puzzle obstacle puzzle trap

From The Nix, by Nathan Hill

"Your philosophy came from video games?" Samuel said.

"I find this is also true in life. Any problem you face in a video game or in life is one of four things: an enemy, obstacle, puzzle, or trap. That's it. Everyone you meet in life is one of those four things."

"Okay."

"So all you have to do is figure out which kind of challenge you're dealing with."

"And how do you do that?"

"Depends. Say they're an enemy? The only way to defeat an enemy is to kill them. If you killed your mother, would it solve your problem?"

"Definitely not."

"So not an enemy then. That's good! Maybe she's an obstacle? Obstacles are things you have to find your way around. If you avoided your mother, would it solve your problem?"

"No. She has something I need."

"Which is?"

"Her life story. I need to know what happened to her, in her past."

"Okay. And there's no other way to get this?"

"I don't think so."

"Aren't there historical documents?" Pwnage said. "Do you not have family? Can you not do an interview? Do writers not do research?"

"Well, my grandfather, on my mother's side. He's still alive."

"There you go."

"I haven't talked to him in years. He's in a nursing home. In Iowa."

"Mm-hm," Pwnage said. He was using a spoon to lap up the remaining nacho sludge.

"I should go talk to my grandfather, is your advice," Samuel said. "Go to Iowa and ask him about my mother."

"Yes. Figure out her story. Piece it together. It's the only way you'll solve your problem, if indeed it's an obstacle-type problem and not in fact a puzzle or a trap."

"How can you tell the difference?"

"You can't at first." He discarded the spoon. The nachos were, for the most part, entirely consumed. He dabbed his finger into a spot of cheese, then licked it clean.

"You have to be careful," Pwnage said, "with people who are puzzles and people who are traps. A puzzle can be solved but a trap cannot. Usually what happens is you think someone's a puzzle until you realize they're a trap. But by then it's too late. That's the trap."