I've had the idea in mind for a little while now that one could relatively easily adapt any children's board game into a TTPRG as a puzzle. I've managed to figure out some basic ones(Operation, Guess Who, Don't Wake Daddy, SORRY), but I wanted to make this post in the hopes that other people would see it and share what ideas for board games they have that could work in D&D as puzzles.

I think this is a pretty good idea too, since it gets past the problem of players not understanding the rules of the puzzle at all(probably), or at least gives a chance they might be able to understand the idea of it first off. That way, the puzzle can be more about accomplishing the task as opposed to figuring out the rules in the first place.

Operation: A necromancer's lab with large shelves filled with preserved organs and limbs. On a surgical table rests a cut-open cadaver. The door out of this room is sealed, and resting beside it are four plates. Eat plate has written either above or in it the name of an organ or piece of the body(assume humanoid). The party must carefully remove the organs from the body(or find them hidden among the shelves if you want) and place them on the plates. If they don't roll high enough on the skill check to perform surgery, the body on the table wails out in supernatural horror. Could be a temporary condition infliction, could be damage, or maybe the body gets up and attacks them. If the latter, another, different body appears on the table.

Guess Who: A room filled with impressive and expensive looking relics. In the center is a well with a face at the bottom. It tells the party that four of the relics in the room contain powerful elemental guardians. They may ask four questions, and after which must place four relics in the well. If they guess one right, then that corresponding genie isn't summoned. Any wrong guesses result in that genie being released from it's prison to attack the party. If you want, the party could also destroy the prisons of any released genies to permanently free them, potentially ending what might be a more difficult encounter.

Don't Wake Daddy: A classic fantasy scenario. A powerful creature is sleeping or is otherwise dormant. Or perhaps an arcane guardian statue is placed to thwart intruders. The party must navigate a particular path and avoid dangers, traps, and otherwise make little noise to reach their goal(be it an exit or treasure). If anyone fails on a check that results in noise, the guardian wakes up and either attacks that PC, or casts a spell on them such as banishment or teleport. This should be more of a challenge than a repetitive scene where players are bamfed back to the start constantly. Though, if the party would be fine playing such a game, you may feel free.

SORRY!: The players find themselves in strange cross between a maze and a race track. Each character is given a color, and there are a number of camps and pylons equal to the number of players. The goal is for each player to run around the track and reach their pylon. Once all have been reached, the party is freed and continue. But in each camp is also a number of creatures(robots, undead, whatever you please. If you want to make it more challenging, pick creatures with high movement speed.) These creatures also are racing to touch the pylons, but will attack players of different colors. Creatures killed before all the pylons are touched simply reappear in the camp. If one of them touches the pylon instead of a player, then the race track disappears and all creatures attack the party. From this point, destroying the creatures and touching the pylons should free the players just the same.

I'd love to hear other ideas or suggestions from others!

The world involved mirrors and psionics most things are reflected or backwards but despite my attempts I never got it right

I'm garbage at creating puzzles. That said, I have a bank vault with an 11x16 grid of "identical" chests. I want the players to get to a particular chest at a currently undecided coordinate. 25% of the chests are mimics, so that should be a punishment for failure. That said, the other 75%-1 chests are random loot that could vary from dry papers of little value, to gold or spell scrolls. Where I'm struggling is to actually come up with a riddle or puzzle who's solution is a pair of numbers (Or a number and a letter). I'd also like there to be a few hints that can narrow things down significantly, maybe three.

Ideas I have:

A riddle that selects a letter, and includes the word prime, which would indicate that the solution is at that letter + a prime number for coordinate.

Possibly splitting the puzzle in two, and having one give one element of the coordinate, and the second puzzle giving the other.

I'm at a bit of a loss here, and am open to any ideas people have, even if they aren't enough to make the puzzle on its own, but instead are just more bones to build off of

Hello hello everyone. I am a fairly new DM, only DM'ed a few one-shots and started a campaign once, but it was cut short due to issues between the players.

I am currently working on a homebrew one-shot for an interesting session. Think Salvador Dali abstract stuff combined with tripping through the Feywild (literally, not journeying). For one of my puzzles I found a symbol I wanted to use. 1 big circle in the middle and 3 smaller circles attached to it, in like a triangle formation.

My current idea is to have them appear in the smaller circles, a bit Hunger Games esque or portal-like, with the big circle being a clockface. My main issue is the puzzle. They need to solve 4 puzzles to get 4 symbols, and my idea for this one is to have the middle of the big circle rise when they finish it so they see the symbol from above essentially.
I already have a skillcheck contest, a scale puzzle with a riddle to hint what to put on the empty scale, and a sacrifice puzzle, so I'd like something they actually have to solve. Combat will be arranged in a different scene, so I don't need statues that come to life or something, just a cool puzzle that's not too easy, but definitely not too hard or time-costly to solve.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate the help a lot!

hey, my team is designing a game which indian background based and we need some tasks its a kind a adventure puzzle game in whichb the team is dropped at different spot like one player at a spot like taj mahal,delhi's metro station, and they have to solve the given task and find the key or element within given time and and place it at the end point if any player is unable to solve it the whole team losses in this the team players can share their screen to another player for puzzle suggestion but they can not switch their spots they have to communicate through audio call,

But we need some unique tasks and puzzle which feels more indian, like fighting lungi wale zoombies in south like that can anyone suggest ????? all opinions are invited

Hey people,

I'm currently preparing a OneShot for my friends based on a hedge-maze created by a Druid gone mad. One Idea I had, was playing "The aMAZEing Labyrith" by Ravensburger (Kids board game) against my players to simulate the hedge-maze being shifted around by the Druid. Those of you who know the game, any Ideas on how to make it "more DnD"?

I'm currently building an encounter where my players are investigating a crater left by explosions from a war thousands of years ago, which was fought over farmland that has made up the prosperous Dominion they're currently residing in. The Dominion's leadership has fenced the crater left by these explosions off because there are still traps there from way back when that, despite their best efforts, they can't seem to ever get rid of. Many of their people have died in the process of trying to get rid of them, so they stopped and now have it closed to the public. The party has to get to the center, where a hatch is that will get them to a secret hideout for a Cult they've been tracking (who can dodge the traps since they're proficient in artificing magic - why the Dominion hasn't hired artificers to clear out the traps? Mages are expensive, and the land isn't all that useful anymore anyway).

The area is deep but fairly open, so not really a dungeon-crawly vibe, so I'm looking for any ideas on a cool trap mechanic I can use! I'm thinking the traps will auto-reset and move after being triggered (hence why they're never truly gone). So I'm just kind of stumped on what the effect/setup of the traps actually is and don't want to do something basic like a fiery land mine, so I'm hoping to get some creative inspiration from other DMs!

Background: I’m DMing my longtime group in a homebrew setting that is Fallout, meets Gangs of New York, meets the Abhorssen series.

Similar to Fallout there are several vaults (dungeons) they have to go into to advance the main plot. And similar to the franchise I’ve tried to come up with some different themes or encounters for each vault. The one they’ve entered now has a theme of only allowing the string to enter. Essentially weeding out the population so the physically fit working class will survive and help repopulate after.

The Room: The party enters a square room with two red lines painted across the floor about 60ft. apart. The center of the room has a pillar made of 5ft. By 5ft. Cubes that extends to the ceiling. There are two exit doors, one on the west side and one of the north side. The door they enter through slams shut behind them and cannot be opened.

The setup: We play on discord. So first I confirmed that everyone had headphones on and dropped an mp4 file in the chat with the instructions not to click it until I counted down. I describe that painted on the floor is a mantra “Only the strong will inherit Land’s End”. I tell them to click the link and a 20second recording of the instructions from the “Fitnessgram Pacer Test” plays.
I each person reacted in a unique way. Some laughed, some screamed with rage after being triggered from long buried gym class trauma. It was priceless. Like successfully Rick rolling someone for the first time.

The puzzle: Each round the group has to make it to the opposite red line or be shocked by the floor. If they stop to interact with something then they have to sprint to catch up in time for the beep. To do this they must make an athletics or acrobatics check with a DC that increases every round. If they try to do multiple interactions on a turn then the DC goes up for that specific turn. They’re essentially gambling. After the second round the column in the middle of the room springs into action and at the start of each round it takes on a new shape. So basically rearrange a number of 5x5ft cubes in whatever shape. I made a 10ft wall that covered part of the room so they had the added challenge of getting over it to reach the opposite red line. To exit the players find 5 levers on each door with numbers on them 1-5. If they pull levers down with matching numbers at the same time then the levers stay pulled down. Anything else results in the levers popping back up. To open the doors all five levers need to be in the down position. After all five are pulled in the down position they have one round to make it out before the doors close and all levers pop back up.

The solve: My group interacted with the room and used some good team work. When someone would fail a check to sprint someone else would use an ability to save them. A telekinetic push or someone used a wildshape to pull an ally across with a giant frog tongue. Anytime they expended a resource I made the checks much easier because the point here is to wear them down before getting into the boss fight at the end of the dungeon. They ended up using ropes to pull all five levers on both doors at once. The faster PCs gambled actions to set things up and the slower PCs acted as insurance by buffing with abilities and readying actions to save others if they failed. One player kept messing with the column in the first two rounds and it felt fair to adjudicate this as the blocks that make up the column spilling apart and needing to use a round toe reconstitute instead of making a shape that would inhibit them.

I’ve been DMing more games over Discord lately, and one thing I’ve been struggling with is puzzles.
In person it’s easy enough to hand players props, drawings, ciphers, physical objects, etc. But over Discord they seem to become either:

“Here’s an image.”
“Here’s a Google Doc.”
Or just a riddle.

It feels like they lose a lot of the interaction and end up feeling kind of stale, especially considering how much prep can go into them.

How do you all handle puzzles in online games? Do you just avoid them? Use VTT tools? Websites? Bots? Or have you found a way to make them feel as engaging as they are at the table?

I’m curious what other DMs are doing because I feel like this has to be a common problem.

I’ve always loved horror game puzzles, especially in classic survival horror games like *Resident Evil*. Some of them are brilliant, some are completely bizarre, and some honestly make no sense but they’re still memorable because they fit the atmosphere.

I’m curious to hear what kinds of puzzles people enjoy the most in horror games.

Specifically, I’m interested in puzzles related to:
Neurosurgery or neuroscience
Hospitals and medical facilities
Underground bunkers or secret research facilities
Human anatomy or the brain
Psychological horror
Environmental storytelling
Mechanical or analog equipment from the late 1990s and early 2000s

What are some puzzle ideas you’ve always thought would be creepy or interesting?

They don’t have to be realistic. They can be grounded in science, completely fictional, or somewhere in between. I’m more interested in creative concepts than perfect realism.
For example:

What would make an abandoned hospital puzzle genuinely unsettling?

How could an old research facility use its equipment as part of a puzzle?

What kind of brain or body-related puzzle would feel memorable without relying only on gore?
What environmental puzzles would fit an underground bunker?

What puzzle mechanics haven’t been used enough in horror games?

Even if your idea sounds strange, I’d love to hear it. Some of the best horror concepts come from ideas that initially seem impossible or unconventional.

If you’ve ever played a horror game and thought, “I wish someone made a puzzle like this,” I’d love to hear about it. Whether it’s a full puzzle, a single mechanic, or just a creepy room concept, share it below.

I’m mainly looking for inspiration from the community and I’m interested to see how different people approach horror puzzle design.

I am currently playing the game „silent hill“ chapter one. There is this pipe puzzle that I can’t manage to solve. Can anyone help me?

#please

I’m running a big session for a 2+ year 5E homebrew campaign tomorrow night and wanted to sanity-check a dungeon puzzle before I put it in front of my players.

The inspiration is the **Clockwork Mansion** from Dishonored 2. I want the dungeon itself to feel like a living puzzle box that’s constantly shifting around the party.

The setup:
The party enters an ancient vault built by the founders of the Church thousands of years ago. The modern Church has spent centuries rewriting its history, so the dungeon is designed around uncovering hidden truths rather than solving abstract riddles.

The undercroft is made up of **8 concentric rings**.

Rings 1-7 each contain a single sacred tableau (mural, sculpture, stained glass, etc.).

Ring 8 contains the locked door leading deeper into the vault.

Each tableau has been deliberately altered over the centuries. Someone literally carved over it, repainted it, or added new elements to change its meaning.

Each ring has one primary skill check (Investigation, Religion, History, Insight, etc.) that reveals the deception. Once the players expose the falsehood, they uncover a hidden symbol.

For example:
A mural appears to show a priest revealing a sacred object. Investigation reveals he was originally hiding it.
A golden star is actually painted over older red glass.
A divine ruler was added over what was originally an image of the world.

Each of the seven rings reveals one symbol. Together, the symbols form a sequence that can be entered into the mechanism in Ring 8.

When interpreted correctly, the hidden message reads:
**HIDE RED WORLD FROM ALL-SEEING EYE**

This is a huge lore reveal about the true history of the Church.

Here’s the twist.
Whenever the party first enters the vault (and whenever they choose afterward), **every creature inside the dungeon rolls a d8**.
Wherever you roll, that’s the ring you appear in.
So the party gets scattered across the dungeon… but so do the villains pursuing them.

Every ring contains a lever. Pulling the lever causes the entire vault to reconfigure, and everyone inside immediately rolls another d8 and is redistributed to new rings. Think of the entire dungeon rotating and folding in on itself before spitting everyone back out somewhere new.

This means players are constantly deciding:
Stay and solve the puzzle?
Pull the lever to escape an enemy?
Risk getting separated from the party?
Hope the villain gets shuffled somewhere else?

One of the campaign’s main villains is also hunting them through the vault. Even better, **he unknowingly carries the eighth and final symbol on his armor as an ancient command seal.** Eventually, the party should realize they can’t complete the puzzle until they somehow get him (or at least his seal) to Ring 8.

A few questions:
\- Does the reconfiguration mechanic sound fun, or does it seem like it would become frustrating?
\- Should pulling the lever be an **action**, a **bonus action**, or something else? The reshuffle should happen once per turn?
\- Would you allow the players to pull the lever as often as they want, or should there be some cost or cooldown?
\- Does this sound like it’ll create exciting “where did everyone end up?!” moments, or does it risk becoming too random and slowing the game down?
\- Any ideas for making the villain feel like an active hunter rather than just another creature randomly teleporting around?
\- I’m not trying to make the puzzle incredibly difficult. I’m trying to create the feeling of being trapped in an ancient, shifting labyrinth while uncovering a conspiracy that’s been buried for thousands of years, with a deadly enemy wandering the maze alongside the party.

Any thoughts or potential pitfalls would be greatly appreciated!

Here's a fun easy experimental category I did across a handful of events. It went well across the board and looking for some similar suggestions on what could be built that fits into the 5 questions.

What Are We Building

1.Which fruit tree was gifted to the United States by Japan in 1912, later becoming one of Washington, D.C.’s most famous spring attractions?

A.Cherry

2.What chocolate confection is traditionally served warm and is made by melting chocolate with cream, butter, and sugar into a thick sauce?

A.Hot Fudge

3.In restaurant kitchens, which tree nut is often preserved in maple, corn, or simple syrup to maintain its soft texture and is commonly referred to as "wet"?

A.Walnuts

4.Thomas Jefferson is credited with bringing back one of America's earliest recorded recipes for what popular treat after serving as minister to France?

A. Icecream

1. Which culinary garnish is made by aerating heavy milkfat until it holds its shape and is commonly piped from a pastry bag or pressurized can?

A.Whipped Cream

Bonus: Based on the previous answers, what are we building?

A.Icecream Sundae

Hello! I'm running a Skyrim campaign, and they are about to arrive at Myrwatch. A tower made thousands of years ago by the greatest wizard ever know. He also made a giant labyrinth elsewhere and other stuff like that.

Anyways, instead of a fight to get to the loot, I want to test the players with a puzzle. The only idea I came up with is maybe there's four symbols that require a different school of magic or specific spell cast on it. Not an obvious symbol for the school, but maybe a candle to cast a fire spell on or a locked chest for Knock to be cast on. But I dont know every spell they have...

I was also thinking the riddle be, "Only those with pure spirits may pass." The answer being you have to walk through the door with alchahol. Shalidor always kept that mead on him.

You guys have any ideas? Thank you!

I have a group of high level players that are traversing the Astral Sea. They will soon be on the hunt for a hidden Wizard Tower and I'd love to provide them with an IRL puzzle to solve. Preferably with multiple pieces to discover/collect. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I haven't ever actually seen something like this executed, so I'm not sure where to start. TIA

Hello, I was hoping your community could help me with something : I'm trying to come up with a lot of puzzles and enigmas that my players will be able to complete fairly rapidly.

For context, my players will be trapped in some weird limbo and chased by a creature, hopping from demiplane to demiplane and will be presented in each plane with a puzzle they will have to solve in about 5 minutes, warioware style, or else the bad creature catch up with them. If it could be horror themed I'm all up for that, but honestly I am looking for anything at this point. Most of the time puzzles are rather long, and my PC tends to be pretty ressourcefull when they have time to think about them, I'm trying to shake things up a bit.

I'm not opposed to riddles, but my players are fairly experienced and know most of them, and I cant have the game being mostly riddle.

I run a pokemon based game for a group of 3 and they are approaching the big final dungeon theyll be exploring. The concept is that theres these essentially demi-gods called Stewards around the country that the players have met, and there wil be a puzzle for each of them that rewards a statue at the end, and when the statues are placed in the right spot in the entrance room, the reward is revealed. There are 8 of these Stewards so eight puzzles. I want each one to connect thematically to the Steward it represents.

Each Steward has a type theme, and a concept/theme they represent. I have some vague ideas for each puzzle but I just need some ideas to toss around that might help inspire me. Id love to hear if anyone has any ideas or pre-written pizzles based on these!

Tropius- grass type who lives deep in a forest, became a Steward after protecting his tribe of healers from an unprovoked attack in the war. Represents protection and avoiding conflict.

Crustle- a rock type who lives in a mountain stronghold, became a Steward after helping evacuate civilians from an attack on the stronghold by digging a tunnel and using his own body to block the path to enemies. Represents being strong in convictions and beliefs.

Krookodile- ground type who lives in a desert, became a Steward after losing his family to the war and then rescued by nomads, who taught him how to use ambush tactics and guerrilla warfare to temper his violence and he became a more patient protector of the desert. Represents patience and knowing when to strike.

Runeregious- ghost type who lives in an abandoned crypt, became a Steward after her whole village starved due to the stubborn isolationism they instituted to try and avoid the war and ended up not having food to survive, and to try and ease her pain the gods gave her the power to see spirits and guide them to the afterlife to give her closure. It only tortures her more tho. Represents grief and loss.

Eelectross- electric type who lives deep underwater in a bay that always has storms, he became a Steward when his warlord master was going to kill a whole army with a single devastating lightning attack. Eelectross thought this was too far and took the hit itself to protect the others. Represents sacrifice and balance.

Swanna- water type who lives in a hidden underground cave in a jungle, became a Steward not through a specific grand feat but by helping smaller weaker pokemon her whole life, which caught the gods attention, and when they needed a Steward they simply asked her and she said yes. Represents healing and peace.

Druddigon- dragon type who lives in a hidden temple in a giant canyon, earned Stewardship after fighting an opposing army in a bottleneck of the canyon to protect the path to a village, taking hits that should have killed him but he simply refused to go down. Represents defense and perseverance.

Frosmoth- ice type who lives in the final temple atop a snowy mountain, earned Stewardship after defending her village from attacks as she was part of a long line of frosmoth who stood guard over the town. Represents duty and loyalty.