In one sense all games are to some degree puzzle-like but only a few are true puzzles, which is to say, they challenge an individual to achieve a predetermined goal while abiding by a set of rules for rightfully obtaining the goal.
The only immersive puzzles that come close to comparing with Mr. Manson’s MAZE are video games. Most RPG video games use include puzzles of some sort in their game play but very few make prolific use of them. Included here are some notable examples of the immersive-puzzle video game genre:
Tomb Raider Anniversary – Croft Manor (2007) >
Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze (2008) >
Portal (2007) & Portal 2 (2011) >
Hi,
Firstly, this website is a great idea, I am as yet uninitiated to Maze but I am a fan of the genre so that will be changing soon.
Just to add, some other games you could include here are Planetarium, http://www.beholder.co.uk/planetarium/ a thoroughly brilliant web-based puzzle story which has been around since 1999 and is still well maintained, and Machinarium, http://machinarium.net/demo/ an equally brilliant computer game which relies on puzzle solving to progress the narrative.
Also, Beholder, the creator of Planetarium has done a number of other projects which might be of interest, particularly The Knot-Shop Man, http://www.beholder.co.uk/knots/index.html which might fit into your Curious Books category.
I guess it might be a bit weird that I’m posting on here when I haven’t even attempted Maze yet, but I think these things will be of interest to you and I do like sharing intelligent puzzles with like-minded people.
Hi Pepper!
No, it is not weird at all.
Planetarium and Machinarium are linear puzzles, and so don’t really fit here, but with that said, the imagination involved with both is impressive. Even though Machinarium is not an immersive visual puzzle, I played the demo and was hooked. I love the artistic styling… poor little robot.
Though Planetarium isn’t my cup of tea personally, I highly recommend it for fans of textual puzzles. Creative and challenging.
Knot-Shop Man may very well fit in the curious book section. I will have to get a copy and see. The story of the earth baby was wonderfully curious indeed!
Thanks for the suggestions Pepper!