Order of actions
The right steps in the wrong order get you nowhere. Look for the move that makes all the others possible, and work backwards from the end if the start isn't obvious.
Mechanics
Puzzle mechanics and tips
Thousands of different puzzles are built on a handful of recurring ideas. Once you can recognise them at a glance, a new puzzle stops feeling like a brick wall: you immediately see which side to approach it from and which questions to ask yourself.
Every mechanic is a question the game asks the player. Learn to hear the question, and the answer gets closer.
How this section works: the mechanics are described without tying them to specific games. In simple puzzles they appear one at a time; in complex ones they intertwine within a single room.
Mechanics
Six ideas that most puzzles rest on.
Symmetry
Mirrored rooms, reflected patterns, paired switches. Once one half of a level is solved, the other often repeats it with a small change, and that change is the key.
Cause and effect
A lever raises the bridge but lowers the gate; fire melts ice but burns the rope. Write down what changes after each action, and the chain will reveal itself.
Doors & keys (in Russian)
Time and rhythm
Platforms that vanish after a few seconds, doors on a timer, mechanisms that repeat in cycles. Watch a full cycle first, then act.
Move limits
A task you must solve in a set number of actions. Needing an extra step is a sign that a shorter route exists, usually through an unexpected use of a familiar element.
Property transfer
An object or character takes on a property of something else: weight, colour, the ability to conduct electricity. Mechanics like these teach you to see familiar things as a set of rules.
Locks in games (in Russian)
How to figure out a new mechanic
Find the simplest case
The first levels with a new mechanic are usually tutorials. Don't rush past them: that's where the rule is shown in its purest form.
Test the limits
Find out what the mechanic does in edge cases: at the edge of the board, next to a wall, when pressed a second time.
State the rule
Describe it in one sentence. If you can't, you haven't fully understood the mechanic yet.
Look for combinations
Later levels almost always combine the new rule with old ones. Think about how they might affect each other.
Read next
- Guides
How to solve puzzles without spoilers: the hint ladder, getting past a dead end, playing as a pair. Plus our article catalogue.
- Glossary
A puzzle fan's dictionary: how puzzles are built, hints and progress, genres and formats.
- How to judge
Criteria for judging a puzzle yourself: fair rules, the hint system, accessibility and pacing.
- Locks in games (in Russian)
Archived address: lockpicking as a mini-game, the types of mechanics, their pros and cons, and tips for players.
Sources and references
- Developer guides and in-game help
We describe the general principles of puzzles. Hints, levels and settings work differently in each game and may change after updates, so check the in-game help and the developer for exact details.