Project II: The Missing Star

I wanted to create the experience of satisfaction of solving a puzzle with my project. I drew attention to my project by having a box with a lock on it, creating a sense of mystery. The colorful Mario theme also drew people in, because most people have some sort of experience with the franchise. When the players solves the puzzle, they are rewarded with Mario themed candies.

The box is locked with a four-letter combination lock. The goal of the puzzle was for the players to get this sense of something missing. In this case, it's was star, which was the word to unlock the combination. There were different sorts clues scattered around the box. I tried to have a couple easy clue, and a couple of harder ones. As it turns out, there were all too difficult for the players. People started to guess four letter words for the combination lock, something I did not expect. There were also certain spots on the box where players thought there was a clue, but really there was not.

 Two clue here. In the top right corner, Mario is looking to his right, but there is nothing there. The star coin is missing a star.

 

Mario has part of his fingers cut off and his hand is glowing. 

 Mario is running into an item block. The pictures around the top of the box are possible items that users can get from the item block, but the star item is not there.

 

The missing star has been found! The player is rewarded with Mario themed candies.

 In the end, I believe my project was a success, but not as much as I hoped. Instead of the experience of satisfaction, it seemed more like an experience of realization. If I were to do this project all over again, I would have one easier clue. An idea for this would have the items along the top of the box be in a certain order, with one spot being empty. From this, the players can infer something is missing, and will look harder at the box to find missing pieces. I believe being able to recognize this will help with the experience of satisfaction. I would also be more careful of where I place the pictures, as they can mislead the players like they did with this first iteration.