Since puzzles are so pervasive in game design, I wondered if anybody had ideas on different ways to make your story "puzzling?" Addy

Are you referring to intellectually challenging plots like
that of Pulp Fiction (well, some people seem to find it hard
to follow...) or more recently Memento ?

Or possibly stuff like the 6th Sense or Mullhollands Drive,
which are not complicated per se, but make the viewer think
back at all the events he has witnessed under a suddenly
different perspective ? (I believe I mentioned how I love that
narrative trick in a recent thread by S&S)

?

Sancte Isidore ora pro nobis !

The use of different time frames to give readers pieces of the puzzle.

The use of a 3rd party to point out pieces of the puzzle, similar to the old Sherlock Holmes stories. Holmes gives you information in bits and pieces to help lead you down the road to the solution.

Imagery could be interesting in telling a puzzle story. Check out some Bergman films for that

Another idea is the encapsulation of a story within a story, where the obvious is just a cover for what is to come later. The characters move through the story but at some point in time the inner story takes over and sends the characters in a whole different direction, you could layer and layer until the reality was totally different from what was first percieved.



[edited by - April on March 7, 2003 7:05:34 PM]