I do it all the time, but only after being stuck for a while without any clue on what there's left to try. I prefer not to use a walkthrough, but often it's not possible for me to complete an adventure without doing it, unless I want to waste frustrating hours of repeating tedious stuff - which is not my idea of entertainment.

I'm currently playing Gabriel Knight 2 and just out of curiosity, I decided to make a note every time I had to resort to the walkthrough, concerning why I did it and if in hindsight it was necessary or not. It's quite interesting and revealing, regarding the puzzle design.

I'm halfway through and so far I've already consulted the walkthrough six times (I've tried to avoid spoilers in the description):

1. because I overlooked a hotspot (can happen easily in GK2 since they don't have any description on them and it's hard to see where one ends and the next one begins)

2. & 3. because I was required to do things that I couldn't have known would be possible or useful before I did them, there were no hints at all, in fact the hints only showed up AFTER I did those things, completely out of order

4. because all of a sudden I was allowed to enter a location I was previously prevented from entering without reason and I had completely forgotten about it. The reason I could enter it now was pretty abstract, too, because it was only to get an item that I could use to solve a puzzle in another spot, but the connection wasn't immediately clear. If I'd have been allowed to get that item right from the start and had carried it around in my inventory, I might have found the solution of the puzzle myself. So once again, the hint I needed to solve the puzzle only became available to me AFTER I tried to solve the puzzle on my own, with what I had and had already given up, and I didn't get the slightest hint from Gabriel.

5. because I missed another hotspot - this one was probably my own fault, because the object it referred to was clearly visible. Then again, I might not have solved the puzzle on my own anyway, because here the game broke the rules it had previously established. So far Gabriel had remembered all important information on his own and didn't need me to tell him to write anything down, here all of a sudden he did.

6. probably because I was too impatient, I could have found that one out on my own. But once again, the game relied on something that hadn't been introduced throughout half of the game. I had never been able and required to combine inventory items before, and now that was the solution to a puzzle that wasn't even all that apparant as a puzzle. Gabriel could have definitely given me more hints about his intentions ...


Btw, I've noticed that the more often I have to consult a walkthrough and the more frustrated I get by reading about silly or unfair solutions, the more likely I am to use the walkthrough next time without even trying a lot to figure out stuff myself. It definitely raises my impatience with the game and spoils part of my enjoyment, which is why I try not to use a walkthrough for as long as possible, and if I finally have to give in and do it nevertheless, I feel a bit disappointed with myself but also with the game. Personally, I can't quite relate to people complaining about adventures being too easy. Sure, I want a little challenge, too, but I don't need the game to be obscure on purpose and artificially "difficult", just so I can spent more time on it (thinking and cursing, not playing). I think first and foremost I like adventures for their stories, for their graphics, for the exploration part and for the humor, rather than for their puzzles (although occasionally some of them are fun, too).