Best Puzzle Games
Portal 2, World of Goo, and The Talos Principle are probably your best bets out of the 49 options considered. 'Mind bending puzzling' is the primary reason people pick Portal 2 over the competition. The Cube Escape series is a long-running series of puzzle games with escape room and hidden object puzzle elements. Most of those games are free except the most recent one, Cube Escape: Paradox. At their core, all games are puzzles. From Tetris to the Uncharted series, the medium has constantly challenged players to find solutions to problems, whether that problem is fitting the right blocks into a hole or navigating ancient booby traps. In this guide, we’re going to break down the best puzzle games of all time. The best puzzle games of all time By Jacob Roach and Michael Hicks February 7, 2021 12:10PM PST At their core, all games are puzzles. From Tetris to the Uncharted series, the medium has constantly. At their core, all games are puzzles. From Tetris to the Uncharted series, the medium has constantly challenged players to find solutions to problems, whether that problem is fitting the right blocks into a hole or navigating ancient booby traps. In this guide, we’re going to break down the best puzzle games.
At their core, all games are puzzles. From Tetris to the Uncharted series, the medium has constantly challenged players to find solutions to problems, whether that problem is fitting the right blocks into a hole or navigating ancient booby traps. In this guide, we’re going to break down the best puzzle games of all time.
Still, even if a game has puzzles, we won’t necessarily call it a puzzle game. No matter how many Riddler puzzles you solve as the world’s greatest detective, Batman: Arkham City is still an action game first and foremost. So for this guide, we’re focusing on pure puzzle games, meaning that solving puzzles is the core mechanic of the game. There’s no combat or other systems, unless they relate specifically to solving puzzles.
Further reading
Portal 2
The two Portal games are some of the best games ever made, but when comparing the two directly, it’s clear that the sequel has the edge. Longer than its predecessor, Portal 2 fleshes out the world of Aperture Science, adding more puzzles, a refined narrative, and loads of interesting set pieces. Even with the new additions, though, the core of Portal 2 remains the same.
After playing Portal 2, the original game feels more like a tech demo. The concept of using portals to get around a test chamber is still present in this second entry, but the addition of gels, platforms, and other unique puzzle mechanics makes the game feel larger and more challenging.
Read our Portal 2 review
Puyo Puyo Tetris
Puyo Puyo Tetris is actually two games in one: Sega’s cutesy puzzler Puyo Puyo and classic Tetris. If you’ve never played Puyo Puyo, it functions similarly to Dr. Mario. Small, colored blobs known as Puyos will fall from the top of the screen, and it’s your job to match them with the same color. Four or more Puyos of the same color will clear.
What’s interesting about Puyo Puyo Tetris is that the two game modes aren’t mutually exclusive. You can choose to face-off against opponents using a different play style and even combine the two for a totally unique experience.
Read our Puyo Puyo Tetris review
The Witness
The Witness is a puzzle game where you wake up alone on an island with nothing but a few head-scratchers — around 500 — to guide your path. For the most part, the puzzles you’ll encounter will feature lines, and you must move from the start to the end of a grid, touching all of the relevant points on that grid.
Those line puzzles work in tandem with environmental puzzles, allowing you to progress farther through the island. Along the way, you pick up clues as to who you are and how you got stranded on the island. The game is simple on its face, with expertly designed puzzles and beautiful environments. That said, the secrets of the mysterious island you’re on are the most intriguing parts of the game.
Read our The Witness review
Baba Is You
Baba Is You is a tough game to describe, as it’s unlike anything else currently available. The basic premise is simple: Each puzzle has a series of rules, e.g., “baba is you,” “wall is stop,” and “flag is win.” With those rules in place, it’s your job to solve the puzzle. In the case described, that would mean reaching the flag as the little rabbit known as Baba.
Nothing is set in stone, however. You’re free to move blocks around and change the rules of the puzzle you’re solving. Although the setup seems simple, it quickly becomes mind-bending. Nothing in Baba Is You holds any value, so a reasonable solution to a puzzle could be as simple as allowing you to move past a wall or as complex as becoming the wall itself.
The Talos Principle
In The Talos Principle, you play as a robot whose sole purpose is to solve increasingly difficult puzzles through a series of ancient ruins. At the beginning of the game, your creator, Elohim, tells you to explore the world it has created, but to not climb a certain tower at the center. As the game progresses, however, it’s clear that the beautiful environment you’re exploring isn’t all it seems to be.
The Talos Principle asks philosophical questions about artificial intelligence and the human conscience, with some seriously difficult puzzles along the way. It’s not as lighthearted as some of the other entries on this list, but for those looking to explore the questions of the world through the lens of a wonderfully designed video game, it doesn’t get much better than The Talos Principle.
Bridge Constructor Portal
Bridge Constructor Portal is a spinoff of the Bridge Constructor series set in the Portal universe. The gist of Bridge Constructor games is that you need to construct a bridge. Using braces, pillars, and platforms, your goal is to move vehicles from one side of the screen to the other. Although simple in the early levels, Bridge Constructor games quickly become difficult as you’re given less and less space to build your bridge.
The Portal spinoff is even better, though. Although the premise is the same, this entry adds portals, light bridges, and more, bringing a new level of depth to the series. Furthermore, Portal features a level editor, offering hundreds of hours of playtime through community-made stages.
Read our Bridge Constructor Portal review
Lara Croft Go and Hitman Go
Lara Croft Go and Hitman Go are spinoff games from their respective series, and although they’re different in their subject matter, the core gameplay is the same. There’s also Deus Ex Go, though it’s a little more convoluted than Lara Croft and Hitman. The main appeal of these games is that they’re simple, so we’re omitting Deus Ex from this entry.
The Go games operate like a board game. You take control of a pawn, either Lara Croft or Agent 47, and you take turns moving to specified spaces within the level. Although simple in concept, where you move is important, as enemies and obstacles will try to obstruct your path. The Go games are all about finding patterns in how your opponents move and using those patterns to sneak your way to the end of a level.
Opus Magnum
Opus Magnum is often referred to as a programming game. In it, you’re an alchemist who must use raw metals and materials to produce a specific result. For the most part, solutions to puzzles are pretty straightforward, tasking you with combining A and B to create C. Opus Magnum isn’t about the end result, however. It’s about the process.
In order to produce your result, you’ll need to build a semi-autonomous machine that’s fit with levers, cranes, and switches. After a few hours of playing, Opus Magnum becomes less about if you solved a particular puzzle and more about how you solved it. Even after you’ve beaten the game, you can always go back and improve your machines, removing parts or adding new ones to make them run as optimally as possible.
Human Fall Flat
Human Fall Flat is a co-op, physics-based puzzle game where you play as Bob. As Bob, you’re tasked with exploring various landscapes and solving puzzles along the way, with the only goal being to reach the exit. Thanks to the advanced physics engine, there are countless ways to solve puzzles.
You can take on the experience alone, but Human Fall Flat is best played with friends. The game features two-player couch co-op, as well as online multiplayer for up to eight players. Outside of solving puzzles, you can experiment with Human Fall Flat’s physics engine, too. Everything in the game world is up for grabs, allowing you to play and experiment to your heart’s content.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes tasks you and a group of friends with disarming a bomb. The catch, however, is that not everyone has access to the same information. At the start of a round, you’re given a bomb that’s fit with a timer and various units featuring puzzles. Your friends are given a disarming document that explains how to solve the puzzles but doesn’t provide much in the way of a visual reference.
The game quickly becomes less about the bomb and more about communication. You and your friends will be shouting at each other trying to figure out not only how to solve certain puzzles, but also what section of the bomb you’re even talking about. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is frantic and wildly entertaining, and it’s even available in VR.
Return of the Obra Dinn
Return of the Obra Dinn is a mystery puzzle game where you play as an East India Company insurance adjuster in 1807. Five years after going missing, Obra Dinn returns to port, and all of the crew is either dead or missing. As the insurance adjuster, it’s your job to determine what happened when the ship was at sea.
The only tool to aid you in this is your Memento Mortem pocket watch, which can provide a glimpse into how certain crew members met their fate. As you experience frozen-in-time flashbacks of the events at sea, you must determine who the crew members of the ship are, how they connect to each other, how they died, and, of course, who killed who.
Unheard
In Unheard, you play as a detective trying to solve crimes. Unlike games like Return of the Obra Dinn, however, there aren’t any visuals to guide your path. Instead, you take the role of an “acoustic detective,” using sound alone to understand what happened.
The experience is unlike any other, forcing you to constantly listen closely. You’re not reconstructing a crime scene from evidence, but rather experiencing it in real time, and cases overflow with irrelevant information and red herrings. Careful, though — events in the audio log can become important in the blink of an eye (or ear).
Catherine
From Atlus, the creators of the Persona series, Catherine is a unique puzzle-dating sim hybrid. You play as Vincent Brooks, a 32-year-old systems engineer who’s been dodging marrying his longtime girlfriend, Katherine with a “K.” One late night, Vincent encounters Catherine, who’s the antithesis of his controlling girlfriend. After a one night stand, Vincent starts having terrifying dreams where he must outrun demons.
Jigsaw Puzzle Of The Day
Of course, these dreams mirror the double-life Vincent is leading in reality, as he’s joined by other men who’ve fallen to infidelity. The dream sequences are where Catherine comes into its own, offering ruthlessly fast and mind-bending puzzles built on the simple premise of moving blocks.
Lemmings
Puzzle games have only improved with time and better graphics, but we have to acknowledge some of the all-time greats that were amazingly fun and challenging for their day, even if they aren’t much to look at now. Released in 1991, Lemmings is a puzzle-platformer that challenges you to rescue as many lemmings as possible. Playing off the myth that the lemming mammal willingly follows its pack off of cliffs, the game challenges you to guide and protect humanoid lemmings that will keep walking forward even to their deaths unless you protect them. Usually, that means sacrificing some lemmings to build a path for others.
One of the bestselling games of the early ’90s, Lemmings had multiple sequels and was recently remastered for iOS and Android. Plus, many puzzle games like Bridge Constructor Portal rely on a similar gameplay mechanic: Directly controlling the environment but having no control of the characters’ actions within that world.
SpaceChem
Many puzzle game challenges tend to be somewhat unfair, with leaps in logic that are designed to be nearly unsolvable. SpaceChem offers truly challenging puzzles that require you to perfect your skills in programming and circuitry, but solutions never feel hidden or unfair — they just require trial and error, like any scientific enterprise.
SpaceChem provides a stimulating mental challenge that doesn’t require a degree or prior learning. It’s also much more fun than that stressful screenshot above indicates. The gist is, players are tasked with building circuits that can generate certain molecular structures indefinitely. You must then combine multiple circuits into a complicated web of factories and try to complete your objective before everything breaks. Once you achieve success, you’ll see your creation ranked against a leaderboard of other gamers, challenging you to come up with an even better solution next time.
Braid
Braid starts off as a seemingly standard platformer. But it becomes increasingly more difficult to progress through as each new world adds in new time flow-related mechanics until each section is a puzzle to navigate. In one world, time moves forward or backward depending on whether you move right or left, and another world lets you rewind and have a shadow of yourself re-perform your previous actions while you do something else.
Braid is widely thought to be one of the greatest puzzle games on the market, and it’s not surprising that the game’s creator, Jonathan Blow, is also the creator of one of our other favorites, The Witness. Play Braid through to the end and you’ll be rewarded with a truly puzzling, dark ending with multiple interpretations.
Editors’ Recommendations
Puzzle games offer fun ways to work out your brain at any age. They come in many different forms and appeal to varied tastes, so it’s not easy to pick which ones most deserve your time and attention. But we’ve done the legwork for you and chosen some of the most exciting and engaging options. So say goodbye to boredom and check out these best puzzle games for iPhone and iPad.
1. Editor’s Choice: Monument Valley 2
This game steals the show thanks to its incredible visual appeal and gameplay. The goal is to guide a mother and child on their journey through some magical architecture. You’ll uncover the secrets of Sacred Geometry as you solve the puzzles you encounter and go down illusionary paths.
It’s a sequel to the award-winning original Monument Valley, with a completely new story and vivid artwork. Immerse yourself in levels full of illusory, meditative puzzles and enjoy the melodic soundtrack to match.
Price: $4.99
2. Best for all Ages: Jigsaw Puzzle
Good old jigsaws never go out of style, and you’ll have a blast with this beautiful, most extensive collection of puzzles on the App Store. You can choose from 9 to 400-piece puzzles on your iPhone, which increases to 1024 pieces on an iPad. So it’s suitable for any skill and age level.
There are over 23,000 stunning images and tons of free downloadable puzzle packs. You also get a free new puzzle each day. Further, you’ll earn rewards as you complete more puzzles. Save your progress and work on multiple puzzles at once if you wish. There’s no end to the variety in this game, which makes it top our list!
Price: Free (In-app Purchases start from $0.99)
3. Best Word Puzzle Game: Word Search Pro
If word games are your jam, then try this colorful word search extravaganza. Test your observation powers and identify the hidden words by swiping your finger across them. Building your vocabulary and spelling skills has never been so much fun!
Further, there four game modes and four difficulty levels that keep you engaged for hours on end. And if you’re feeling stuck, there are hints to help you along the way. Explore 50 categories of words and lose yourself in this addictive game.
Price: Free (In-app Purchases start from $1.99)
4. Best Matching Puzzle Game: Two Dots
If you love match-three puzzle games, you’ll enjoy the similar concept of this minimalist game. It’s packed with accessible and satisfying challenges to keep you hooked. You have to connect the matching dots to progress through beautiful worlds such as the arctic tundra, fiery jungles, and outer space!
It’s captured people’s imagination in over a hundred countries with puzzles that both relax and exercise your brain. You can play at your own pace and even challenge your Facebook friends to join in.
Price: Free (In-app Purchases start from $0.99)
5. Best Pattern Puzzle Game: Block! Hexa Puzzle
Put your spatial intelligence and geometric skills to the test in this satisfying game of fitting pieces into the given frames. Over 300 unique puzzles will tickle and tease your mind as you progress through the levels. It’s just the right blend of casual play and a genuine challenge.
Moreover, if you get stuck, there are hints to help you out. As you solve more puzzles, you’ll collect hints that you can use whenever you like. The soothing sound effects and gorgeous visuals only enhance the experience.
Price: Free (In-app Purchases start from $0.99)
6. Best Mystery Puzzle Game: The Room Three
This one’s part of an award-winning trilogy of physical puzzle games set in a tactile world. The goal is to explore different locations through mind-bending puzzles. You’ll lose yourself in captivating environments filled with mysterious objects.
A well-designed hint system ensures that you can always find solutions to keep moving through different areas. Dynamic sound effects and haunting music add to the atmosphere to create a unique and unforgettable gaming experience.
Price: $3.99
7. Best Calming Puzzle Game: Flow Free
Calm your mind with the color therapy of this game, where the aim is to connect the colored dots with pipes. Be careful, though, because the pipes will break if they overlap or cross each other.
You can make your way through hundreds of puzzles at your own pace or race against the clock in the Time Trial mode. There are ten different board sizes for varying skill levels. And the clean graphics, animations, and sounds will soothe your senses.
Price: Free (In-app Purchases start from $0.99)
8. Best Logic Puzzle Game: Unblock Me
Here’s an iOS puzzle game that can help improve your cognitive & problem-solving skills. It features over 18ooo challenges suitable for all ages. The aim is to slide the blocks to make way for the red one to exit the box.
The Challenge mode restricts the number of moves you can make while the Relax mode removes this pressure and lets you slide the blocks as much as you wish. There are also new daily puzzles that keep things fresh and exciting.
Price: Free (In-app Purchases start from $0.99)
9. Best Brain Teaser Puzzle Game: Brain It On!
If you’re a puzzle maestro, then this game will be your ultimate challenge! It’s full of realistic physics-based puzzles that genuinely test your thinking and logical abilities.
You have to draw shapes to create a movement that will achieve each objective. For instance, make a glass turn upside down, lift the ball off the ground, etc. There are multiple solutions to each brain teaser, but can you find the quickest or best one?
Price: Free (Remove Popup Ads – $0.99)
Best Puzzle Games For Oculus Quest
10. Best Kids’ Puzzle Game: Where’s My Water?
This offering from Disney is one of the best games for children, featuring four original stories and fun characters called Swampy, Allie, Cranky, and Mystery Duck. There are over 500 physics-based puzzles to keep any kid enthralled for hours while also building cognitive and reasoning abilities.
The goal is to guide the freshwater to the shower and get rid of the dirty water and steam. The levels get increasingly challenging, and realistic mechanics will keep kids’ creativity flowing along.
Price: $1.99
Summing Up
Do you enjoy playing puzzle games on your iPhone and iPad? Let us know your favorites in the comments below, and don’t forget to check out the best free iPhone games that will add to your entertainment.
You may also like to check out these games as well
The founder of iGeeksBlog, Dhvanesh, is an Apple aficionado, who cannot stand even a slight innuendo about Apple products. He dons the cap of editor-in-chief to make sure that articles match the quality standard before they are published.
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