLY PLACE CHEESE IN A PATTERN
CLIMB DOWN
RELEASE RAT
The rat scurries into an opening, reappearing on the catwalk where the cheese is. It follows the pattern, dragging the fishing lines attached to the magnet with it through the hoops.
PULL FISHING LINE ATTACHED TO RAT
The magnet dislodges, and the fish hooks attaches themselves to the catwalk/hoops. You can now pull the line to lift stuff up to the catwalk.
OPEN UMBRELLA
USE UMBRELLA WITH LIFTING CONTRAPTION
USE SHOVEL TO PUT COAL IN THE UMBRELLA LIFT (NOT TOO MUCH)
PULL LINE TO LIFT COAL UP TO THE CATWALK. REPEAT.
This takes a while, because the umbrella can't hold much coal. You can manipulate it by pulling different lines in order to make it dump the coal onto the catwalk. (This is ridiculously complicated, keeping the hint threads glowing for weeks.)
LIFT UP CROWBAR TO SKYWALK
LIFT UP SLEDGEHAMMER TO SKYWALK
Wow, you didn't think it could hold that much weight!
LIFT UP HEAVY CHAINS TO...
The lift breaks.
CLIMB UP
As you make your leaps, several of the footholds give way under you. You get to the top, but there is no way down now.
USE SLEDGEHAMMER ON LOCK
You miss spectacularly, making a hole in the wall. The Sledgehammer slips and drops down, making a metallic clang on the furnace. The rat is scared and runs out the door, exiting the story. (Soon to be starring in «Rodney, the Magnetic Rat».)
USE CROWBAR ON HOLE
You manage to make the hole bigger, but you can't break through the wall.
PUT COAL IN HOLE
You must have dragged it up here for a reason!
USE LIGHTER FLUID ON COAL AND GREASY RAG
A fuse!
USE CROWBAR WITH DOOR FRAME/YOUR BELT BUCKLE/RAILINGS
Sparks fly, and eventually the fuse lights up, and the coal is burning.
The wall burns.
OPEN DOOR
It's too hot to push.
KICK DOOR
The door opens. You enter a new room, noticing some stairs leading up from a side door you didn't notice earlier. Aaargh!

[close]

[RootBound]

@heltenjon Thanks for getting one last entry in just under the wire! I think that rounds it out for a really nice competition!

[RootBound]

Hey everyone, we are NOW VOTING!  Thanks for all the engagement with this fledgling contest.    4 entries is great! Here they are:

The Sledgehammer Approach by @cat
The Long Approach by @Creamy
The Heavy Approach by @The Great Underground Empire
The Long and Silly Approach by @heltenjon

Read their posts above, and then please VOTE BY FEB 7 using the poll above, basing your decision on the following criteria:

a) how logical the puzzle seems
b) how creative or unexpected (but still sensible) is the use of elements
c) how satisfying is the solution (Too simple? Too complicated? Or just right?)

Feel free to comment and explain your vote after using the poll.

[heltenjon]

Comments!

Cat:

Spoiler

Quick and logical. I guess this one makes the most sense of all the solutions if the game is in the Monkey Island tradition of being able to carry anything. Something like this would probably be the first one would try, but the two part "smash brick -> use brick parts to make ladder" would make for a satisfying puzzle to solve nonetheless. I thought along the same lines, but decided to make the player have to drop most items before climbing.

[close]

Creamy:

Spoiler

This one I would never have thought of!  I like the setup for minigames, and one could use the game setup to nudge the player along the way, for instance notating "Ladder part 1 of 5" in the inventory. Using the rat for a metal cutter had me laughing, but I doubt I would have seen that coming even if I was being nudged along every step of the way. If I managed to solve this, it would be extremely satisfying!

[close]

The Great Underground Empire:

Spoiler

I thought of making a pile of the coal, too, but I thought it may be too shifty for practical use. I like using physics to make this an engineering puzzle, so to speak. This would be fairly logical and very satisfying to solve as a player.

[close]

I voted for

Spoiler

Creamy's long approach. (Sorry, btw, for including the word "long" in my title, too. That was clumsy.) It may not be the most logical solution, but scores high in creativity/unexpectedness and regarding how satisfying it would be.

[close]

[Creamy]

Nice round 

The Sledgehammer Approach by cat

Spoiler

Probably the most sensible solution in the bunch. The setting is used sparingly but the puzzles would be pleasant to solve.

[close]

The Heavy Approach by The Great Underground Empire

Spoiler

It smells of sweat. I suddenly picture mountains of coal and a soot-stained adventurer.
It sounds fun and I could follow the logic so I went with this one.

[close]

The Long and Silly Approach by heltenjon

Spoiler

Holy Rusted Metal! A magnetic rat? A lifting contraption made of fishing lines and an umbrella? It's creative in spades and reading the walkthrough was very entertaining.
However, I can feel some frustration if I was to play this game

[close]

[RootBound]

Last day to vote for your favorite solution to the puzzle! 

[cat]

I voted for heltenjon. I also liked the coal ramps, but the magnetic rat did it for me. I was thinking so hard of ways to use the rat and the fishing line but couldn't come up with something. The rat cutting tin sheets was over the top for me.

[Creamy]

The rat cutting tin sheets was over the top for me.

I plead rule of cool. Just like Heltonjon

[RootBound]

Well! Looks like we have a tie!  Ordinarily I might cast the tiebreaker vote, but my favorite entry was Creamy's and an extra vote there wouldn't change anything.

Congratulations @heltenjon and @The Great Underground Empire! Thanks so much for your detailed and creative entries!

If you two are able to collaborate, I'm fine with that. It would mean fewer participants if we don't allow either of two hosts to submit solutions, but maybe some new people will enter next round.

You could brainstorm together (a reasonable approach), or you could have one person come up with the room and goal and the other simultaneously come up with the inventory and NPCs (a chaotic approach), or whatever process you like.

Feel free to DM each other and send me the result. If you could make it happen within a few days that would be preferable, but I get that this is slightly more work for the host than the other competitions require.

Thanks to everyone for all the participation and for getting this competition off to a strong start!

It's been lots of fun to see people playing around with the  elements I put together for the first room. I hope everyone has just as much fun in the next round. Cheers!