For my senior project, our group had been having some issues thinking of creative ways to use a shield. As such, I was assigned with figuring out some puzzle mechanics that could be worked around with access to a decent sized shield. The shields only functions are to block in the direction of the player and to let the player slide along the ground.

Here’s what I came up with so far:

1. Directional Blocking: Fairly straightforward. The shield would block an incoming object, causing it to bounce off at a specific angle from the shield. This object could be some part of a larger puzzle such as a boulder, or something dangerous like one of our creatures.
2. Plugging Up Stuff: Again, just as it says on the tin. Say there’s some kind of stem shooting out of the wall. The shield would allow the player to press their body against the hole and plug it with greater force and without burning themselves. This could, in turn, lead to even more steam based action as the steam tries to find another way out.
3. Sliding On Dangerous Terrain: Such as off a cliff or through a dangerous substance.
4. Riding On Dangerous Terrain: Put together 2 and 3, get launched up by some kind of eruption and survive.
5. Making A Quick Escape: imagine you trigger a set of events that wind you up on a large sloped pillar of stone and that stone starts to fall apart. Well, now you’re going to have to slide down, because running isn’t going to work.

Rather than a tool solely for puzzle solving, the shield is much more multipurpose and heightens the action of the game while providing a bit more puzzle depth.