Family tree of puzzle video games (1980-1995)

[derboo]

I'm trying to sort out all the unique kinds of puzzle games that have been made in the 8- and 16-bit era, and what could be better for that than arranging them in a (mostly speculative) family tree?

Any obvious ones I'm missing, connections that make you go "nah" or other observations?

I'm mostly ignoring straight adaptions of traditional puzzles like jigsaws and clones that are just the same game with a different coat of paint and instead keep the space clean for games that added something of substance to existing formulas or came up with entirely new ones.

docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JOqUfnFhlIYoBJpitBRIcPqLiXZBwTHZ2bweQ6ehOg4/edit#slide=id.g96f1aaca7a_0_5

[ommadawnyawn2]

Cool, looks good so far! If possible, it would be interesting to have info pop-ups/tooltips for when hovering above a game or link to see the reasoning for it. Or a separate write-up for that.

For Gobliiins and Lost Vikings, do you not consider them to be puzzle games or is it that they are hybrids?

Other earlier games you could have a look at:
Minesweeper or an earlier variant on it (which in turn is based on Cube and Rlogic)(late 1960s but commercially released in 1989) - Edit: Looks like you had another source for a commercial release date? I also didn't know about Mined-Out. 

Zork (PDP-10, 1977/PC, 1980)
Qix (ARC, 1981)
Burger Time (ARC, 1982)
​Binary Land (FM-7/PC-88, 1983/MSX, 1984/NES, 1985)
Flappy (X1, 1983/FM-7/MSX, 1984/NES, 1985) - Possibly linked to Boulder Dash and Dig Dug
Mr. Do's Castle (ARC etc., 1983)
Oil's Well (C64, 1983)
Super Pipeline (C64, 1983) & Super Pipeline II (C64, 1985)
​Door Door (X1/PC-98, 1984/NES, 1985)
The Castle​ & Castlequest/Castle Excellent (FM-7/PC-88/X1, 1985/NES/MSX, 1986)
​Chain Shot! (FM-7, 1985) - First Tile-Matching Puzzle game?
Pac-Land (ARC, 1984)/PCE, 1989) - Some switch puzzles
Impossible Mission (C64, 1984/SMS, 1988) - Code deciphering puzzle
Knight Lore (PCs, 1984/FDS, 1986)
The Castles of Doctor Creep (C64, 1984)
The Staff of Karnath (C64, 1984) - Maze Action/Collectathon w/ some puzzles related to the collecting of quest items
Conan: Hall of Volta (Multi, 1984) - Switch puzzles and one physics-based puzzle
Citadel (BBC Micro/Acorn Electron, 1985) - Platform Adventure/Puzzle Platformer/Collectathon
Zorro (C64 etc, 1985) - Maze Platformer/Puzzle Platformer w/ object interaction and some physics puzzles

The Goonies (C64 etc., 1985) - Single Screen Puzzle Platformer; Has you switching between two characters to solve various puzzles while avoiding an enemy in each level, stack objects on top of each other to create ladders, pushable boxes used to reach higher in some levels, switch puzzles

Plotting/Flipull (ARC/NES, 1989/Multi, 1990) - Matching Puzzle/Shooter Hybrid (Match 2)

I think Pengo is linked to either Bomberman or Heiankyo Alien.


Edit 2:
Did the original version of Pitman have a rewind feature or was that added in the GB game?

[derboo]

Added Flappy with link to Dig Dug, don't imagine it and Boulder Dash would be linked so I made a "similarity, but probably no relation line" there. Maybe there's some other missing link here regarding falling rocks?

Chain Shot is in as SameGame. Not sure it influenced anything though? It's the first example of color matching we have, but it feels very different than in Columns and all the other falling block style games that followed.

I see Zork more as an adventure game, Qix as action/reaction game and Burger Time as "climbing game", so I think I'd only include them if they directly inspired something more pure puzzle-like. (Pac-Land, Conan, Zorro would fall in similar categories to me).

Is Super Pipeline a puzzle game? It looks similar to Diablo/Blodia/Pipe Mania type games on screenshots, but in videos it looks like the pipeline is building automatically and just represents the level where you fight off various creatures?

Gotta check out most of the others. (I know I have played some of them, but don't remember enough to fill them in rightaway.)


EDIT: Ah, I remember Plotting now. Kinda feels like it could be a distant inspiration for Zoop? There were also some Japanese culture themed follower on 16-bit hardware, I think... EDIT2: Oh, Dharma Doujou on SNES! Definitely different enough to get its own spot.

[derboo]

For Gobliiins and Lost Vikings, do you not consider them to be puzzle games or is it that they are hybrids?

A bit of both, more the latter, although of course the line here is blurry. Like, Lode Runner is just barely blue while Lost Vikings is just barely yellow/almost blue in my book? Maybe I should include another color for "inspired a puzzle game but definitely not a puzzle game" cases like Donkey Kong.

Minesweeper or an earlier variant on it (which in turn is based on Cube and Rlogic)(late 1960s but commercially released in 1989) - Edit: Looks like you had another source for a commercial release date? I also didn't know about Mined-Out. 

Yeah, non-commercials are fuzzy to deal with. Technically the Tetris that really had a widespread influence didn't come around until a few years later, too. (Also kinda didn't want to stretch out the graph into the 60s just for these.)

Did the original version of Pitman have a rewind feature or was that added in the GB game?

That was new on GB, as well as levels with two characters. For now I'm collapsing most direct sequels for space though, unless they're fundamentally different concepts like Tetris Flash/Tetris 2.

[windfisch]

ommadawnyawn2

Oil's Well is essentially Anteater (1982), which itself is a take on Pacman combined with Snake-like elements. The latter type of games goes back to titles like Blockade or Barricade (both 1976)). Nibbler, Snakebyte and Anteater (all 1982) seem to be the first ones that take this concept and add item collecting to the mix. With Wildsnake (1994) we also have an example of a Tetris/Snake hybrid.

So yeah, arguably Pacman and Blockade/Barricade belong on that list. Without Pacman there probably wouldn't be the likes of Dig Dug or Boulder Dash.

Potentially notable is Chip's Challenge (1989). Not necessarily for originality, but rather for combining all sorts of influences from Sokoban, Pacman, Boulder Dash and Pengo. It also features elements like switches, conveyor belts and teleporters - not sure where those originate from.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Sept 4, 2020 7:22:57 GMT -5 derboo said:

Added Flappy with link to Dig Dug, don't imagine it and Boulder Dash would be linked so I made a "similarity, but probably no relation line" there. Maybe there's some other missing link here regarding falling rocks?

Chain Shot is in as SameGame. Not sure it influenced anything though? It's the first example of color matching we have, but it feels very different than in Columns and all the other falling block style games that followed.

I see Zork more as an adventure game, Qix as action/reaction game and Burger Time as "climbing game", so I think I'd only include them if they directly inspired something more pure puzzle-like. (Pac-Land, Conan, Zorro would fall in similar categories to me).

Is Super Pipeline a puzzle game? It looks similar to Diablo/Blodia/Pipe Mania type games on screenshots, but in videos it looks like the pipeline is building automatically and just represents the level where you fight off various creatures?

Gotta check out most of the others. (I know I have played some of them, but don't remember enough to fill them in rightaway.)


EDIT: Ah, I remember Plotting now. Kinda feels like it could be a distant inspiration for Zoop? There were also some Japanese culture themed follower on 16-bit hardware, I think... EDIT2: Oh, Dharma Doujou on SNES! Definitely different enough to get its own spot.

I just did a search through a wip article on my site about innovative games for "puzzle", some games are more action with puzzle or tactical elements. And I realize Adventure games should probably be put in their own tree though a lot of them focus heavily on puzzles. 

In Super Pipeline, if you don't manage to fight off the climbing enemies then they sabotage the pipeline with by dropping objects and you have to escort your assistant to that part to fix it, while avoiding the crabs/cockroaches. It's kinda similar to Lode Runner but not as puzzly I suppose. 

I don't know much about non-falling block matching puzzle games, so I can't say right now. 

Yeah Plotting is kinda similar to Zoop, and there's another game on GB that's similar where you control a ship moving along the bottom edge. I forgot the name of that one.  

I do think three colors would be good if you want to separate hybrids as well, absolutely.

windfisch
Thanks for the info! And I agree regarding Chip's Challenge. 

[dsparil]

Robbo - Boulderdash clone, 1989 for Atari 400/800
Heartlight - Boulderdash clone, 1990 for Atari 400/800
Brix - Gratuitous Puzznic clone, 1992 for DOS
Boppin' - Kinda like Puzzle Bobble but predates it by a number of years, 1991 for Amiga

[windfisch]

Sept 4, 2020 9:04:09 GMT -5 ommadawnyawn2 said:

windfisch
Thanks for the info! And I agree regarding Chip's Challenge. 

I've discovered Anteater and its likes through Popo Team (Sachen, NES/Supervision). The latter is arguably the best Supervision game (not that there'd be much competition)  and the NES version in particular is pretty amazing, especially for an unlicensed game by a company not known for high quality games. The cute dinosaur/dragon protagonist and the beautifully animated cutscenes between stages suggest that the devs were inspired by the DOS version of Oil's Well specifically.

[condroid]

According to Peter Liepa the main inspiration for Boulder Dash was the arcade game The Pit. I don't know if The Pit was influenced by Dig Dug (or vice versa) but it's unlikely, as they were both released in April '82.



Shanghai is another one I would add. Most people are familiar with Activision's version from 1986 but that already seems to be an adaption of Mah-Jongg, an earlier PLATO game from 1981(?).

[derboo]

I've looked at Anteater and Oil's Well... is there any mechanic that would make you classify them as puzzle games rather than maze action? Getting as many pellets as possible without the tongue getting stuck seems puzzly, but you don't seem to be particularly penalized for eating them in chunks and starting from the top for the next batch?

I'd also rather like to see the snake-likes as action games? Wildsnake definitely deserves a spot with a link to them, but I wonder what would be its most likely direct inspiration... (Put Snake Byte for now, as that seems to be the most widely available before the Nokia one)



Shanghai/Solitaire Mahjongg... Guess I bought into the whole "traditional Chinese game" myth... EDIT: Leaving it off for now, this article says it WAS played non-electronically before: medium.com/@shortformernie/plato-mahjong-shanghai-brodie-lockard-104b2a405e79

[windfisch]

I was wondering whether Anteater and Snake would be puzzle-heavy enough for your purposes. And I would agree, they're mostly action games.

edit: How about Magical Puzzle Popils from 1992 (possibly related to Pitman)? And Sutte Hakun is a game that seems fairly unique to me (it's from 1997 though).

[condroid]

Sept 4, 2020 15:54:56 GMT -5 derboo said:

Shanghai/Solitaire Mahjongg... Guess I bought into the whole "traditional Chinese game" myth... EDIT: Leaving it off for now, this article says it WAS played non-electronically before: medium.com/@shortformernie/plato-mahjong-shanghai-brodie-lockard-104b2a405e79

I'm no expert, but I don't believe Shanghai is based on an earlier concept. Mahjong is obviously much older but that's a completely different game using the same tiles. There are also games that look similar but play more like Memory (all tiles are face-down). But I haven't seen anything that would contradict the notion that Shanghai in its popular form (i.e. Mahjong tiles + Solitaire rules) really started with that PLATO game.

Lode Runner was most likely only influenced by Space Panic and nothing else, the first (unreleased) version was called Suicide and predates Donkey Kong by a year. Here is an article about the making-of with information directly from Douglas Smith:
www.retrogamer.net/retro_games80/the-making-of-lode-runner/

[derboo]

On Lode Runner: Same article also says "The game was renamed Kong, possibly in tribute to the coincidentally similar Donkey Kong, and continued to evolve." It could have been just an homage like the article says, but unless we can actually compare the Suicide and Kong versions, I'd rather keep it in.

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

I don't know how in-depth/obscure you're gonna go or how similar titles can be, but here's a couple I can think of:

Wrecking Crew - Definitely connected to Donkey Kong in that it's the same franchise, and it also kind of feels Nintendo's answer to Lode Runner.
Tower of Babel - The 1986 Famicom game, that is. Very Solomon's Key-ish. It feels like another one of those Lode Runner inspired games.
The Incredible Machine - Definitely seems like it should qualify.
Sonic Eraser - Everyone's favorite Sonic game. Different enough from other matching-color games to qualify in my opinion.
Daedalian Opus - Not sure if it's different enough from the basic idea of tangram to count, but it's worth a look.
Palamedes - Looks a bit Magical-Drop-ish, but I don't get the impression it really plays anything like it. There's another puzzle game with dice, a falling block one, but I'm blanking on the name right now. Might be after 1995 though.
Cadillac - Basically a Famicom matching-color game with poker rules.
Kirby's Dream Course - Not as strictly a puzzle game as some, but it fits well enough I think.
Chip's Challenge - Naturally, but it has been mentioned before.

You can probably fill an entire encyclopedia with just Puyo-esque games from the 90's. I've been down that rabbithole on Youtube more than once.

[ZenithianHero]

Filling out the Breakout branch-

Gee Bee (1978) merges Breakout with Pinball-like features.

Monkey Magic- Released in 1979, it is an early example of a theme for block layouts.
blog.beforemario.com/2012/08/nintendo-monkey-magic-1979.html

Kirby's Block Ball (1995) - Character-based blockout clone with powerups.

Puchi Carat (1997) for implementing competitive multiplayer into Breakout formula.