The great puzzlefests - an IFDB Poll

by Victor Gijsbers
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Playing Curses!, I started wondering which games belong to the canon of great puzzlefests. With this term I mean puzzle based games that are long, difficult and punishing; but also fair, engaging and truly rewarding to work through. The best works of Infocom probably belong here, as do Curses!, Anchorhead, Savoir-Faire and Varicella. But my knowledge of this corpus is hazy. Titles like Christminster, Mulldoon Legacy and Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina strike a bell, but I've never played them. Among more recent works, Counterfeit Monkey and Hadean Lands might be good examples. (The Dreamhold is perhaps not quite what I have in mind, being on the shorter side.) But I'm probably unaware of many other gems, both old and more recent. So help me by voting in the poll!

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Canalboy, June 17, 2021 - Reply
Never mind the Babel Fish puzzle in HHGG, try getting the gold key in Castle Ralf! The most labyrinthine puzzle I have ever come across.
Otto73, September 3, 2018 - Reply
Might I humbly suggest my game 'Ward Z' ? I'm the author, so I won't vote for it, but it's fairly puzzley if you would like to give it a try. Just search for 'Ward Z'. And feedback would be very welcome!
Victor Gijsbers, September 7, 2018 - Reply
From the description, I see that it is a short game -- so it wouldn't fit this poll very well. (I'm looking for long puzzle games in the tradition of Curses!) That is not a criticism of your game, of course, merely a clarification of the purpose of the poll. :-)
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