Puzzle video games are able to challenge players in ways in which they never imagined that they can be challenged. This is done by creating unique mechanics for players to use to solve puzzles or simple mechanics that are intricately placed throughout a game. Some puzzle games are mysterious in every aspect, even their story, while others provide a much more straightforward story while maintaining difficulty in the puzzles that they present.

All of these games take on the puzzle game genre in completely different ways. These games manage to challenge players enough to make them want to push forward through all the obstacles that are thrown at them.

Updated by Chad Thesen on January 4, 2023: This article has been updated to bring it up to a higher level of quality. This will enhance the reader’s experience and make the article more engaging thanks to the inclusion of Metacritic scores, bullet point facts, and special tags under each entry that readers can make use of, along with additional details within each entry to flesh them out appropriately.

10 Catherine

Metacritic: 79

• The collapsing of towers creates a sense of urgency.
• Players need to solve multiple paths and then connect them.

Catherine deals with a lot of characters that don’t necessarily make the best choices in life. It’s a slice of life that deals with ethical questions about relationships making some of its gameplay feel a lot like a really well-polished dating simulator. The game also has some great block-pushing puzzle mechanics involved in the main character, Vincent Brooks’ dream world.

Players have to create platforms to reach the top of towers while avoiding different traps located around the giant towers. Different blocks have different properties and there are some really cool bosses sprinkled throughout the game to add to its intrigue.

9 The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition

Metacritic: 85

• Perfect for players who want to overcome being stumped at times.
• Will need to move puzzle elements back and forth to achieve success.

The Talos Principle talks deeply about what it means to be a human being. This is an interesting take that is further pushed by the fact that the player is a robot. The puzzles in the game will have players using different objects including hexahedrons, laser connectors, and so much more to navigate across some maze-like areas. Players must figure out the puzzles to be able to unlock each level’s Tetromino to progress the story of the game.

The game also introduces different forms of hazards like bombs and turrets making for a dangerous puzzle experience. It’s a game that rewards patience and those willing to read through dense material. The base game is brilliant as is, with the deluxe package offering a little extra oomph.

8 The Witness

Metacritic: 87

• A testament to how line puzzles do not get old.
• Completed puzzles combine to open new areas.

The Witness takes maze puzzles and makes them the primary means of a player exploring the map. The game never holds the player’s hand but isn’t a frustrating challenge either. They have a lot of freedom when it comes to how they end up exploring the island. Everything about the witness feels like a puzzle even the way in which its intricate story is presented.

The Witness heavily pushes players to be able to learn on their own as it will offer hints to other puzzles through puzzles that have been previously solved.

7 Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Metacritic: 81

• Trial and error puzzle solving means new insight with each failure.
• Puzzles come in many shapes and new elements trickle in over time.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker takes a lot of notes from Super Mario and strips the mobility off of it to make it into more of a puzzle game than a platforming game as the character isn’t even able to jump. Players try to collect different gems and stars by exploring the maps that are presented. Each of the levels has different obstacles that players must figure out to try and get around them and not end up dying.

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The way that the levels are designed is beautiful as some will have players splitting into two toads and figuring out puzzles like that or traversing areas where goo is rising that’ll kill the player if they’re not quick enough. There was a lot of time that went into creating these wonderfully put-together puzzles.

6 Limbo

Metacritic: 90

• Checkpoints allow progress after every completed scene.
• Timing and reactions will be key.

Limbo is a game that has no words yet tells a story through its gameplay skillfully. Players must be able to navigate through Limbo’s horrific world while figuring out the different mechanics that the game tosses at the player. There are a lot of really tense moments where players must learn by error.

Players will be dying a lot to try to figure out what they need to do to make progress to the next area. The puzzles will have players figuring out how to navigate past giant spiders and buzzsaws that will instantly horrifically kill the main character. It’s well worth the short play time that it provides.

5 Tetris Effect

Metacritic: 89

• People who like Tetris will fall in love with this game.
• The visuals and audio make this a next-level experience.

Tetris Effect is the perfect refinement of Tetris as it brings back the iconic block-dropping puzzle a lot of people love. The game also adds a lot of artistic flair to itself as each of the different areas that the game presents has unique boards with scenery and block styles that are specific to them.

As players progress through the game there will be unique occurrences that take place in the game like being able to create the bass to a song with the dropping of each block. It’s a beautiful reimagining of the original. What knocks it down a bit on this list is that even though it’s visually stunning, needing to stay focused can cause players to miss a lot of the visuals that make the game shine.

4 It Takes Two

Metacritic: 88

• Cooperative puzzle solving at its best.
• Many different kinds of puzzles to experience.

It Takes Two is riddled with puzzles that differ in every single level and depending on which character a player chooses to play the game through. There will be puzzles where players can mess with sound and others where they are able to play with gravity. The variety in the different levels is astounding.

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As players unlock more of the game they also get to encounter a story that deals heavily with the concept of reconnecting. The story and the respective puzzles are intertwined in the protagonist’s personal growth.

3 Fez

Metacritic: 89

• Will have players moving around and rotating to find new solutions.
• A game where players need to keep playing to figure out solutions.

Fez tells the story of the main character, Gomez, trying to fix the world after a hexahedron tears his 2D plane of existence and reveals a 3D plane. The mechanics are unlike anything most players will have ever seen as the game makes it so that players are able to rotate the 2D plane of existence they’re on.

Using the plane changes and being able to understand how to transcribe the different Tetris codes placed in the game will allow players to move on through levels and experience the delightful story.

2 Braid

Metacritic: 93

• Time manipulation in an “ebb and flow” style puzzle is exhilarating.
• Can only realize some solutions mid-way through solving.

Braid has platforming mechanics that at first seem very similar to other 2-dimensional (2D) platformers, but what it does with these mechanics is very different. It takes the mechanics and adds the ability for players to turn back the time at any point in the game which makes for some interesting puzzle-solving moments. Each of the new chapters that the game introduces also adds new mechanics to the game that work in relation to time.

The story is also interestingly told as its entirety is told backward. The player doesn’t ever really know what’s happening until the end of the game when a lot of the mystery is revealed.

1 Portal 2

Metacritic: 95

• Players will need to inspect their surroundings to find all the elements.
• Will need to create puzzle elements not available at the start.

Portal 2 takes all the elements that Portal had provided and adds some new mechanics to change things up, yet not hinder the game’s initial concept. The different lab rooms where players must use portals to navigate their way to the exit are still involved in the game, along with figuring out how to take out turrets and not die.

The game adds different mechanics by introducing Gels that can change how high a player bounces, how fast they are, or where they can place Portals. The story also remains a hilarious adventurous time worth playing through.

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