3.05 Yearbook (Jiffy Pop) Solve

Order

3.02

Location

Doctor When's laboratory

Type

Mandatory Puzzle

Plot Setup

Machine has gone haywire. Instead of Doctor When returning, a bunch of gadgets returned. Each one is labeled with the name of a team.

Props

One physical puzzle (gadget?) for each team, the same one as in Part 1.

Plot Point to Convey

The players are caught in a time loop--of their own creation! To fix it they need to do something different than in Part 1. They need to take matters into their own hands, not necessarily doing what Doctor When and Prof. Chronus want--but they may need to be secretive about it.

Short Description

A puzzle that is a [Bootstrap Paradox]: The teams solve it, and then later have a hand in its creation.

Detailed Description

The basic concept behind this puzzle is that it needs to be a [Bootstrap paradox]: The team has to first solve the puzzle, and then later on in the Game realize that they need to help create it, sending it to the point in time when they received it. Hence, the puzzle has two stages -- "Stage A": Solving the puzzle, and "Stage B": Creating the puzzle. Ideally there is a lot of time (real-life-time, not story-time) between "Stage A" and "Stage B" for best dramatic effect.

Other than that core feature, though, we seem to have disagreements as to what form this puzzle should take. Part of the difficulty is that nobody has a specific idea for a prototype. There are currently three models being considered: the "Trick-Opening Box", the "Music Box", and the "Coded Time Capsule Message".

Right now the core team is mildly preferring the "Music Box" scenario, mostly as a compromise between coolness and feasibility. If someone can come up with an idea that actually can lead to a feasible puzzle, though, the other models would be fine, too.

"Trick-Opening Box"

The puzzle takes the form of a device. When the team first receives the puzzle, the message is hidden inside the device and "Stage A" is to get that message out of the device. For example, the device might be a trick-opening box, where you have to slide panels and tilt the box in certain ways before a secret drawer unlocks. The device has the property that even when one knows the method to opening it, one does not know how it is constructed or what the internal mechanisms of the puzzle are. Hence, when the team gets to Stage B, they now need to figure out how the device was constructed and construct it based on what they knew about the device.

"Music Box"

This puzzle is a mechanical device that emits a message. For example, a music box might emit a melody, or this device might emit a sequence of blinking lights, or a text message, or something else. The message is in code in some way, meaning that "Stage A" is a more traditional Game puzzle where the team just has to decode that message. In "Stage B", the team needs to assemble the device, which may include hunting for the parts, etc. This is different from the "Trick-Opening Box" scenario in that the way the device is assembled is not particularly hidden in "Stage A", it's just that it doesn't seem relevant to the teams, since they're focusing on solving the code.

"Coded Time Capsule Message"

Unlike the other two models, this puzzle does not take physical form. Instead, there is some sort of code "hidden in plain sight" on the time machine, where it is not obvious there is a code until the teams have certain knowledge. This code is visible to all the teams in Act I and Act III, but it is not visible in Act II. The "certain knowledge" is given to the teams in Act II. Hence, the idea is that an observant team might notice something odd in Act I, in Act II realize that they know how to decipher the code now but now don't have access to it, and in Act III they will be able to decode it ("Stage A"). When teams travel back in time to 1986, they insert the code onto an early prototype, ensuring that the code will be visible for their past selves to see in Act I.

Puzzle Solution

CAUSALITYLOOPSECRETLYCHANGELETTER (or something like that)

Other Notes

The prop will be reused at the end of the Game.

Also, Prof. Chronus will probably be very curious about what all these gadgets are... We'll have to find some way to justify not giving her the message or a fake message.