Can a digital puzzle be as fun as a physical one?The big design challenge I've been focused on is: how do I find the fun in solving a digital puzzle, when jigsaw puzzles are such a tactile pleasure?
(The other big design challenge is, how do I make a good habit tracker that increases players' life satisfaction without capitalizing on hyper-productivity as a dangerous addiction? And, how do I make sure relying on the game never causes a player to miss important information, like a project deadline with real-world consequences? This one, I know I can't solve without a testing playerbase.)
As inspiration for the game, I do real jigsaw puzzles when I'm in the mood.
Real jigsaw puzzles actually have some UX problems that my digital interface allowed me to solve!
- When you pour the pieces out of the box, about half of them are upside-down! It's such a drag to spread a heap of pieces out on the table, then systematically turn them all so the image side faces up.
- This can be even worse when puzzling as a group activity--I'm very particular about not letting pieces overlap and obscure each other, but sometimes people who never learned puzzle etiquette will join in and treat the pieces haphazardly!
Habit Puzzles being single player and having so such concept as a "face-down" puzzle piece, solves both problems.
- I like to imagine releasing an April Fool's Day update that introduces several of the needless annoyances of a physical puzzle. The wrong pieces getting stuck together, images peeling off the cardboard, pieces getting lost, etc.
- You just can't move a big chunk of puzzle pieces around. As you see in the photo, I've chosen to put pieces together without consulting the full image on the box, and therefore I solved sections of the puzzle which I need to artfully pick up and move into their proper places. Habit Puzzles lets me do that easily, because the pieces snap together and move and rotate as a unit.
- Compulsive "I need to finish the whole puzzle before I do anything else" effect: Since pieces are unlocked by performing tasks, some of which are daily or finite, it's not really possible to do a whole Habit Puzzle in one day without cheating or putting in tasks that are too easy/performed dozens of times in a day. When I stop finding matches with the pieces I have, I close the game.
- It hurts my back, looking down at the table so much and craning my neck around to see all the pieces!
- Jigsaw puzzles are expensive! If you buy them brand-new, it's a fiscally irresponsible hobby. If you buy them from a thrift store, you're more likely to have pieces missing!
Even though there are advantages to a digital puzzle, I can't deny that the physical thing is more fun. That's where the Habit Tracker part of the game is nice--because I understand when playing it, that it's not all fun and games. It's partly about practicing discipline and routine and self-improvement. The goal is to make those things more tolerable, not to make a game that someone marathons over a weekend to unwind.