For example, in a squarish typeface,
the following shapes could be interpreted as a lowercase R or a capital J:
What is a Puzzle? 37
Figure 2 These shapes could be the
le ers R or J
Figure 3 The answer comes from this typeface
I could plug this leak in my puzzle by showing the particular alphabet of le ers I have in mind:
Another subtlety is that my de?¬? nition doesn??™t insist that there be only one right answer. If you interpret the
diagram di?¬? erently, there are many other possible answers. For example, the following shapes, which could be
interpreted as the le ers J and G, can all be unfolded from Figure 1 if we interpret the edges a bit di?¬? erently:
Figure 4 Other ways to unfold Figure 1
38 Chapter 2: The Structure of Games
Puzzles versus Games
The purpose of ???has a right answer??? is to distinguish puzzles from games and other play activities. Some
game designers categorize puzzles as a subspecies of games. I prefer a ?¬? ner-grained de?¬? nition from Chris
Crawford, veteran game designer and author of Chris Crawford on Game Design.
Chris distinguishes four types of play activities, ranging from most to least interactive:
?· Games are rule-based systems in which the goal is for one player to win.
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