Puzzles are at the core of Adventure gameplay, they provide challenges for you to overcome with brains rather than brawn. For Action Adventures, they offer a break from the hacky-slashy-stabby-shooty element of title.
Every week I’ll bring you a new puzzle, drawn from some of the best and worst adventure or puzzle games I’ve ever played. Every once in a while I’ll even leave you one of my own for you to solve. If you do, I’ll reward you.
It’s been a few weeks already and no one has solved my cypher. I hope you do because this one has an actual prize attached to it! You can check it out in the previous issue!
This week’s puzzle is from Phoenix Online Studios’ Cognition, a game that was in this series weeks ago. This time the puzzle is at the core of one of the episodes. As you discover the identity of the serial killer you’re pursuing, you find their apartment and when you use your power to see the past, you connect with the killer’s power to see the future. And so, the entire episode is one gigantic puzzle, where you must use your post-cognition to take control of the past version of the killer and then use their pre-cognition to connect the dots in the story and bring the chapter to a close and yourself closer to the truth.
What I love about this puzzle is that it takes the established formula and turns it on its head. In earlier episodes you would just use the post-cognition power to find clues, but here it’s just the bridge between you and the killer’s experiences. The actual power you use isn’t yours. It’s a fantastic storytelling and mechanic decision even though it’s risky to shift control so radically. They managed to pull it off and not only make it a complex and entertaining experience but also my favourite episode of the entire season!
Have you played Cognition Season 1? Have you thought on what Season 2 might bring? I had some theories about it. You can read about them here!
