Schroeder
Schroeder 1Jessica SchroederDr. Robert MurdockMeta-Assignment 128 October 2012PuzzlesPuzzles are a very important part in an alternate reality game puzzles can make or break the success of the player. Normally puzzles have many levels of difficulty, but of course it depends on what abilities and strengths the player can bring to the table. The two puzzles I chose were the cryptic letter puzzle and the police puzzle. These two puzzles are good and function well in an alternate reality game. Out of the two I feel that the police puzzle is stronger and more beneficial to the game. Although, I feel the cryptic letter needs a little more to fit in and become beneficial to the game. In the paragraphs below I will be explaining what makes these puzzles strong or weak as well as map out a revision for the cryptic letter puzzle.“Good puzzles contribute to plot, character, and story development. Good puzzles draw the player into the fiction world. Good puzzles can make a great game” (Bates). Puzzles can be hard to figure out and depending if a “hard” puzzle is a good or bad thing. With the police puzzle, it’s longer, more challenging and has a ton of valid information in it. A few of the strongest attributes in this puzzle are the clues hidden inside, many suggestive fraises that offer the element of danger, as well as reveal information that could be valid in finding Minerva Beane; the missing professor. Success in the puzzle requires you to pay very close attention to the little details. This is beneficial because if you don’t pay particularly close attention you will miss all the clues that could make you successful in the game. Something I had to do as a creator of an alternate reality game is pretend to be someone else. Kick off my shoes, and put someone else’s on; such as a detective of a police officer. I found this to be highly Schroeder2effective because I knew how to write my document and sound like who I was portraying. If the person solving the puzzle does this very thing, I think it would help them understand and interpret the information in a useful way. In chapter ten of James Paul’s the Gee, he talks about customization, “in some games, players are able to customize the game to play to fit their learning and playing styles, for example through a different level of difficulty of the choice of playing different characters with different skills” (131).What this means is, you as a creator have to know your audience, depending on who you are creating this puzzle for is how you will determine the level of difficulty to use. This next puzzle titled “cryptic letter” is not as strong as the previous puzzle, but does offer some strong points. This puzzle also offers hidden clues, again you have to pay close attention to the details, such as fonts, font size etc. but to me, this puzzle is too easy and doesn’t offer a new identity to the solver. Gee states “rather, humans think and understand best when they can imagine an experience in such a way that the simulation prepares them for actions they need and want to take in order to accomplish their goals” (148). This relates more to the police puzzle than it does this one. I feel the hands on experience will give them a deeper understanding of the puzzle, and lead to the ultimate goal of solving the puzzle. Even though the cryptic letter is weaker than the other puzzle, there is room for improvement. I think something that would make it better would be to attach a sheet of paper to the puzzle, with the bolded words scrambled; allowing the players to work together and unscramble to words to make out the saying or clue. This will also make it more difficult to find the actual saying. This will allow the people to spend a lot of time with the puzzle and analyze as well as know the puzzle in a deeper manner. I firmly believe that if the revision plan was created, the puzzle above will offer a lot to the ARG and will get players working together and steer them in the right direction, leading to the ultimate goal of winning. Schroeder3Work CitedGee, James Paul. "Games and Learning: Issues, Perils, and Potentials." Good Video Games and Good Learning. Ed. Colin Lankshear, Michele Knobel, Chris Bigum, and Michael Peters. Vol. 27. New York: Peter Lang, 2007. 129-73. PDF.Kim, Scott. Scott Kim PuzzleMaster. Google, n.d. Web. 8 Dec 2012. ................
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