How to Create a Puzzle Game in Storyline

Before we start

You would need your puzzle pieces ready to do the exercise in this post. You can use our Powerpoint file, which contains the puzzle pieces.

If you'd like to create your own puzzle pieces, follow the steps outlined in this post.

Create a drag & drop slide

1. Create a new slide, and set it as blank.
2. Convert the slide to freeform drag & drop:
   Select the 'INSERT' tab on the Storyline ribbon, click 'Convert to Freeform slide', and select 'Drag and Drop'. Click OK.
3. After converting the page to Freeform slide, you might be presented with the Form View. For now, click on Slide View.

 Bring the puzzle pieces into Storyline

1. Copy and paste the puzzle pieces from Powerpoint to the Storyline file. Do it individually (piece by piece). Don’t worry if the size differs from the PowerPoint file, you can adjust the size later.
2. Set them up how you'd like the final image to look.

3. To make the puzzle bigger/smaller, select all the pieces (press Ctrl + a), and group them together (Ctrl + g or right click > group > group). (Note: If you don’t group the pieces before scaling, it will scale each piece individually).

4. Copy the puzzle base from the first slide of the PowerPoint file, and paste it on the Storyline file. Scale it to the size you want. Click on the corner of the group until you see the double-sided arrow, then drag it to scale.
5. Send the puzzle base to the back (Right click > Send Back > Send Back).

6. Move the grouped puzzle images (from step 3) to the top of the base scale the grouped image as necessary to fit the base. 

7. Put the complete set in a frame. (Either draw the frame with Storyline Shape or insert the prepared frame image). Scale & position as necessary. Rename the layer as 'Frame'.
   (Note: Our storyline exercise file has three layers for the frame. One is the outer frame, 1 is the puzzle base, and 1 is the frame backing. If you want to resize/reposition the frame, select all three objects, then drag to scale/move them together)

Set up the puzzle pieces

1. Set the frame as invisible for now to allow you to manipulate the image underneath it.
2. Duplicate the grouped image, and put it to the side. This copy will be the pieces that people will drag onto the frame. The image that remains on the frame will be the drop target.
3. Ungroup. And scatter the pieces as you'd like them to be displayed.

Setting up the drop targets:

1. Go back to the image in the frame. Ungroup it. This is important because the individual pieces will be a drop target.
2. To make your life easier later, view the timeline and rename all the drop targets and the puzzle pieces. For example: DT1, PP1.
3. Now, make the drop target invisible. Click on all the puzzle pieces (Click one piece, and shift + click on the rest of the pieces). Right-click on the image, select ‘image properties’, and set ‘Transparency’ to 100%.
4. Make the frame layer visible again. 

Setting Up the Drag and Drop Items

1. Select form view. This is where the naming proves helpful. On the left column, select the puzzle piece name. On the right column, select the name of the drop target for that particular piece. You can see the pieces highlighted in the preview window.
2. Repeat the process until all pieces and all drop targets have been selected.

Setting Up the Drag and Drop Interaction

1. Select the Slide view.
2. Click on the 'Question Tools: Design' tab on the Storyline ribbon. 
3. Click on 'Drag & Drop Options'. A window will pop up.
4. On the Drag & Drop Options window:

• Drag Item Options:
  Tick: Return item to start point if dropped outside > a correct drop target
• Drop Target Options:
  Tick: Snap dropped items to drop target > Snap to center
  Tick: Allow only one item in each drop target
• Feedback:
  Tick: Delay item drop states until interaction is submitted

Click' OK'.

You can use the submit button on the Storyline player to submit the Drag and Drop interaction, or you can create a button and add a trigger that serves that function. 

If you'd like to create a Submit button, follow the steps below:

1. Insert > Button.
2. Under the 'Triggers' panel, select the left button to create a new Trigger.
3. In the Trigger Wizard window, put the following settings:
   

   Action	Submit interaction
   Interaction	Drag and Drop 1
   When	When the user clicks
   Object	Button 1 [or whatever your button name is]

4. Click 'OK'.

Preparing the Feedback Slides

End screen

Create a slide for when people complete the puzzle.

1. Create a new Blank slide.
   Right click on the Scenes panel, select New Slide > Basic Layouts > Blank.
2. Insert the completed puzzle image.
   Click on the INSERT tab > Picture > [locate where you put the file]. Position the image.
3. Insert some congratulatory text.
   Insert > Text Box. Type your text.
4. Add some sound effect if you’d like (Insert > Audio).

Error message

Create a slide for when people submit an incomplete puzzle.

1. Create a new Blank slide.
   Right click on the Scenes panel, select New Slide > Basic Layouts > Blank.
2. Insert some message.
   Insert > Text Box. Type your text.
3. Create a button that restarts the course.
   Insert > Button > [select the button shape that you want]. Type 'Try again'.

Link the slides to the Form

1. Switch to 'Form View'.
2. On the feedback section, for the 'Correct' row, click on 'MORE...'. 
3. Under the 'Branch to the following', click on the dropdown menu and select the end screen slide you have created.
4. Click 'OK'.
5. On the feedback section, for the 'Incorrect' row, click on 'MORE...'. 
6. Under the 'Branch to the following', click on the dropdown menu and select the error message slide you have created.
7. Click 'OK'.

Adding a trigger to the error message slide

1. Click on the error message slide, and select the 'Try again' button.
2. Under the 'Triggers' panel, select the left button to create a new Trigger.
3. In the Trigger Wizard window, put the following settings:
   

   Action	Restart course
   When	When the user clicks
   Object	Button 1 [or whatever your button name is]

4. Click 'OK'.

Preview the entire project. You have created a jigsaw puzzle in Storyline!

To download the Storyline file, click the button below: