I'm going to reply to myself so I can keep on blathering. (Actually prog and I chatted a little bit about this off-line.)
Here's a model, off the top of my head: the first time a team clicks on a puzzle, they hit a bit of story first. They have to make a choice before the puzzle opens up. Subsequently, clicking on that puzzle simply shows the puzzle, as per Hunt usual.
(The puzzle site lets you review all the past stories and choices, of course, but you only get one chance to *make* a given decision.)
Important UI requirement: you see the puzzle title *before* you hit the story bit. This makes it obvious that the hunt isn't switching puzzles around based on your narrative choices. (It's important not only that this be true, but that the players *realize* it is true. Otherwise they freak out and worry that they're hitting harder puzzles than the next team.)
With this setup, you should get everyone gathered around, excited to see the next story bit -- both because the story is interesting, and because a new puzzle is about to open up. However, teams *won't* (I hope) get stuck in analysis-paralysis trying to pick the "best" story choice. You gotta choose something or the puzzle doesn't appear. They might choose randomly, but hopefully at least some of the onlookers will be engaged enough to shout out a suggestion.
I think this model would have to be paired with a very multithreaded, fine-grained story. It should be *clear* that any given choice is not a central, critical Choice Between Doom And Triumph; it's a small twist whose full significance will be apparent later on. (I.e., it's *okay* to just whack a button and get to the puzzle.)
Then you want the accumulation of choices to have interesting consequences, but that takes more thought. I think you have to know more about the story before you decide that. Maybe you have a big set of goals, and one is achieved at the end of each hunt chapter; the choices you make determine the *order* of the goals, and that leads to one of N different slants on the outcome. (Even though, overall, you've achieved all the goals that the story called for.)
no subject
Here's a model, off the top of my head: the first time a team clicks on a puzzle, they hit a bit of story first. They have to make a choice before the puzzle opens up. Subsequently, clicking on that puzzle simply shows the puzzle, as per Hunt usual.
(The puzzle site lets you review all the past stories and choices, of course, but you only get one chance to *make* a given decision.)
Important UI requirement: you see the puzzle title *before* you hit the story bit. This makes it obvious that the hunt isn't switching puzzles around based on your narrative choices. (It's important not only that this be true, but that the players *realize* it is true. Otherwise they freak out and worry that they're hitting harder puzzles than the next team.)
With this setup, you should get everyone gathered around, excited to see the next story bit -- both because the story is interesting, and because a new puzzle is about to open up. However, teams *won't* (I hope) get stuck in analysis-paralysis trying to pick the "best" story choice. You gotta choose something or the puzzle doesn't appear. They might choose randomly, but hopefully at least some of the onlookers will be engaged enough to shout out a suggestion.
I think this model would have to be paired with a very multithreaded, fine-grained story. It should be *clear* that any given choice is not a central, critical Choice Between Doom And Triumph; it's a small twist whose full significance will be apparent later on. (I.e., it's *okay* to just whack a button and get to the puzzle.)
Then you want the accumulation of choices to have interesting consequences, but that takes more thought. I think you have to know more about the story before you decide that. Maybe you have a big set of goals, and one is achieved at the end of each hunt chapter; the choices you make determine the *order* of the goals, and that leads to one of N different slants on the outcome. (Even though, overall, you've achieved all the goals that the story called for.)