History Main / OnlySmartPeopleMayPass

** Even Indy has a brief bout of IdiotBall and almost falls victim to the second trap. He realizes how it works - you step on the letters on the tiles on the floor to spell out "Jehovah" - but doesn't realize at first that in the original Latin the name starts with an "I". After nearly falling to his doom, he gets it right.

** The Knights of the Grail have protected their treasure with a series of tests, each more fiendish than the last, to ensure that no unworthy man may pass. The tests are multi-layered: to prove worthy, one must find the clues to the tests elsewhere, interpret them correctly, and successfully act on the interpretation. Without the clues (which Indy's father found in his decades of research into Grail lore) it would be considerably harder if not effectively impossible to figure out the traps before they killed you.\\\
ThoseWackyNazis try to beat it with TrialAndErrorGameplay -- given that [[BookDumb Nazis are stupid]], they've already lost ''over a dozen people'' '''to the first trap''' by the time Indy shows up. "Get another volunteer." The final test, is simply of picking out the real Grail among all the dozens of fakes. No physical trait would give any advantage in figuring that out. [[spoiler:Though asking yourself "which cup looks completely unlike all the rest?" would be a good way to figure out that it's the simple wooden cup, even if you knew nothing about the life of Jesus.]]

* In the short story "The Most Precious of Treasures" by Desmond Warzel, the protagonists must solve a room-sized QueensPuzzle in order to pass from one room of a dungeon to the next. Its purpose is to allow people in and keep beasts out, thus it's really a case of Only Sentient People May Pass; the implication is that the builder chose a [[StockPuzzle well-known puzzle]] on purpose.

** ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' had such puzzles, like finding the ZPM by using the numbers 1-9 to make a magic square, part by desperation, part by realizing the significance of the number 15.

* In ''VideoGame/Dishonored2'', the lock on Aramis Stilton's manor is designed by [[GadgeteerGenius Kirin Jindosh]], and is so fiendishly complex that nobody has been able to crack it - it even indirectly led to one character's mutilation. When you get there to try yourself, it's...an incredibly simple logic puzzle of the kind found in brainteaser and crossword puzzle books, and you only have to solve half of it anyway. Apparently nobody in the entire Empire except the protagonist is smart enough to go through a simple process of elimination, which honestly explains a lot about the setting.

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Terran Conflict]]'', the New Home plot involves a three-part HackingMinigame. You have to break a four-digit code, then solve a sudoku. The third part is inputting a code you put together from clues throughout the plot.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', Dumbledore banks on these to hinder Voldemort from getting to the Philosopher's Stone. Most of the puzzles placed to guard the Stone aren't truly puzzles (rather than leave a spell to ask you how to defeat Devil's Snare, Dumbledore let Professor Sprout decide that it would be much more effective to just set the plant on anyone who came through); notably, the exception is Snape's logic puzzle with the potions: "Most wizards haven't got an ounce of logic; they'd never get out alive." When Harry reaches the final room [[spoiler:he realizes this is a SubvertedTrope. It's made clear that Voldemort could never have retrieved the Philosopher's Stone from the Miror of Erised, no matter how smart or clever he was in bypassing the other defenses. Only someone who ''didn't want to use it'' would be capable of doing so.]]

* The [[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Order of the Stick]] encounters the classic "[[KnightsAndKnaves one guard always lies, one guard always tells the truth]]" puzzle on the way to the Oracle of the Sunken Valley in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0327.html this strip]]. Haley proves how smart she is by [[CuttingTheKnot shooting one of the guards in the foot]], and determining their nature by their reactions. It's outright defied when Haley [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0565.html returns to the Sunken Valley]]: the guards seem to remember her, while she doesn't remember them (due to the [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory charm]] put there by the Oracle).

* ''VideoGame/{{Skyrim}}'': Many of the ancient dungeons have various lever and button puzzles, often with deadly traps to go off if you don't get the solution right. Often, the combination is shown in plain sight, but people still get it wrong. The huge puzzle doors are especially notable, as they require both a key and a combination, but the combination is engraved on the key. However, one book actually points this out - the puzzle doors aren't intended to keep explorers ''out'', but to keep the undead draugr ''in''. The bare minimum of intelligence required to figure out how to open the door is expected because draugr are practically mindless and can't even accomplish that.

* In the novelisation of ''Earthsearch II'', the puzzle at the climax is extremely simple but highly effective: [[spoiler:the collected technological knowledge of the pre-[[DarkAgeEurope Dark Ages]] Earth is guarded by a metal door that fits its frame too tightly to open, and is kept so by the slight heating from an embedded radioisotope; one must be observant enough to spot the extra warmth, smart enough to figure out that cooling the door will allow it to open, and sufficiently technologically advanced to achieve that on an overheated planet that has been in drought for over three centuries.]]

** Hansung Yu's door test on the second floor -- one of the tests required to advance up the Tower -- is an ironic example, because while it can be solved by being smart, it's almost easier by being stupid. The test is ostensibly "Find the right door within ten minutes," and there seem to be no hints. [[spoiler: But the implicit hints are all about the time -- do it within five minutes -- and the real answer is to open ''any'' door within five minutes.]] Thus, overthinking can be much more dangerous than being impatient or impulsive (or even delusional, as with the guy who supposedly uses divination to solve it). Whether Hansung actually thinks this is a reasonable test of determination or whatever like he explains it, ''or'' he's just being a sadist with layers of hidden agendas as usual, is anyone's guess.

** Hansung Yu's door test on the second floor -- one of the tests required to advance up the Tower -- is an ironic example, because while it can be solved by being smart, it's almost easier by being stupid. The test is ostensibly "Find the right door within ten minutes," and there seem to be no hints. [[spoiler: But the implicit hints are all about the time -- do it within five minutes -- and the real answer is to open ''any'' door within five minutes.]] Thus, overthinking can be much more dangerous than being impatient or impulsive (or even delusional, as with the guy who supposedly uses divination to solve it). Whether Hansung actually thought this was a reasonable test of determination or whatever like he explained it, ''or'' he was just being a sadist with layers of hidden agendas as usual, is anyone's guess.

** Hansung Yu's door test on the second floor -- one of the tests required to advance up the Tower -- is an ironic example, because while it can be solved by being smart, it's almost easier by being stupid. The test is ostensibly "Find the right door within ten minutes," and there seem to be no hints. [[spoiler: But the implicit hints are all about the time -- do it within five minutes -- and the real answer is to open ''any'' door within five minutes.]] Thus, overthinking can be much more dangerous than being impatient or impulsive (or even delusional, as with the guy who supposedly uses divination to solve it).

* The Door test from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' does a subversion on this: The objective was merely to open any of 12 doors in five minutes, but one wasn't told that. One was told one had to open the right door in ten minutes and that the wrong choice would lead to one's death. Over analyzing and thinking is noted as dangerous and likely to kill you as you think about which door to pick for too long. Then Shibisu throws this to the curb by being so smart he figures out the trick behind the test in one minute and opens a random door, impressing the test giver and proving himself to not be TheLoad for his team.

* Subverted in [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/14p26/ two]] [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/14p27/ strips]] of ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja''. Turns out, it's [[spoiler:not Only Smart People May Pass, it's "Nobody may pass but we were too cheap to get a motion detector or a door." It could also be interperted as "No Inocktek may pass", so you're better off not understanding the ancient inscription at all.]]

* Inverted in ''Yarra, River of Death'', an (in)famous Polish module penned by Creator/AndrzejSapkowski. At one point, the characters have to haul their barge over shallows made out of shoulder-deep mud teeming with maggots and leeches. After few moments inside the mud, everyone is required to make an Intelligence check. If they ''pass it'', they instantly get a panic attack due to all the filth crawling all over them and won't be able to help that day anymore. In the same time, to haul the barge over, it requires a Strength value impossible without at least 3 average characters working together, thus making a DumbMuscle [=PCs=] ''very'' handy. That moment is responsible for roughly third of all {{Total Party Kill}}s during the scenario, as it's perfectly possible to get stuck there forever and starve to death or die out of malaria. And no, [[Film/TheAfricanQueen no sudden flood is going to save the party]].

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' has the aptly-named Trial of Wisdom with multiple doors that are each marked with a different number of lights. To proceed, they have to be entered in a certain order, and your only clue to figuring that out is a reference to the RiddleOfTheSphinx. Easy enough to solve for those familiar with it, and utterly baffling for anyone who's not. However, this section can be optional if you only wish to proceed to the next area (as only two Trials must be passed to break the rubble blocking the gate), but it's mandatory only if you wish to acquire the Artemis weapon.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' features a section with multiple doors that are each marked with a different number of lights. To proceed, they have to be entered in a certain order, and your only clue to figuring that out is a reference to the RiddleOfTheSphinx. Easy enough to solve for those familiar with it, and utterly baffling for anyone who's not.

%%Needs more context about how the task requires intelligence rather than luck.* Parodied brilliantly in the "talking frog" scene of ''Series/TheTenthKingdom''. "One door leads to safety. One door leads to a horrible death." The heroes [[TakeAThirdOption then find a new solution]]...

* Subverted in ''Anime/PrincessTutu''. After a mysterious spirit kidnaps Mytho, Ahiru races to find him--and is asked riddles along the way. Ahiru, being an IdiotHero, gets them all wrong, but it turns out that the voice wasn't testing her, but telling her who it was--[[spoiler:a lamp]].
* Subverted in ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' when Tomo is asking complicated puzzles requiring lateral thinking. Class genius Chiyo is stumped by them, but class space cadet Osaka answers them all without any hesitation.
* In a completely justified example, the entrance exam in ''Manga/DetectiveSchoolQ'' (''Detective Academy Q'') is filled with this sort of thing.
* One of the pre-Hunter Exam trials in ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' asks you who you'd choose to save, your mother or your lover. When Gon notices the first guy (who chose the mother) was sent to his death, he realizes no answer is right, and says nothing. Again, ''no answer'' is right. They pass.
* In ''Anime/SummerWars'', Kenji solves a 2056 Bit encryption not only on paper but in his head in under a minute to bypass lock-outs and other barriers put in his path by Love Machine.
* In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', Yugi's puzzle-solving skills come in handy quite a few times as he solves puzzles the group encounters on their journey.
* At one point in ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', our heroes have to hack into the police files. After breaking standard security and encryption, the final security measure is figuring out the winning move in a game of ''Duel Monsters''.
* In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', Vegeta suggests to Beerus and Champa that only those fighters who can pass through a simple intelligence test are allowed to participate in the tournament between Universe 7 and Universe 6. [[IdiotBall For some reason, he completely ignores the fact]] that he has IdiotHero Goku and FatIdiot Buu in his team, effectively eliminating Buu from the tournament and almost eliminating Goku in the process, while all members of Champa's team pass through the test (although Magetta has trouble during the test), giving Beerus's team a disadvantage in numbers.
* ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'': A demon sets up a magical quiz show for the main characters. Since they're all complete morons, this horrifies them far more than the world-ending threats they had been facing up to that point.
-->'''Demon:''' So what you need to do is--oh, he died before I finished my explanation.

* ''Fanfic/AllThatGlittersOthellia'': The route to a hidden cave that Hans claims contains a powerful magic artifact is recorded through a series of riddles.

%%* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV0tCphFMr8 "Bridge of Death" scene]] (TheseQuestionsThree) from ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' parodies this trope.

* In "Literature/HowKazirWonHisWife", a king sets his daughter's suitor Kazir puzzles in order to assess his intellect. If Kazir fails, the king will not permit his daughter to marry Kazir.

* Raymond Smullyan also wrote ''What is the Name of This Book?'', which had a chapter where Portia from ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'' wants the gold, silver, and lead caskets to test her suitor's intelligence instead of his virtue so she has each casket inscribed with a true/false statement that makes it possible to logically deduce which casket has her portrait. Her daughter and granddaughter do similar tests, but a third descendant of hers in the far modern-day future subverts this by giving her suitor what ''look'' like logical tests identical to her ancestors' but are actually impossible to logically solve -- she had actually decided long beforehand that she wanted to marry said suitor but, being a mischievous sort, wanted to have a little bit of fun with him first.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter''
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', Dumbledore banks on these to hinder Voldemort from getting to the Philosopher's Stone. Most of the puzzles placed to guard the Stone aren't truly puzzles (rather than leave a spell to ask you how to defeat Devil's Snare, Dumbledore let Professor Sprout decide that it would be much more effective to just set the plant on anyone who came through); notably, the exception is Snape's logic puzzle with the potions: "Most wizards haven't got an ounce of logic; they'd never get out alive." When Harry reaches the final room [[spoiler:he realizes this is a SubvertedTrope. It's made clear that Voldemort could never have retrieved the Philosopher's Stone from the Miror of Erised, no matter how smart or clever he was in bypassing the other defenses. Only someone who ''didn't want to use it'' would be capable of doing so.]]
** To gain entry to the living quarters of the House of Ravenclaw, one must answer a intellectual riddle. This is designed to help the Ravenclaws increase their intellectual capacity, so it's ''literally'' "only smart people may pass". It could even be intentional: perhaps Rowena considered all smart people honorary Ravenclaws? The Pottermore welcome message for Ravenclaw goes even further in this direction. It states that "it's not unusual" to see twenty or more Ravenclaw students trying to solve the day's riddle together, and that it's a great way for first years to learn from older students. It also says that Ravenclaws "learn quickly".
** In the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire fourth book]] Harry stumbles on a sphinx in the labyrinth and has to [[RiddleOfTheSphinx solve its riddle]].
* In H. M. Hoover's ''Literature/ThisTimeOfDarkness'' the main character has been an outcast because she is literate, in a world where people are trained from childhood to be stupid and ignorant. When she comes to a locked door containing a clearly written explanation of how to open it and disarm the guard lasers, she realizes with horror that whoever put the door there intended to kill anybody who went through who couldn't read - that is, if ''anybody else'' went through the door, they'd be killed.
* In ''Literature/TheMoteInGodsEye'', the alien Moties have museums that are locked using astronomical puzzles. This is {{justified|Trope}}, since the museums are meant to help restore their civilization after the Dark Ages caused by inevitable, unstoppable population explosions, so the puzzles keep barbarian savages from busting the museum's lasers by using them to smash open walnuts.
* A variant occurs during ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, when Blaine, [[spoiler:the insane supercomputer/monorail]] voluntarily takes the heroes to their destination, but agrees to let them live only if they can come up with a riddle ''he'' cannot answer. The catch is that Blaine has [[spoiler:computer-access to the Dark Tower, and can therefore draw on the knowledge of riddles from ALL dimensions in existence. He is only defeated by BAD riddles, i.e. Eddie's horrible schoolyard jokes with no logical answers, which enrage Blaine to the point of blowing his own dipolar circuits]].
* One of the gadgets used by the mysterious [[ArcWords V.F.D]] in Lemony Snicket's ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' is the "Vernacularly Fastened Door", a lock which can only be opened by answering trivia questions. It is a theme of the series that the good guys are more well-read than the bad guys.
* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' series has many of these. The first book, for instance, has a series of riddles left by Martin the Warrior that lead to the location of his legendary sword.
* Downplayed and parodied in Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'' series. Merlin encounters a Sphinx that will eat him if he can't guess the answer to a riddle. Merlin gives a plausible answer, but the Sphinx is looking for a specific one (that is virtually unknowable, relating to a then-obscure aspect of the story's world). Merlin argues with the Sphinx, eventually getting the concession that the Sphinx will let him pass if he can come up with a riddle the Sphinx can't answer. Merlin does so, with "What's green and red and goes round and round and round?" [[spoiler:A frog in a Cuisinart]]. This is echoed in a later book when another guardian refuses to use this sort of test, but just for fun asks a riddle anyway -- and it's the same one Merlin posed.
* The Riddle Game in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', since Gollum's kinda nuts. [[spoiler:And in the "true" version, [[RetCon which is the only one you're likely to read nowadays]], he intended to go invisible using the ring and kill Bilbo anyway.]] Then there's the in-universe debate on whether Bilbo technically cheated. It was concluded that "What have I got in my pocket?" shouldn't have been counted as a riddle at all, but it's arguably fair since Gollum accepted the riddle by trying to answer, even negotiating for three guesses. It should also be noted that Gollum demands three guesses, and guesses ''four'' things, though one of his guesses was ''correct'' at the time Bilbo gave the "riddle" (and had just become wrong a moment ago).
* ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' subverts this with the gates of Moria; what's taken to be a riddle is just a literal instruction, although knowledge of Elven script ''is'' required to know that there is a password at all. You could ''accidentally'' open it by reading the untranslated inscription out loud.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''
** Terry Pratchett has a lot of fun with this trope in ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}''. Pteppic meets the sphinx of Myth/GreekMythology -- and gets into a three-page discussion about how the classic riddle ("What is it that walks on four legs in the morning, on two at noon and on three in the evening? -- A man") doesn't make a lot of sense. The final version: "What is it that, metaphorically speaking, walks on four legs for about twenty minutes just after midnight, on two legs for most of the day (barring accidents) until at least suppertime, after which it continues to walk on two legs or with any prosthetic aids of its choice?"
** Similar to the ''Lord of the Rings'' subversion, the plot of ''{{Literature/Thud}}'' hinges on a magic cube that plays a recording when an unknown password is spoken aloud, that a MadArtist who thought he was a chicken accidentally activated. [[spoiler:The password turns out to be "Awk", which is Dwarvish for "Speak".]]
* Exploited in ''Literature/DiamondDogs'' by Creator/AlastairReynolds. The novella concerns the discovery of a sealed alien tower that can only be ascended by answering successively more difficult math problems in various chambers. The characters in the story are eventually forced to augment their own intelligence with [[NeuralImplanting neural implanting]] just to proceed. More sinisterly, the doorways between each chamber get smaller each time, forcing the characters to also [[BodyHorror modify their bodies to fit]]. [[spoiler:The exploitation comes when narrator realizes that the Tower probably doesn't have ''anything'' at the top. It exists solely to goad gullible intelligent species into exploring it. When they get to the top, the tower "harvests" them like a Venus Fly Trap.]]
* Creator/AllenSteele's ''Labyrinth of Night'' features an alien complex on Mars entered through a series of locked doors with puzzles that require increasingly more intelligence to solve (and [[RagnarokProofing still-active]] {{death trap}}s for the unwary). The archaeologists were baffled by the last chamber, which just played music, until they brought in a musician to jam with it, proving we have culture as well as brains.

* Pick a ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' book. ANY ''Deltora Quest'' book. Chances are you'll find a riddle that needs solving, some cryptic code that needs cracking or some other puzzle that needs figuring out. Probably more than one.
* Dan Brown attempts this in ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode''. There are such gems as the "strange script" of an unrecognised language that a symbologist, the granddaughter of a da Vinci expert and ''another da Vinci expert'' spend about five pages puzzling over. Two pages into this sequence, there's a copy of it printed -- it's in da Vinci's trademark mirror writing.

* The Crown of All Things in ''[[Literature/NightWatchSeries The Last Watch]]'' was sealed in a most ingenious manner, but Merlin thoughtfully left a rather clever riddle behind. This was {{justified|Trope}} in that providing a hint was part of Merlin's idea of fair play, and it later turned out he had a very good reason to make it possible for someone intelligent to get their hands on it.
* ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', Cao Cao is fond of word games, including leaving instructions in the form of incredibly involved plays on Chinese characters. The only problem was that the guy who solved them, Yang Xiu, made Cao nervous, both for his intelligence and for supporting one of Cao's younger sons rather than Cao's chosen heir. [[spoiler:Cao Cao would have Yang Xiu executed when he interpreted one of Cao Cao's signal phrases (chicken neck) as a sign that Cao was preparing for retreat. It should be noted that Cao really was planning a retreat, but canceled the retreat so he could have an excuse to do away with Yang.]]
* Doubly subverted in Creator/PiersAnthony's novel ''Literature/{{Macroscope}}''. The "Destroyer Signal", a radio signal picked up by a SETI search, appears at first to be a treasure trove of alien scientific knowledge that a few of the smartest humans may be capable of understanding, but turns out to be designed to overload their brains and burn out their minds with too much knowledge. Later in the book, it turns out that it is actually an "only smart ''and good'' people may pass" test, designed to destroy any intelligent mind not belonging to PerfectPacifistPeople, to prevent all the tech (especially FTLTravel) from falling into the wrong head.
* In the short story "The Most Precious of Treasures" by Desmond Warzel, the protagonists must solve a room-sized QueensPuzzle in order to pass from one room of a dungeon to the next. Its purpose is to allow people in and keep beasts out, thus it's really a case of Only Sentient People May Pass; the implication is that the builder chose a [[StockPuzzle well-known puzzle]] on purpose.
* In ''Literature/StarTrekTyphonPact'' (part of the ''Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse''), the home and office of the Tzenkethi Coalition's Autarch is inside a building with a flexible and highly changable design. To access the house requires contemplation of mathematical principles and aesthetics, to puzzle out the likely position of concealed openings. Agents of the Autarch are therefore tested every time they report to the building, and must demonstrate their worth by finding a way inside.
* In the novelisation of ''Earthsearch II'', the puzzle at the climax is extremely simple but highly effective: [[spoiler:the collected technological knowledge of the pre-[[DarkAgeEurope Dark Ages]] Earth is guarded by a metal door that fits its frame too tightly to open, and is kept so by the slight heating from an embedded radioisotope; one must be observant enough to spot the extra warmth, smart enough to figure out that cooling the door will allow it to open, and sufficiently technologically advanced to achieve that on an overheated planet that has been in drought for over three centuries.]]
* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' has the Wright of the Widdle in ''Queste'', where the protagonists have to guess the meaning of some expressions that refer to some symbols to enter the House of Foryx.
* The Polish novel ''Cylinder van Troffa'', set mostly in a dilapidated old city inhabited by gangs. A small group of scientists, while in cold sleep, protects their base from the marauding uneducated hooligans with a door that demands solving a simple algebra problem to open. Once in a great while, the invaders manage to stumble across the answer... only to find themselves imprisoned in [[{{Oubliette}} a small room]] unless they can solve a problem from derivative calculus. None of them ever managed that.
* In the Warhammer 40k novel ''The Iron Guard'', this is a notable WeaksauceWeakness of the the "changed". While they are quite cunning in other regards, their altered brains seem incapable of solving simple spatial puzzles. The unchanged survivors use this fact to construct barricades that most humans could easily dismantle by moving a few pieces around but the "changed" brains are incapable of reasoning out the puzzle.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos''
** This happens twice in ''[[Literature/AMagesPower A Mage's Power]]'':
*** When Eric tries to enter the Temple of Zaticana, his path is blocked by the temple's guards. They declare that "No earthbound mortal may cross this temple threshold." Eric quickly figures out that instead of forbidding mortals to enter the temple, the statement means they want him to jump across, i.e. prove he is not "earth bound".
*** Eric's trial in Kyraa to earn Dengel's power involves knowledge from runes to dragon customs to clever use of magic.
*** The entrance to the Black Cloak's hideout is carefully hidden and guarded. To enter without setting off alarms, Eric has to use several spells in combination
** In ''Literature/LoomingShadow'', Eric has to pass several tests of magical knowledge to breach the security measures on Dengel's Lair.

* Inverted in ''Yarra, River of Death'', an (in)famous Polish module penned by Creator/AndrzejSapkowski. At one point, the characters have to haul their barge over shallows made out of shoulder-deep mud teeming with maggots and leeches. After few moments inside the mud, everyone is required to make an Intelligence check. If they ''pass it'', they instantly get a panic attack due to all the filth crawling all over them and won't be able to help that day anymore. In the same time, to haul the barge over, it requires a Strength value impossible without at least 3 average characters working together, thus making a DumbMuscle [=PCs=] ''very'' handy. That moment is responsible for roughly third of all {{Total Party Kill}}s during the scenario, as it's perfectly possible to get stuck there forever and starve to death or die out of malaria. And no, [[Film/TheAfricanQueen no sudden flood is going to save the party]].

* ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'' looks like it's headed for this when an ancient guardian wants to ask you a riddle to see if you are worthy to receive the MacGuffin. Then come the subversions, first by the guardian who happened to forget the riddle during his 400-year-wait (but still insists to only hand the item to those who answer it) and then by Lewton who points out that someone of the ''un''worthy faction would just hack the weaponless guardian to pieces. As he's in somewhat of a hurry, he gives the guardian the option to hand over the McGuffin -- or he'll just ''pretend'' to be unworthy enough... The guardian relents.
* ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy'': There's a skyscraper sized block puzzle guarding ancient ruins.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'':
** While slogging through Bowser's Castle toward the end, Mario reaches six doors, leading to instances of three kinds of challenges. Two are straight combat, two are platforming action, and two are a gauntlet of dime-store brain teasers, hosted by a green Hammer Brother named "Dr. Topper". On the menu: peg-jumping puzzles, counting games, trivia quizzes about the RPG itself, and an infuriating "Who finished what place in a triathlon?" word problem. You only have to pass four of six doors, but randomly speaking, you'll have to face at least one of them.
** There are some in the Sunken Ship. A series of platforming challenges give nautically themed clues to a six-letter word puzzle to enter the Boss Room. None of the challenges have to be completed, if a player can suss out a fitting word from the given letters. Both the quiz-gauntlet and the word puzzle are relatively simple affairs, but for younger players, they could be pretty stymieing, as they relied on critical thinking and some outside information.
* In both ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' and its sequel, there are puzzles where you're required to answer questions about the game to proceed (or at least, to avoid a tricky boss fight).

* ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'':
** Arithmetic puzzles get used for everything from decryption to demolitions.
** The trivia questions both the ancient Rakatans and Darth Revan used to cover the tracks to their secret base. There's also a SchmuckBait sidequest that is solved by winning a riddle contest with a prisoner stuck in a mind trap.
** Several puzzles in ''KOTOR'' are in fact classic puzzles given a more context appropriate reskin. The damaged extractor control system on Manaan is the same "measure 4 liters using only a 3 liter and a 5 liter container" seen in ''Die Hard 3'' (it can be bypassed, but doing so gets you banned from the planet and gives you dark side points), while the Sith tomb's energy ring transfer puzzle is really a jazzed up TowersOfHanoi.
** The ''Brotherhood of Shadow'' game mod has a wicked one. A Czerka employee was trying to seal off the mining tunnels from his crazed co-workers. He set up a system requiring accessing several terminals in succession and answering questions about "basic galactic history" (read: lore from ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'') in order to open the doors.
* In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI'', in order to get anywhere beyond a small beach on the Isle of the Sacred Mountain, you have to bypass a little obstacle aptly called the "Cliffs of Logic". That the Cliffs are an ancient test of intelligence is only the in-character explanation; out of character, the game practically demands you look up the solution in [[{{Feelies}} the guidebook that came with it]].
* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' has many of these.
** ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/02/13 parodies it]], suggesting it's a "Logic Opera": "every person you meet breaks into "puzzle" the way that Viking ladies tend to break into song, out of nowhere." The first game in the series, ''[[CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase Professor Layton and the Curious Village]]'', actually turns out to have invoked the trope: [[spoiler:a guy deliberately set up all the puzzles to test the intelligence of those seeking his treasure.]]
** Becomes literally so as in every single game there is a guard of some sort preventing you from entering the dungeon(s) if you haven't completed a certain number of [[SolveTheSoupCans soup can puzzles]], and you thought you could ignore the hard ones and only miss out on OneHundredPercentCompletion!
** In the ''Azran Legacy'' game, there's the Azran tombs where you have to solve the ball-rolling puzzles to get from room to room. Did Hershel never think to jump over that hole? No? How about follow Randy, who's pushing the balls? No? Only the ridiculously idiotic intelligent may pass, it would seem here.
%%* ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' series.
* Shows up in the mad Finster's mind in ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}''; you do have to get these right. Note that this guy's not exactly sane, and the fact that you're wandering in his brain with laser machine guns trying to kill him isn't helping his mental state much.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Played with in ''Diamond / Pearl''. One Gym presents you with three doors and a mathematical question - you go through the door associated with the correct answer. The thing is, the questions are so easy - and the main character is even given a calculator right at the start of the game - that the trainers who battle you behind the incorrect doors assume you ''deliberately'' got the answers wrong. One girl is pleased that you decided to battle her; another cheerfully agrees with your 'battle everyone' philosophy; and one boy complains 'why don't you just answer the questions properly?'. Then there's the last question: "What was the answer to the first question?" If you weren't really paying attention because the questions were so easy, you'll likely get it wrong.
** Played straight in the rest of the games such as the second-last Gym of the first generation has a series of doors that can only be opened by answering a series of general-knowledge questions pertaining to the Pokemon world. Failure to answer correctly results in you having to fight the trainers guarding the doors -- [[LevelGrinding and since they give extra experience and cash anyway,]] why tax your brain? The questions are for those who don't want to battle the trainers. You don't even need to answer the questions. Talk to the trainers to battle them and the door automatically opens if you win, whether you answered the question or not.
** Also in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', you have to play an audio quiz with Sophocles as part of his trial, due to the power required to run everything else being used up by his equipment to summon the Totem Pokemon. Failure to answer the question correctly results in [[HarmlessElectrocution Sophocles getting fried]]; answering correctly gets you a battle, with the Totem Vikavolt being number four.
* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'':
** Every floor of every dungeon, cave, castle, tower or mansion is littered with puzzles of all sorts that you must complete to open doors. It gets so extreme that one can reasonably argue that ''Lufia II'' is a puzzle game with a large story and RPG-elements in it.
** There is also a secret room in one of the later dungeons that has "the hardest puzzle in the world" which involves sliding platforms around and around for about 20-ish rounds, until you have the platform with the treasure chests filled with neat loot in front of you.
* In the InteractiveFiction game ''VideoGame/{{Gateway}}'', you need to solve a puzzle to get to the first Heechee device. The puzzle ("which of these is not like the others") was put there so the species on the planet in question couldn't get at the device before they became smart enough. Hence, OnlySmartPeopleMayPass, which was its point.
* ''VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories'' has a minor boss in the InevitableTournament tries to challenge the heroes with the mother of all geo puzzles, causing the page quote from Tink in regards to IdiotHero Adell. Adell [[HiddenDepths takes one glance at the puzzle and states its correct solution without missing a beat]], freaking out the puzzle creator and the rest of the heroes. Of course, to the player the real puzzle is getting to the solution that Adell pointed out. It's at the end of a maze of No Entry panels guarded by monsters. Although if you have enough range on your spells (which depends on how many times you've cast it before) you can hit it from the starting position.
* In ''VideoGame/MediEvil'', the player can only gain entrance to the Asylum after answering a number of riddles "so perplexingly complex that no man has ever solved them" posed by Jack of the Green. Interestingly, the puzzles themselves are fairly easy to figure out, except for perhaps the last one. The real problem is in figuring out how you're meant to ''answer'' them.

* Used over and over again in ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'', the first ''Tales'' game with the bright, involved, and unique sort of puzzles that also contributed to ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' being the hit it was. Then, without warning, subverted at the beginning of Volt's ruins: TheSmartGuy Keele has been left behind, so while the rest of your party is busy scratching their heads and staring at the obtuse riddle on the front gate, Max walks up to the door and body-slams it down. The rest of the dungeon, of course, is full of puzzles, but damn if the scene wasn't hilarious.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', on the 4th day [[spoiler:of the third week]], you are boxed off by invisible walls and to open up these walls, you need to open up special boxes, which won't open unless you solve puzzles involving defeating specific Noise symbols. Additionally, to obtain the Secret Reports, you are required to get hidden items as part of your objectives, and are given cryptic hints as to where to find them, such as "Meet up with the secret" ([[spoiler:examine the Statue of UsefulNotes/{{Hachiko}}]]) and "SHOWN A DREAM" ([[spoiler:anagram of "Shadow Ramen," a restaurant where you will find one of the hidden items]]). Also, some of the clues as to the daily objectives ([[spoiler:mostly in week 2]]) are rather cryptic. Mind you, the characters manage to work them out, saving the player from the extra thought in those cases, at least.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'': The D'ni people in general were enamored of puzzle games, and Atrus picked up on it quickly when taken to the ruined city. It's lampshaded in a parody of Revelation, by a frustrated [[PlayerCharacter Stranger]] working on the fireplace puzzle:
-->"I mean, does he [Atrus] not ''mind'' people breaking in as long as they have an IQ of 150 and brilliant abstract logic skills? No wonder this place is always being smashed up by twisted geniuses seeking revenge on the entire family..."

* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': why does a scientific lab require you to manipulate chess pieces to open a locked door? No one knows. The series handwaves it by saying that Spencer, the man who designed the mansion, was insane and paranoid.
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}''. The puzzles at the beginning exist not to test the Portal Gun, but to see whether Chell is smart enough to use it.
* ''Franchise/SilentHill'':
** The franchise has a lot of this, but ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' stretches it into true absurdity with a puzzle requiring an [[GuideDangIt astoundingly thorough knowledge of the works of Shakespeare]] to pass (on Hard mode). Of course, it's ''Silent Hill'' we're talking about here -- making sense is purely optional and any puzzle that can be explained with sufficiently elaborate EpilepticTrees (like, say, a 20 page forum debate between fans who have memorized the game) is obviously logically sound by the laws of the place.
** There's also quite a few verbal puzzles in the game that are obscenely simple if you're familiar with the source. The source may be a common Japanese nursery rhyme that makes it impossible for American audiences to solve without some sort of reference, or aspects of American culture that seem blatantly obvious to us but are downright InsaneTrollLogic to the original Japanese audience. Which, given the whole [[MindScrew confusing nature]] of the series, may be entirely intentional.
* The ''Zelda'' series has many of these in every dungeon. Forget fighting monsters, the meat of the dungeons is pushing around blocks in a grand scaled puzzle box to get to the MacGuffin. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', there is a point where Wolf Link, trying to enter the sacred grove that houses the Master Sword, is confronted by two malevolent-seeming statues. The statues explain that if he can get them back onto the spots where they're supposed to be standing, he can enter. Since the one of the statues will mimic his movements and the other will do the opposite, he has to jump around in the correct sequence to get them to shift onto the indicated squares and thus open the door.
* In ''VideoGame/CultistSimulator'', in order to pass through the Stag Door in the Mansus, the protagonist will have to answer its riddle.
* The ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' does this with the Altar of Literacy that people have to pass to gain access to the chat. Its trials include typing a sentence and answering the "unspeakably difficult" trivia question "What colour was George Washington's favorite white horse?" Even though it's meant to be a comical RPG in general, it is an unspeakably good idea.
* ''VideoGame/TraumaCenter: New Blood'': to [[spoiler:escape a pit filling with water, the two doctors and nurse that have refused to help the BigBad have to solve a complicated puzzle. To do so they have to "connect the four friends," meaning they connect the pegs that match in color to each other. It's surprisingly difficult, which is explained by the puzzle being popular among college students and the like. If you don't solve in time, they all drown.]]
* In ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'' there is an Egyptian-themed pyramid dungeon, in which the Sphinx presents the famous riddle to Lady Valkyrie. Her reply is simply "..." and she is allowed to pass.
* This is the central premise behind the gameplay of ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'': For some unfathomable reason, the designers of the mansion on Blood Edward Island thought that it would be more efficient to use logic puzzles instead of keys or handles.
* ''VideoGame/BrainLord'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, and EVERY puzzle that doesn't involve 'kill all enemies in the room' will genuinely test your reasoning ability....or patience, if you go for trial and error.
* In the game ''Brothers Pilots'', a fridge is locked by a puzzle. After you open it, a cat comes out and opens the door your characters were unable to open by simply pushing it (your characters try to pull it). Apparently, solving this puzzle was simpler than opening an unlocked door.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'': the night hag Ravel Puzzlewell asks everyone who seeks her out the sphinx-like question, "What can change the nature of a man?", then tortures and kills everyone who gives the wrong answer. [[spoiler:Turns out she wasn't looking for a particular answer. She was interested in the response of a particular ''person'', that of her former lover.]] The Nameless One's "best ending" has him stating that [[spoiler:many things can change the nature of a man. Belief, regret, love, etc. Then he gets to revive all his companions (except the evil pyromaniac mage) and say goodbye before enlisting in the Bloodwar.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Exile}} II,'' to address the Vahnatai Council you must complete as many as three tests[[note]]Depending on which puzzles you solved in the previous chapter, you could be required to do all three, or none at all[[/note]]: the Test of Strength (a series of combats), the Test of Speed ({{outrun|TheFireball}}ning a wall of [[{{Hellfire}} quickfire]]), and the Test of Mind (word games, math puzzles, riddles, and a maze). You might suspect that most players would skip the latter if they had a choice, but there's also nothing stopping the player from going after all three even if they're not required. In the remake, ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}} 2'', the Test of Mind was replaced with the Test of Patience (a BlockPuzzle).

* In the ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' DLC ''Mark of the Assassin'', the vaults of Chateau Haine are like this. ''Normal'' people keep their valuables safe with locks and, perhaps, guards. [[UpperClassTwit Duke Prosper]] prefers to use puzzles.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Star Trek: The Next Generation: "VideoGame/AFinalUnity"'': The room guarding the Fifth Scroll.
* ''VideoGame/Killer7'' has a number of strange puzzles in bizarre and unlikely places.

* Likewise, ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV'' has Dr. Cranium (supposedly an ancestor of Dr. Brain), whose lab is behind four different puzzles, though all but one are interconnected. Unlike his descendant though, Cranium just wants his privacy and is sufficiently impressed when you enter. He even has a sign on his front door that all but names the trope.
* ''VideoGame/{{Darklands}}'': The dwarf logic puzzles. (With one exception, which due to writer error is a GuideDangIt.)
* ''VideoGame/GuildWars'':
** In ''Guild Wars: Nightfall'', the Dasha Vestibule mission has a room with six pedestals with composite numbers and four with primes. The player must chose two composite numbers such that all four primes are factors of one of the chosen numbers.
** Used as a joke in the "Elusive Golemancer" mission in ''Guild Wars: Eye of the North''. "We designed the traps to keep less intelligent creatures out. We Asura have no problems with them. You, um, you should be fine. Yeah. You'll be just fine."
* In ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'', [[spoiler:the Marker tests all that it comes into contact with by transmitting a signal that either drives people insane or gives them the knowledge they would need to create a new Marker.]]

* ''VideoGame/ShiningTheHolyArk'' has a puzzle involving weights and scales before you can enter the dungeon proper. Also it has the infamous stone puzzle.
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Terran Conflict]]'', the New Home plot involves a three-part HackingMinigame. You have to break a four-digit code, then solve a sudoku. The third part is inputting a code you put together from clues throughout the plot.

* ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' has several doors were locked with numerical combination locks. This wouldn't be so bad (the combinations are hidden in various notebooks and diaries hidden around the mansion), except that the lock itself has the numbers written in kanji and in an archaic arrangement (counterclockwise with "zero" in the top position). Only a minor example for Japanese players, but for Western players this is GuideDangIt territory (at the very least, much harder than the developers intended the puzzle to be). Fortunately, the Xbox remake addressed this by changing the lock to feature numerals rather than kanji.
* In ''VideoGame/ConquestsOfCamelot'', there were several CopyProtection-type puzzles which required not only having the manual but correctly interpreting it as well. One part early in the game played this more straight, featuring a magic barrier that could be passed only after talking to some stones and solving the riddles they gave you.
* Used on you (as the FeaturelessProtagonist) in ''VideoGame/DarkTales: Murders in the Rue Morgue''. When you first meet Detective Dupin so that you might solve the murder together, he puts you through your paces, solving a series of puzzles in and around his house. He wants to make sure you're up to the task before he lets you come with him.

* There are a handful in ''VideoGame/AvencastRiseOfTheMage'': two requiring the player to figure out biographical information at the subjects' tombs and another only allowing access to an art exhibit to someone smart enough to reconstruct an artwork.
* All over the place in ''VideoGame/{{Machinarium}}''; it seems that every other mechanism or locked door in the city is protected with one or another classic logic puzzle.
* The ''VideoGame/BlackMirrorVideoGames'' series is full of puzzle lock mechanisms and safes with OnlyTheKnowledgableMayPass solutions whose presence in the game world strains credibility. This is Lampshaded in Black Mirror II where at one point the PC sees an "escritoire without a puzzle lock" and muses that it must be an old model.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' features a section with multiple doors that are each marked with a different number of lights. To proceed, they have to be entered in a certain order, and your only clue to figuring that out is a reference to the RiddleOfTheSphinx. Easy enough to solve for those familiar with it, and utterly baffling for anyone who's not.
* ''VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor'' has a great many chests called "Wordlocks" that are essentially combination locks with letters instead of numbers, and they have riddles on them. The answer to the riddle is the combination, though one sidequest-relevant chest [[OnlyTheKnowledgableMayPass follows another trope]].

* ''VideoGame/TheJourneymanProject'' has one scene where a murderous robot is launching nuclear missiles and you have to deactivate the silos before said missiles launch. To do so, you have to navigate a holographic globe of the world and find the city and country of origin that the computer tells you about. It's effectively a simple geography check, but woe to any kid back then that didn't know their geography or lacked an actual map of the world to cross reference.
* In ''VideoGame/Dishonored2'', the lock on Aramis Stilton's manor is designed by [[GadgeteerGenius Kirin Jindosh]], and is so fiendishly complex that nobody has been able to crack it - it even indirectly led to one character's mutilation. When you get there to try yourself, it's...an incredibly simple logic puzzle of the kind found in brainteaser and crossword puzzle books, and you only have to solve half of it anyway. Apparently nobody in the entire Empire except the protagonist is smart enough to go through a simple process of elimination, which honestly explains a lot about the setting.
* The ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' series had third game ''Isles of Terra'', which loved riddles. Statues, zombies, and random folks will ask riddles and will reward the player with story tidbits, such as how to complete certain quests (Princess Trueberry has the Golden Alicorn) or avoid pitfalls (If you take a Pearl of Youth and Beauty to the Pirate Queen, she won't steal the party gold). The Lords of Arachnoid Cavern are the largest example: Lord Might tells the party to start with his number, and then go in an order that Lord Word might find agreeable, which implies going alphabetically)
* ''VideoGame/UninvitedTheQuestForTheRedDiamond'': The Mall Demon asks you a question regarding intermediate-level mathematics that you have to answer to live.
* ''Chinatown Detective Agency'', which is kind of a SpiritualSuccessor to the Franchise/CarmenSandiego franchise and a borderline EdutainmentGame for grown-ups, unsurprisingly runs on this, particularly throughout the art theft subplot. The password to the rare book case in the library involves pulling switches coded by characters from major novels, a secret door has to be opened by correctly assembling Bosch triptychs, etc.

* The Door test from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' does a subversion on this: The objective was merely to open any of 12 doors in five minutes, but one wasn't told that. One was told one had to open the right door in ten minutes and that the wrong choice would lead to one's death. Over analyzing and thinking is noted as dangerous and likely to kill you as you think about which door to pick for too long. Then Shibisu throws this to the curb by being so smart he figures out the trick behind the test in one minute and opens a random door, impressing the test giver and proving himself to not be TheLoad for his team.
* In ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'' Monica meets Phix, keeper of the Bibliothiki, who [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/upforariddle/ asks her a riddle]]. When [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/theanswerissunshine/ Monica answers]], Phix [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/itsabooksilly/ gives her a prize]]. Later on Monica takes her friend Shelly to meet Phix, [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/areyouafraid/ who asks her the same riddle]] [large-format strip]. The twist is that Shelly gives her a ''different'' answer [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/finalanswer/ but also gets a prize]]. Note that Phix doesn't say that either of the answers are ''right'', she just says "good for you".

* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'':
** The KnightsAndKnaves puzzle is played for laughs in [[http://xkcd.com/246/ this]] strip.
---> And here we have the labyrinth guards. One always lies, one always tells the truth, and one stabs people who ask tricky questions.
** {{Conversed}} in this [[http://xkcd.com/370/ installment]], where it's noted that characters in stories often use riddles to communicate key messages.

* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': One of the tests that must be passed to enter the Cave of Yffi (in "The Strombreaker Saga") is a "test of intelligence" that takes the form of a somewhat silly riddle. The heroes make it past by arguing their different answers were all as good as the "right" one. The gatekeeper then tries to make the riddle so specific that it can only be answered the one way ("a bat with lesions"). The villain nevertheless manages to answer it with "a nun with a spear through her head".

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' Myth/ArthurianLegend-slash-''Film/ThePrincessBride''-slash-''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' episode "Excaliferb" has Professor Poofenplotz as a bridge-guarding troll who demands that the answers to three questions must be given correctly in haiku form in order to pass. [[IdenticalGrandson Baljeetolas]] notices that the creek is shallow, and the questers go around the bridge, although Baljeetolas gives the correct answer after crossing the creek. Just for the hell of it. Later in the episode, [[IdenticalGrandson Candavere]] approaches the bridge having transformed into a [[HybridMonster uniwhalescorpiopegasquidicorn...]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext girl]]. Poofenplotz lets her pass out of fear.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'': In "The Secret of Grayskull", Castle Grayskull will let in anyone who answers a riddle. When Skeletor and his minions tried to gain entry, it asked, "What goes through a door, but never enters or exits the castle?" The bad guys couldn't figure it out, so they asked a brainwashed Orko whom they had captured, who answered [[spoiler:a keyhole]]. Likely due to the Sorceress realizing what a security risk it is, Grayskull doesn't ask riddles in future episodes.

** Several puzzles in ''KOTOR'' are in fact classic puzzles given a more context appropriate reskin. The damaged extractor control system on the water planet is the same "measure 4 liters using only a 3 liter and a 5 liter container" seen in ''Die Hard 3'', while the Sith tomb's energy ring transfer puzzle is really a jazzed up TowersOfHanoi.

** A classic example can be seen [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/12222013/ here]]. [[spoiler:You have to pull out the tree block, and the real key to the door is literally under it.]]

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' Myth/KingArthur-slash-''Film/ThePrincessBride''-slash-''Lord of the Rings'' episode "Excaliferb" has Professor Poofenplotz as a bridge-guarding troll who demands that the answers to three questions must be given correctly in haiku form in order to pass. [[IdenticalGrandson Baljeetolas]] notices that the creek is shallow, and the questers go around the bridge, although Baljeetolas gives the correct answer after crossing the creek. Just for the hell of it. Later in the episode, [[IdenticalGrandson Candavere]] approaches the bridge having transformed into a [[HybridMonster uniwhalescorpiopegasquidicorn...]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext girl]]. Poofenplotz lets her pass out of fear.

This refers to any barrier that requires the heroes to solve some kind of puzzle, {{Riddle|MeThis}} or test of skill in order to pass. It is often given by ThresholdGuardians (especially if the guardian in question is a RiddlingSphinx). You must be able to work it out based on the clues you are given on the spot.

* This is the whole concept behind [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_room escape rooms]], a popular form of entertainment that originated in Japan and spread all over the world. Based on the YouWakeUpInARoom genre of video game, escape rooms see players "trapped" in a small area for one hour, and they are required to solve puzzles, find hidden objects, and use the items they acquire to complete a goal--often escaping, but sometimes other tasks like collecting a hidden treasure or catching a criminal. Some games lack any sort of story and simply have players [[SolveTheSoupCan completing puzzles for no reason]], while others have more involved plots that justify each challenge. While the games are often advertised as tools for team building and communication, they're primarily tests of intelligence and the ability to think creatively. Notably, it's considered bad design to include OnlyTheKnowledgableMayPass in escape rooms--everything required to win should be included ''in'' the room, and needing outside or specialized knowledge to succeed is a quick way to irritate customers.

* This is the whole concept behind [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_room escape rooms]], a popular form of entertainment that originated in Japan and spread all over the world. Based on the YouWakeUpInARoom genre of video game, escape rooms see players "trapped" in a small area for one hour, and they are required to solve puzzles, find hidden objects, and use the items they can find to complete a goal--often escaping, but sometimes collecting a hidden treasure or catching a criminal. Some games lack any sort of story and simply have players [[SolveTheSoupCan completing puzzles for no reason]], while others have more involved plots that justify each challenge. While the games are often advertised for team building and communication, they're primarily tests of intelligence and the ability to think creatively. Notably, it's considered bad design to include OnlyTheKnowledgableMayPass in escape rooms--everything the player needs to win should be included ''in'' the room, and needing outside or specialized knowledge to succeed is a quick way to irritate customers.