tlaero wrote:Another challenge is how to make the minigames matter. Do you make the player fail if he fails the minigame? Do you make it so he can't fail, but also can't proceed until he figures it out? Do you make the story progress but he doesn't get something he would have gotten if he had succeeded? If the latter, how small a thing? (If it's a big thing, it's the same as a failure.) Etc.
It could be a mix of everything you listed except for failing the game part. Personally, if I could I would try to follow most RPGs and separate them on main and secondary quests. You could have a system for "special assignments" or have some "bonus clues". However I guess it would be hard to choose whether to make a certain content a part of the main story or make it secondary.
Can't fail/can't proceed would work for the main quests that are necessary for the story. But you don't want to make it a chore. If it's necessary to beat this puzzle then make it easier so the majority of players can move forward or you could include the "Help" button that shows the necessary solution to those who are stuck/aren't interested in solving puzzles. The latter you could even write into the story as having a comm link with another character, kind of like "Phone a Friend".
Story progresses/some hidden content would work best for secondary quests/clues. Like, have some hidden content be a "bonus scene" for those who beat the secondary puzzle/found a bonus clue. This hidden content could range from a simple arcade-like "sex reward" system (chateau section in Saving Chloe) to an "extra event" system where solving a puzzle/finding a clue leads to a certain special activity (like dates in Finding Miranda) to entirely new story branches that would unlock after completing the quest (a quest introduces a particular character/location/item/fetish/whatever else that could be available for further interactions throughout the story). Making these quests secondary in nature allows you to go as big or as small as you want limited only by your imagination and technical constraints.
I hope these ideas are helpful.