A game where you need to solve a physical puzzle box from the retail copy
So I had this idea for a game and I’m curious if it’s been done before.
Imagine a normal action-adventure game, shooter, or RPG. You’re going through the campaign, shooting enemies, exploring, doing your thing. Then you reach a big locked door or ancient mechanism that you legit can’t solve in-game no matter what.
There are clues scattered around the environment hinting at symbols, patterns, and sequences… but they don’t fully make sense in the game.
That’s because the real solution is tied to a physical puzzle object that comes with the retail/physical copy of the game. Something like a puzzle box, decoder wheel, foldable map with hidden layers, magnetic tiles, or some other cool tactile thing. You have to physically manipulate it in real life, solve the puzzle, and that gives you the exact code, symbol order, or combination you need to input in the game.
It’s the only way to progress past that point. No guides, no brute force, no skipping.
Has anyone seen a game that actually does something like this? Or is this concept pretty much untouched? I think it would be an awesome way to blend real-world interaction with the game and make physical copies feel special again.
What do you guys think? Any similar ideas or games that come close?