Adventure Classic Gaming - Adventure game puzzles we have known and hated.
"A vivid example of puzzles falling into this trap, to the point of parody, is in Shadowgate. Although the game is largely a standard adventure, it has an extensive list of inventory objects that players can collect, many of which are not actually used in the game. The majority of the game’s puzzles simply consist of using the right inventory object to bypass some barrier or defeat some monster, but in most cases, clues regarding which object is appropriate to use are vague or nonexistent. Death is so instantaneous and unpredictable, and the puzzle solutions so illogical, that the game appears to actually be self-consciously lampooning these adventure game clichés in deliberate fashion. As such, this game stands as an artifact of the adventure game industry providing its own social commentary."

Trembling Hand- Why Women Don't Make Games.
"There's evidence to suggest that this is because women simply aren't interested in such high-level abstract subjects, and are drawn away to other subjects during their education and subsequent career. But there's also evidence - and this'll sound controversial... heck, it got Larry Summers booted from Harvard for mentioning it - that women also aren't as proficient as men in high level mathematics."