Not Exactly Rocket Science Anymore

Before the world of online walkthroughs, companies dedicated to strategy guides, and game cheating devices like the GameShark, there were plenty of games that were not only a ton of fun but really pushed your intellectual skills to the limit. And I'm not just talking about Donkey Kong, Jr. Math here. Some of the earliest computer games, like The Secret of Monkey Island, relied heavily on your ability to puzzle-solve and determine what you need to do next with very little in-game help.

But now, we're in a world where we have robotic vacuum cleaners, "smart" washers and dryers, and GPS systems that tell you every turn you need to make on the road. We've become a society where, outside of our jobs, we want to exert as little effort as possible and give our brains a rest. The gaming culture has shamelessly shifted to accommodate that lifestyle as well. Even games that still revolve around puzzle solving have been reduced to something you'd find in a 3rd grader's adventure book. Furthermore, these games often have an insane number of in-game clues and tips to help you solve these rather elementary challenges.

A good example of this is the Legend of Zelda series. When it was first introduced in 1987, it was heralded for its addictive but challenging tasks. But the latest entry in the series for a home console platform, Four Swords Adventure, has nothing but simple, mundane challenges that are just tedious and not thought provoking at all.

There are a number of factors that have contributed to this change. We've got a new generation of kids who, really for the first time, are growing up with gaming. They're an expanding demographic and games need to accommodate them; having too many games that are overly complex could deter them from gaming altogether. Secondly, the advent of the strategy guide craze probably discourages the developers from making any puzzle too mind-boggling, because gamers will just look up the solution. Finally, the development process of a video game has changed dramatically. It has become much more oriented around special effects, smooth 3D animations, and stunning visuals. There's not as much time to spend on intriguing puzzles, as they are not considered as important. With much more space to work with, games can easily rely on other attributes to make them worthwhile, much more easily that was the case 10 or 20 years ago.

This shift in emphasis - from how the game plays, to how the game looks - is a huge threat to the entire gaming industry. We need a healthy number of games that still stimulate gamers intellectually. We need those challenges that leave us ripping out our hair trying to figure out what to do. Again, it all comes down to the reward factor. Solving a puzzle that would have left Einstein in the dark, like those early 1990's games, is so much more satisfying than, say, figuring out in which order to push blocks that are labeled 1, 2, and 3. There are certainly many of us who want gaming to again be a truly cerebral activity, and integrating some great mind-boggling puzzles back into games is a step in that direction.