GDC Quest Quiz III: Mike Stemmle
We did a terrible thing at last week's Game Developer's Conference. Aside from our usual barrage of photographs and "reporting," a select group of attendees had to endure a particularly inane and utterly pointless line of questioning -- just for laughs. This is what happens when you hunt down several adventure game connoisseurs and challenge them to solve a typically obnoxious adventure game puzzle.
The Player
Recent Telltale Games addition Mike Stemmle, co-designer of Sam & Max Hit the Road and Escape from Monkey Island, and designer on the ill-fated Sam & Max Freelance Police. He also worked on Afterlife, but he doesn't think you remember it.
The Puzzle
You're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first.
The Inventory
(1) perforated parasol
(1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle
(1) sealed manila envelope
(1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue
Peek hard at Mike Stemmle's Star Trek strategy after the break.
The Solution
Mike: The rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle is only useful for one thing so that's right out. That's just a red herring. The manila envelope ... I think you can use the perforated umbrella to open the manila envelope which will contain (probably) some pen and paper with which you can write down a logical conundrum -- and now I'm going back to the Star Trek stuff that I've been doing for the last two years -- which you can expose to the robot bear. His head will blow up when exposed to something like, "This sentence is false" or "I am lying."
Joystiq: Puzzle solved! And you get whatever happens to be in the cave. We haven't really thought about it yet.
Caves, you know ... I get very bored with caves. They're always an excuse to just do these extended cave interiors with pieces plunked together like that. Caves are out, man, it's all outdoors these days. That's where it's at.
