Given the (slightly infamous) difficulty of my puzzle games, I’m often asked whether I can provide walkthroughs, either video or simply text-based. I know how frustrated I can get at other people’s puzzles, so I understand the appeal, but I feel there are a few downsides to having an official walkthrough alongside a puzzle game:
- The temptation to look at it too early is overwhelming. If a walkthrough is available from the very beginning, it can be tempting to look at it for some early puzzle – and once you’ve looked at it once, it’s easier and easier to keep looking at it for future puzzles, before you’ve really thought hard about them. In the end you may look up answers to puzzles you would have been able to solve if you’d given them more time, and miss out on a lot of the fun. (I know this happens to me!)
- It discourages others from helping each other/creating their own walkthroughs. Although I gain some satisfaction from people struggling with one of my tricky puzzles, it may surprise you to learn that I get more satisfaction from seeing people solve them! It’s great to see a community develop, and fan-created walkthroughs are the icing on that cake! And they also lead into one last point…
- Without walkthroughs, people may discover unexpected solutions to puzzles. It’s inevitable that in a complex puzzle game, people may find tricks I missed. This is great! Even when they completely break my levels, its fun to know people have outsmarted me – but when a dev-made walkthrough exists, it implies there is one ‘correct’ solution to each puzzle. I’d much rather see what people come up with on their own.
Of course this is just my opinion! I don’t disapprove of walkthroughs in general, nor of looking up solutions when you’re really stumped. If you’re currently stuck on one of my puzzles and there’s no solution out there, you could always try asking me directly. If you’re playing on another site, you can message me on Kongregate or Newgrounds, or you can email me: david@wigdev.com
I cannot promise a quick reply, and sometimes I miss messages completely, but if you’re really tearing your hair out over a puzzle and are willing to be patient, I do know the intended solutions. (…If I haven’t forgotten them…)
I’ll take this opportunity to ask that if you are enjoying one of my games enough to bug me about solutions, you consider supporting me. I’m just one guy with limited time, so any donation is appreciated. Thanks!
As always, I wish you all the best of luck in your puzzling!