I would argue the opposite is also true, if you design a puzzle to last the night, something really clever obscure and tricky, it’ll take seconds

Edit: several typos. Original text below:

I would argue the opposite of also true, of your design a puzzle to last the night, something really clever obscure and tricky, it’ll take seconds.

We did an escape room where we needed 4 digits to open a door. We got a few hints on the numbers to start and a single number, and then our fighter guessed the answer entirely correctly.

If a puzzle is too simple, players will assume the solution is a red herring, and the actual answer is something more complex. Let us not forget how the entire Fellowship of the Ring was stumped by a door that told them how to open it, because they thought it would be more secure.

“That’s right! It goes in the square hole!”

I think a lot about this one time in a game of modern day magic. The players wanted to contact another group. They knew the other group was double warded against magic. An anti-teleportation spell on top of a general anti-magic spell. Serious business.

The players wanted to some time and resources trying to punch through these wards to teleport directly to this other group. I told them the odds, they said ok, and rolled. The dice said no. They mulled about for a bit, and then said they wanted to try again. I said ok. They got their spells together, spent their resources, and rolled. The dice said no, again.

I said, “Do you want a hint?”

They said, “Yeah”

I said, “You just want to talk to them, right?”

“Yeah”, they said.

“Why don’t you just call them on the phone?” I said.

“…oh.”

Sometimes players get tunnel vision.

DnD Barbarian: “B…A…T… Oh no, it’s bait for a trap!” WoD player: “No, you dolt. It’s clearly meant to be a more complex anagram indicating the identity of the coconspirator. Cunning… peasant…” Call of Cthulhu player: insensate screaming “It is the name of the unspeakable! Burn them! Destroy the tablets! Bury the entrance so that none find this place again in our lifetimes!” DnD Wizard: “Fireball. Final answer.” rolls

Classic!

DM: “Written on the door in beautiful caligraphy carved directly into the stone are the words ‘Pedo mellon a minno’.”

Party: …

DM: “You recognize it as Elvish. It translates to ‘Speak friend and enter.’”

Party: …

DM: “It’s telling you, in elvish, to speak the word ‘friend’”.

Party: …

DM “You can just say the word for ‘friend’ to gain entry”

Party: “Friend!”

DM: “No, no, say the word for ‘friend’ in Elvish.”

Party: …

DM: “It’s literally written on the wall in the text of the riddle.”

Party: …

DM: “I just said it, and it is written write there.”

Party: …

DM: “It’s ‘mellon’.”

Party: …

DM: “Say ‘mellon’ and the door will open.”

Party: …

DM: “SAY MELLON!!!”

Party: “Uh… ‘Mellon.’”

DM: deeeep breath “The door swings open revealing a dark tunnel in front of you.”

Party: “Crap, I don’t have have dark vision. Can we go back to the village to buy some torches?”

DM: …

And an extended version with the redemption arc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nSQs0Gr9FA

I recommend watching at 1.5x as the video seems to be slowed down for some reason.

For anyone who doesn’t want the obnoxious reaction gal in the side of the video

Link

I’d argue her exasperated acceleration through the five stages of grief adds a lot to the video, but I understand not wanting it.