This puzzle game’s simple premise hides surprising depth
This puzzle game’s simple premise hides surprising depth
这款解谜游戏简单的设定背后隐藏着惊人的深度
In What’s the Password?, you just have to enter the right four-digit passwords, but that’s usually easier said than done. 在《What’s the Password?》中，你只需要输入正确的四位数字密码，但这通常说起来容易做起来难。
What’s the Password? has a simple concept: To solve each of the game’s more than 100 puzzles, you have to type in the right four-digit password on a number pad. That might sound like a limited constraint. But the simplicity gives solo developer Dan DiIorio, better known as TrampolineTales, lots of room to play with clever ideas. Over the course of a few hours, the game never stopped surprising me. 《What’s the Password?》的概念很简单：要解开游戏中 100 多个谜题中的每一个，你必须在数字键盘上输入正确的四位密码。这听起来可能是一种有限的约束，但这种简洁性为独立开发者 Dan DiIorio（更为人熟知的名字是 TrampolineTales）提供了充足的空间来发挥巧妙的创意。在几个小时的游戏过程中，这款游戏不断给我带来惊喜。
Puzzle clues come in several different formats. Some are written text; the very first puzzle is a sentence that tells you what numbers to punch in. But you’ll also have to decipher four-digit codes from things like the blinking digits of a clock, nonogram puzzles, solving arithmetic, and even counting the number of teeth on a key. Clues can get a little meta, too, like ones referencing a password on the game’s cover art or information in menus. 谜题线索有多种不同的形式。有些是书面文字；第一个谜题就是一句告诉你该输入哪些数字的句子。但你还需要从诸如时钟闪烁的数字、数织谜题、算术题，甚至是数钥匙齿数等事物中破译四位代码。线索有时也会带有一点“元游戏”色彩，比如引用游戏封面艺术上的密码或菜单中的信息。
The puzzles can be tough. I’d get a few right away, but for most, I’d have to try a few solutions to see what worked. Fortunately, there’s no penalty for wrong guesses, so you can try as many combinations as you want. Some stopped me cold for minutes at a time. If you’re stuck on a puzzle for a while, the game will give you an option to skip it, and occasionally you can get a hint. 谜题可能很难。我能立刻解开几个，但对于大多数谜题，我必须尝试几种方案才能找到正确答案。幸运的是，猜错没有惩罚，所以你可以随心所欲地尝试各种组合。有些谜题让我一度卡住好几分钟。如果你在某个谜题上卡了太久，游戏会提供跳过选项，偶尔还能获得提示。
The game is backed by a calming, jazzy soundtrack that loops a single song over and over, and it pairs well with the game’s entirely black-and-white visuals. The whole vibe made me feel like some kind of noir gumshoe. But I also found that the slow drone could help when I was stuck on a particularly tricky puzzle; my mind would occasionally wander to the meandering music, and every once in a while, that idle thinking would lead me to a puzzle’s solution. 游戏配有舒缓的爵士乐原声带，循环播放着同一首曲子，与游戏纯黑白的视觉风格相得益彰。整体氛围让我感觉自己像个黑色电影里的私家侦探。我也发现，当我被特别棘手的谜题困住时，这种缓慢的旋律反而有所帮助；我的思绪偶尔会随着悠扬的音乐飘荡，而有时，这种放空的状态反而能让我找到谜题的解法。
In the end, I couldn’t solve everything. It took me about three hours to work my way through What’s the Password?, and I completed about 77 percent of the puzzles. But the game reminded me of the value of patience and a good night’s sleep; coming back in the morning with a fresh mind and coffee in hand, I usually had an easier time figuring things out. A lot of the fun of What’s the Password? was seeing what unexpected format would be thrown at me next, and that’s what gives the simple premise such depth. 最终，我没能解开所有谜题。我花了大约三个小时通关了《What’s the Password?》，完成了约 77% 的谜题。但这款游戏提醒了我耐心和充足睡眠的价值；第二天早上带着清醒的头脑和一杯咖啡回来时，我通常能更容易地解开难题。《What’s the Password?》的乐趣很大程度上在于期待下一个意想不到的谜题形式，而这正是其简单设定背后蕴含深度的原因。
What’s the Password? is out now on PC via Steam, iOS, and Android. 《What’s the Password?》现已登陆 PC（Steam）、iOS 和 Android 平台。