The Most Ridiculous Puzzles Ever

[Datadog]

The other week, I'd just finished playing "Orion Burger" and was talking with my friends about how insanely hard the darn thing was. Then my friends told me about how they were stuck on the new Monkey Island game, so I brought up the unnecessarily complicated and utterly stupid "the sky is falling" puzzle from KQ7 and showed them the process for the moped rental puzzle from GK3 as further points in the topic.

It's a given that with adventure games, sometimes beating the game requires you to get inside the designer's head instead of being resourceful on your own. And looking at how much trouble one Yeti can give a guy in the latest episode of "Let's Play King's Quest V," it's safe to say that even MacGyver would pull his hair out at some of this stuff. When I played "Tex Murphy 4" a few months ago, I had to use a walkthrough to get through Area 51 and it was still one of the most lengthy and painful things I'd ever done. There was no conceivable way I could have ever done it on my own.

There's already a similar topic on Most Frustrating Moments, but those mostly centered around arcade sequences and falling off staircases. I'd like to hear about the most ridiculous puzzles you've ever found in adventure games. The kinds that defied all logic, made you pull your hair out and beg the question: "how was anyone EVER supposed to figure this out?!"

Let the spoilers begin!

[BBP]

I believe the Haemorrhoid Cream is even more ridiculous than the Moustache puzzle in GK3... even Gabriel can't believe it. But much worse is the Wallet under the Couch in Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle Of Flesh. Primarily because the alternative of moving the couch a little is so obvious. Maybe it sketches out Curtis's mind issues.

[Rudy]

But much worse is the Wallet under the Couch in Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle Of Flesh. Primarily because the alternative of moving the couch a little is so obvious.

I thought that puzzle was pretty obvious actually. The candy bar in the inventory gave it away. But yeah, why not move the darn couch?!

Here's one which i find totally ridiculous. "Lost in Time": there's a leaky rowing boat at the shore, so the hole needs to get fixed. What to fix it with? Well, at one point in the basement of a building, the protagonist shot the cork of a cider bottle to an item she couldn't reach, in order to make it topple over and fall on the floor. She added that the cork flew out of the window. Turns out that the cork flew out of the window into an empty waterpit outside (and there's no clue whatsoever that it actually landed there). How to fix the boat? Take a damaged hose, fix it up, attach it to a water tap, and fill up the waterpit (a few ten thousands of liters of water in a matter of seconds) to get the cork floating on the surface. Mind you, there was a whole rack of cider bottles in the basement...

[AndreaDraco]

I'd like to add the inflatable duck puzzle from The Longest Journey, which is even more tortuous than the Cat-Mustache.

And I must join in to say that the Rat-Wallet was absolutely laughable. It had a "I'm a bad puzzle" sign right in front of it.

[Tawmis]

LEGEND OF KYRANDIA is full of IMPOSSIBLE puzzles... my gawd...

[Datadog]

I vaguely remember playing that one, but I do remember needing a walkthrough way too many times. What was the worst of the worst for you?

Oh! And King's Quest 1. Guessing the gnome's name. Roberta Williams must have been laughing diabolically when she put that puzzle in.

[DeadPoolX]

Oh! And King's Quest 1. Guessing the gnome's name. Roberta Williams must have been laughing diabolically when she put that puzzle in.

Is that the one where you need to write it backwards? I remember the original KQ1 version being a lot tougher than the "updated" one. That's not just because I was younger when playing the original, but some of the puzzles were actually simplified a bit in the remake.

I agree about the hemorrhoid cream puzzle in GK3. Why would medication that works on a living organism also work on an inanimate object? That puzzle doesn't make sense.

Some of the worst and least logical puzzles have come from LucasArts games. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis was terrible for that. Some of the puzzles were just mind boggling and not in a "that's cool!" sort of way. I remember calling up LucasArt's hint line quite a bit and then my parents getting the bill. They weren't too happy about that.

[Rudy]

Oh! And King's Quest 1. Guessing the gnome's name. Roberta Williams must have been laughing diabolically when she put that puzzle in.

Is that the one where you need to write it backwards? I remember the original KQ1 version being a lot tougher than the "updated" one. That's not just because I was younger when playing the original, but some of the puzzles were actually simplified a bit in the remake.

In the first release both the name needed to be spelled backwards AND the characters were in reverse alphabetical order (A=Z, B=Y, C=X and so on). In the remake the name only needed to be spelled backwards without reversing the alphabetical order.

[Datadog]

Some of the worst and least logical puzzles have come from LucasArts games. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis was terrible for that. Some of the puzzles were just mind boggling and not in a "that's cool!" sort of way.

I was showing that to a friend a couple years ago. We got about as far as the pyramid in Costa Rica when we encountered the parrot puzzle. Not an entirely difficult puzzle, but the logic behind interrogating a wild parrot in Central America for the name of the Greek philosopher Plato's Lost Dialogue never really sunk in until I was sitting there with someone watching over my shoulder. Good god, did I ever let some puzzles slide when I was younger.

[Rudy]

I really like the Fate of Atlantis, aswell as the "Last Crusade". I know, i know, not Sierra games, but i like them nonetheless . The best thing about Atlantis to me, is that you can play it both with or without that woman (what is her name again?). Very replayable and enjoyable. Been a while since i played it though...

[DeadPoolX]

I really like the Fate of Atlantis, aswell as the "Last Crusade". I know, i know, not Sierra games, but i like them nonetheless . The best thing about Atlantis to me, is that you can play it both with or without that woman (what is her name again?). Very replayable and enjoyable. Been a while since i played it though...

You got to partner up with Sophia Hapgood in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (if taking the Team Path) and you meet her again in Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. The latter was an Action-Adventure game, with heavy emphasis on the "action" part.

What's interesting in FoA is that you can win the game with and without rescuing her at the end. I tried both endings and the one where she's saved is much nicer (and I'm sure that's not by accident, either).

If you've only played the Team Path, I'd recommend going back to try the Wits Path and the Fists Path. I didn't like either as much as the Team Path, but they were good in their own right. No matter which path you take, they all meet up towards the end.

[Rath Darkblade]

I know I've said it before, but... that action scene with the pendulum towards the end of GK3. NOT fun, not at all - particularly if Gabriel dies. Same thing with the "trying to get away from the zombies" action scene in GK1, particularly since if Gabe gets caught, you can't skip the "zombie gets Gabe" sequence. Don't get me wrong, that sequence is cool-in-a-horrifying-sort-of-way the first time, but it gets real old, real fast. Sorry.

As for ridiculously difficult puzzles... Sam and Max Hit the Road have one or two, but I didn't mind because it's such a fun game. *grin* Hmm... arrgh! Two of these that really stick out in my head are both from MI4 - the "Monkey Kombat" puzzle and, to a lesser extent, the "getting the milk bottle" puzzle. With the latter, at least I had fun listening to Dominic Armato singing - "Oh, the lava is hotter than a deep-fried otter" etc., and the undead priest has a very cool accent. But with "Monkey Kombat"... argh. Argh. Argh. *beats head against wall* Not fun, just repetitive...

[BBP]

Oh! And the weight machines in LSL3! That was just... dull...

I'm not too fond of the GK1 zombies either, although playing that bit on my Vista with DOSBox sure was a lot easier than on my li'l dinosaur (I think I died over 20 times on that one...). But for some strange reason I really like the GK3 pendulum.
It's that bridge that always gets up my nerves.

[Maiandra]

As DPX knows, one of my least favourite puzzles was throwing the pie at the Yeti in KQ5. I don't recall any slapstick references, so how the heck was that logical?? Other than in the "I've tried everything else in my inventory and nothing worked, so what the heck?" way.

Speaking of that, I always liked how in Zork: Grand Inquisitor when you're trying to get by the monster on the way to Hades, it will taunt you if you just click random inventory items on it. "Oh sure, just dip into the ol' inventory. 'Something's gotta work.'"

[Jules]

LEGEND OF KYRANDIA is full of IMPOSSIBLE puzzles... my gawd...

Really? Which one? The first one didn't seem very hard...