View source for Guess-the-verb

"'''Guess-the-verb'''" (sometimes [[abbreviations|abbreviated]] as '''GTV''') is the name of a particular fault in game design where although the [[player]] has correctly guessed what he is meant to do, the game's [[parser]] does not understand unless he uses a particular and possibly non-obvious way to phrase the [[command]]. For example, if there is a crate to be opened with a crowbar and the only way to open it is to "pry crate with crowbar", other actions like "open crate with crowbar" give a misleading response.

Some games, such as ''[[The Edifice]]'' ([[Lucian Smith]], 1997, [[Z-code]]) and ''[[Ad Verbum]]'' ([[Nick Montfort]], 2002, Z-code) intentionally include guess-the-verb puzzles to good effect but in contexts where the puzzles are explicitly ''about'' language.

==Solution==
* Plenty of [[Beta-testing]].
* A good [http://thesaurus.reference.com thesaurus] can also come in handy.
* Play plenty of IF to get a feel for the sort of verbs considered standard - which may not always be the standard library ones.
* When coding synonyms, make them actual synonyms instead of giving responses along the lines of 'Try INSCRIBE rather than WRITE.' It's just polite.
* Include a special verbs list in your Help and/or About menus. If these verbs are going to be used a lot, draw attention to those menus in the banner text.

==Game homages==
* ''[[ADRIFT-O-Rama]]'' ([[Dana Crane]] as "Mystery"; 2003; ADRIFT 4) features "Guess the Verb Mountain" as the penultimate hole of a novelty miniature golf course.
* ''[[Guess the Verb!]]'' ([[Leonard Richardson]]; 2002; Z-code) uses the phrase as the instruction in a surreal carnival game.

==Links==
* [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YouCantGetYeFlask "You Can't Get Ye Flask", a.k.a. Guess The Verb] at TV Tropes Wiki

[[Category:Glossary]] [[Category:Anti-Pattern]] [[Category:Undesirable features]]