Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Not all games need to be focused on action, some can be about putting your brains to the ultimate test! If you like those kinds of titles, check out these games!
#15 Mario vs Donkey Kong
Platform: Switch
Release Date: February 16, 2024
If you never got the chance to play Mario vs Donkey Kong on the Nintendo DS, you’re in luck, as the game has been remade for the Nintendo Switch!
The game will put you in over 100 levels filled with challenges, all so you can get back the Mini-Mario toys that Donkey Kong has stolen! But it won’t be as easy as simply finding all the toys. You’ll need to work your way through various challenges to reach them, and then, you’ll need to get them to safety! Sometimes, you’ll even need to guide whole scores of Mini-Marios to the exit!
With new levels and challenges, now is the perfect time to jump in!
#14 Portal: Revolution
Platform: PC
Release Date: January 6, 2024
Steam
When it comes to a certain Valve franchise, the puzzles are truly the “fun part” that you can’t get enough of. After all, you only get your cake after you beat them all. Or, that’s what a certain computer person told us…
Anyway, Portal Revolution is a fan mod of the second title that gives a special prologue story for you to enjoy. But if you’re hoping that the puzzles are just as good, you’re in luck. They’ve brought in all sorts of new challenges, including ones that only work with one of the portal guns.
So, do you think you can take on this special challenge?
#13 Bye Sweet Carole
We will start with a horror puzzle game, of all things. Yeah, that wasn’t what you expected to hear, was it? In Bye Sweet Carole, you’ll play as a young girl who gets trapped in a place full of rabbits with no clue how to get out.
Along the way, you’ll learn the story of Carole, another lost girl who may or may not have found a way out. The entire game is hand-drawn to reflect the stylings of classic cartoons of an era gone by.
So, no matter what happens by the end of the game, you know you’ll have been part of a unique adventure that you won’t see often.
#12 Tomb Raider I-III Remastered
If you’re looking for a more “traditional” puzzle-solving game, perhaps going back to enjoy some classic games will interest you. The Tomb Raider I-III Remastered title will let you partake in the original adventures of Lara Croft.
While it’s true that there was plenty of gunplay in those games, there was just as much puzzle-solving. Lara had to go into ancient tombs, ruins, and more and use her wits to open up passages and find ways into the treasure locations.
So, if you think you can guide Lara to where she needs to be, get this trilogy.
#11 Post Trauma
Didn’t we already do horror on this list? Let’s hope it doesn’t become a recurring thing down the line…
In Post Trauma, you play Roman, a train conductor who finds himself in a nightmare world he doesn’t recognize. Your mission is simple: figuring out a way out of this place. But how can you do that when you don’t know where you are or what lies around the next corner?
You’ll have to push through the uncertainty and look for answers as you go to various locations and see how twisted this world is. Just remember, you’re trying to get back to your family. Focus on that, and you might make it out.
#10 Animal Well
You might not think puzzle games are “beautiful” at times, but when you come across something like Animal Well, you see why this genre can push things in artistic directions.
The game puts you as a creature who was born from a flower inside a well. Now alive, you must venture through the well to see what else is there. But be warned! Not everything you come across is friendly. You’ll need to light up the dark and see what else lies within and whether you should run from it!
The more you travel, the more you’ll grow and get special abilities! So, seek out the truth and see how much you can grow!
#9 BROKEN VEIL
How far would you go to find a family member? In BROKEN VEIL, you’ll need to put that answer to the test as you go through a village of faceless monsters to find your mother!
This post-apocalyptic world has many things to hide, but it also has puzzles that need to be solved! Thankfully, you won’t need to solve them alone. Using a laser pointer, you can guide the local cats to certain areas and use them to help you solve the puzzles at hand.
You’ll need to search high and low for your mother. But will you survive this place long enough to do so?
#8 Europa
The ruins of a “fallen world” are all around you. But why are they there? How did it come to be like this? And are there any other people besides you on this moon? These are some of the questions you’ll have to answer in Europa.
The game takes place on the moon of Jupiter long after it was terraformed by society. You play as an android who is “all alone” on this moon and goes on a journey to figure out what happened to the humans that lived here. A beautiful world full of puzzles awaits you, so have fun!
There’s a demo for the game available now if you want to try it out!
#7 Narin: The Orange Room
Oh, look! The horror genre is back! Surely, we won’t have yet another horror/puzzle game to show off before the list is done…
Regardless, Narin: The Orange Room focuses on the young Narin, who is on a mission to save her sister. Things get tricky when she figures out her sister disappeared into another world via a “secret” that the school has been keeping.
Now, Narin must navigate the school, seek out the clues to find her sister, and figure out what else this school is hiding! Travel through the school during the day and night to gather more clues, and find your sister before it’s too late!
#6 Paper Trail
Leaving home to explore the “next part of your life” is meant to be a momentous occasion that helps solidify you as a “growing person.” But in Paper Trail, it’ll be a fight for survival just to make it to the next part of the world!
The unique title puts you as Paige, who is leaving home to pursue her academic work. But to get where she needs to go, you’ll need to fold her paper world around her so she can get from spot to spot.
It’s simple in concept, but as the game progresses, the way you’ll need to fold things will become tricker!
#5 Lab Rat
So what happens when you’re asked to play a “game” for a computer that wants to prove that its virtual mind is better than your actual one? Well, that’s what you’ll find out in Lab Rat!
The game will have you moving objects around levels in an attempt to overcome the challenges of the computer entity that built everything. It claims to be the most advanced entity in the world and that your “puny human brain” can’t outthink it, but you’ll prove them wrong, won’t you?
With over 130 levels to try out, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to shut the computer up while really pushing your puzzle-solving skills to the limit!
#4 SCHiM
Easily one of the most unique puzzle games you’ll play, SCHiM puts you as a “spirit” that lives within a person or object’s shadow.
However, the spirit you control has been separated from their person! So now, you must bound from shadow to shadow to try and get back to them! No pressure, right?
The world is rendered in a beautifully abstract way, and you’ll need to think carefully as you jump from shadow to shadow! Do you think you can make it back to your host? How quickly do you think you can get back to them? Jump in and find out!
#3 The Plucky Squire
Many games try to “change the dimension” of things, and The Plucky Squire will literally change the dimension from 2D to 3D and then back to 2D.
The game focuses on the characters of a storybook. When the villain of said book realizes that the story will never change, he kicks out the heroes into the real world to try and take over everything! Now, you’ll have to help the heroes solve puzzles and find a way back into the book so they can fix things and complete the story as it was meant to be told!
Think you’re up for the challenge?
#2 Little Nightmares III
What’s this? Another horror title that has puzzle elements? You’d think these two genres wouldn’t go together, but Little Nightmares III is the latest in a franchise that proves otherwise.
The game focuses on two characters, Low and Alone, as they try to escape the mysterious place known as The Spiral. But to do so, they’ll need to solve numerous puzzles to get around the levels while avoiding the monsters lurking within.
One of the new features of the third entry is the ability to do the entire game with a partner via co-op. So work together, solve puzzles, and get out alive!
#1 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake
People might forget that this franchise is just as much about puzzle-solving as it is about wall-running, fighting, and reversing time.
But if it ever gets released, the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake will remind you of how much puzzle-solving you’ll need to do in the game. We say “if it ever gets released” because the title was promised many years ago, but nothing has come of it.
However, if it lives up to the other remakes we’ve seen recently, we’ll get a visual treat and some upgraded gameplay mechanics and stylings to help make the game shine more.