One question: Is there any instance in which two combinations differ only by color? If so, that could be a problem for colorblind players, as they might get stuck if such a puzzle is mandatory.

It is a good idea, when testing your game, to find testers with disabilities and characteristics that could cause problems; for example, one-handed players, colorblind players, hearing-impaired players (sound cues are fine as long as they aren't the *only* cues), players whose native language isn't English (or whatever language the game is in), and players for whom using the mouse might not be comfortable. (Also, if it's a VR game, you'll also want testers of different heights; this actually has been an issue with some VR games being unplayable if you're short. There's even one case I've read about where a game is unplayable if you're black.)

The safest (and, IMO, the most interesting) way to do puzzles is to not change the mechanics of the game just for a puzzle; instead, keep the mechanics the same, but perhaps require the player to do something unusual (but still within the game mechanics) to progress.

The 7th Guest probably has the best puzzles ever put into a PC game (except for the molecule puzzle, which is terrible).

Qualities of good puzzles, like the ones in The 7th Guest, include:

- Visually pleasing to look at.

- Solutions are based on rational logic that any reasonable person could figure out with thought.

- The interface for interacting with the puzzle is simple and easy to use.

- Everything the player needs to solve the puzzle, he/she already has, before he/she first sees the puzzle. In other words, the player need not wonder if he/she doesn't happen to have the correct item(s) need to solve the puzzle, nor does the player need to go on backtracking pixel-hunts to find said items.

- Jumping puzzles are always terrible.

- Timed jumping puzzles are the worst types of puzzles in the universe and they all come straight from Hell. That "feature" can single-handedly make games unplayable. This point was sort of already addressed by other posters who said not to have any kind of timed puzzles, which is also a good point.

Qualities of bad puzzles are the opposite of everything I've said above, and bad puzzles are always annoying. 90%+ of adventure games do not follow the principles of good puzzles, and that is why the adventure game genre is dead.

Keeping puzzles completely out of games might be the best solution, because a puzzle-less game is always better than a game with annoying puzzles. And most developers do not seem to understand how to create puzzles that lead to pleasure rather than frustration. For the most part, puzzles in game would be better if those puzzles simply did not exist.

Ah, that's exactly what I mean by bad jumping puzzles and timed-jumping puzzles. Soul Reaver games are unplayable because of how aggravating those jumping puzzles are (especially in combination with the inability to save the game whenever the player wants to). Those are indeed a great implementation of puzzles. All the player has do does is solve a clever riddle, and the only things he/she needs are logic and intelligence.

On the mastermind type puzzle, there are a given number of pips for each colour, so it is colour-blind accessible. For the wheels, a mouse-over will identify it via text as a blue rune wheel or other colour. The keys that are elsewhere in the dungeon indicate which rune to set on which colour wheel.

The best way is to play games that make puzzles a central mechanic. To that end, I recommend two games:

1: La-Mulana. The puzzles combine riddles with Zelda-esque dungeon manipulation. Probably the best metroidvania that currently exists, provided you can overlook the most obtuse puzzles.

2: Lufia II - Dungeon manipulation is the butter for this JRPG. Possibly better than Link to the Past when it comes to the puzzles.

However, aside from gameplay...don't forget that personality is one of the best assets a puzzle game can have. King's Quest, Ace Attorney, La-Mulana, Day of the Tentacle, and Myst all make a point to make the player feel excited or interested in the world they present.

Hurl the Towers of Hanoi, Sliding Puzzles, Sokoban, and traffic sliders into the sea where they belong.

Give me neither timed, nor timing puzzles either.

I prefer lateral thinking puzzles like from Myst and Layton. Like following the sound of flowing water to solve a simple pipe puzzle in Channelwood.

But then I'm reminded of the hellmaze and the precision sound puzzles of Myst, both of which the developers are sorry for.

A few days ago I encountered the most annoying puzzle in my life. It's the puzzle in the fairy forest in Dragonsphere. There were 8 flying little shits that moved around and changed colour and each had a name and was saying something different for every colour that could be either true or false. It took me about half an hour and a big cup of coffee to pass through this point.