How to Make a Puzzle

Designing puzzles for players to solve is an exciting way to engage them in your game. Read on to master the essentials of creating puzzles and using Variables in RPG MAKER WITH.

How to Make a Puzzle

Use Variables to Create Puzzles

In RPG MAKER WITH, Variables are a key feature for creating puzzles that adapt to player choices. They provide a simple yet effective way to track progress and adjust puzzle outcomes based on player actions. With variables, you can create different outcomes based on how the player interacts with the game environment.

In this guide, we're going to create a door that can be opened if the main character destroys two objects. In this case, Tablets.

To start creating puzzles using Variables, press the R Button to switch over to Events.

1	First we're going to create a Tablet. This will be the object that must be destroyed in order to open the door. Select a tile to place the Tablet.
2	Enter the Basic Info and set an Image.
3	Head to Event Details. Press the A Button to add a command line. Select Messages and choose Show Text. In this example, we entered a message that will show confirmation that the Tablet is destroyed.
4	Add another command line. Go to Game Progress and choose Ctrl Variable. Select Single and choose a Variable number. You may also rename the Variable number as shown above. Afterward, set the Operation to Add and the Constant to "1". This means that each Tablet destroyed is counted as 1.
5	To ensure that this event will not repeat, we will add a Self Switch Control. Add another command line, go to Game Progress, and choose Self Switch Ctrl. Choose a Self Switch Ctrl letter and set it to On.
6	Press the X Button and select Add Event Page.
7	Switch over to the second event page we just made, head to Conditions, select the Self Switch letter you want to use, and press OK. We have now created the first piece of the puzzle.
8	Let's add copies of this Tablet and place them on the map. To do this, press the X Button on the Tablet and select Copy.
9	Select a tile to place the Tablet and press the X Button and select Paste.
10	Let us now create the door Event. From the Events Editor screen, select the tile for the Door Event. Enter the Basic Info and set the door Image.
11	Head to Event Details and add a Show Text Command. In this example, we wrote instructions for opening the door.
12	Press the X Button and select Add Event Page. Switch to the second event page. Fill in the Basic info but leave the Image section blank as we want this door to disappear when the Tablets are destroyed.
13	Go to Conditions and set the Variables. In this example, we set the Variables to 2. This means that the door will disappear if 2 Tablets are counted as destroyed. Press OK. Congratulations! We have created a puzzle using Variables.
14	Let's do a Playtest. We're going to check that if we destroy two Tablets, the door should disappear.
15	Voila! The door has disappeared and our conditions for the Variables have been fulfilled.

What are Variables?

Variables are Switches That Can Remember Numerical Values

In RPG MAKER WITH, a Variable can be thought of as a container that can store numbers. By default, a Variable is empty, holding a value of "0". Through event commands, we can assign a specific number to a Variable which it retains until we decide to change it.

For example, if we assign the number 2 to Variable 0001, it will hold that value until another command updates it. This makes Variables useful for tracking quantities or actions in your game such as counting the number of similar items that a player collects.

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