A huge thanks to Leo Inis for providing the Portuguese subtitles for this video! Este vídeo agora tem legendas em português! Agradecimentos especiais a Leo Inis pela tradução! Hey everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time to be here. Dandara's developers are from Brazil and ton of the game's visuals are inspired by Brazilian art and architecture. According to UA-cam Analytics, a small portion of my viewers also call Brazil home. I know that Dandara is really big there, and I would love nothing more than for this video be shared with anyone there regardless of their native language. Unfortunately I know absolutely zero Portuguese, and I would hate for google translate to butcher the video's meaning. That said, if you are one of my Brazilian viewers and you're bilingual, it would mean the world to me if you could provide the Portuguese translations for this episode in the youtube Closed Captions section. If you could help me with this, I would be incredibly grateful and will give you a huge shout-out in the next video. I can do everything in my power to help you get started as well. If you're willing and able, please feel free to shoot me a message on UA-cam. Thanks again for watching everyone! A gente se fala! (I really hope that means what I think it does lol...)
Good stuff, but it's also worth mentioning that functional fixedness in game design can be very opaque and frustrating to the player. It can often end in "ugh, are you kidding me?" instead of "wow I feel cool for figuring that out."
Totally agree man, devs have to be careful not to overuse it and find some way for the discovery to feel natural. Which is obviously easier said than done! Haha
Exactly how I felt about that part ib paper mario ttyd I think those kinds of solutions are usually better suited to open world games or games that incentivize you to think outside the box from the beginning, like room escape and other sorts of puzzle games
I believe the flow analogy works well hear. For each individual there is a region created by challenge and skill, expectation and creativity, that is most fun we could call this region flow or the zone.
Not only that, I have a feeling it became a major fire-hazard as well. Either it is likely to burn down to its base and light the box on fire, or the box might have a structural failure from the weight being distributed on a side (most such boxes are rather weak to sideways forces on its edges, in my experience). This is assuming the tacks are perfect and wont ever fall out of the wall as they would over here. My solution was harder to implement, but probably safer. Use the boxes full of matches to melt the candle, attaching tacks to tacks that are in the wall, and so on (drip the candle and let it re-harden). Once the base is sufficiently solid and the candle sufficiently shortened, balance it on the new fixture and let it burn down. I have no idea how to actually do this without burning myself or everything falling apart, but the end result wouldn't be able to catch on fire, and able to support enough weight. Admittedly, if I had thought of using the boxes, I could have simply attached the candle to the wall (however I wish) just above the floor, and put the box on the floor directly below it to catch any dripping.
Well you could try to use the matches to glue the hot wax against the wall, and change the shape of the candle, and you could use the box in a way by turning it into a bowl below the candle to only catch the wax, also also if you heat up the candle so it’s more malleable you could technically create spots in it to better secure the candle with the additional tacks.... you might not have much of a candle left but it is a theoretically possible solution
I mean, I got the answer to tzhe tack question, but: 1. I was doubtful because I was missing information on the feasability of this solution, after all, since I am using the box for a different purpose, it might not be able to support the candle's weight or get too damaged to do so due to hot wax, also the tacks might not hold the box and fall out. 2. I thought of this not because I overcame some kind of conditioning, but rather I went to that solution quicjly *because* of my conditioning. Due to the way you framed this question, especially with the advice to pause, my mind immediately yelled "It's a puzzle!" and started deliberately looking at peripheral information because it has done the task of solving puzzles before and the experience that peripheral information that is deemphacised and glossed over is usually the solution made conditioned me to approach a problem differently as soon as it is presented as a puzzle. So I found the solution by *adhering* to convention, not rejecting it, I even dismissed point 1 because the puzzle/challenge context gave my basic understanding of puzzle design priority over my semi-realistic assessment of the situation.
I've never read a comment that 100% matched my inner thoughts until today. When you present something puzzle-like to someone who is experienced with solving puzzles, they automatically know to use all tools at hand. More often than not, the creators of a puzzle give too many items to create a solution. So the veteran puzzle player will first try the tools that make the most sense to solve the problem. When those don't work, they mix and match (bruteforce) until either a solution is reached, or it's decided that I might not have all the tools I need yet to solve the problem. The issues with the topic at hand in the video aren't what tools are available to the player and whether they know the limits of said tools, but whether or not a player is experienced enough in exploring for solutions even when there may not be one. In the original problem he presented, I too thought something like "Tacks might not be strong enough to hold this box AND the candle to the wall. It depends on the structure of the box. If the box is made from something cheap, it's going to sag when I put the candle on there and the weight will topple it all onto the table." But given that he left out so much other detail to work with, I went with it as a best guess. How many other people would have skipped that solution if they went through the same critical thinking we did and reversed course instead of sticking to it? I imagine a lot of people who watched the video talked themselves out of the solution. So maybe this video's intended audience isn't me, because as someone who has played games for a long time I know to explore what I can do. Maybe somebody who is completely new to gaming or has very little experience with it found this video fascinating. But I feel like most who will get recommended to this video may feel as I do, that while the content is interesting and maybe even educational it has very little substance in how people really play games and solve puzzles. Perhaps there's even a missing element that isn't often discussed: that if the solution should be obvious to the player given all of the tools available, that maybe the game/puzzle designer has not properly explained or framed the challenge. I remember a lesson in grade school where a teacher gave us all the tools to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and asked us to write him instructions to follow in making one. Then the teacher took those instructions extremely literally, playing as if though he has never seen the tools in front of him before. With that twist, it became impossible to instruct him on how to make the sandwich without extremely detailed steps and instructions. Most of us didn't tell him which end of the knife to use, or how to scoop the peanut butter out of the jar. "Put the peanut butter on the bread" became "pick up and place the entire jar of peanut butter on the slices of bread." Even if the previous instructions were sufficient to get the teacher to put peanut butter on the knife, the next set of instructions lacked the context to complete the puzzle. Given that this is an exaggerated worst-case point of view, and that most players aren't that bad at solving puzzles or critical thinking, it is worth noting regardless that poor instructions lead to poor results.
This is important for game design though. A player should be able to recognize "hey this is a puzzle" and then trust that they can find a solution. Otherwise if they aren't aware of the 'puzzle' they will just feel like they weren't given ample information
Well, to me the problem was that the candle wasn't allowed to drip - so I couldn't think of a way to stop it from dripping, because even when using a box, the candle drips into the box.
I know, but since he showed a table and said "without dripping wax on the floor", I immediately recognized that the solution can't be "Just put the candle on the table and burn it", so my brain kind of deleted that limitation.
Imaru Lewis The table ain't the floor either. Or the match box ain't the floor either. You see, by changing the visual context, the whole problem changes.
I took a games class where the prof made us do a little experiment like that. He gave us as an exercise to imagine a favorite or popular game but adapted to a different interface. He said thinking like this was one way to come up with innovative ideas. His background was in PSP games and ports, he was a lead on a ton of games back then and had to adapt them all to that handheld. He expressed that it was super tough, but it forced them to be creative. Daryl bless you!
I dunno I liked my solution, where I stick tacks into the bottom of the candle to create a makeshift candle holder hemisphere and then push tacks up the side of the candle sideways so the rim penetrates and leaves the tips free to stick the candle to the wall. that box just looked too flimsy to use. there's also a difference between a thought experiment and actually having the tools in your hand to work with, real life changes the items' capabilities by adding physics.
I like the solution where I ram the tacks up his self assured butt hole and tell him to, maybe, consider laying off the feigned ignorance of awareness he has for people who struggle terribly with most lateral thinking problems... what an ass.
@@Naruto_from_the_Naruto_show what? That's how you hang pictures or posters if you dont give a shit about holes in your walls. Tacks go pretty easy into drywall
My solution was to use my teeth to remove the head of the tack, stick part of the tack into the wall, stick the candle onto the now needle thing in the wall and then place the box underneath the candle so that when it dripped, it'd drip into the box. ... I somehow feel smart AND stupid at the same time right now.
Carmo Yeah wtf good luck prying metal with your teeth since it is soldered onto the tack. Also, isn’t the actual needle fairly soft? It would bend. But to be fair his solution doesn’t take into account that the box might not be built strong enough to not flex under the candle’s weight, and you can’t stick the tacks into it if it’s too hard of a material/
I'm in the process of learning to code so I can do something with all my ideas for games, and I love watching this kind of stuff. It's so beneficial for planning ahead and recognize concepts I never would've thought of otherwise. Keep this up man!
So personal solution to the tack problem was to just stand it up on the table which appears flush against the wall, thus it's "mounted" and won't drip wax on the floor specifically.
Yep, that solution was the same as my initial solution (my second was to carve a runnel in the side of the candle and mount it so that the top is right against the wall, while the bottom is a bit further out, thus it drips onto the wall).
Well, it's been about a year since I 've seen this video for the first time. But this analysis has stuck with me, although I had forgotten the name Dandara... until this week, when Steam and Nintendo decided sell the game for half its price. So I, at last, managed to play the game. And I'm happy I bought it. And I looked for this video again. And I'm happy I did it too. In other words, thank you, Daryl, you made a french old timer very satisfied^^.
It's a fantastic game! I wish it had been a tad longer, but I enjoyed every second of it. Thanks for coming back to the video and sharing your experience, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it :)
Ooh, interesting! I actually came up with a slightly different solution to the candle problem-- I imagined tacking the candle directly to the wall, and then putting the box of tacks underneath it. Since your requirement is to not let the wax drip onto the FLOOR, letting the wax drip into the tack-filled box technically still works 😅
My first thought on the candle question" "He didn't say the candle had to be lit, so as long as no one lights the candle I just have attach it to the wall and the problem is solved." So naturally I would attach a line of tacks on the wall use matches to soften the candles body and press it into tacks and simply hold to cool. This however is not the simplest solution, the next two have two assumptions built into them: 1: Assumption: The candle does not need to be a recognizable candle, just simply on the wall, and not dripping. Solution: Smear candle on the wall 2: Assumption: The wall is breakable. Solution: puncture wall, insert candle These are obviously preferable as you use the least of amount of the given objects.
And put the box below the candle. (which was my solution, combined with option 1. In practice the box for tacks usually isn't sturdy enough to hold a candle, and if it is [e g plastic] you can't mount it with the tacks. Also the box + candle is probably not going the be held up by regular tacks)
@@evilkord do you have a timestamp, i'll review. That said, the smearing on the wall option remains viable in that scenario, as the case "if the candle burns" is no longer a valid concern.
I think that's what often irks about these "hypothetical" puzzles that seem so absurd on paper... they serve no practical purpose, at least not apparently. Before I think of a solution, I need to know the specific goal of the task at hand. In other words: WHY do you need to fix a candle to the wall? Do you need to lit the room or do you just want to prevent it from getting lost or stolen? Do you care about getting wax stains on the table? (hey, maybe it's a expensive table) Does it have to be tacked to the wall permanently or would you prefer it to be easily removed so you can carry it around the room like a torch? Is it okay if you leave permanent holes on the wall with the tacks? (I can't even hang a painting in my apartment because my landlord will throw a fit if he sees a tiny bit of damage on the paint). Are you a masochist so you don't mind collecting the dripping hot wax on your bare hands, in fact you might actually get off to it? (okay, getting off track here haha). Basically I need some context. Otherwise it's just a pretentious game of mental masturbation. If the actual problem is "I want to give my room a gothic aesthetic but I'm so dirt poor that I only have this shitty cardboard box and some tackles, have fun" my answer is: "it's physically impossible to attach that to the wall and not have it fall apart in a matter of seconds. Go buy a proper brass candle holder, they're like 15 dollars on amazon you cheap bastard".
I wanna talk a little bit about the example you used in the beginning. When you explained to me the problem, my brain understood the list of available tools as candle, matches, and tacks, despite the fact that you listed the tacks as coming in a box. I don't like these kinds of puzzles, because a lot of the time the solution is a "Duh" moment, but it also feels like you're using information that I didn't have access to. Of course you can use the box, but I thought the box was a way to sort of constrain the amount of tacks you could use to a believable amount, not be a tool itself. Like you said, once the box is listed separately pretty much everyone can solve the problem. But another solution could be to hold my hand underneath the candle when it drips. It would be painful, but that's not a metric we're concerned with. Or I could punch a hole below the candle; can't drip on a floor if there isn't one after all. But you didn't mention that my hands are a tool to be used in this situation, so is this solution valid? Can I break the floor with my hands? And are the walls able to hold the weight of the box and candle, and can the tacks even penetrate the walls? It seems a bit pedantic, but these kinds of questions jumped to my mind when you explained the solution. Are they bad, after-the-fact justifications why I didn't arrive at a solution? Maybe. I guess what I'm driving at is the language used to describe the problem and the assumptions we make about it affect how we attempt to solve it. The example doesn't work as well, in my opinion, because there are additional factors surrounding it than just the functional fixedness you describe.
i agree with you saying we did not get the information our personal brain needed for the solution. the problem stated floored me with my own question of "can i even tack a candle to a wall if it is pure concrete" to which i had to assume it is not concrete but would that falsify the problem in my eyes in my opinion the problem has to be stated more cleary: -one can use alle the items on the table -the tacks stick to the wall if pushed in the box is now not specificaly mentioned but listed to observant people
"When you explained to me the problem, my brain understood the list of available tools as candle, matches, and tacks, despite the fact that you listed the tacks as coming in a box. (...) But another solution could be to hold my hand underneath the candle when it drips." Well, the hand isn't in the "explicit list" either, but it's kinda funny how this kind of ideas can come up before using the box for alot of people.
I thought about the question, but "figured out" that tacks can't penetrate walls, so I was stuck on how to mount anything onto the wall. -.- . So I agree with you there.
I still don’t understand how the box would stick to the wall. I thought the solution was to just apply wax to the wall and stick the candle in it. There’s clearly a table underneath where I can mount it, so it would never drip on the floor.
Hey Daryl, I'm working as a game design intern as I'm writing this comment and what I think is worth mentioning is how there's another layer to 'game developers should understand functional fixedness'. In the process of designing content for games I find that I get adjusted well enough to my working process and tools to the point where I no longer think about ways in which I could expand on the strength of a design by viewing it from a different perspective. Though you're talking about functional fixedness in a gameplay sense (as well as controller layouts), I think this also reminds developers that you can never get fully comfortable with your approach to development on the whole (regardless of your discipline). I think this entire topic is quite niche and doesn't get talked about often enough, so thanks for the good stuff!
This is a fantastic video, you've struck a wonderful balance between academic concepts and game analysis that's a joy to watch :) I look forward to seeing more of your work in my subscription feed.
I love Dandara! It's the toughest game I played and I've beaten games like Hollow Knight, Dark Souls, and Furi.. lol. I beat Dandara but later a areas really tested me lol. Loved the game tho
10:00 yeah, i kinda expected they started out with a swipe to control the jump, i've been playing around with that idea in various contexts for a year now, and have 2 designs ready to be made (and one that I already made but it turned out to be crappy because of rushed execution so I threw it away half a year after publishing) based on that. It's actually pretty cool, and also a bit sad - swipe is the most satisfying and "intense" control move you can do on a touchscreen, and yet so heavily underused in mobile games...
@@roadent217 yeah, great, one game, using the swipe in the most trivial and obvious way possible. then the one mentioned here in video, using it in a cool and pretty original way. that's two. any others? because... your comment seems silly to me, it's akin to: Me: "Sugar is so cool! The sweet taste is so satisfying! It seems to be so underused!" You: "There's caramel and people like it". (and in this hypothetical world, it's as if there were no other sweet foods/snacks other than caramel. so your response basically highlights my point about it being underused. but maybe I just haven't done my research well enough.)
Another solution for the riddle at the beginning: You put x tacks inside the candle on one vertical line. You need to keep a bit of distance between the head of the tack and the candle, don't put them fully in. Now put x tacks with the same height differences onto the wall twice, with the 2 rows having a distance > the candle thiccness and < the match length from each other. You also need to not put them fully inside the wall, as you're gonna put a match on every pair of tacks. Now, you can put the candle onto this construction - the tacks of the candle are put on the matches on the wall (bc you left enough distance between the head of the tacks and the candle) That is at least what I came up with first
Early candle answers incase I feel the need to edit when you reveal: Tack the candle on the wall over another object, such as the table they're sitting on; alternatively if they remove that too and you have only the objects, place either the box of leftover tacks or the remaining matchbook on the floor to catch the wax.
My two solutions were: "Well, I'm only supposed to avoid wax on the floor, not the table. I can use a few tacks to balance the candle in order to keep it upright, and then position it in the center of the table. The wax will cover the surface of the table, and possibly hang over the edge, but it probably won't end up on the floor." "Actually, wait, there's no telling how large the candle is, and how small the table is. Maybe I could break off the top of the candle, assemble a small container with the cardboard of the matchbox (with the striking portion on the outside), and secure it with some tacks - creating a small candle. When the small candle has melted, I could store the molten wax in the box, and simply place another chunk of the candle into the holder." And then I realized that it had to be mounted on the wall. I gave up.
I gave a like to this video when you mentioned GMTK, which I'd been following for a while; your insights on what makes the game work are exactly what I love about videos on game design. But I had to subscribe when you pulled the switch to discuss the importance of a problem's context for solutions people are likely to come up with. That was such a great way to separate and cover the two different perspectives. Now I'm looking forward to going through the other videos in this series, and the others you have! Thanks!
Can't believe I found this well explained video, just after I stumbled upon Dandarra. Thanks for making me eager to explore its world from a completely new perspective.
I'm playing Dandara on Android, and I'm blown away by its creativity. It's a really fresh way to control a platformer, especially on a touchscreen where after a bit of training, swiping and flicking becomes almost effortless. Great video, top quality. I know this is late but keep up the great work
If you're looking for another game that sort of did what Dandara does, check out Gravity Rush, where your movement is determined by a first-person perspective and "aiming." I definitely saw similarities in your explanation of Dandara, so I'd recommend checking it out too. Enjoyed this video. Great to see more content from you, guy. Keep it up. :)
Much appreciated!! I’ll have to check out Gravity Rush for sure. And I just saw that you uploaded earlier today as well, I’m looking forward to some down time this evening so I can check it out!
Which is another way of solving the problem of wax hitting the FLOOR, exactly what the video is about. The table against the wall was my first solution as well haha. In short, it's about innovation, or thinking outside the box, and I think that things like this are good not only for game creators but players as well. Like how so many people are getting caught up on Sekiro recently because they try to play it like any other souls game and it doesn't work. It's all about being adaptive, and having the patience to stop and think of a new way around the situation.
I had a similar idea but somehow missed that just pushing the table against the wall alone would solve the problem and put the matchstick packet paper box bit under the candle for good measure rather than the tack box.
What a well constructed video. I think there's a lot of creativities waiting to be explored from actively trying to break this fixedness. But it takes more than just thinking out of a box to execute an idea, after all any ideas may result into 2 different things in a game, a "gimmick" or a central "mechanic" that runs along with all the other cogs. To think that the developers uses sort of a reverse thought process to approach the control method and resulted to such a unique game, I'm very impressed since personally am not a big fan of touch screen use for gaming. Keep it up man, I'll be sure to catch up your other and future works!
thing is: the more optionswith tools you give to the player, the more ways you give them to break the game in ways you haven't even thought of. needs consideration.
I also got to use the box, but then I was thinking this was too easy "what is the catch". So I started to use the matches to stabilize the candle in the box...
EDIT number 2: You just got a subscriber in 1 minute and 14 seconds of the first video he ever seen by you. That's a record time within all the subscriptions I've ever made, I think. Congrats! :) Hmmm... 1. Tear off the match cover (going from the picture). make it into U shape with the bottom being the correct width as the candle thickness 2. fix the candle into the base of the U (with the sides pointing up), by a pin. 3. fix the whole thing to the wall (as well as the sides of the U to each other) by putting 2 pins on the top of the U side, through both sides, and into the wall. 4. partially tear off the U side away from the wall, and bend it away a bit. So now the wax can either drip along the wall, and solidify before falling to the ground, which is fine, or it can drip along the free sides of the candle, and get caught by the protruding parts of the U shape on the sides, or it can drip along the side of the candle furthest from the wall, in which case it will get caught by the bit that's bent away a bit, which we created in step 4. I'm not entirely sure if this would be able to actually hold the candle, but I believe it could, and I think it's definitely worth a try XD ...but I'm a programmer, so... i'm curious as to what the "official" solution is. EDIT: OHHH! THE BOX OF PINS IS ALSO A THING!!! =D =D =D I love how I basically solved the problem with out of the box (...also literally, nice) solution that would probably kindasorta works, but the problem still nicely illustrated your point anyway... because the box of tacks/pins is also a thing, which I didn't realize =D Also your solution has the upside of not burning the wall =D
Lol with the riddle at the beginning I answered "just tack the candle to the wall, there's a table under it, since it drips on the table, it doesn't on the floor" :P
Baba is You is an incredible exercise in overcoming functional fixedness. The puzzles in that game constantly ask you to ignore the distinction between avatar and object. It even asks you to rethink the very mechanics it has taught you.
I'm not an native English speaker so I have some difficulties with the name of itens that you see in daily life. So my solution was to use some of the paper of the book to put some of the wax on the base of the candle and the stick the candle into the wall, using the paper of the book to block the wax from getting into the floor.
My solution was tack it to the wall and use the box to catch the wax by placing it underneath. So, close enough, and arguably more correct since the verbal answer you gave doesn't mention sticking it to the wall, also considering physics it would probably not be able to support the candle nor would the candle be able to stay upright.
I had the solution the moment the problem was explained. I don't suffer from functional fixedness, I see everything as a collection of functional uses, so solutions like this are automatic. I don't see a hammer as a tool to hit and pry nails with, I see a shaped piece of metal that can be used in thousands of ways. Great video.
This makes me wonder about games like Just Cause, where they're essentially playgrounds with amazing tools, weighed down by boring "go to a place and shoot stuff" missions. This almost feels like an inversion of functional fixedness, where the player is aware of incredible things they can do-and that they can likely do even more they haven't thought of-but the game isn't interested in exploring them. (Real talk, Just Cause should be a puzzle game.) Anyway, this video was instant subscribe and bell smash, and I'll be picking up Dandara. Great work.
While I like the candle example, I just thought of using the matches as a frame to hold the candle, and use the tacks to hold it against the wall. Then, of course, I would use the matches to make a platform at the bottom of the frame to catch the melted wax. Stupid, but it (probably) works.
These mechanics were employed in a very old game for Atari as well. You were flying rather than diving but it was much the same schematic. I am unable to recall the title but I do recall being fascinated with it as a kid. The first exploration type game I remember ever playing.
Ooooh, getting deeper into the psychology behind game design is something I'm really interested in. Yep, that's a worthy sub. Personally, I'm digging into design questions that can be summed up as "Adjustments to serve the weaknesses of the player's perception". Things like true randomness vs. feeling random, giving the player the feeling that they just barely made it, even though it was forced by design. Some concrete examples: Throwing a coin 10 times and getting tails each time doesn't feel random, but it can occur. So when there's a random choice between two things in a game, when one occurs, the other one may need to get a higher probability next time. Many believe that after throwing tails 5 times, it's much more likely to get head next time, even though the chances are still 50:50. As for forcing close situations: If you have played Undertale (and only then because it would be a shame if someone gets a major spoiler there), check out the health bar during the omega flowey fight. It doesn't decrease in a linear way but exponentially. So you are down to a fourth after 3-4 hits, but that last quarter can still hold another 10 or so hits. Assassin's Creed also treats the last portion of health differently than the other ones. But you've probably already seen videos talking about this. I just find it really interesting to help the player without them noticing it. It empowers them and can greatly improve their enjoyment. You really can't trust any number that pops up in a game ;)
I didn't know Assassin's Creed did that! Man that so interesting. Its amazing how such a small change like that can really change the experience from close to nail biting. I don't even mind that its hidden since its kind of a white lie lol. Thanks for all the comments!
I stuck the bottom of the candle on the wall by stabbing it diagonally with the tacks (unsure if tacks are deep or strong enough but this is hypothetical) then stabbed the emptied match box onto the candle to catch the wax.
The candle problem didn't stump me for a second, but that's only because I read it in a book long ago (and therefore already knew the answer). I think that sums up a large chunk of my approach to lateral/creative thinking. I feel like I can't do it naturally, but I can spoof it by remembering "tricks" that I've already seen (and learning a LOT of them).
Oh my god I actually had the solutions for the task at the beginning figured out alone. Altough I was doubting if the box would be able to hold the candle itself or would rip or tear since it wasn't made to hold something as heavy as a candle.
my solution to the tack problem was to melt a few tacks into the candle with the pokey side sticking out to mount onto the wall then stick the tacks onto the candle to completely seal it, I thought of what would happen once the wick started descending so i thought of bending the tacks as you insert them in so they are still embedded in some solid wax if you bent them downward, the tack head still being parallel to the cylinder that is the candle to retain the melted wax.
The candle problem… I had a very crude solution. I almost immediately knew the box should be used to prevent wax from dripping into the floor, however I didn’t assume the box was strong enough to hold the candle. My idea involved balancing/suspending the candle in a sort of plinko style tack formation and just leaving the box on the floor. If that didn’t work I would simply mash the candle up and spread it all over the wall in such a way that the wax wouldn’t reach the floor before cooling down and creating a sort of wax wall.
I had three answers one was to cut the candle into 4 pieces and use the match book as a part of an origami cup, the second was to use the tack box as shown: the third was tack the candle to the wall and remove the carpet.
I solved the Candle problem in a couple of seconds, but then I overthought it with the remaining time. The box didn't seem strong enough to sustain the weight of such a big unused candle, at best it looks like it's made out of really cheap thin cardboard, it would simply bend and let the candle fall, so I imagined also pinning the candle to the wall with tacs HOWEVER it's too thick, they would only reach its center, not pin it onto the wall. It was only then when I reached the most obvious, lowest effort, and quickest solution: You do nothing. The candle's wax would drop to the table, not the floor. Gotcha!
That's exactly what I thought too! Even if the candle is too thick you could still push the tacks through the wax to make holes and have it pinned to the wall. The problem should have said "Don't let the wax fall on the floor OR the table."
my solution was different. i would fix the candle directly on the wall, in the diagonal, and put the box above it.; so then the melted candle would fall on the box insted of the ground.
Hah ! I knew in those 4 seconds without pausing to use the box of tacks somehow! When you mentioned functional fixedness I rewinded and noticed that you haven't mentioned that I have to use anything that I was given except for the candle. So I thought crap I should have gone for a wall candle holder from internet.
As for the box thing, I didn't think to mount the box on the wall for some dumb reason, but I thought to make a make shift wall candle holder with the tacs and the match cover like a sling and sit the tac-box on the floor under the candle. The wax wouldn't drip on the floor, but in the box that's on the floor. It was overly complicated but it could'a worked maybe.
Kay so before you said the solution: I thought one would put a bunch of tacks on the candle to keep it standing straight, then use the match case to catch the wax. After hearing the solution I realized how dumb mine sounded but kept thinking of other solutions. So, I also thought one could use tacks on the candle, so it can make a bumpy surface so the wax will fall down slower and get stuck in the cracks. Also! I noticed there is a flaw, there's nothing saying we have to mount the whole candle! One could break the candle in an uneven distribution where a small part is a candle and little string while the base is separate, after that use two or more tacks to hold the small candle string on the wall while having the tack box underneath to hold the wax.
I got the answer to the candle puzzle. At first I was thinking of just sticking a ton of tacks to the candle so it doesn't drip, but then I realized that the tack box was big enough to hold it.
For the candle solution, I actually just thought of melting the wax onto the wall (supported by tacks) and put the box underneath it so that it doesn’t drip on the floor, that answer is better though
With the candle thing I got the same answer except thought it'd make more sense to have the corner of the box against where the 2 walls meet. That way you can tack it to 2 walls for more support. Just putting it on one wall seems sketchy and the wax would build up and it'd all fall.
your specifications were that the candle itself was counted to the wall, and that it *didn't drip wax.* period. neither of those criteria are met by your solution. the candle will still drip and flow wax into the box and the candle is not mounted to the wall. if we take your solution as a correct solution to the problem, simply placing the candle on the floor is also a solution. the floor is mounted to the walls, and it will not melt exactly the same way it would in the box.
dump all the matches on the floor, maybe arrange the extra ones into a tight grid beneath qhere the candle will be mounted. put two nails into the wall close to the floor so the wax doesnt splatter much if it escapes and place the candle in tje matchbox. use any remaining nails to create a sort of barrier around the outside of the box with the nailhead poking outwards. For aesthetic. or if youre that patient, use the matches to melt the nails dosn into a proper candleholder.
My solution was simple: Just don't light the candle. It never said it had to be lit, only that you had to use all the objects and mount it to the wall. So however you choose to mount it is fine; so long as you never light it, it won't drip wax on the floor.
My solution was essentially the same, but I thought the candle had to be literally on the wall and so used the matchbox and tacks to mount it over the box
My solution to the opening problem was both totally different but I argue still viable. Use horizontal matches on each side to stick the candle to the wall, then fan out in each different matches under the candle to create a makeshift wax catch. Admittedly, in the imagined hypothetical, it's harder to come up with an out of the box solution then if you had the physical objects to work with.
I love this kind of thing in games. It's a lot of the reason why I love when a game is full of objects that are effected by the physics & the player is given a way to manipulate the physics. You can get a lot of use out of grenades in Half-Life 2 by just using them as grenades but they become a lot more useful when you realize enemies won't run from them when they're in your hands. Some encounters can be totally broken by dropping a grenade down & then either picking it up with your hands to carry it closer so you can toss it into a crowd right before it explodes or using the gravity gun to launch it at distant enemies. Bioshock 1 is excellent at that stuff. It never tells you can do stuff like attach a mine to an object & use telekinesis to launch that object at an enemy so it explodes on impact but there are lots of things like that that you can just figure out on your own. Like setting an enemy on fire so they'll jump into water so you can electrocute them for an instant kill.
Daryl Talks Games oh man I know how that feels, I’m slowly making my way through the videos I want to watch and people keep making new ones! How selfish of them 😏
I would use some of the paper matchbook cover as a four-point stand for the candle, to keep it vertical, and to keep the wax moving away from the base of the candle as an easier collection for reformation of the candle. Wax is reusable. I might need to make another candle, or seal a wound or an envelope or something.
Question for a video: Why do all modern strategy games incorporate ways for players to remove each other from the game, or ignore the rules of the game entirely?
That’s a good question! My guess would be because breaking the rules is fun and we like being the last one standing, but there must be more to it than that haha. Thanks for the comment! I’ll look into it.
First thought was the box. Second, objectively better thought, is to attach the candle to the wall by it's wick. The moment the flame gets to the thumbtack, the wick won't be able to support the weight of the candle and it'll fall off the wall, thus the flame never gets to the wax, thus the candle doesn't drip wax.
Absolutely brilliant how you can take a central psychological concept and explain it through games. I also like to think of this concept through "precedents". The player has no reason to act a certain way if said way was never defined. Celeste does this brilliantly (for the most part), like establishing different ways that the game implements secrets early on and then evolves from that, which can avoid sudden new types of secrets that makes you question if you've missed anything because functional fixedness had set in at that point. That's rather specific though, it basically boils down to your Paper Mario example and making sure the player knows how the mechanic can be used. Anyway, fantastic job. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much man! I totally agree about Celeste. And the beauty of learning that there is more you can do in a game like that, is that it gives it a ton of replay value. You have to go back and play it again knowing what you know now
Drip wax on a few tacks, glue their flat sides to the wall in a vertical line and stick the candle on. The tack box probably would bend under the weight if the candle.
A huge thanks to Leo Inis for providing the Portuguese subtitles for this video!
Este vídeo agora tem legendas em português! Agradecimentos especiais a Leo Inis pela tradução!
Hey everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time to be here. Dandara's developers are from Brazil and ton of the game's visuals are inspired by Brazilian art and architecture. According to UA-cam Analytics, a small portion of my viewers also call Brazil home. I know that Dandara is really big there, and I would love nothing more than for this video be shared with anyone there regardless of their native language. Unfortunately I know absolutely zero Portuguese, and I would hate for google translate to butcher the video's meaning.
That said, if you are one of my Brazilian viewers and you're bilingual, it would mean the world to me if you could provide the Portuguese translations for this episode in the youtube Closed Captions section. If you could help me with this, I would be incredibly grateful and will give you a huge shout-out in the next video. I can do everything in my power to help you get started as well. If you're willing and able, please feel free to shoot me a message on UA-cam.
Thanks again for watching everyone! A gente se fala! (I really hope that means what I think it does lol...)
Good stuff, but it's also worth mentioning that functional fixedness in game design can be very opaque and frustrating to the player. It can often end in "ugh, are you kidding me?" instead of "wow I feel cool for figuring that out."
Totally agree man, devs have to be careful not to overuse it and find some way for the discovery to feel natural. Which is obviously easier said than done! Haha
It's a tough one. What seems unorthodox but logical to one person may not occur at all to another
Exactly how I felt about that part ib paper mario ttyd
I think those kinds of solutions are usually better suited to open world games or games that incentivize you to think outside the box from the beginning, like room escape and other sorts of puzzle games
I believe the flow analogy works well hear. For each individual there is a region created by challenge and skill, expectation and creativity, that is most fun we could call this region flow or the zone.
I'd rather have that than the braindead "puzzles" in games like Skyrim and Bioshock: Infinite
my solution was "You don't want wax on the floor? Just drip it on the table" and to be honest i'm proud of it
The table was visually presented, but wasn't apart of the puzzle.
@@isaiahdaniels5643 neither was the box
Same here.
@@diablo.the.cheater Rewatch the intro. He says "box of tacks" so yes, the box was included.
@@diablo.the.cheater You and all of the people who liked your comment should listen closer.
The candle was never mounted to the wall.
Not only that, I have a feeling it became a major fire-hazard as well. Either it is likely to burn down to its base and light the box on fire, or the box might have a structural failure from the weight being distributed on a side (most such boxes are rather weak to sideways forces on its edges, in my experience). This is assuming the tacks are perfect and wont ever fall out of the wall as they would over here.
My solution was harder to implement, but probably safer. Use the boxes full of matches to melt the candle, attaching tacks to tacks that are in the wall, and so on (drip the candle and let it re-harden). Once the base is sufficiently solid and the candle sufficiently shortened, balance it on the new fixture and let it burn down.
I have no idea how to actually do this without burning myself or everything falling apart, but the end result wouldn't be able to catch on fire, and able to support enough weight.
Admittedly, if I had thought of using the boxes, I could have simply attached the candle to the wall (however I wish) just above the floor, and put the box on the floor directly below it to catch any dripping.
Well you could try to use the matches to glue the hot wax against the wall, and change the shape of the candle, and you could use the box in a way by turning it into a bowl below the candle to only catch the wax, also also if you heat up the candle so it’s more malleable you could technically create spots in it to better secure the candle with the additional tacks.... you might not have much of a candle left but it is a theoretically possible solution
Thank you, for saying that, that's what I said! He said mount the candle to the wall! His functional fixedness was a lie.
@@feha92 not only is the candle now a fire hazard but all the tacks on the floor(since apparently the table is a lie) are also stabbing hazards >.
You stick the box with the candle in it to the wall with the tacks so that the whole thing is mounted.
I mean, I got the answer to tzhe tack question, but:
1. I was doubtful because I was missing information on the feasability of this solution, after all, since I am using the box for a different purpose, it might not be able to support the candle's weight or get too damaged to do so due to hot wax, also the tacks might not hold the box and fall out.
2. I thought of this not because I overcame some kind of conditioning, but rather I went to that solution quicjly *because* of my conditioning. Due to the way you framed this question, especially with the advice to pause, my mind immediately yelled "It's a puzzle!" and started deliberately looking at peripheral information because it has done the task of solving puzzles before and the experience that peripheral information that is deemphacised and glossed over is usually the solution made conditioned me to approach a problem differently as soon as it is presented as a puzzle. So I found the solution by *adhering* to convention, not rejecting it, I even dismissed point 1 because the puzzle/challenge context gave my basic understanding of puzzle design priority over my semi-realistic assessment of the situation.
I've never read a comment that 100% matched my inner thoughts until today.
When you present something puzzle-like to someone who is experienced with solving puzzles, they automatically know to use all tools at hand. More often than not, the creators of a puzzle give too many items to create a solution. So the veteran puzzle player will first try the tools that make the most sense to solve the problem. When those don't work, they mix and match (bruteforce) until either a solution is reached, or it's decided that I might not have all the tools I need yet to solve the problem.
The issues with the topic at hand in the video aren't what tools are available to the player and whether they know the limits of said tools, but whether or not a player is experienced enough in exploring for solutions even when there may not be one.
In the original problem he presented, I too thought something like "Tacks might not be strong enough to hold this box AND the candle to the wall. It depends on the structure of the box. If the box is made from something cheap, it's going to sag when I put the candle on there and the weight will topple it all onto the table." But given that he left out so much other detail to work with, I went with it as a best guess. How many other people would have skipped that solution if they went through the same critical thinking we did and reversed course instead of sticking to it? I imagine a lot of people who watched the video talked themselves out of the solution. So maybe this video's intended audience isn't me, because as someone who has played games for a long time I know to explore what I can do. Maybe somebody who is completely new to gaming or has very little experience with it found this video fascinating. But I feel like most who will get recommended to this video may feel as I do, that while the content is interesting and maybe even educational it has very little substance in how people really play games and solve puzzles.
Perhaps there's even a missing element that isn't often discussed: that if the solution should be obvious to the player given all of the tools available, that maybe the game/puzzle designer has not properly explained or framed the challenge. I remember a lesson in grade school where a teacher gave us all the tools to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and asked us to write him instructions to follow in making one. Then the teacher took those instructions extremely literally, playing as if though he has never seen the tools in front of him before. With that twist, it became impossible to instruct him on how to make the sandwich without extremely detailed steps and instructions. Most of us didn't tell him which end of the knife to use, or how to scoop the peanut butter out of the jar. "Put the peanut butter on the bread" became "pick up and place the entire jar of peanut butter on the slices of bread." Even if the previous instructions were sufficient to get the teacher to put peanut butter on the knife, the next set of instructions lacked the context to complete the puzzle. Given that this is an exaggerated worst-case point of view, and that most players aren't that bad at solving puzzles or critical thinking, it is worth noting regardless that poor instructions lead to poor results.
This is important for game design though. A player should be able to recognize "hey this is a puzzle" and then trust that they can find a solution. Otherwise if they aren't aware of the 'puzzle' they will just feel like they weren't given ample information
Well, to me the problem was that the candle wasn't allowed to drip - so I couldn't think of a way to stop it from dripping, because even when using a box, the candle drips into the box.
I know, but since he showed a table and said "without dripping wax on the floor", I immediately recognized that the solution can't be "Just put the candle on the table and burn it", so my brain kind of deleted that limitation.
Imaru Lewis The table ain't the floor either.
Or the match box ain't the floor either.
You see, by changing the visual context, the whole problem changes.
I took a games class where the prof made us do a little experiment like that. He gave us as an exercise to imagine a favorite or popular game but adapted to a different interface. He said thinking like this was one way to come up with innovative ideas. His background was in PSP games and ports, he was a lead on a ton of games back then and had to adapt them all to that handheld. He expressed that it was super tough, but it forced them to be creative.
Daryl bless you!
That's so awesome! Thanks for sharing that man, its nice to know that this is something professionals in the field talk about.
I dunno I liked my solution, where I stick tacks into the bottom of the candle to create a makeshift candle holder hemisphere and then push tacks up the side of the candle sideways so the rim penetrates and leaves the tips free to stick the candle to the wall. that box just looked too flimsy to use.
there's also a difference between a thought experiment and actually having the tools in your hand to work with, real life changes the items' capabilities by adding physics.
Yeah, what if the box is to shitty and it falls over with the weight of the candle? Also, how do you use tacks on walls?
I like the solution where I ram the tacks up his self assured butt hole and tell him to, maybe, consider laying off the feigned ignorance of awareness he has for people who struggle terribly with most lateral thinking problems... what an ass.
@@MaisieSqueak Chill out biddy
@@Naruto_from_the_Naruto_show what? That's how you hang pictures or posters if you dont give a shit about holes in your walls. Tacks go pretty easy into drywall
The goal was to stop wax from dripping onto the floor though
My solution was to use my teeth to remove the head of the tack, stick part of the tack into the wall, stick the candle onto the now needle thing in the wall and then place the box underneath the candle so that when it dripped, it'd drip into the box.
... I somehow feel smart AND stupid at the same time right now.
Why stupid in his design he doesn't even really mount it your one is way better.
what are your teeth made of?
Carmo Yeah wtf good luck prying metal with your teeth since it is soldered onto the tack. Also, isn’t the actual needle fairly soft? It would bend.
But to be fair his solution doesn’t take into account that the box might not be built strong enough to not flex under the candle’s weight, and you can’t stick the tacks into it if it’s too hard of a material/
People who mounted the box and found out it doesn’t support the candle’s weight must feel stupid AND angry
I'm in the process of learning to code so I can do something with all my ideas for games, and I love watching this kind of stuff. It's so beneficial for planning ahead and recognize concepts I never would've thought of otherwise. Keep this up man!
Glad it’s helping! Best of luck with your projects man!
How's your coding going?
Damn I was gonna tear the matches out and fold the book into a tiny cup
I suggested melting the side of the candle and sticking it to the wall and now i feel dumb lmao
Dude same! Then I would just put the box of tacks on the bottom to keep it from the floor🤣
So personal solution to the tack problem was to just stand it up on the table which appears flush against the wall, thus it's "mounted" and won't drip wax on the floor specifically.
Same here ^^
Yep, that solution was the same as my initial solution (my second was to carve a runnel in the side of the candle and mount it so that the top is right against the wall, while the bottom is a bit further out, thus it drips onto the wall).
Well, it's been about a year since I 've seen this video for the first time. But this analysis has stuck with me, although I had forgotten the name Dandara... until this week, when Steam and Nintendo decided sell the game for half its price.
So I, at last, managed to play the game. And I'm happy I bought it. And I looked for this video again. And I'm happy I did it too.
In other words, thank you, Daryl, you made a french old timer very satisfied^^.
It's a fantastic game! I wish it had been a tad longer, but I enjoyed every second of it. Thanks for coming back to the video and sharing your experience, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it :)
Ooh, interesting! I actually came up with a slightly different solution to the candle problem-- I imagined tacking the candle directly to the wall, and then putting the box of tacks underneath it. Since your requirement is to not let the wax drip onto the FLOOR, letting the wax drip into the tack-filled box technically still works 😅
I love to see Brazillian games get recognized
*gets the tack problem right*
"Yeah, I'm a bit of a genius."
"I'm a bit of a genius myself"
Same! Lets be smug together on UA-cam comments - the only metric of success that matters!
Same, when he just assumed that I would get it wrong I was like "LISTEN HERE BITCH"
I noticed there was a table so i said "just hang it over the table and it wont drip onto the floor" lmaoooo
@@retroid8357 The definition of "genius" often only requires an IQ of 140, sometimes it goes even as low as 130. So it's not exactly "smug", is it?
My first thought on the candle question"
"He didn't say the candle had to be lit, so as long as no one lights the candle I just have attach it to the wall and the problem is solved."
So naturally I would attach a line of tacks on the wall use matches to soften the candles body and press it into tacks and simply hold to cool.
This however is not the simplest solution, the next two have two assumptions built into them:
1:
Assumption: The candle does not need to be a recognizable candle, just simply on the wall, and not dripping.
Solution: Smear candle on the wall
2:
Assumption: The wall is breakable.
Solution: puncture wall, insert candle
These are obviously preferable as you use the least of amount of the given objects.
And put the box below the candle. (which was my solution, combined with option 1. In practice the box for tacks usually isn't sturdy enough to hold a candle, and if it is [e g plastic] you can't mount it with the tacks. Also the box + candle is probably not going the be held up by regular tacks)
My thought that the rule was to not drop on the floor.
The table everything is presented on is not the floor.
@@evilkord do you have a timestamp, i'll review.
That said, the smearing on the wall option remains viable in that scenario, as the case "if the candle burns" is no longer a valid concern.
I think that's what often irks about these "hypothetical" puzzles that seem so absurd on paper... they serve no practical purpose, at least not apparently. Before I think of a solution, I need to know the specific goal of the task at hand. In other words: WHY do you need to fix a candle to the wall? Do you need to lit the room or do you just want to prevent it from getting lost or stolen? Do you care about getting wax stains on the table? (hey, maybe it's a expensive table) Does it have to be tacked to the wall permanently or would you prefer it to be easily removed so you can carry it around the room like a torch? Is it okay if you leave permanent holes on the wall with the tacks? (I can't even hang a painting in my apartment because my landlord will throw a fit if he sees a tiny bit of damage on the paint). Are you a masochist so you don't mind collecting the dripping hot wax on your bare hands, in fact you might actually get off to it? (okay, getting off track here haha). Basically I need some context. Otherwise it's just a pretentious game of mental masturbation. If the actual problem is "I want to give my room a gothic aesthetic but I'm so dirt poor that I only have this shitty cardboard box and some tackles, have fun" my answer is: "it's physically impossible to attach that to the wall and not have it fall apart in a matter of seconds. Go buy a proper brass candle holder, they're like 15 dollars on amazon you cheap bastard".
Yay I'm glad I'm not alone having the idea of melting the candle first ! Who needs a box !
I wanna talk a little bit about the example you used in the beginning. When you explained to me the problem, my brain understood the list of available tools as candle, matches, and tacks, despite the fact that you listed the tacks as coming in a box. I don't like these kinds of puzzles, because a lot of the time the solution is a "Duh" moment, but it also feels like you're using information that I didn't have access to. Of course you can use the box, but I thought the box was a way to sort of constrain the amount of tacks you could use to a believable amount, not be a tool itself. Like you said, once the box is listed separately pretty much everyone can solve the problem. But another solution could be to hold my hand underneath the candle when it drips. It would be painful, but that's not a metric we're concerned with. Or I could punch a hole below the candle; can't drip on a floor if there isn't one after all. But you didn't mention that my hands are a tool to be used in this situation, so is this solution valid? Can I break the floor with my hands? And are the walls able to hold the weight of the box and candle, and can the tacks even penetrate the walls? It seems a bit pedantic, but these kinds of questions jumped to my mind when you explained the solution. Are they bad, after-the-fact justifications why I didn't arrive at a solution? Maybe. I guess what I'm driving at is the language used to describe the problem and the assumptions we make about it affect how we attempt to solve it. The example doesn't work as well, in my opinion, because there are additional factors surrounding it than just the functional fixedness you describe.
i agree with you saying we did not get the information our personal brain needed for the solution.
the problem stated floored me with my own question of "can i even tack a candle to a wall if it is pure concrete"
to which i had to assume it is not concrete but would that falsify the problem in my eyes
in my opinion the problem has to be stated more cleary:
-one can use alle the items on the table
-the tacks stick to the wall if pushed in
the box is now not specificaly mentioned but listed to observant people
"When you explained to me the problem, my brain understood the list of available tools as candle, matches, and tacks, despite the fact that you listed the tacks as coming in a box. (...) But another solution could be to hold my hand underneath the candle when it drips."
Well, the hand isn't in the "explicit list" either, but it's kinda funny how this kind of ideas can come up before using the box for alot of people.
I thought about the question, but "figured out" that tacks can't penetrate walls, so I was stuck on how to mount anything onto the wall. -.- . So I agree with you there.
I still don’t understand how the box would stick to the wall.
I thought the solution was to just apply wax to the wall and stick the candle in it. There’s clearly a table underneath where I can mount it, so it would never drip on the floor.
studies DO in fact show that the wording of the problem significantly changes the number of people who solve it. just look it up on wikipedia
Excellent video! I never knew about this concept and found it very intriguing! Also, I really have to pick up Dandara sometime!
Thank you! I’d love to see a Dandara Panda review soon :)
Hey Daryl, I'm working as a game design intern as I'm writing this comment and what I think is worth mentioning is how there's another layer to 'game developers should understand functional fixedness'. In the process of designing content for games I find that I get adjusted well enough to my working process and tools to the point where I no longer think about ways in which I could expand on the strength of a design by viewing it from a different perspective. Though you're talking about functional fixedness in a gameplay sense (as well as controller layouts), I think this also reminds developers that you can never get fully comfortable with your approach to development on the whole (regardless of your discipline). I think this entire topic is quite niche and doesn't get talked about often enough, so thanks for the good stuff!
4:00, I hear You've got that Transistor soundtrack... Nice!
4:01 coasting, from transistor OST. This made me distracted, had to rewatched a bit of the vid
This is a fantastic video, you've struck a wonderful balance between academic concepts and game analysis that's a joy to watch :)
I look forward to seeing more of your work in my subscription feed.
I really appreciate it!
I love Dandara! It's the toughest game I played and I've beaten games like Hollow Knight, Dark Souls, and Furi.. lol. I beat Dandara but later a areas really tested me lol. Loved the game tho
10:00 yeah, i kinda expected they started out with a swipe to control the jump, i've been playing around with that idea in various contexts for a year now, and have 2 designs ready to be made (and one that I already made but it turned out to be crappy because of rushed execution so I threw it away half a year after publishing) based on that.
It's actually pretty cool, and also a bit sad - swipe is the most satisfying and "intense" control move you can do on a touchscreen, and yet so heavily underused in mobile games...
Hence the popularity of Fruit Ninja.
@@roadent217 yeah, great, one game, using the swipe in the most trivial and obvious way possible.
then the one mentioned here in video, using it in a cool and pretty original way.
that's two.
any others?
because... your comment seems silly to me, it's akin to:
Me: "Sugar is so cool! The sweet taste is so satisfying! It seems to be so underused!"
You: "There's caramel and people like it".
(and in this hypothetical world, it's as if there were no other sweet foods/snacks other than caramel. so your response basically highlights my point about it being underused. but maybe I just haven't done my research well enough.)
answer, use the tacks and match pack to make a container on the wall and light it normally.
cant believe this entire video is just one big dandara ad, im here for it
Another solution for the riddle at the beginning: You put x tacks inside the candle on one vertical line. You need to keep a bit of distance between the head of the tack and the candle, don't put them fully in. Now put x tacks with the same height differences onto the wall twice, with the 2 rows having a distance > the candle thiccness and < the match length from each other. You also need to not put them fully inside the wall, as you're gonna put a match on every pair of tacks. Now, you can put the candle onto this construction - the tacks of the candle are put on the matches on the wall (bc you left enough distance between the head of the tacks and the candle)
That is at least what I came up with first
Early candle answers incase I feel the need to edit when you reveal:
Tack the candle on the wall over another object, such as the table they're sitting on; alternatively if they remove that too and you have only the objects, place either the box of leftover tacks or the remaining matchbook on the floor to catch the wax.
HEY I GOT IT, basically :D different answer but same solution.
My two solutions were: "Well, I'm only supposed to avoid wax on the floor, not the table. I can use a few tacks to balance the candle in order to keep it upright, and then position it in the center of the table. The wax will cover the surface of the table, and possibly hang over the edge, but it probably won't end up on the floor."
"Actually, wait, there's no telling how large the candle is, and how small the table is. Maybe I could break off the top of the candle, assemble a small container with the cardboard of the matchbox (with the striking portion on the outside), and secure it with some tacks - creating a small candle. When the small candle has melted, I could store the molten wax in the box, and simply place another chunk of the candle into the holder."
And then I realized that it had to be mounted on the wall. I gave up.
I misheard book of matches as a box, so I used that instead.
I gave a like to this video when you mentioned GMTK, which I'd been following for a while; your insights on what makes the game work are exactly what I love about videos on game design. But I had to subscribe when you pulled the switch to discuss the importance of a problem's context for solutions people are likely to come up with. That was such a great way to separate and cover the two different perspectives. Now I'm looking forward to going through the other videos in this series, and the others you have! Thanks!
Can't believe I found this well explained video, just after I stumbled upon Dandarra.
Thanks for making me eager to explore its world from a completely new perspective.
I'm playing Dandara on Android, and I'm blown away by its creativity. It's a really fresh way to control a platformer, especially on a touchscreen where after a bit of training, swiping and flicking becomes almost effortless. Great video, top quality. I know this is late but keep up the great work
0:51 I got that solution just before the bell rung... glad to see it was right
I just watched the fourth wall one and now I found the whole playlist. I know what I will be binging tonight. Many thanks for this content. Cheers.
I still don't know how people use rocks to fly. Every time I've tried, it just rockets out from under me.
You're too heavy man
Ya gotta latch on with the climbing animation
If you're looking for another game that sort of did what Dandara does, check out Gravity Rush, where your movement is determined by a first-person perspective and "aiming." I definitely saw similarities in your explanation of Dandara, so I'd recommend checking it out too. Enjoyed this video. Great to see more content from you, guy. Keep it up. :)
Much appreciated!! I’ll have to check out Gravity Rush for sure. And I just saw that you uploaded earlier today as well, I’m looking forward to some down time this evening so I can check it out!
Gravity Rush 1 and 2 are extremely underrated titles. I wish 2 was more successful than it was.
I thought Gravity Rush was always in third person?
AstrosGamer There's an option to move around in first person.
The solution you had was literally what I did. Though I also had the tack going from under the box into the candle for support....
Didn't think about the box but I figured you would just push the table against the same wall the candle is tacked to.
Which is another way of solving the problem of wax hitting the FLOOR, exactly what the video is about. The table against the wall was my first solution as well haha. In short, it's about innovation, or thinking outside the box, and I think that things like this are good not only for game creators but players as well. Like how so many people are getting caught up on Sekiro recently because they try to play it like any other souls game and it doesn't work. It's all about being adaptive, and having the patience to stop and think of a new way around the situation.
I had a similar idea but somehow missed that just pushing the table against the wall alone would solve the problem and put the matchstick packet paper box bit under the candle for good measure rather than the tack box.
What a well constructed video. I think there's a lot of creativities waiting to be explored from actively trying to break this fixedness. But it takes more than just thinking out of a box to execute an idea, after all any ideas may result into 2 different things in a game, a "gimmick" or a central "mechanic" that runs along with all the other cogs. To think that the developers uses sort of a reverse thought process to approach the control method and resulted to such a unique game, I'm very impressed since personally am not a big fan of touch screen use for gaming.
Keep it up man, I'll be sure to catch up your other and future works!
I appreciate it man!
Great piece man. Inspired me to think about it during my next game jam.
I appreciate it!
Please keep making videos like these they are so interesting and amazing and I actually learn a lot
thing is: the more optionswith tools you give to the player, the more ways you give them to break the game in ways you haven't even thought of. needs consideration.
the way he pronounces João is hilarious. Great video!!
I also got to use the box, but then I was thinking this was too easy "what is the catch". So I started to use the matches to stabilize the candle in the box...
Im starting to dm my first DnD campaing and your videos have been helping me SO MUCH, thanks for the work king
EDIT number 2: You just got a subscriber in 1 minute and 14 seconds of the first video he ever seen by you. That's a record time within all the subscriptions I've ever made, I think. Congrats! :)
Hmmm...
1. Tear off the match cover (going from the picture). make it into U shape with the bottom being the correct width as the candle thickness
2. fix the candle into the base of the U (with the sides pointing up), by a pin.
3. fix the whole thing to the wall (as well as the sides of the U to each other) by putting 2 pins on the top of the U side, through both sides, and into the wall.
4. partially tear off the U side away from the wall, and bend it away a bit.
So now the wax can either drip along the wall, and solidify before falling to the ground, which is fine, or it can drip along the free sides of the candle, and get caught by the protruding parts of the U shape on the sides, or it can drip along the side of the candle furthest from the wall, in which case it will get caught by the bit that's bent away a bit, which we created in step 4. I'm not entirely sure if this would be able to actually hold the candle, but I believe it could, and I think it's definitely worth a try XD
...but I'm a programmer, so...
i'm curious as to what the "official" solution is.
EDIT: OHHH! THE BOX OF PINS IS ALSO A THING!!! =D =D =D I love how I basically solved the problem with out of the box (...also literally, nice) solution that would probably kindasorta works, but the problem still nicely illustrated your point anyway... because the box of tacks/pins is also a thing, which I didn't realize =D
Also your solution has the upside of not burning the wall =D
My answer wasn't exactly the same for the tack question but it did still involve using the box to catch the wax
Lol with the riddle at the beginning I answered "just tack the candle to the wall, there's a table under it, since it drips on the table, it doesn't on the floor" :P
Baba is You is an incredible exercise in overcoming functional fixedness. The puzzles in that game constantly ask you to ignore the distinction between avatar and object. It even asks you to rethink the very mechanics it has taught you.
I'm not an native English speaker so I have some difficulties with the name of itens that you see in daily life. So my solution was to use some of the paper of the book to put some of the wax on the base of the candle and the stick the candle into the wall, using the paper of the book to block the wax from getting into the floor.
My solution was tack it to the wall and use the box to catch the wax by placing it underneath. So, close enough, and arguably more correct since the verbal answer you gave doesn't mention sticking it to the wall, also considering physics it would probably not be able to support the candle nor would the candle be able to stay upright.
I had the solution the moment the problem was explained. I don't suffer from functional fixedness, I see everything as a collection of functional uses, so solutions like this are automatic. I don't see a hammer as a tool to hit and pry nails with, I see a shaped piece of metal that can be used in thousands of ways. Great video.
This makes me wonder about games like Just Cause, where they're essentially playgrounds with amazing tools, weighed down by boring "go to a place and shoot stuff" missions. This almost feels like an inversion of functional fixedness, where the player is aware of incredible things they can do-and that they can likely do even more they haven't thought of-but the game isn't interested in exploring them. (Real talk, Just Cause should be a puzzle game.)
Anyway, this video was instant subscribe and bell smash, and I'll be picking up Dandara. Great work.
TALK ABOUT A HAT IN TIME ALREADY great vid btw!
Thank you! I need to play it, I’ve heard a lot of good about it. It looks super interesting
While I like the candle example, I just thought of using the matches as a frame to hold the candle, and use the tacks to hold it against the wall. Then, of course, I would use the matches to make a platform at the bottom of the frame to catch the melted wax. Stupid, but it (probably) works.
These mechanics were employed in a very old game for Atari as well. You were flying rather than diving but it was much the same schematic. I am unable to recall the title but I do recall being fascinated with it as a kid. The first exploration type game I remember ever playing.
I don’t know how I stumbled across your channel. But I’m glad I did great video. You earned a new subscriber.
Ooooh, getting deeper into the psychology behind game design is something I'm really interested in. Yep, that's a worthy sub. Personally, I'm digging into design questions that can be summed up as "Adjustments to serve the weaknesses of the player's perception". Things like true randomness vs. feeling random, giving the player the feeling that they just barely made it, even though it was forced by design. Some concrete examples: Throwing a coin 10 times and getting tails each time doesn't feel random, but it can occur. So when there's a random choice between two things in a game, when one occurs, the other one may need to get a higher probability next time. Many believe that after throwing tails 5 times, it's much more likely to get head next time, even though the chances are still 50:50. As for forcing close situations: If you have played Undertale (and only then because it would be a shame if someone gets a major spoiler there), check out the health bar during the omega flowey fight. It doesn't decrease in a linear way but exponentially. So you are down to a fourth after 3-4 hits, but that last quarter can still hold another 10 or so hits. Assassin's Creed also treats the last portion of health differently than the other ones. But you've probably already seen videos talking about this. I just find it really interesting to help the player without them noticing it. It empowers them and can greatly improve their enjoyment. You really can't trust any number that pops up in a game ;)
I didn't know Assassin's Creed did that! Man that so interesting. Its amazing how such a small change like that can really change the experience from close to nail biting. I don't even mind that its hidden since its kind of a white lie lol. Thanks for all the comments!
I stuck the bottom of the candle on the wall by stabbing it diagonally with the tacks (unsure if tacks are deep or strong enough but this is hypothetical) then stabbed the emptied match box onto the candle to catch the wax.
I figured out the solution to the candle puzzle literally the moment the timer ran out. :D
The candle problem didn't stump me for a second, but that's only because I read it in a book long ago (and therefore already knew the answer).
I think that sums up a large chunk of my approach to lateral/creative thinking. I feel like I can't do it naturally, but I can spoof it by remembering "tricks" that I've already seen (and learning a LOT of them).
I can't describe how proud I feel for having figured it out in less than five seconds
Oh my god I actually had the solutions for the task at the beginning figured out alone. Altough I was doubting if the box would be able to hold the candle itself or would rip or tear since it wasn't made to hold something as heavy as a candle.
my solution to the tack problem was to melt a few tacks into the candle with the pokey side sticking out to mount onto the wall then stick the tacks onto the candle to completely seal it, I thought of what would happen once the wick started descending so i thought of bending the tacks as you insert them in so they are still embedded in some solid wax if you bent them downward, the tack head still being parallel to the cylinder that is the candle to retain the melted wax.
The candle problem… I had a very crude solution. I almost immediately knew the box should be used to prevent wax from dripping into the floor, however I didn’t assume the box was strong enough to hold the candle. My idea involved balancing/suspending the candle in a sort of plinko style tack formation and just leaving the box on the floor.
If that didn’t work I would simply mash the candle up and spread it all over the wall in such a way that the wax wouldn’t reach the floor before cooling down and creating a sort of wax wall.
0:55 I overcomplicated things: "put the candle in the box so that when wax overflows in box it would drip on the wall, NOT THE FLOOR and done"...
Wow...quite the informative vid! Thanks bud!
You basically said what I’ve been saying for a long, long time!
I had three answers one was to cut the candle into 4 pieces and use the match book as a part of an origami cup, the second was to use the tack box as shown: the third was tack the candle to the wall and remove the carpet.
I solved the Candle problem in a couple of seconds, but then I overthought it with the remaining time. The box didn't seem strong enough to sustain the weight of such a big unused candle, at best it looks like it's made out of really cheap thin cardboard, it would simply bend and let the candle fall, so I imagined also pinning the candle to the wall with tacs HOWEVER it's too thick, they would only reach its center, not pin it onto the wall. It was only then when I reached the most obvious, lowest effort, and quickest solution: You do nothing. The candle's wax would drop to the table, not the floor.
Gotcha!
That's exactly what I thought too! Even if the candle is too thick you could still push the tacks through the wax to make holes and have it pinned to the wall. The problem should have said "Don't let the wax fall on the floor OR the table."
my solution was different. i would fix the candle directly on the wall, in the diagonal, and put the box above it.; so then the melted candle would fall on the box insted of the ground.
Hah ! I knew in those 4 seconds without pausing to use the box of tacks somehow!
When you mentioned functional fixedness I rewinded and noticed that you haven't mentioned that I have to use anything that I was given except for the candle.
So I thought crap I should have gone for a wall candle holder from internet.
As for the box thing, I didn't think to mount the box on the wall for some dumb reason, but I thought to make a make shift wall candle holder with the tacs and the match cover like a sling and sit the tac-box on the floor under the candle. The wax wouldn't drip on the floor, but in the box that's on the floor. It was overly complicated but it could'a worked maybe.
Kay so before you said the solution: I thought one would put a bunch of tacks on the candle to keep it standing straight, then use the match case to catch the wax. After hearing the solution I realized how dumb mine sounded but kept thinking of other solutions. So, I also thought one could use tacks on the candle, so it can make a bumpy surface so the wax will fall down slower and get stuck in the cracks. Also! I noticed there is a flaw, there's nothing saying we have to mount the whole candle! One could break the candle in an uneven distribution where a small part is a candle and little string while the base is separate, after that use two or more tacks to hold the small candle string on the wall while having the tack box underneath to hold the wax.
I got the answer to the candle puzzle. At first I was thinking of just sticking a ton of tacks to the candle so it doesn't drip, but then I realized that the tack box was big enough to hold it.
For the candle solution, I actually just thought of melting the wax onto the wall (supported by tacks) and put the box underneath it so that it doesn’t drip on the floor, that answer is better though
With the candle thing I got the same answer except thought it'd make more sense to have the corner of the box against where the 2 walls meet. That way you can tack it to 2 walls for more support. Just putting it on one wall seems sketchy and the wax would build up and it'd all fall.
your specifications were that the candle itself was counted to the wall, and that it *didn't drip wax.* period. neither of those criteria are met by your solution. the candle will still drip and flow wax into the box and the candle is not mounted to the wall. if we take your solution as a correct solution to the problem, simply placing the candle on the floor is also a solution. the floor is mounted to the walls, and it will not melt exactly the same way it would in the box.
The condition is about it not dripping *on the floor*
You are right about the candle being mounted though
my idea for the candle puzzle would be make a bowl shape with the tacks and those sharp ends pointing TOWARDS the candle to make it safe.
My solution was to melt some wax on the wall and to stick the candle horizontaly and to put the box on the floor under the candle.
dump all the matches on the floor, maybe arrange the extra ones into a tight grid beneath qhere the candle will be mounted. put two nails into the wall close to the floor so the wax doesnt splatter much if it escapes and place the candle in tje matchbox. use any remaining nails to create a sort of barrier around the outside of the box with the nailhead poking outwards. For aesthetic. or if youre that patient, use the matches to melt the nails dosn into a proper candleholder.
Dandara's movement reminded me a lot of Gravity Ninja and those blue stars in Super Mario Galaxy.
My solution was simple: Just don't light the candle. It never said it had to be lit, only that you had to use all the objects and mount it to the wall. So however you choose to mount it is fine; so long as you never light it, it won't drip wax on the floor.
My solution was essentially the same, but I thought the candle had to be literally on the wall and so used the matchbox and tacks to mount it over the box
Very profound and informative video. Great Job!
Thanks so much!
My solution to the opening problem was both totally different but I argue still viable. Use horizontal matches on each side to stick the candle to the wall, then fan out in each different matches under the candle to create a makeshift wax catch. Admittedly, in the imagined hypothetical, it's harder to come up with an out of the box solution then if you had the physical objects to work with.
I love this kind of thing in games. It's a lot of the reason why I love when a game is full of objects that are effected by the physics & the player is given a way to manipulate the physics. You can get a lot of use out of grenades in Half-Life 2 by just using them as grenades but they become a lot more useful when you realize enemies won't run from them when they're in your hands.
Some encounters can be totally broken by dropping a grenade down & then either picking it up with your hands to carry it closer so you can toss it into a crowd right before it explodes or using the gravity gun to launch it at distant enemies.
Bioshock 1 is excellent at that stuff. It never tells you can do stuff like attach a mine to an object & use telekinesis to launch that object at an enemy so it explodes on impact but there are lots of things like that that you can just figure out on your own. Like setting an enemy on fire so they'll jump into water so you can electrocute them for an instant kill.
Another great video Daryl! Your videos are my most anticipated in my sub box!
Thanks bro! I’m behind on your Golf Story play though, I’ve gotta catch up on them when I get some down time.
Daryl Talks Games oh man I know how that feels, I’m slowly making my way through the videos I want to watch and people keep making new ones! How selfish of them 😏
Finna binge all your vids cause they are most definitely fire
I would use some of the paper matchbook cover as a four-point stand for the candle, to keep it vertical, and to keep the wax moving away from the base of the candle as an easier collection for reformation of the candle. Wax is reusable. I might need to make another candle, or seal a wound or an envelope or something.
0:58 no I instandly thought of using the box. Funny how this goes. But I understand your Point.
New Dandara DLC/UPDATE just came out recently, Trials of Fear Edition. Check it out folks! It's a very challenging, unique, and lovely game.
Soon as my next viddy is done, I’m gonna give it a go 🙌🏻
Question for a video: Why do all modern strategy games incorporate ways for players to remove each other from the game, or ignore the rules of the game entirely?
That’s a good question! My guess would be because breaking the rules is fun and we like being the last one standing, but there must be more to it than that haha. Thanks for the comment! I’ll look into it.
First thought was the box.
Second, objectively better thought, is to attach the candle to the wall by it's wick. The moment the flame gets to the thumbtack, the wick won't be able to support the weight of the candle and it'll fall off the wall, thus the flame never gets to the wax, thus the candle doesn't drip wax.
Absolutely brilliant how you can take a central psychological concept and explain it through games. I also like to think of this concept through "precedents". The player has no reason to act a certain way if said way was never defined. Celeste does this brilliantly (for the most part), like establishing different ways that the game implements secrets early on and then evolves from that, which can avoid sudden new types of secrets that makes you question if you've missed anything because functional fixedness had set in at that point. That's rather specific though, it basically boils down to your Paper Mario example and making sure the player knows how the mechanic can be used.
Anyway, fantastic job. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much man! I totally agree about Celeste. And the beauty of learning that there is more you can do in a game like that, is that it gives it a ton of replay value. You have to go back and play it again knowing what you know now
My solution was to use one of those LED candles that aren’t even made of wax and just use a thumbtack to mount it to the wall
Drip wax on a few tacks, glue their flat sides to the wall in a vertical line and stick the candle on.
The tack box probably would bend under the weight if the candle.
This is such good content. Stimulating and educational. Please make more
Great Video
Its the input and understanding of people like you that allow us to make video games an artform