The most interesting or clever puzzle ever?

[Roman5]

Is it possible to describe it without spoiling, whatever puzzle it might be? I also don't know if 'most interesting/clever puzzle' would necessarily have to be the most difficult, ie, rhem, myst. Ingenious is a word that comes to mind when thinking of a very interesting puzzle. What would you say this puzzle is, which game is its home? :)

[colpet]

These are my all time faves:
The 'eye' puzzle in Riven
Le Serpent Rouge from GK3

[AndreaDraco83]

Without any single doubt, Le Serpent Rouge from Gabriel Knight 3

[Ascovel]

I don't knoe if these are the most clever, but they are some of the most memorable (and at least quite a bit clever):

1) Thomas? Thomas? Herr Doktor Klingmann here...

Somehow I can't get it out of my head when I start thinking about puzzles. ;)

2) winning the spitting contest in Monkey Island 2

3) quite a few logic puzzles in Black Dahlia that managed to be exceptionally well integrated in the story, challenging and intelligent

4) most of the Riven puzzles - they felt like natural parts of that world and of the civilization which lived in it

5) trying to confuse virtual reality programs in Gateway

[inm8#2]

Le Serpent Rouge

[Henke]

Without any single doubt, Le Serpent Rouge from Gabriel Knight 3

That's my favourite as well.

[MartyMcFly]

Having just watched my girlfriend complete grim fandango, i would have to say the whole of year 2 felt like a big long puzzle, and i loved it just as much as i did 10 years ago upon it's release.

However, for an actual proper example of a great individual puzzle, i would say that the puzzle on this same year, regarding the clue trail lola leaves manny to find a certain incriminating photograph, was very well done, and actually makes sense now i am 20 and pay closer attention! (i must have just muddled my way through it eventually when i first played it all those years ago...much more satisfying now when i actually figured it out logically!)

[Kazmajik]

Le Serpent Rouge is my all-time favorite. It just brilliantly ties together the research Grace must do with the very landscape that Grace and Gabriel explore throughout the game, wrapped up with the history of the area and the enigma of which Rennes-le-Chateau is only a part of.

[Brimstone]

I have to agree Le Serpent Rouge is by far the most memorable puzzle ever created.

[Ascovel]

I must say when I play a game I don't like the character I control spending so much time in front of the computer as Grace did. I wanted to solve puzzles while exploring the game world. Still, it was the best puzzle in GK3 (the only runner up is the cat hair puzzle :) ). I just wish it was done in some way that would avoid using Sidney.

[inm8#2]

I keep wanting to say something from King's Quest VI, but I'm not sure what to choose. I just really liked the way you had to exchange and revisit items at the pawn shop. The whole game is great!

[Roman5]

Wow, serpent rouge it is then. I lost one of my discs for GK3 and never got far into it. So is this puzzle very hard?

[AndreaDraco83]

Wow, serpent rouge it is then. I lost one of my discs for GK3 and never got far into it. So is this puzzle very hard?

It requires a lot of actual thinking by the player, research and reading; it's challenging and testing, but when you solve it the satisfaction is incredible.

I must also quote Ascovel about the double-tape puzzle of Gabriel Knight 2, which was extremely fun and challenging as well. In that game, I also want to mention the series of puzzles to get all the missing parchments of Wagner's lost opera: although not difficult, I like them very much.

As for King's Quest 6, I agree with inm8#2 about the pawn shop and add that every puzzle found on the Isle of Wonder was incredibly well-thought.

[Kazmajik]

Le Serpent Rouge is challenging, but never unfair. It's sensibly broken down into smaller puzzles within the larger puzzle, and the designers of the game used excellent judgement in having the player balance the gameplay with working on this puzzle and exploring the environment.

Even the way you learn about Le Serpent Rouge is interesting and clever, as well as what happens after.

[Nautilus]

Last Express "listen and watch" puzzles at the restaurante are amazing.

Gabriel Knight 3 begining is so boring that I could go further in the game. :(

[Roman5]

So, have any other more recent games come close and created a similar puzzle as a nod towards serpent rouge? It's obviously a precedent setting and iconic puzzle judging by how many people mentioned it.

[AndreaDraco83]

I think that no one ever came even close to design a puzzle like Le Serpent Rouge... Maybe in a game still to come ;)

[Keregioz]

In dracula origin there were some interesting puzzles. As a matter of fact the first puzzle involving the map reminded me a lot of parts of the serpent rouge puzzle.

For clever puzzles I would suggest the last puzzle in simon3d.

[colpet]

Though I've already posted above, I thought I should mention that Obsidian's puzzles are very ingenious, particularly the first section where you traverse the inside of a 3D cube.

[Gledster]

On a Gabriel Knight theme I loved the tomb-stone puzzles from the first game. At a certain point you have to decipher (and then leave?) messages ritten on the side of a tomb. I thought that was pretty neat.

I never got to play GK3 *sniff*.

[Keregioz]

I never got to play GK3 *sniff*.

It's never too late...

[Kazmajik]

I thought the rada drum code and the voodoo code puzzles from GK1 were clever as well.
Also, in GK3, the bit where Gabriel has the opportunity to sneak into the other rooms at the hotel is quite memorable, because there are a number of ways to go about it.

[Gorecki]

I found a lot of the puzzles in Day of the Tentacle to be incredibly well constructed, especially the ones that involve making a change in one time period to effect a change in the future. The puzzle with the wine time-capsule springs to mind.

[AndreaDraco83]

I thought the rada drum code and the voodoo code puzzles from GK1 were clever as well.


From GK1, I'd mention the mime puzzle as well: I know that a lot of people hated it, but I totally love it! :)

[Ascovel]

I thought the rada drum code and the voodoo code puzzles from GK1 were clever as well.
From GK1, I'd mention the mime puzzle as well: I know that a lot of people hated it, but I totally love it! :)

I agree in both cases. Great satisfaction once you figure them out.

[Gledster]

From GK1, I'd mention the mime puzzle as well: I know that a lot of people hated it, but I totally love it! :)

I forgot about the mime puzzle! Luring the policeman away from his bike wasn't it? Took me ages that one. Sound was used to great effect there as the radio kept cutting off just as it got to the part you needed. Very well done.

[Methodical MaN]

I love the puzzle in Discworld Noir where after investigations a series of murders and methods of murder you draw a conclusion to famous murders and an occult symbol and after finding a map of the city in a dark house in the shades make the murders on the map and using the star shaped symbol you can decipher exactly where the next two murders are going to be.