To begin the design process, a clear outline (flow) of the core mechanic would be required as a reference point for further puzzle/level design in general.
The flow chart depicts the general system process of the mechanic and the players interaction.
With a clear rule set/restriction based established, a next step would be to determine the general core gameplay loop that would work as a reference for majority of the puzzles and goals to progress through the level as a whole.
As referenced by the Architectural Approach to level design, the intended layout of this project would be to disguise linearity to be much more open than it really is. Using Molecular design the intended rudimentary potential layout would be as follows:
Doing so supports to ability to make a core gameplay/puzzle loop (i.e what happens in each one of the areas/bubbles).
The flow-design is intended to make the player choose on how the approach an otherwise linear goal by breaking up requirements into ''non-sequentionality''.
An additional solution that could further support this potentially (or create the illusion of a non-linear design) would be using a ''Rhizome'' layout, connecting each one of the puzzles (in their respective areas) allowing the player to further choose the path that they wish to use. This design will negate the players requirement to return to the core area potentially creating a more dynamic gamespace.
This sort of approach/solution could function in such a way (as shown with the molecular design sketch):
**Black lines indicate alternate transitions (paths) between the puzzle zones.
**In area 2, when a puzzle is complete a door allowing for travel to the second puzzle could open (one way paths) allowing/inciting for extra exploration.
With a basic 'flow' established, a preliminary gamespace sketch can be used as a foundation for further iteration and implementation.
The following sketch gives a top down overview of the general gamespace while detailed puzzles will be depicted seperately for clarity - the purpose of this is to determine a foundational plan of the gamespace in which elements (i.e puzzles etc) will be built upon.
PZ (Puzzle zones) are also marked 1,2,3... etc. Each one of these is a unique puzzle. Their design and gamespace layout will be shown in more detail (close up).