Designing a Puzzle

For my demo there needed to be some kind of brain teaser puzzle to test the player and yield important information so that they can move on. My idea is to have a four digit code that unlocks a safe containing a key for the Acrobat. To get this 4 digit code, the player must solve a Brainteaser.
I had a few ideas about what kind of puzzle I wanted for this and after looking at a few sites for a basic puzzle to build from I found this puzzle:


Santa always leaves plans for his elves to determine the order in which the reindeer will pull his sleigh. This year, for the European leg of his journey, his elves are working to the following schedule, that will form a single line of nine reindeer:

Comet behind Rudolph, Prancer and Cupid. Blitzen behind Cupid and in front of Donder, Vixen and Dancer. Cupid in front of Comet, Blitzen and Vixen. Donder behind Vixen, Dasher and Prancer. Rudolph behind Prancer and in front of Donder, Dancer and Dasher. Vixen in front of Dancer and Comet. Dancer behind Donder, Rudolph and Blitzen. Prancer in front of Cupid, Donder and Blitzen. Dasher behind Prancer and in front of Vixen, Dancer and Blitzen. Donder behind Comet and Cupid. Cupid in front of Rudolph and Dancer. Vixen behind Rudolph, Prancer and Dasher.

Hint: Poor old Dancer was last.

Answer:
Prancer
 Cupid
  Rudolph
   Dasher
    Blitzen
     Vixen
      Comet
       Donder
        Dancer

(http://www.brainbashers.com/showpuzzles.asp?puzzle=ZKRG )

Now this puzzle works quite well as the basic problem the player must solve but it needs some extra layer to make it generate the code for the safe. The way I thought that they could be generated would be that the whole process of making a line from the elements would be to designate a number from 1 – 9 (i.e.: First person in the line = 1, second person = 2, etc.)

After this the player could find 4 labelled Party hats with just the names of the people on them. Only by allocating the numbers gotten from the previous puzzle can they then input these numbers into the safe, unlocking the door. This is the updated puzzle using the ’Santa’s Reindeer ‘ template:

 

“We lined up all of the party members and gave them numbers from 1 to 9 in the order that they were lined up, with the first person getting a 1, and the last person in line receiving the number 9. This was for the festivities ahead although I can’t remember the exact numbers that were allocated to each person so if the numbers are lost, here is what I can remember about how they were lined up before the numbers were allotted:

Kay was behind Nick and in front of Dick, Mike and Wendy.

Wendy was behind Ema and in front of Miles, Dick and Mike.

Ema was in front of Lynne, Wendy and Dick.

Miles was behind Dick, Kay and Nick.

Larry was behind Nick and in front of Miles, Mike and Kay.

Dick was in front of Mike and Lynne.

Lynne was behind Larry, Nick and Ema

Mike behind Miles, Larry and Wendy.

Nick in front of Ema, Miles and Wendy.

Miles was behind Lynne and Ema.

Ema was in front of Larry and Mike.

Finally Dick was behind Larry, Nick and Kay.

Hope this Helps!

-          Number Zero

(Solution)

(Nick) 1

(Ema) 2
(Larry) 3
(Kay) 4
(Wendy) 5
(Dick) 6
(Lynne) 7
(Miles) 8
(Mike) 9

In addition to this puzzle I think one more would be necessary, but the nature of this puzzle has given me ideas about how the environment could look so I shall make concepts for the environment/ assets next as the next puzzle will no doubt arise from the assets (as it will be a different kind of puzzle).

Note: As a personal touch, the puzzle references three of my inspiration games – Phoenix Wright, Ghost Trick and 9 Hours, 9 Doors, 9 Persons. The sign off at the end of the page ‘number Zero’ is referencing the antagonist of 999 who refers to himself as Zero – while of course acting as a statement that whoever wrote this was numbered like the other members as Zero. The names of the people in the puzzle are all character names from Ghost Trick and the Ace Attorney series. If someone has played either of these games they might notice the references but otherwise it simply is a functional puzzle.