Gameology: Commentary and Resources for the Game Studies Community

Well, I agree that this puzzle is obtuse and a bit hair-brained. However, he even left out a part--you have to use a magic marker you swiped from the hotel clerk to draw a mustache on Mosely's passport. It makes sense in a way--after all, a thick mustache conceals many facial features that would be hard to mimic accurately.

However, I've used this exact puzzle before to make a point about "crackpipe" adventure game puzzles. A very similar one occurs right near the beginning of The Longest Journey. I won't go into detail, but it's at least as absurd as this one.

At any rate, I didn't have to consult a walkthrough to figure out this puzzle. There are plenty of in-game hints to steer you in the right direction. For example, if you examine the cat, Gabriel says something like, "Ah--lots of thick, black fur." To a seasoned adventurer, that's a dead giveaway that somehow, for some reason, you need that fur. There are similar hints when you explore any piece relevant to this puzzle, such as the hole in the door where the cat runs through. And anyone who owns a cat knows about the water bottle. :-)

Besides, compared to the puzzles and premise of Roberta Williams' Wizard and the Princess, can we really complain about GK3?