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Google I/O '24 Puzzles

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Re: Google I/O '24 Puzzles

#21
post #6

The presentation is nice but the content of the puzzle put me off. I think if you suggest a physical puzzle by presenting it as a rolling ball then you should honor correct physical intuition such that a ball isn't going to turn left by itself as it does in puzzle three. I'm interested in testing my wit, and I am fine with losing, but I am not interested in just finding the correct way to clap like a seal for the puz…

Seems like you want your wit to be rewarded more than tested?

Re: Google I/O '24 Puzzles

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the ball starts on a flat surface and then goes uphill(??) in the finish tile.

That confused me too. Isn't that literally the wrong way around to how it should be?!

I guess we were expected to be astonished that a simple 2D game about connecting lines became 3D in a browser or something.

Re: Google I/O '24 Puzzles

#25

[flagged]

Chances are Google didn’t make it. They hire a ton of design studios and vendors for stuff like this.

You are indeed correct, although a few Googlers typically will help as well with the launch. If I remember correctly the front end JS devs handle most of the site and the puzzle itself is done separate. However, perhaps they changed it up this year.

Still a waste of time and money, though.

Re: Google I/O '24 Puzzles

#27
post #6

The presentation is nice but the content of the puzzle put me off. I think if you suggest a physical puzzle by presenting it as a rolling ball then you should honor correct physical intuition such that a ball isn't going to turn left by itself as it does in puzzle three. I'm interested in testing my wit, and I am fine with losing, but I am not interested in just finding the correct way to clap like a seal for the puz…

> such that a ball isn't going to turn left by itself as it does in puzzle three.

I'm willing to deal with some trial and error with stuff like that, as long as it's predictable and cause-and-effect is consistent. What I'm not willing to deal with is what I'm seeing in puzzle seven. I have a crossroads with a U-turn to the north and a curve to the south. The ball enters the crossroads from the east and goes south. If I remove the northern U-turn (which the ball hadn't visited and was therefore useless), the ball now goes north (and into the void) instead of south to safety.

Then you have the obnoxiously loud music that can't be turned off separately from the sound effects (so you either have annoying music or no audio feedback at all), a condescending "keep trying" popup that treats every test as a failed attempt, slow animations that make for an annoyingly slow feedback loop on trying new things...

It's a really cool concept, fun presentation, but execution is all sorts of terrible. You could easily run a game design masterclass centered on fixing this thing.

Re: Google I/O '24 Puzzles

#28

[flagged]

Chances are Google didn’t make it. They hire a ton of design studios and vendors for stuff like this.

There is a famous Marissa Meyers party at Yahoo! that this reminds me of. I thought with all the layoffs, Google was getting disciplined and everyone in line. Maybe that is not the case. When Microsoft brought in Nadella, they did some belt tightening as I recall. My understanding is that Meta is using the whip to get everyone focused. So maybe they have a better future? Or maybe G doesn't think they have an existential threat.

Re: Google I/O '24 Puzzles

#30
post #6

The presentation is nice but the content of the puzzle put me off. I think if you suggest a physical puzzle by presenting it as a rolling ball then you should honor correct physical intuition such that a ball isn't going to turn left by itself as it does in puzzle three. I'm interested in testing my wit, and I am fine with losing, but I am not interested in just finding the correct way to clap like a seal for the puz…

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