In particular, I have a couple of questions about the development of these sorts of puzzles (think Sudoku, Kenken, Nurikabe, etc) and I'm not sure whether this is the best forum for them or whether there's some more appropriate spot. Questions about the mathematics behind them clearly belong in math.stackexchange.com (and I've both asked and answered questions about puzzle-math there in the past), and if I were trying to figure out the details of programming them for a computer then obviously gamedev is the site. But my particular question is about development (and in particular, publication) for this sort of puzzle, and while it feels a little out-of-place for this particular site I'm not sure that there's one better. Does anyone feel that this is/isn't an appropriate place for questions about pencil-puzzle design (as opposed to, e.g., board game design - note that it's a pretty short hop from Sudoku to something like Y or Hex), and can anyone suggest someplace better?
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1 Answer
Puzzles are not on topic here per our FAQ.
I'm not familiar with Nikoli puzzles/games. A brief googling led me to what is perhaps the company site. It looks like strictly puzzles to me, although I admit I didn't look extensively.
We have previously defined what games are on topic. The short list is that the game must:
- Be playable on or around a table
- Have objective rules of play and win conditions
- Offer dynamic challenges, either through other players, randomization, or both
- Be playable by hand, by human players implementing all of the rules
In general puzzles fail the third test as they are done solo without randomization and that keeps them from qualifying here.
If there are further details about Nikoli-style puzzles & games, please comment or expand upon the question. Thanks!
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Well, the examples I gave are probably the best ones available - Sudoku and Kenken are the most notable at the moment, and none of the others are particularly more 'game-like' than those are. If those are off-topic for this site (and while I personally disagree with the linked-to answer, I can very much see where that perspective is coming from), then where would be an appropriate place within the StackExchange hierarchy for them? Commented Jan 24, 2012 at 5:43
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@StevenStadnicki - perhaps codegolf or there is an Area51 Puzzle proposal.– Pat Ludwig ModCommented Jan 24, 2012 at 6:20
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codegolf definitely doesn't fit; computers aren't involved in the process at all except behind the scenes. On the other hand, the proposal looks like exactly what I would be after - time to jump in with a commit. Thank you! Commented Jan 24, 2012 at 6:37
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