Puzzles, Art, and Interactivity

Samorost is a fun example of what one might call "Interactive Puzzles." After an introductory animation (during which you can't do anything other than watch), you find yourself in a strange world. Clicking on different things make different other things happen. Eventually, you discover that if you click on the right things, the "hero" manages to escape that world into another. It's essentially a kind of puzzle. The only way to solve it is through trial, error, and careful observation.

In a way, this has been true of almost every videogame you can think of. From Space Invaders to Myst.

I've been writing about an emerging form of web-based Interactive Art, as represented by the work of people like poet Jim Andrews and the artist Stanza." Here, the art can only be experienced by interacting with it. Not just viewing it, but actually playing with it.

I found a paper written on this subject almost ten years ago, called "The History of the Interface in Interactive Art." Though technology has progressed far beyond that described in the paper, it presents some powerful insights about this art/play form, not only as it appears on the web, but also as it permeates our museums.