# What is the most fiendish puzzle ever found in an adventure/IF puzzle ever devised? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851 "2003-04-06T11:20:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/21 "2003-04-06T23:23:28Z")
Anyone who’s solved the puzzles in **Zelda - Majora’s Mask** will agree with me that it doesn’t get much worse than the one with the young couple and the letter. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/22 "2003-04-06T23:29:53Z")
**rjung** , regarding the cheese sandwich puzzle: If memory serves, you can still finish the game even if you don’t buy the sandwich at the beginning. Because at some point you’ll become Ford Prefect and go through that sequence of events again from his perspective, so you can just buy the sandwich then. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/23 "2003-04-06T23:43:58Z")
Many of the Infocom Text/Graphic games, such as Shadowgate and Deja Vu, had some puzzles that would be insanely difficult were it not for the fact that those games are fairly well suited to the “try every action on every item” method of puzzle solving. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/24 "2003-04-06T23:51:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Orbifold \* > \*\ ***Mahaloth** : that game is commonly known as “Ataxx”. That may help you find a version of it to play. \*\* Also known as Reversi. You might have a copy on the computer, at least to be able to play online with others, if not against the computer. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/25 "2003-04-07T02:39:15Z")
The Babel Fish puzzle deserves its place in legend, but at least that one my uncle and I were able to figure out. I had given up on the game for years before someone mentioned how to get through the Haughty Door. That I just could not figure out. But if you want to talk about fiendish, the game is Discworld. Some games use ‘lateral thinking’ as an excuse for games whose solutions don’t make sense. In Discworld, it all makes sense in a nutty way once you know the solution. I’d hold The Fishmonger’s Belt up against The Babelfish any day. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/26 "2003-04-07T02:53:30Z")
…bah, you thought the Babel Fish was hard? I couldn’t even get out of the bedroom for about a couple of hours! ::runs from bulldozer charging through his room…again! :: ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/27 "2003-04-07T03:06:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by asterion \* > \*\*Also known as Reversi. You might have a copy on the computer, at least to be able to play online with others, if not against the computer. \*\* No, Reversi is the generic name for the game that was marketed commercially as Othello. Ataxx is a different game. For example, in Reversi you can place a piece anywhere as long as the move flips opposing pieces; in Ataxx you can only place a new piece next to one of your own pieces already on the board, or move an existing piece. The game in the 7th Guest was definitely Ataxx. See, for example: [http://www.pressibus.org/ataxx/indexgb.html](http://www.pressibus.org/ataxx/indexgb.html) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/28 "2003-04-07T03:23:27Z")
Hmm, maybe you’re right. It’s been a long time since I played _The 7th Guest_, and I wound up skipping that puzzle since it was optional. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/29 "2003-04-07T05:36:47Z")
Aye, _Ad Verbum_’s the one. And you’re right, **lno** , _The Edifice_’s language puzzle was a long one to get through sans outside help. I can barely recall it now, as it’s been quite a spell since I played it, but I **do** recall spending a couple nights, in fits and starts, getting to the end of it. Of course, I also spent an inordinate amount of time puzzling out the specifics of the images on the inside walls of the edifice, too. Wasn’t at my sharpest that week, I guess. [sub]Well, I played that one _after_ getting all the way through _Babel_, so I was mentally demolished to start with.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/30 "2003-04-07T07:35:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TTT \* > \*\*Well, a walkthrough is [here](http://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/12/02/0045.php). But I suggest not read it before you’re actually at the puzzle. > > In brief, the puzzle is as follows. You are in a room with a Babel Fish dispenser. If you try to get one, the fish falls on the floor and is cleaned up by the mechanical cleaner. You must find a way to get a fish. > > That’s all. The solution is not long but is very hard to find out on your own. \*\* The vexing part is whenever you thought you got it, Murphy’s Law intervenes. Seriously, in the help file for the game, there this line saying “Grown men has been known to break down crying at this point,” It is THAT horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851/31 "2003-04-07T08:02:53Z")
I’m telling you, The Fishmonger’s Belt: It involves love potions, laxatives, getting a guy beaten up, dressing up as a ghost to rob a guy, multiple instances of time travel and beastiality. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-fiendish-puzzle-ever-found-in-an-adventure-if-puzzle-ever-devised/166851.md?page=1)