I heard that a couple of text adventures from the 80s were pretty dependent upon the player having some sheets of paper in order to draw maps on them and write down clues. While one can blame these games for doing so for just not knowing better at the time, I particularly find the aspect of involving the player into doing some work off the computer screen particularly interesting. It reminds me somehow of solving your college homework problems by looking up articles on the internet, but the way these games worked is exactly the other way around. By writing down everything important on your sheets you improve your gaming experience.

So I'm sort of curious whether or not in the last ~ 20 years some games have further experimented with this aspect. I'm particularly looking for games which deliver off-the-screen experiences, so certain problems of the game can (partly) be solved or figured out using (improvised) external auxiliary instruments from the real physical world. So I'm not talking about any games based on gadget like the Wii-remote or Skylander figures.

I heard that a couple of text adventures from the 80s were pretty dependent upon the player having some sheets of paper in order to draw maps on them and write down clues.

I can attest to the truth of this. Personally, I loved it. Some games (looking for examples online, but I can't seem to remember the titles) even came with a little notebook to jot down info, sketches, and clues. I'd keep graph paper handy for drawing maps -- though no amount of graph paper helped me escape from the old TRS-80 game Pyramid.

While one can blame these games for doing so for just not knowing better at the time,

This is a faulty assumption that I completely disagree with (as I suspect you do). This was a design choice that maximized player involvement and minimized the effect of hardware limitations.

It was also DRM, by the way... a few of my first computer games asked you to type the third word of the second paragraph on page seven of the instruction manual to prove you bought a legit copy!

So I'm sort of curious whether or not in the last ~ 20 years some games have further experimented with this aspect. I'm particularly looking for games which deliver off-the-screen experiences, so certain problems of the game can (partly) be solved or figured out using (improvised) external auxiliary instruments from the real physical world.

In the late '90s/early '00s I played an odd sort of augmented reality/conspiracy/hacking game that almost hit the mark. You had to look at Web site source code for hints, read blogs, and -- somehow -- the game would even call your phone with weird pre-recorded messages.

While most of it was very gimmicky, there were some very interesting aspects to it. I liked going to a site and using "view source" to find a password and then looking at more weirdness. Sadly, most people just searched for the answers to puzzles on AltaVista or AskJeeves or whatever dinosaur search engine we were using at the time. Some people always miss the point, I guess.

So I'm sort of curious whether or not in the last ~ 20 years some games have further experimented with this aspect.

Ni no Kuni is a PS3 game which was accompanied with a spell book, a physical spell book. In this book, you could find recipe for potions, informations on creatures or a place, tips to resolve puzzles, etc...

The book was avaiblable numericaly, but the intent is here (And the studio Ghibli made all the cinematics of this game )

A little different than books and paper, the MMORPG The secret world had some enigma wich required to go to the in-game internet to find answers and tips. It's not really an physical auxilliary, but, close enough?

And even nowaday with some hardcore managment game (yes, dwarf fortress I'm talking about you), I have to write down some notes to keep track of my dwarves.

It was also DRM, by the way... a few of my first computer games asked you to type the third word of the second paragraph on page seven of the instruction manual to prove you bought a legit copy!

Ahah, this kind of DRM When I was little, I spent hours trying to brute-force an enigma of a game because I didn't have the manual (or never undestood because the game was in english, and so was the manual). I had to click on the teeth of a giant skeletton head to open the door, and I had to follow a certain order, or get stuck. Forever.

Ni no Kuni is a PS3 game which was accompanied with a spell book, a physical spell book. In this book, you could find recipe for potions, informations on creatures or a place, tips to resolve puzzles, etc...

The book was avaiblable numericaly, but the intent is here

What??? A real book? That is super-fantastic!

Also, I think it may be our language barrier, but I'm not sure what "available numericaly" means. I'm guessing it means digital copy, to which I say BOO! No sorcerer uses a Kindle to cast spells!

(Not making fun of your English skills -- I try to participate on Russian language forums all of the time. You do 1,000 times better than I do.)

If you are going to do something so cool as to make a physical copy of a book, I think it should remain that only -- no digital copies allowed!

but I'm not sure what "available numericaly" means. I'm guessing it means digital copy

You are guessing right. My mistake ^^'

(Not making fun of your English skills -- I try to participate on Russian language forums all of the time. You do 1,000 times better than I do.)

It's ok, I forgive you :D

If you are going to do something so cool as to make a physical copy of a book, I think it should remain that only -- no digital copies allowed!

I think so too, but you get the book only if you buy the collector edition, and the collector edition can be found now at 200 dollars. I guess many players don't want to spend that much on a game.

In the other hand, it double as a nice artbook and an actual game mechanic :)

I liked the Sketchpaper Age of gaming; keeping my own notes made it more personal. Deciding on your own map structures, inventing notations, deciding what's important to write down, all of those are colors of fun that aren't often in the modern palette.

(That, and some kinds of classic game tricks don't work when all the information's on the screen. Like, when you have to keep your own map, but something's strange with the geometry of the world. That's not really feasible when you can always see where you are on a mini-map.)

Regarding other externals:

-- The Carmen Sandiego games, of course, each came with a reference book (originally the World Almanac and Book of Facts).

-- At least some iPad games or prototypes (Pixel Press Floors, to name one I remember) let you take pictures of your drawings and turn them into levels.

I think the rise of game devices with cameras open up the possibility of neat interaction with improvised "externals".

Game idea combining mapping and picture taking: You're an explorer during the Age of Exploration, discovering new cities and riches. The game keeps no map for you; you have to keep your own on a sheet of paper. Then when you return home, the king asks for your map, and you take a picture of your actual paper map. Then merchant fleets head out and either succeed gloriously or fail hilariously based on how good or bad your map is.

For those specifically interested in manual mapmaking, The Etrian Odyssey series for the Nintendo 3DS is a recent game that doesn't make maps for you, but provides in-game interface for mapmaking (making use of the 3DS's touchscreen and stylus).

Also awesome is the Professor Layton series that is basically just a puzzle game where you pass through hundreds of puzzles to progress in the story (very fun though!). All the puzzles let you pause the puzzle, and bring up a screen where you can use the stylus to draw ontop of the puzzle to make notes while trying to solve the puzzle. It was really cool.

I've always loved a mix of both physical and virtual game mechanics. For example, if I'm seeking to find an easter egg or something else of equally hard-to-find nature, I prefer to have my notes on how to find it by my side and not on the screen. It's not just about what I like, its simply better.

it allows you to access a resource without having to remove yourself from the game. Most of the time its simply easier then, say, having notepad up and tabbing out of the game every 5s to look at your notes.

Because of this, I've always thought about a better way to implement physical 'notes' of such. For example, there's a game called Legend of Grimrock. This game has a spell system, where there is a 3x3 grid of symbols:

Activating different symbols in combination allows you to cast a spell. To know the combination you have to find spellbooks found in the dungeons. I jotted down on a piece of paper the spell and its requirements every time I came across one, so if I started again I knew what to do. There were also a lot of puzzles that you had to do to progress, along with puzzles that contained secrets, and while I attempted to keep track of them on paper it just became too messy to do so.

however, what would've been great is if you bought the game and it came with a notepad where you could put it down in an organised fashion instead of having a bunch of mess everywhere. Half of the book could come with pages like this:

The other half with pages like this:

with the left being the puzzle and how it works, while the right being the first couple of pages explaining what the map means. Then there could also be a few pages at the end to jot down some extra notes if you need to.

To be honest, if I had of had something like this I would've played the game for a lot longer. My opinion of physical notes is they should be something you accumulate yourself, but the developers should provide the material to cultivate this. That way you can both organise your notes and at the same time have a single source to access them.

I mean, massing a source of information for your game is an achievement within itself. It's fun and you become better at the game. A lot of the reason why developers don't implement such things like this is most games are being moved entirely virtual. Its only big name games and console games that are really being bought in stores anymore. I bought the Legend of Grimrock on steam, so I wouldn't have gotten a physical notebook even if they provided it.

This thread reminds me that I should return to my roots and produce a physical game manual. While this is off topic, I miss having something to read while the game installs.

Back on topic, the big concepts in this thread seem to be:

• DIY maps, both physical and virtual
• Spellbooks, etc., that contain fictional information to use in-game
• Notepads for clues & plot, but a framework (provided by devs) to keep them organized
• Using cameras as input devices (though this may be outside of the OPs initial topic)

I also really like the use of straight up reference materials. An atlas for an exploration game. Maybe even a guide to poisonous plants.

This thread really has me thinking about completely financial irresponsible components for my 'Mech game. Thanks, Dr. Penguin!

A game-specific notebook, with features like ShiftyCake suggests, would be a great Kickstarter reward. Like you've got the compiled but unfinished notes of your predecessor: half-finished maps, hypotheses about alchemy, rumors, and plenty of space to write. A combination of scratch-paper and clue book.

Maybe even obscure some hints with red ink, like those old Hint Books used to do. You would slide a piece of red transparent plastic over the hint you wanted to read, like:

http://www.sierragamers.com/uploads/24082/Hint_Book/Conquest_2_Conquest_of_the_Longbow_Hint_Book.pdf

I actually kinda prefer this system to the modern way of googling a hint. You knew you were only going to get the hint you needed, not some complete spoiler or info about a completely different puzzle, and probably a hint devised by (or in consultation with) the devs. A thematically-appropriate hint book (like the above, which uses an illuminated medieval manuscript theming for the red ink) also helps keeps a sense of immersion.