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- Love Brainteasers? These Are the Best Puzzle Games You Can Play Right Now
Love Brainteasers? These Are the Best Puzzle Games You Can Play Right Now
by
Alana Young
Greg Lobanov
Thanks to Wordle (and lockdown, too, of course), we’re embracing puzzles with a newfound passion. There are lots of games like Wordle that will keep you entertained long after you solve the daily puzzle, but that’s not the only kind of puzzle game out there. Some challenge your brain: some are difficult, some are cute and some are story-driven. What they all have in common is their ability to make us think our way out of situations in a game.
To help you find the perfect puzzle game, we’ve rounded up some of the best below. No matter what platform you’re playing on or what kind of experience you’re after, there’s bound to be something on this list for you.
The Best Puzzle Games
Thekla Inc.
The Witness
In this absolutely gorgeous open-world game, you’re stuck on an island covered in strange natural and man-made structures. Each structure is built around a puzzle, but the game never tells you how to solve these puzzles. Instead, you slowly learn by interacting with the environment and recognising nearby patterns. The best part is there are over 500 puzzles, though you don’t have to solve them all to finish the game.
Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Greg Lobanov
Chicory: A Colorful Tale
Equal parts game and colouring book, Chicory: A Colorful Tale tells the story of a dog with a magical paintbrush who must restore colour to the world. As well as making the world a more colourful place, you’ll also use the brush to solve puzzles, paint over obstacles and create new paths.
Available on: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch
Valve
Portal 2
If you haven’t already played the first Portal, feel free to skip it and jump straight to Portal 2. You use the “portal gun” — a handheld teleporter that shoots portals onto walls and floors — to explore and escape each level. Portal 2 has the added benefit of a hilarious story and a co-op mode that’s fun to play through with a friend.
Available on: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Witch Beam
Unpacking
This Australian-made game takes all the stress out of solving puzzles and instead asks you to organise you home. There are no timers, no scores, and you can’t fail a level (although you can’t place kitchen appliances in the bathroom, for instance). To solve the puzzle, then, you simply have to find the perfect spot for your belongings.
Available on: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
Ustwo Games
Monument Valley
In Monument Valley, you lead a princess through a maze of optical illusions by manipulating objects in the world around her to create new doors and bridges. Playing it feels like walking through an M.C. Esher painting, while its art style was inspired by Japanese prints and minimalist sculpture.
Available on: iOS, Android
Steel Crate Games
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
If you want to solve a puzzle with your friends, you can’t get much better than this. One player (or group of players) sees a screen with a bomb on it. The other player or group see a screen with the instructions to defuse the bomb. You have to work together to determine what kind of bomb you have and how to defuse it before it explodes. You’ll need two screens to play, but it’s available on all consoles and mobiles.
Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOs, Android
