ID:41382
 
Keywords: design, links
Can't stand 'em myself. But many game designers are seemingly powerless to resist them! If you're one of those designers, your efforts may benefit from reading these articles.


DESIGNING THE PUZZLE
http://www.scottkim.com/thinkinggames/GDC00/bates.html

Why Adventure Games Suck
http://grumpygamer.com/2152210

Designing and Integrating Puzzles in Action-Adventure Games
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2917/ designing_and_integrating_puzzles_.php

10 Steps to Great Game Design
http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.1e.html
Mmm... Action-Adventure Games... My favorite!
That was a load of useful information. Thanks for the links!
Referring to the 'Designing and Integrating Puzzles in Action-Adventure Games' Article:

So, how exactly is it that Metroid games manage to be fun without all the "elaborate scripting"? You just wander around, blast stuff, find items that let you wander around further, and wander around some more.

Yet they're fun.

No deep story, not creative events, just lots to explore and find. But Super Metroid gets rated #6 on the "top 100 SNES games" list, and Metroid Prime gets rated #2 on the "top 100 GameCube games" list?

How does that work?

That article seems to be bent on the idea that everything must revolve around a good story. There are some very successful games that go against that theory.