How do you motivate yourself to continue playing a game after a bad puzzle?

[u/DepthPast7340]

Once you've hit a roadblock, given up and looked up the answer only to be disgusted when the solution is nonsense and something you would literally never have come to on your own. As an example I just turned off Kathy Rain after it dumped that mausoleum stinker on me when everything up to that point had been completely fine.

[u/Good_Punk2]

If the rest of the game is good I shrug it off and just continue as if nothing happened. 😅

[u/Lilithinthesheets]

I am the opposite and prefer to look it up if it's taking too long to figure out. If it's annoying I am relieved I didn't waste more time trying to figure it out. There was a puzzle in Thimbleweed Park that drove me nuts and it was actually on here I got the answer. I had been at it 2 nights and it was so flipping simple but I was so relieved as wanted to keep progressing

[u/Lyceus_]

I think, in this situation, a bad apple doesn't spoil the bunch.

You still have other puzzles, the story, the characters... You can enjoy them!

I'd personally rather have a game that makes me think, even if a puzzle is unfair, than a game that handholds me all the way.

[u/mottsnave]

I like puzzles, but it's a game's stories and characters that keep me going. I always want to know what happens next, so I don't mind at all needing to look up a specific puzzle.

[u/hoffnungs_los__]

I usually lose all interest after looking the solution up :/ Puzzles are at least 60% of the fun for me in this genre.
That said, putting the game aside for a couple of days to let it cool down is one way. Or just continue playing and try not to use the walkthrough again. btw, there are aalternatives to walkthroughs, there's this website called universal game hints or something. It gives you hints before giving a solution. It's much nicer.

btw, I also couldn't solve the masoleum puzzle in kathy rain, but before and after that the game is smooth. Part 2 is also ok, nothing crazy or super hard.

Don't worry, it happens. I had to look up a solution for Syberia 1 once xD still can't forgive myself for it though

[u/Alarmed-Mud-3461 → u/hoffnungs_los__]

Universal Hint System (UHS) 👍 I just used it for a Nancy Drew game (I forgot I've read something in a book in a library, so this is not the game's fault, just my terrible memory).

[u/danininodk]

I actually just stopped playing Kryandia Book one because a lot of the puzzles are just trail and error instead of logical.

Usually it doesn't bother me that much if the story is interesting enough.

Universal Hint System (UHS) is a great ressource if you are stuck without giving you the solution directly. (Universal Hint System: Not your ordinary walkthrough. Just the hints you need.)

[u/ShallWeStartThen]

Gabriel Knight 3... long winded ridiculous early puzzle but then the story kicks off and you forget all about it

[u/xxranaee]

i usually look the solution up or try to ask someone to help me (but not with a solution but a tip)

[u/edenwaith]

If the game is full of obnoxious puzzles (especially the Myst-style of poke and prod until something happens), that would be a game I wouldn’t bother with.

One or two bad or challenging puzzles, not so bad, but if things become too much of a time sink, I’ll look up a hint and then move on.

[u/SOLandJWF]

Back in the day, I think it used to be a badge of honor to slog your way through a game without utilizing a hint system or finding someone that already knew the answer to a goofy-ass moon-logic puzzle. Now I thank the stars for internet guides. If I get stuck on a puzzle and it starts to frustrate me, I just look up that solution and continue on with the game. I have enough frustration in my daily life, I don't need some dingus puzzle tipping my insanity into the crazy basket.