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Logic puzzles and game design

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Logic puzzles and game design
A blank logic-grid cell still means unresolved
Agree on a notation for confirmed and excluded pairings.
Logic puzzles and game design
A board game's ending belongs in the first draft of its rules
State exactly when play finishes and how the outcome is determined.
Logic puzzles and game design
A Carroll diagram cell combines its row and column labels
Classify using two yes-or-no properties.
Logic puzzles and game design
A cooperative puzzle needs a reason to share information
Make success depend on shared progress rather than one child's ranking.
Logic puzzles and game design
A fair riddle survives reasonable alternative answers
Use clues that jointly identify the intended solution.
Logic puzzles and game design
A four-by-four sudoku answer needs a deduction behind it
Use the stated row, column and region constraints together.
Logic puzzles and game design
A hint ladder can stop before it gives away the answer
Give progressively more specific help while preserving useful thinking.
Logic puzzles and game design
A maze branch can point towards the exit and still fail
Look ahead for connected paths and blocked branches.
Logic puzzles and game design
A puzzle can offer different starting supports
Offer different starting supports for the same thinking goal.
Logic puzzles and game design
A puzzle reflection should name the move that helped
Describe a specific approach and its effect.
Logic puzzles and game design
A score needs a unit and a recording moment
Define what earns a point and when it is recorded.
Logic puzzles and game design
A solution explanation should let the reader verify it
Show why the answer satisfies the constraints.
Logic puzzles and game design
A spot-the-difference puzzle needs intentional, checkable changes
Make intentional changes and document them before sharing.
Logic puzzles and game design
A treasure clue should work for someone who did not write it
Give enough information for the intended location without unsafe searching.
Logic puzzles and game design
An ambiguous drawing can invite several good interpretations
Explore multiple interpretations of an underspecified prompt.
Logic puzzles and game design
An I-spy search can be systematic without being timed
Use a repeatable search pattern to reduce missed areas.
Logic puzzles and game design
Can these game rules send a player around forever?
Check whether a repeated rule can prevent progress.
Logic puzzles and game design
Chance and choice contribute different things to a game
Identify which outcomes depend on random events and which on decisions.
Logic puzzles and game design
Cross out a logic possibility only when a clue allows it
Rule out possibilities only when a clue justifies it.
Logic puzzles and game design
Crossword crossings are evidence for checking an answer
Use both clues and shared letters.
Logic puzzles and game design
Equal scores do not prove a game was fair
Evaluate rules and opportunities separately from who wins.
Logic puzzles and game design
Finding one puzzle answer does not prove there is only one
Search for alternative valid answers after finding the first.
Logic puzzles and game design
Give a new reader the game rules and watch where they pause
Observe what an unfamiliar reader can do without extra explanation.
Logic puzzles and game design
Left of the tower needs an agreed map viewpoint
Establish whose left and right the clue uses.
Logic puzzles and game design
Memory-game strategies can be discussed without a speed ranking
Explore ways to track positions through repeated observation.
Logic puzzles and game design
One turn needs a beginning, an end and a next player
Define who acts next and what one turn includes.
Logic puzzles and game design
Pack a printable game so another group can set it up
Make setup and pack-up reproducible.
Logic puzzles and game design
Pause the puzzle without losing the next useful question
Make pausing and returning a legitimate strategy.
Logic puzzles and game design
Revise an elimination game so participation can continue
Keep participation available after mistakes or unlucky outcomes.
Logic puzzles and game design
The overlap in a Venn diagram has a job
Use intersecting sets when an item can meet both rules.
Logic puzzles and game design
Two-attribute sorting requires both properties at once
Apply both properties rather than sorting on the most visible one.
Logic puzzles and game design
Which mystery detail actually narrows the possibilities?
Ask whether information restricts the puzzle's possibilities.