how do YOU design your puzzle caches

[+dorqie]

I have one of those combo locks that I want to use for a puzzle cache in wich you must solve for the combo of the lock.

Where do YOU look for inspiration when designing a puzzle?

[+briansnat]

Other people's puzzle caches. If I see one I like I copy it. I may tweak it a bit to put my own stamp on it, but because I don't have an original bone in my body I steal ideas.

Edited May 18, 2010 by briansnat

[+Jennifer&Dean]

Brian stole my answer. Honestly!

 

When we see something we like, I give it a try and see if I can make a cache that I would enjoy which is similar.

 

We have also been challenged- take something that would be really hard to make a puzzle out of, and make a puzzle out of it. Check out our OB-Noxious cache for an example of how to teach cachers about invasive plant species.

 

I have also taken tangents on ideas and made caches that grew from puzzles I have encountered. Our Ingenuity cache is loosely based on a cache in Delaware that had folks using a geiger counter. It got me wondering how to make folks use their eyes and ears and hands and noses to identify the correct next coordinates.

 

Jen

[+ADTCacheur]

I wait for inspiration to strike, whether it's from another cache, an epiphany, or seeing something cool in a store, and then I leave the idea in my head for a while, making small tweaks, and then I make something good (note: I have not yet made a cache. This is my method for creating many other amazing things though)

[+entogeek]

Think of a puzzle type that you like to solve and create your own in a similar style. Then again there is a lot to say about trying to be original.

[+fizzymagic]

Very rarely, if I see a puzzle I really like, I will do a variant. But generally, unless I can do something original I don't do a puzzle cache.

 

I haven't even come close to running out of ideas yet. Maybe I should sell them!

[+SSO JOAT]

I keep a notebook handy that I write down every vague puzzle concept that pops into my head. When I'm in a mood to put out a new puzzle, I open the book and look through the ideas, then pick one to start refining.

 

I don't really care to go out looking at other puzzles (outside my area as I know everything in my area) and copy them. I prefer to come up with my own stuff or instead of looking at other people's puzzles, get out there on the internet and start reading about non-geocaching puzzles and ciphers. I wrote down 3 puzzle ideas in my notebook yesterday as they came to me while driving for 10 hours. Maybe one of them will become a puzzle this summer, maybe not. There are dozens of other ideas in the book ahead of these.

 

Personally, I think the cache page design and delivery of the puzzle is far more important than the style of puzzle you come up with. I've got a couple puzzles that I published on the same day that use the exact same concept for hiding coordinates, but because of the appearance and page layout, they don't look like the same kind of puzzle at all. There are lots of people who have solved one but not the other. I find it amusing.

[+GeoGeeBee]

Ideas are in the air, ideas are everywhere. You just have to be open to them. The more you play around with them, the easier it gets.

 

For example: Pick any random five or six letter word. Let's take "CACHE" for an example. Create a sentence where the initial letters spell that word. It might take a few minutes to come up with the first one. The second one will be easier. After you've done a couple, you'll be thinking of them faster than you can write them down. If you get someone else to do it with you, it's even easier... your ideas will inspire them, and theirs will inspire you.

 

The above doesn't apply specifically to creating puzzle caches, but it will stimulate and exercise your creativity in general. Then you can apply that creative energy to your next cache.

[+GMartinTX]

Do a search of puzzles in other areas of the country, find themes or ideas that suit your imagination. Math, number conversion, trivia, encryption tweaked mine, so I went in that direction with the puzzles I have put out. The complexity can range from a simple Wiki search to mind-numbing number crunching... the possibilities are truly limitless.

[+ihorn]

I am getting ready to set out a 5 part puzzle that requires a new way to solve each puzzle as you go. I have never solved a puzzle cache yet, but got my inspiration from history. I also took one from a game. I think people who enjoy puzzles will like this one.

[+niraD]

I've come up with a lot of ideas for puzzle caches based on my incorrect solutions to other puzzle caches. Finding a good location to hide a cache that I can maintain, and that isn't already being used... that's the hard part.

[+mountainman38]

I have one of those combo locks that I want to use for a puzzle cache in wich you must solve for the combo of the lock.

Where do YOU look for inspiration when designing a puzzle?

 

I like to make puzzles up using something I'm familiar with/enjoy doing. Since you'll be spending awhile putting a puzzle together, it's a lot more fun if it's a subject you like.

 

A local cacher, who is an avid angler, has several fish themed caches. His latest puzzle is a great example of how to make a fun cache on a theme you enjoy.

 

Since you are making a puzzle that ultimately has to yield numbers, my method is to pick a subject I'm interested in, then find a way to extract numbers from that subject.

[+9Key]

I'm a programmer so I have quite a few puzzles that I've coded one way or another: javascript games, IVR phone puzzles, multiple guess web pages, encryption routines, etc.

 

Never been a fan of ciphers or math puzzles.

[+simpjkee]

I look to my everyday life. Things I like to do and such. I look for numbers and think "Could I turn this in to a puzzle?"

 

There may be other puzzle caches like mine that I don't know about, but all my caches start from within my own brain. I don't steal other peoples ideas.

[+mountainman38]

...There may be other puzzle caches like mine that I don't know about, but all my caches start from within my own brain. I don't steal other peoples ideas. (Emphasis added)

Perhaps you didn't mean it that way, but that bolded bit comes off sounding rather self-righteous. Because someone is inspired by a puzzle they've seen, and use it to make one of their own, certainly doesn't mean they're "stealing ideas".

 

Stealing suggests that the person stolen from has had a loss of some kind. Since caching is not a business, how does someone lose from having their cache copied?

[+DragonsWest]

I generally have a puzzle idea already in mind, long before it is placed.

 

My most recent I've been working on for months. The original hide location was taken by another cache, so I shelved it for a bit. I was looking over a location and built the cache before placing it in the field last week. I finished the puzzle last night, though I'm a tad unhappy with the look of it, it's functional - I'll clean up the art in a few days, but it's there now.

 

I consider themes I'm familiar with or explore creative ideas for potential - a few I haven't got around to, yet. I think there's a way to make a puzzle out of any theme - not necessarily a good puzzle, but one doesn't know until one has tried putting it together.

 

I've seen some puzzles which are utterly unique and therefore extremely challenging - I'm not sure I want a cache which will be visited rarely because I put out a puzzle which require knowledge possessed by the very few. Not a bad idea to introduce people to a new concept (there's a really neat one I have yet to find based upon Johnson shapes) and educational value appeals to me - enlighten the seeker rather than utterly frustrate them.

 

Best of luck and don't forget to post your favorite puzzle link when you're done.

[+9Key]

enlighten the seeker rather than utterly frustrate them.

That should be the goal IMO.

[+simpjkee]

...There may be other puzzle caches like mine that I don't know about, but all my caches start from within my own brain. I don't steal other peoples ideas. (Emphasis added)

Perhaps you didn't mean it that way, but that bolded bit comes off sounding rather self-righteous. Because someone is inspired by a puzzle they've seen, and use it to make one of their own, certainly doesn't mean they're "stealing ideas".

 

Stealing suggests that the person stolen from has had a loss of some kind. Since caching is not a business, how does someone lose from having their cache copied?

 

I was going off briansnats post #2 in which he freely said that he steals ideas. Then post #3 said that briansnat stole their answer suggesting that they also freely admit that they steal ideas. Heck, briansnat skipped the part about being 'inspired' to create his own cache from another cache and went straight to just copying it and putting his own stamp on it before submitting it as his own.

 

I think those two posts set the tone for what 'steal' meant in this thread. In that sense, I don't steal ideas so I said I don't.

[+DragonsWest]

I've come up with a lot of ideas for puzzle caches based on my incorrect solutions to other puzzle caches. Finding a good location to hide a cache that I can maintain, and that isn't already being used... that's the hard part.

I'm trying to take the approach, when hiding, to scour an area like I'm trying to find a cache, before hiding one. I have found some amazingly good cover for caches, where the actual cache placement isn't nearly as good, or sustainable.

 

Like looking for a good location to hide, I think almost anything can lead to a puzzle, with enough inspiration, pencil work and examination.

 

I'm also accumulating a lot of discarded items because they may serve in a hide at some point. Not necessarily looking for evil, but something that fits in and won't be noticed and vandalised.

[+Jennifer&Dean]

...There may be other puzzle caches like mine that I don't know about, but all my caches start from within my own brain. I don't steal other peoples ideas. (Emphasis added)

Perhaps you didn't mean it that way, but that bolded bit comes off sounding rather self-righteous. Because someone is inspired by a puzzle they've seen, and use it to make one of their own, certainly doesn't mean they're "stealing ideas".

 

Stealing suggests that the person stolen from has had a loss of some kind. Since caching is not a business, how does someone lose from having their cache copied?

 

I was going off briansnats post #2 in which he freely said that he steals ideas. Then post #3 said that briansnat stole their answer suggesting that they also freely admit that they steal ideas. Heck, briansnat skipped the part about being 'inspired' to create his own cache from another cache and went straight to just copying it and putting his own stamp on it before submitting it as his own.

 

I think those two posts set the tone for what 'steal' meant in this thread. In that sense, I don't steal ideas so I said I don't.

I gotta remember to put in smileys when posting in any thread you might post too.

 

I will freely admit to stealing an entire cache write-up. In the definition that the theft was of the concept and write-up but not an physical theft. I stole the write-up with permission of the other cache's owner as I loved the way it was written and wanted to share it with folks who, after his cache was archived, would never see the beautiful use of words. (my cache Meet me in Greenough...)

 

For the most part, the ideas we have stolen are used as concepts that we then bring into puzzle cache planning. Perhaps the word stolen is wrong and another can be chosen, but it would be the the best way to explain some of the process that I can come up with easily.

 

I guess you can call it learning through experience and becoming more devious in our puzzle hides as we work our way through puzzles placed by others. Incorporating pieces and concepts in ways that may or may not resemble the original puzzle.

 

Ingenuity was inspired by a cache in Delaware. I would have stolen ( ) the complete idea but the cost was high and the replacement issues would have made it more work that I was interested in investing in the particular concept.

 

J

[+Harry Dolphin]

Sometimes I borrow ideas from other mystery caches. ('Borrow', not 'steal') I do have one that was the wrong solution to another cache. And sometimes, I have a bizarre mind that bounces off the wall. Hee hee hee.

Some people call them the 'read the dolphin's mind' puzzles. (I'm not good at giving subtle hints.)

I have one I thought was easy, that took three months for the FTF! I have one with one find, and that was last August! (But that one is completely off the wall.)

So, I guess that I can't give you any good ideas. Oh well.

[+catsnfish]

Here is a how to for some simpler puzzles

[+ADTCacheur]

Sometimes I borrow ideas from other mystery caches. ('Borrow', not 'steal') I do have one that was the wrong solution to another cache. And sometimes, I have a bizarre mind that bounces off the wall. Hee hee hee.

Some people call them the 'read the dolphin's mind' puzzles. (I'm not good at giving subtle hints.)

I have one I thought was easy, that took three months for the FTF! I have one with one find, and that was last August! (But that one is completely off the wall.)

So, I guess that I can't give you any good ideas. Oh well.

 

You borrow ideas... If so then when do you give them back? My perspective: imitation is the highest form of flattery. You're not stealing, your imitating them!

 

probably the reason your "easy" one took 3 months for FTF was because most people find puzzle caches too hard/too boring/too something and ignore them in their PQs... what can you do?

[+tomfuller & Quill]

My most recent puzzle I "borrowed" from one that I solved in Texas. I named it Oregon's Reverse French Manicure. It was solved and found the day after it was published. The one in Texas doesn't seem to be found very often.

My other puzzles involve some mathematics.

It appears to me that less than 10% of cachers even try to solve any puzzles, even the easier ones.

[+simpjkee]

...There may be other puzzle caches like mine that I don't know about, but all my caches start from within my own brain. I don't steal other peoples ideas. (Emphasis added)

Perhaps you didn't mean it that way, but that bolded bit comes off sounding rather self-righteous. Because someone is inspired by a puzzle they've seen, and use it to make one of their own, certainly doesn't mean they're "stealing ideas".

 

Stealing suggests that the person stolen from has had a loss of some kind. Since caching is not a business, how does someone lose from having their cache copied?

 

I was going off briansnats post #2 in which he freely said that he steals ideas. Then post #3 said that briansnat stole their answer suggesting that they also freely admit that they steal ideas. Heck, briansnat skipped the part about being 'inspired' to create his own cache from another cache and went straight to just copying it and putting his own stamp on it before submitting it as his own.

 

I think those two posts set the tone for what 'steal' meant in this thread. In that sense, I don't steal ideas so I said I don't.

I gotta remember to put in smileys when posting in any thread you might post too.

 

I will freely admit to stealing an entire cache write-up. In the definition that the theft was of the concept and write-up but not an physical theft. I stole the write-up with permission of the other cache's owner as I loved the way it was written and wanted to share it with folks who, after his cache was archived, would never see the beautiful use of words. (my cache Meet me in Greenough...)

 

For the most part, the ideas we have stolen are used as concepts that we then bring into puzzle cache planning. Perhaps the word stolen is wrong and another can be chosen, but it would be the the best way to explain some of the process that I can come up with easily.

 

I guess you can call it learning through experience and becoming more devious in our puzzle hides as we work our way through puzzles placed by others. Incorporating pieces and concepts in ways that may or may not resemble the original puzzle.

 

Ingenuity was inspired by a cache in Delaware. I would have stolen ( ) the complete idea but the cost was high and the replacement issues would have made it more work that I was interested in investing in the particular concept.

 

J

 

All I said was that I don't steal ideas in the sense that you and briansnat say you steal ideas. Thats it. Thats all I said.

 

I'm not sure what you mean about smiley's. I know what you meant by steal. mountainman is the one who understood it differently.

[+SSO JOAT]

It appears to me that less than 10% of cachers even try to solve any puzzles, even the easier ones.

 

I've actually been verbally repremanded by strangers at geocaching events for putting out so many puzzles. I just have to laugh and explain the "ignore" feature that came with their account. What's really funny is after being belittled over some of my puzzles and then going to check the audit log to find out that person never even looked at the puzzles. So they are either going off PQ's or are just assuming that the puzzles are "impossible" (note- I have no unsolved puzzles out there, so none of them are impossible) after looking at only 1 or 2 of them.

[+mountainman38]

My most recent puzzle I "borrowed" from one that I solved in Texas. I named it Oregon's Reverse French Manicure. It was solved and found the day after it was published. The one in Texas doesn't seem to be found very often.

My other puzzles involve some mathematics.

It appears to me that less than 10% of cachers even try to solve any puzzles, even the easier ones.

And others of us will solve puzzles from other states! (Just in case we ever get a chance to go there).

[+nekom]

I've only ever hidden one, well two actually because I re-hid it but eventually had to be archived anyway because both proved impossible to maintain. I strive for originality. The one I hid so far was based on Raymond Smullyan's Knights and Knaves logic puzzle, and I'm not aware of any other such caches (there very well may be some though).

 

My next idea involves spy numbers stations and I'm just waiting to find a good radio transmitter solution on that one.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

My most recent puzzle I "borrowed" from one that I solved in Texas. I named it Oregon's Reverse French Manicure. It was solved and found the day after it was published. The one in Texas doesn't seem to be found very often.

My other puzzles involve some mathematics.

It appears to me that less than 10% of cachers even try to solve any puzzles, even the easier ones.

And others of us will solve puzzles from other states! (Just in case we ever get a chance to go there).

 

And even other countries. A couple of months ago I had a 7 hour layover in Paris and discovered that most of the caches where I wanted to stop on train that runs from the airport to downtown were puzzles. I solved several of them (including a couple of 4 star puzzles) before I left.

 

Typically if I know I am going to be travelling somewhere I'll look up puzzle caches in the area and try to solve a few before I leave. Often that results in some more interesting finds once I get there. It also often results in finding a cache that few of the locals find because they've put it on their ignore list.

[+power69]

...There may be other puzzle caches like mine that I don't know about, but all my caches start from within my own brain. I don't steal other peoples ideas. (Emphasis added)

Perhaps you didn't mean it that way, but that bolded bit comes off sounding rather self-righteous. Because someone is inspired by a puzzle they've seen, and use it to make one of their own, certainly doesn't mean they're "stealing ideas".

 

Stealing suggests that the person stolen from has had a loss of some kind. Since caching is not a business, how does someone lose from having their cache copied?

 

I was going off briansnats post #2 in which he freely said that he steals ideas. Then post #3 said that briansnat stole their answer suggesting that they also freely admit that they steal ideas. Heck, briansnat skipped the part about being 'inspired' to create his own cache from another cache and went straight to just copying it and putting his own stamp on it before submitting it as his own.

 

I think those two posts set the tone for what 'steal' meant in this thread. In that sense, I don't steal ideas so I said I don't.

the downside to stealing and tweaking: the person you stole it from has a pretty good insight to how your puzzle works. my problem is coming up with ideas that aren't so frustratingly hard that people will actually try them.

[Rhialto]

Well, my 1st mystery was made while I was rollerblading around. I saw a huge object pointing and decided to use it as a projection.

 

My second is about an idea I had one evening... then I began thinking more about it and decided to give it a go. I cannot tell you exacly what is it since this is the mystery but I have yet to find out if someone else came with the same idea already. I would beleive so because I'm not alone with great ideas and world is huge!

 

Unfortunatly, online translators cannot render the page just like when you are a premium but if you can read french then take a look at my hides for Rhi-018. I can discuss it privately.

[+DarkZen]

I keep a notebook handy that I write down every vague puzzle concept that pops into my head. When I'm in a mood to put out a new puzzle, I open the book and look through the ideas, then pick one to start refining.

This!

I surf the net a lot and run into all sorts of cool things that I think might be fun to try to make a puzzle out of. I keep a note book by my computer for this very thing.

 

Also this link might be of help (even though it's for solving, it can help you with ideas to create).