Goddess Maker Mechanic: MENTAL IMPEDIMENTS

Introduction

In Goddess Maker’s “Lab of God” game section, Mental Impediments are an interactive means to permanently increase the player character’s intelligence alongside nutrients.

Gimmick Explanation 

As the player character nakedly researches competencies, such as chemistry or advanced math, they are inflicted with unique “Mental Impediments” per the subject researched, due to not possessing the level of intellect necessary to fully comprehend the ever-intricate knowledge.

As these mental impediments are collected, they become a burden that weighs down the player character and inhibits their ability to research effectively, due to the mental barriers and roadblocks that are placed.

But although these mental impediments encumber the player character’s progress, it’s not a cause of complete concern, but rather an opportunity to evolve from, sort of like building muscle from tedious physical struggle, with this case being a “mental struggle” that metaphysically connects the player behind the screen to the player character within the game.

Gameplay-wise, in order for the player character to throw off these mental impediments, they must complete challenging, thought-provoking puzzles that relate to the subject matter in which the impediment had been acquired from. 

As for the context of the puzzle format, it’ll be based on the subject and the kind of conundrum that one would stumble upon.

For example, a chemistry impediment requires solving a chemistry-related puzzle.

These mental problem puzzles will have the opportunity to be overcome at the player’s own pace right before going to bed, with the permanent intelligence growth opportunity being available during breakfast the next day if the conditions of brain size, mental impediments, and the specific number of boost nutrients like coffee are met.

Keep in mind that for the player character to acquire a mental impediment, it’s required that the player actively researches rather than leaving the burden of responsibility to the partner character, else they face missing acquiring an opportunity to struggle and grow.

Of course, there is a game balancing concern; however, as the game is in a sort of competition with the partner character, it’s part of the gameplay strategy to diversify your actions if the player character intends to excel.

What about the Partner Character?

Since the partner character’s permanent intelligence growth mechanic is calculated automatically in the background over the course of the days that pass, she doesn’t have the same interactive puzzle-solving mechanic as the player character, and in terms of increasing her permanent intelligence, it will be witnessed by the player character on occasion as soon as he meets the partner character in the morning.

While the player character can disrupt the flow of the partner character’s mental gymnastics to slow down the rate she becomes more intelligent, her permanent intelligence growth should be considered as a growing constant that is based on calendar time, rather than accomplishments completed.

Puzzle Mechanical Implementation

Interaction with the mental impediment puzzles will consist of both point & click and typing in answers, both things that the player would have done by up to that point.

For answers that require a number to be entered, there will be an appropriate flexibility of acceptance, so that the answer doesn’t need to be exact.

Since these problems work on the player’s ability to think about it and solve, the user-interface interaction trends toward the simplistic; the real challenge occurs on the logical plane, which requires a unique set of well-thought-out conundrums whose difficulty is difficult enough to pose a challenge to the player, but not absurd to the point of the player being too discouraged without appropriate remediation.

There is also an intentional difficulty curve as the game progresses, with the calculator-based problems being considered as the “easier” puzzles, and the more contextual, overloading ones being “harder”.

Mechanically, there is also a high degree of randomization to the mental puzzles that follow a specific logically reasoned format.

Since an algorithm runs at the start of a new game that sets the answers based on a selection of conditions, it will deter the player from using another’s walkthrough and give the player the incentive to work out the problem themselves before resorting to something like ChatGPT to make sense of it for them.

It’s my hope that by adding these technically optional, but growth-encouraged, unique puzzles, it would help offset the feeling that the game is too grindy, as that is a concern I am truly interested in correcting.