Talk:Puzzle video game

Rubik's cube
the page says that the rubik's cube predates video games. according to the other relevant wikipedia pages, the rubik's cube was released in the west in 1980. the arcade version of spacewar (one of the first arcade games) was released in 1972. i would say that the popularity of the rubik's cube was, at earliest, concurrent with the peak of the arcade game.

Move to puzzle game
This is more consistent with other genres (action game, adventure game) and puzzle game redirects here. Dread Lord CyberSkull ✎☠ 18:36, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I think, conversely, the other articles should be moved to "Computer Action Game" and "Computer Adventure Game" respectively. Just as there are puzzle games that do not take place on the computer, so are there action and adventure games. H7dders 12:31, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
 * It was requested that this article be renamed but there was no consensus for it be moved. --Stemonitis 19:59, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Regardless. My arguement still stands. H7dders 08:23, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I dont no wher the login bar is 2A00:23C5:9802:2C00:D9EA:5F9C:6154:DA05 (talk) 06:33, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

Background
Regardless of whether the video game was around at the same time as the Rubik's cube, the jigsaw predates Edison by almost a century. The phrase "as we know them today" is therefore redundant and does not contribute to the flow of the article. It would be better to remove the Rubik's cube reference. Better still to remove the jigsaw reference and rewrite this section so that it actually says something about computer puzzle games. H7dders 12:30, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

Puzzle VS Action Puzzle
Tetris and Lumines and not pure puzzle games. They are Action Puzzle, as they combine elements or arcade and puzzle games. We need to fix this. Netrat_msk (talk) 14:19, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

I wouldn't consider them puzzle games at all. There's entirely arcade, rely on fast reactions, and use no deductive or inductive reasoning. --HSukePup (talk) 04:40, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

New move request
This article has been renamed from Video puzzle game to Puzzle video game as the result of a move request.

- unopposed move. Randomran (talk) 16:40, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

I understand the why this isn't just "puzzle game". After all, there are puzzle games that aren't on computers or consoles. But having the "video" at the beginning is just inconsistent with the other articles, and unintuitive. I recommend a move to "Puzzle video game". Randomran (talk) 07:16, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Strong support Currently sounds like some dusty old fad involving VHS cassettes. The emphasis is on these games being puzzles, when it should be on these being video games. Someoneanother 08:37, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Strong support. "Puzzle video game" sounds much better. Netrat_msk (talk) 08:56, 27 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Interesting. "Video puzzle game" gets 11300 ghits, "Puzzle video game" gets 17000. So support, as it seems to be the more popular term. Marasmusine (talk) 08:58, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Merge proposal
I propose that Hidden object game and Jumping puzzle be merged into this one per WP:SUMMARY. The other articles are very small, and this one could be improved by expanding it a bit. The old pages will of course remain in the form of redirects. SharkD (talk) 03:30, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Hidden object game is short enough that we should definitely merge it in here. I disagree about jumping puzzles though -- that's a platform game concept and not a puzzle game concept. (A game with a puzzle doesn't make it a puzzle game.) Randomran (talk) 03:37, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Still, it's a video game implementation of a puzzle and should be listed here. Any emphasis on the connection to platform games can be explained adequately in the article. I don't think readers will be confused. SharkD (talk) 04:44, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I just don't see what it has to do with puzzle video games. It specifically says that these puzzles are "particularly in the genre of platformers", and refers to several platform games. That would be a much more appropriate target, IMO. Mind you, it's virtually unreferenced, I'm not sure there's much to merge anyway. Randomran (talk) 05:05, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 * It has a lot to do with puzzle video games, as I've already said. They're kind of like minigames. Comparable examples from other genres include Triple Triad and Tetra Master, which are minigames in Final Fantasy, yet are listed under List of collectible card games; and Arcomage which started out as a minigame of the Heroes of Might and Magic series, but was later spun-off into its own title. There's also a list of obstacle course navigation puzzles, which jumping puzzles are in essence. SharkD (talk) 05:32, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I just don't see what they have to do with puzzle games except that they're puzzles that take place within a game. The "jumping puzzle" article is clearly talking about platform games, and the secondary title for the article is "platform sequences". Even reliable third-party sources wouldn't put this anywhere near the puzzle video game genre. See this reference, and as a stretch, this reference. You won't find anyone that says there's some kind of jumping puzzle game genre. It's a gameplay element found almost exclusively in platform games, or otherwise action games. Randomran (talk) 05:45, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 * The article doesn't necessarily need to focus just on the genre. It can also mention things like, "Puzzles appear in other genres as well, such as platform games and...", and then continue on with the description. SharkD (talk) 12:40, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
 * No doubt. But then this shouldn't be the central location for all information about puzzles in games. Just the puzzle game genre. I wouldn't object to a link to platform game or action game, but I don't think a merge of jumping puzzle would make sense here. Randomran (talk) 16:25, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

I agree that the distinction between genre and gameplay element is important, so I oppose this move. I believe that Jumping puzzle should be treated as a child of the puzzle and gameplay articles rather than puzzle video game. Playclever (talk) 23:19, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thinking about it, an article relating to Environmental puzzles in general might be more appropriate as a catchment for jumping puzzle? (I'm thinking games like Portal (video game), narbacular drop, Prince of persia, Shadow of the colossus, etc? Playclever (talk) 23:30, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I think the article on jumping puzzles does the job. But if someone were to dig up more references, or even just some other articles that would be merged to such a topic, then I might support creating a new article. Randomran (talk) 00:05, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Different Way of Categorising Puzzle Games
I would like to see a different means of categorising. The current way sees games of a style that I want to play put with games that are different in style. I wouldn't put tetris with Braid for example.

Games like tetris, candy crush, etc, I tend to think of as clearing puzzles. Then there are jig saw puzzles which involve simply rearranging pieces. I would class Braid, The Bridge, Antichamber, Portal as process puzzles... I would class some of the block move process puzzles such as English Country garden, or games like Traffic Jam, as geometric puzzles. Games like infinifactory, SpaceChem I would class as factory puzzles. There's also games like Spore which are growth puzzles.

Anyone else think of something better? I think the categories used currently aren't useful.Gonegahgah (talk) 09:30, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

Agreed. The current categories are not useful at all and don't reflect modern puzzle games. We should probably change it to these categories:

Logic - You can walk into a level, look around without touching anything, and then solve it based on any previously-discovered logic or mechanism of the game: The Talos Principle, Portal, Braid, Antichamber, Quell series, The Witness, Cut the Rope

Trial-and-Error/Point-and-Click - You must interact with the level and toggle controls before figuring out the mechanism: Myst series, most escape room games, Monument Valley, Limbo/INSIDE, most walking simulators (to some degree). Puzzle Mechanisms/physics are usually not consistent throughout the game. This genre often intersects with the "Adventure" or "exploration" game genres.

Coding - SpaceChem, Infinifactory

Hidden Objects: The current description is fine;no change needed.

Tile-matching: The current description is fine;no change needed ... with the exception of Tetris.

Not a puzzle game: Tetris. This game entirely relies on fast reactions instead of logic. Why was Tetris considered a puzzle game? HSukePup (talk) 04:34, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

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Scholarly source
Coin945 (talk) 22:11, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
 * researchgate.net/publication/327639714_Transhistorical_perspective_of_the_puzzle_video_game_genre

I think this article should be split.
This article, I believe, has a pretty significant issue: it's about two genres of video games, not one. I would tentatively describe these two genres as "arcade puzzle games" (like tetris, candy crush, and bejeweled) and "logic puzzle games." (like portal, the witness, and braid) Despite the fact that they're both called "puzzle games" I think that these are fundamentally different genres, not two subsets under one genre. Here's my rationale: the "fun" to be found in a game like candy crush is entirely dissimilar from the "fun" to be found in a game like braid. Candy crush is fun because of the cathartic destruction that comes when you create a chain reaction of cleared candies. Braid if fun because of the satisfaction that comes from figuring out how to solve a handmade problem, often described as the "ah-ha" moment. Thus, whether or not someone likes an arcade puzzle game like candy crush is absolutely no indication on whether or not they would like a logic puzzle game like braid. I would say this is enough to differentiate them as entirely different genres, and thus, I think this article should be split into two. 104.177.148.249 (talk) 03:11, 21 August 2023 (UTC)

Can’t make up my mind
In always ican never come to a conclusion 73.201.241.83 (talk) 06:18, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Players began using a mouse to play puzzle games
As the sentence about Minesweeper added in June 2010 by Jonesta was altered, I looked into the cited book (pages 330-331) I would say "players began using a mouse to play puzzle games" before the release of Windows 95. The article mentions Lemmings (1991) - the two-player mode took advantage of the Amiga's ability to support two mice simultaneously. JanSuchy (talk) 15:38, 27 May 2024 (UTC)
 * "The most dominant casual game for the masses was the version of solitaire packed into Windows 3.0 released in 1990".
 * "When Windows 95 was released, it contained still another game that would further the casual genre: Minesweeper".
 * "Minesweeper's idea of using thee mouse to select blocks on the grid, while not new, became mainstream, and thus acceptable as an interface to further the casual puzzle game genre."