Trick Shot Puzzle

The Trick Shot Puzzle is a puzzle where you have to shoot a projectile from an exactingly specific position and angle to detonate or trip something that is well out of manual reach. Ricochet physics (such as Reflecting Laser) is often involved.

See also Pinball Projectile.

Examples of Trick Shot Puzzle include:

• All the Wild ARMs games do this a lot, with using various of your tools with terrain features to trip switches or move things.
• Will happen at least once in a Zelda game, usually with puzzles such as activating an ice covered switch by firing an arrow through a flame/lantern/candle.
  • The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass and The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks both have puzzles involving shooting arrows through a series of devices that alter their trajectory and send them elsewhere (ideally, into a switch).
  • One room in Jabu-Jabu's Belly in The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time has you using the Boomerang to hit a switch behind a pane of transparent material. You have to stand at an exact distance from the barrier for the boomerang to hit. The Forest Temple has the classic "fire arrow through fire onto switch" variety.
• The Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy text adventure game has (at least) one of these.
• A minor version of this appears in Half Life. To avoid being turned into swiss cheese by a tripod turret placed around a corner, bounce a grenade or two off the wall to knock it down. Tripmines are often set off from a safe distance in a similar manner.
• Black and White has two of these, and the sequel has one.
• Quite naturally, many billiards-based games have several of these, usually requiring English. Side Pocket was filled of these.
• La-Mulana has two puzzles involving tossing bombs through tiny openings: a thankfully optional secret shop in the Temple of Moonlight, and an infuriatingly complicated one in Hell Temple. To add injury to insult, most of your attempts will literally blow up in your face.
• The Half-Life 2 series has you doing this with the Gravity Gun and Energy Orbs.
• Every single use of the grapnel gun in Batman: Vengeance is an example of this.
• There's one in Fable where you have to shoot an arrow through a hole to activate a secret.
• Part of the final Thieves' Guild quest in Oblivion is to shoot an arrow at a switch. You have to unlock the keyhole first, though, and fire through a statue.
• You have to do this with yourself several times in Super Mario 64, using the cannons. In the Rainbow Cruise level, aiming at the middle of a rainbow will get you to a floating island with a Star.
• The flash game "ricochet kills" is an entire flash game dedicated to this. As can be guessed, you try to kill people by reflecting bullets off surfaces.
• Several Riddler challenges in Arkham City involve using the Remote Controlled Batarang to this end.
• The Portal games do lots of these, though they mainly involve redirecting projectiles or objects (or yourself) onto trick-shot trajectories rather than firing them directly, since the player doesn't have any actual weapons.
• Escape From St Marys has a variation with a stack of books and a chain.