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Puzzle Games Thread 2018 | A new ERA of head-scratching and mind-bending
- Thread starter More_Badass
- Start date
Picross S is outstanding and I'll do a few puzzles a day. Only thing that concerns me, is there seems to be no sight nor sound of DLC to expand it. I'd love a daily puzzle added or something. Piczle Lines on iOS was brilliant, so am tempted by that on Switch, but will wait on a price drop.
It's missing a Slitherlink for sure and in all honesty, I'd take a package that had all the Japanese logic puzzles in it.
It's missing a Slitherlink for sure and in all honesty, I'd take a package that had all the Japanese logic puzzles in it.
Speaking of which, that reminded me of another title that might perhaps merit a mention: Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection - techy PC people may have heard of Simon Tatham through PuTTY, but he also developed this, a framework for making puzzle games - often based on Japanese originals - easy to port between OSes and platforms. It's a great go-to source whenever I want a quick fix of puzzling. Completely free, although it's been ripped off a few times - quite a few puzzle collections on Android are derived from this and they charge for 'em.
Downside is that it's fully randomly-generated, which means the Picross clone doesn't produce meaningful images.
Anyone liking Japanese logic puzzles, ought to really bookmark http://www.conceptispuzzles.com
(Either on smartphone or desktop, up to you)
(Either on smartphone or desktop, up to you)
Holy crap, that's a blast from the past. I used to play their weekly Block-a-Pix puzzles like a decade ago. Bookmarked for old time's sake!
Nice. Hoping this means they can start working on Room 3 for Steam which is usually what they do after releasing the next instalment on the app store. I know they mentioned they would do this before.
3 hasn't been ported to pc yet? it came out ages ago, wonder why they haven't done it yet.
the 3rd game is much bigger and longer than the first two, i wonder how long this one will be.
Yeah, I've found the update on it here:
http://www.fireproofgames.com/2017/11/the-room-three-pc-update
Unsure if this is kosher to post here, since it kind of feels like an advertisement, but one of my friends is part of a two person team that have been working the past 3 years on a pretty neat puzzle game, Bit-Rat.
It was just released this past week on itch.io (https://bucketdrumgames.itch.io/bitrat)
and had a write up featured on Rock Paper Shotgun (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/20...y-confirms-the-internet-is-a-series-of-tubes/) if you want to read their description as well.
It has a neat number of tile twisting puzzle mechanics that would probably fall under the "methodical logic" category here, although I'd describe it as a "pathfinding" puzzler. There's a bit of light narrative rolled in, if you're into that sort of thing, and I can personally attest that the games mechanics are solid and the product is pretty polished for a pair of first time game makers.
So far what they've released so far is a vertical slice and is just the first act to a larger product. If you have a moment and have a spare $2, I'd recommend it (although I'm clearly biased) but mainly I would love to hear others thoughts (as would they! They have community boards on their itch that they're checking).
Also, if this is totally un-kosher (been a member of this and the older forum for a while, but never really promoted anything I had a personal tie to), let me know and I can retract this post.
It was just released this past week on itch.io (https://bucketdrumgames.itch.io/bitrat)
and had a write up featured on Rock Paper Shotgun (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/20...y-confirms-the-internet-is-a-series-of-tubes/) if you want to read their description as well.
It has a neat number of tile twisting puzzle mechanics that would probably fall under the "methodical logic" category here, although I'd describe it as a "pathfinding" puzzler. There's a bit of light narrative rolled in, if you're into that sort of thing, and I can personally attest that the games mechanics are solid and the product is pretty polished for a pair of first time game makers.
So far what they've released so far is a vertical slice and is just the first act to a larger product. If you have a moment and have a spare $2, I'd recommend it (although I'm clearly biased) but mainly I would love to hear others thoughts (as would they! They have community boards on their itch that they're checking).
Also, if this is totally un-kosher (been a member of this and the older forum for a while, but never really promoted anything I had a personal tie to), let me know and I can retract this post.
I finally got around to Mega Picross in Picross S. It's not nearly as confusing as people made it out to be. Pretty enjoyable, actually!
just quoting myself -- I really enjoyed it! I wish there was more, but for the price it's hard to argue with. This game was *extremely* my thing. The story didn't quite work for me, but the presentation across the board was top tier stuff.
My only real complaint is that it's maybe a little too tutorial heavy up front. The design of the levels and the actual numbers of the field (etc) pretty clearly show what's up. I'd just have a big honking 'PRESS BACKSPACE TO UNDO' in the first couple of levels once a clearly broken state is reached and it'd do most of the work for you. (This is given that the audience for a game like this probably plays a lot of puzzle games anyway?)
The difficulty spike on the last level was brutal, but when I finally realised I could kind of safely alternate between the different hosts if I was sufficiently careful while slowly building a path, it felt amazing.
Rad impressions! Will pass them along to my friend (he's more of a game dabbler/hackerspace kind of guy, rather than a "gamer"/game forum goer). Thanks for giving it a shot!
In terms of tutorializing, I also agree that it takes a while to get going (a decent amount of dialogue is spit out by he computer) when you start the game.
I'm pretty sure that might've been due to them consistently aiming their builds for the festival circuit where they might find less "puzzle gamers" in the wild and having to handhold the mechanics a bit more towards those that are less able to intuit what the "puzzle goals" are.
Either way, I found myself trying to push through the tutorial dialogue at first too. Not because it's bad, since they loosely find a way to integrate it into the story, just because it hands out the mechical instructions a bit piece meal, and I just want to get to the playing around with the next mechanic ASAP.
Also, as for wanting more, as far as I understand it, they have a heck of a lot more puzzles for the following acts already in the chamber, but wanted to put this out first as a "feeler" since they felt it was polished enough to release as a prelude to the full game.
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http://store.steampowered.com/app/792100/7_Billion_Humans/
A successor to Human Resource Machine should be releasing soon.
I recently started Lumino City, and I am pretty amazed with the artstyle! The game's craft look very real, and the real paper look never ceases to amaze me, similar to how Paper Mario's first HD game makes great use of papery materials. The puzzles are so far on the easy side, but I can't wait to finish that game as soon as I can.
Another game I am playing is Sokobond, which is pretty difficult since clearing a little more than half of the levels, and I dread to see how difficult the puzzles are later on.
Thank you for reading.
Another game I am playing is Sokobond, which is pretty difficult since clearing a little more than half of the levels, and I dread to see how difficult the puzzles are later on.
Thank you for reading.
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The Room: Old Sins is out on iOS
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-room-old-sins/id1286676015?mt=8
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-room-old-sins/id1286676015?mt=8
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That's because it is very real
I have a feeling that this is the case, given how this game has fixed angles, mixed with camera movements that doesn't look out of place in a stop-motion animation. I wonder if the characters are also real, or they are just sprites in the game world.
Speaking of that, that Handy Manual looks rather detailed, with 900 pages in it that doesn't seem to skip pages. I wonder if it's based on a real book, or based on a game development document, or is a documentation used to build this intricate world.
Thank you for reading.
The handy manual is actually filled with hints for all the puzzles in the game. It's kind of obscure in using it, which is sort of great as it's almost a bit of a puzzle just to figure out where to get the hints.
Lume is the first game and also was done in the same way but it's nowhere near as good and honestly not really worth playing today. But if you're curious to check out an odd thing go ahead and give it a try. I suggest finding a walkthrough as it's really fiddly with the pixel hunting.
Also, in Lumino City there's a section in the middle with playing a song that surprises me a little made it into the final game. Having to memorize a 40-note song for a puzzle was not something I was expecting as I breezed through everything else.
yes! will start it later today
there's a "the room" clone called "the house of da vinci" on the app store, released a few months ago. has any one played it?
Just dropped. A bit of a mix of minesweeper, the 3d surface manipulation of Push and even some of the more advanced calculations from Hexcells/crosscells. Really good so far. Following complex surfaces takes some care.
playing old sins, i've unlocked four rooms so far, it's great, classic the room
edit: finished. time: 4:20 (blaze it).
i wish the rooms were standalone and you didn't have to jump between them so much
edit: finished. time: 4:20 (blaze it).
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YEah, I've barely started this, but I love this types of games and am trying not to devour it. I would play a new Hexcells every week if I could. This is super cheap as well(1.79!)
Just dropped. A bit of a mix of minesweeper, the 3d surface manipulation of Push and even some of the more advanced calculations from Hexcells/crosscells. Really good so far. Following complex surfaces takes some care.
Can someone notify the thread when The Room: Old Sins drops for Android?
The Witness is $10 on Steam right now. Y'all should buy it!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/The_Witness/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/The_Witness/
Kind of a silly question but has anyone replayed The Witness and found it enjoyable a second time around? I wouldn't mind owning it on PC after going through on PS4. I got all the light beam stuff and beat it but I stopped before getting many of the other puzzles completed. Having it available to just go to at times to pick at could be fun but I'll know many of the "tricks" to certain areas. I obviously haven't memorized solutions so I'd still have to figure some stuff out again. Silly to ask because this is likely dependent on the person playing if they enjoy going through again.
I'll be grabbing Delete likely tonight.
Might be the best place to ask.....
Are there any recent quiz games around? Like Trivial Pursuit live?
I preferred the 360 Trivial Pursuit format and played alot if the Scene It games, but I don't seem to know of any recent games besides Trivial Pursuit Live which has an odd format.
Looking for any quiz type games on XB1/PS4/Switch ( not party games like jackbox)
Are there any recent quiz games around? Like Trivial Pursuit live?
I preferred the 360 Trivial Pursuit format and played alot if the Scene It games, but I don't seem to know of any recent games besides Trivial Pursuit Live which has an odd format.
Looking for any quiz type games on XB1/PS4/Switch ( not party games like jackbox)
I'm excited for Donut County. It's being compared a lot to Katamari and the lack of a new good console Katamari has me going to any game possible to get a similar experience. I was happy when they announced it was coming to consoles.
I have a few games on this list like Portal 1 and 2 on the ps3. Mini Metro on steam and ios. Monument Valley 1 on ios. They're great games.
I've always wanted World of Goo but my pc can't really run much in the way of games, it's too old now. Can I Run It says I can't even run Minecraft.
I have a few games on this list like Portal 1 and 2 on the ps3. Mini Metro on steam and ios. Monument Valley 1 on ios. They're great games.
I've always wanted World of Goo but my pc can't really run much in the way of games, it's too old now. Can I Run It says I can't even run Minecraft.
OP
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I have an ipad mini gen 1, would it work on that? Not much of the newer stuff seems to work on it these days.
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It should. The Mini 1 came out two years after World of Goo released on iOS.
You need to be at least iOS 8 to play it
http://store.steampowered.com/app/788760/Cubiques/
Looks like a neat little minimal puzzler coming out next month.
Looks like a neat little minimal puzzler coming out next month.
Yay a puzzle game thread! I was considering making one of these at one point for puzzle game fans to share stuff. Glad this is here. Think I'll contribute a long forgotten acade puzzle game you can find and enjoy for mame.
Gyakuten!! Puzzle Bancho
The Asura Blade folks made it.
Essentialy it follows all the puyo rules but the trash dropped on you is actually something you can use to your advantage and bigtime. Anything that pops next to trash turns that piece of trash into that color. Plus there are double layered blocks that have to be popped twice and if you pop a double layer block near trash that trash also becomes a double layer block. Basically if you pop small blocks they turn big. Pop big blocks and they disappear and convert trash next to them to stuff. Thanks to this you can setup sequences that can essentially run a staircase that ends up popping itself twice and that can convert all your trash into a massive sequence too. This leads to huge comebacks in this vs puzzler.
Jump to around 701 to see a pair of crazy sequences. Could be a fun rom for you to mame up and have around.
EDIT: Found out that this exact style of play is also found in a series called Puzzle Dama that Konami made that had a few titles on the arcade and on the N64.
Check out this one form Taisen Puzzle Dama 64
Gyakuten!! Puzzle Bancho
The Asura Blade folks made it.
Essentialy it follows all the puyo rules but the trash dropped on you is actually something you can use to your advantage and bigtime. Anything that pops next to trash turns that piece of trash into that color. Plus there are double layered blocks that have to be popped twice and if you pop a double layer block near trash that trash also becomes a double layer block. Basically if you pop small blocks they turn big. Pop big blocks and they disappear and convert trash next to them to stuff. Thanks to this you can setup sequences that can essentially run a staircase that ends up popping itself twice and that can convert all your trash into a massive sequence too. This leads to huge comebacks in this vs puzzler.
Jump to around 701 to see a pair of crazy sequences. Could be a fun rom for you to mame up and have around.
EDIT: Found out that this exact style of play is also found in a series called Puzzle Dama that Konami made that had a few titles on the arcade and on the N64.
Check out this one form Taisen Puzzle Dama 64
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Just finished Lumino City! Very inspiring and breathtaking game, which made use of its unique realistic style considerably.
For the record, I have to refer to the Handy Manual for two of the puzzles since I was confused by them, and it's interesting how you have to refer to the cryptic Table of Contents, which is also indicative of how far you are near the end of the game. I wonder what the rest of the pages mean, because I think they aren't in English even though most of the game used English. It's amusing that the backstory of the Grand Dad is told through the credits, which is lovely.
Thank you for reading.
For the record, I have to refer to the Handy Manual for two of the puzzles since I was confused by them, and it's interesting how you have to refer to the cryptic Table of Contents, which is also indicative of how far you are near the end of the game. I wonder what the rest of the pages mean, because I think they aren't in English even though most of the game used English. It's amusing that the backstory of the Grand Dad is told through the credits, which is lovely.
Thank you for reading.
Is it okay to talk about the broader world of puzzles here? I mention it because I've recently been looking on my old Humble Bundle purchases and found The Humble Puzzle Book bundle. Which... a bunch of them are generic and not terribly exciting, but one in particular has struck me; the book with the title "Logical Leaps and Landings: An Adalogical Ænigmas Collection"; there's some really good stuff in there. Some are noticeably inspired by the usual range of Japanese titles, but they're handled very well and usually with a few extra layers of complexity. If anyone's got that lying around their Humble Bundle archives I'd recommend taking a look.
(On a related topic of broader-world-of-puzzles, what about online puzzle hunts? Puzzle Boat 4 kicked off last year, and I've never properly got into that series; it's something I've been toying with exploring. Back when I was at university I remember really getting deep into PuzzleDonkey)
(On a related topic of broader-world-of-puzzles, what about online puzzle hunts? Puzzle Boat 4 kicked off last year, and I've never properly got into that series; it's something I've been toying with exploring. Back when I was at university I remember really getting deep into PuzzleDonkey)
I just finished The House of Da Vinci on Steam and really enjoyed it. Besides the Room series, Eyes of Ara, are there any other games of this quality?
You did such a great job on this thread--was so happy to see many of my favorites listed... Definitely will be watching this space!
I loved The Room. Was so sad when it didn't work anymore on my phone on The Room 2. I need to finish those games.
Feel free to check out this gameplay of some of The Room...just remember to turn off the vid if you don't want to see aaaaaaaall the stuff on this one puzzle spoilered for you.
I haven't dug into it just yet but I bought that bundle back then so I downloaded all the books from it, including the one you noted. I took a quick glance and it looks pretty cool. I'll send it over to my phone and it'll be good for me to check out when I finish my daily crossword. I can then easily send it to my work e-mail to print if I want a paper copy since I imagine just from glancing at the first puzzle I'll want to write down as I go along.
Thanks for pointing it out and finally getting me to download all those books!
Yeah, on the first one I was just about able to handle it with drawing on an image on my tablet, but pen-and-paper is absolutely the way to go. Still trying to grasp the logic on the second, not quite there yet.
Just as a further discovery, for non-Humble bundlers, looks like the Aenigma collection is on the designer's website, too; you don't need the book (although that contains a bunch of supplementary info). Those are here. Note that the website is a little confusingly laid out; that is a list of the puzzles containing just the main puzzle grid, but you'll need the full puzzle sheet to give context to understand them properly; if you click on a puzzle, you'll get a page about the puzzle (occasionally with some more explicit hints you might want to avoid), but on that page is a link to the actual PDF for the full-page puzzle, with all the context you need. For instance, here's the final link to puzzle #1.
I'm three down thus far, and I think they're really, really good.
I'm three down thus far, and I think they're really, really good.
In keeping with my hobby of playing MAME or import stuff on Retropie I wanted to share another vs Puzzler that not many probably played. Its not a pop 3 though...its a pop 4 with a twist.
SENKYU
Basically in this game you get 3 balls that are colored and they are arranged like a pyramid. You can rotate them around to place them on the board however you want but the twist is that these balls will roll and gravity is in effect. That means if you try to build a staircase in this game it gets tricky as balls will slide downhill and go with the flow of the slopes you create. Making an avalanche effect that results in high score is pretty rewarding. Have fun watching this and playing it on emulators.
SENKYU
Basically in this game you get 3 balls that are colored and they are arranged like a pyramid. You can rotate them around to place them on the board however you want but the twist is that these balls will roll and gravity is in effect. That means if you try to build a staircase in this game it gets tricky as balls will slide downhill and go with the flow of the slopes you create. Making an avalanche effect that results in high score is pretty rewarding. Have fun watching this and playing it on emulators.
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Matthew Brown of Hexcells fame has a new game coming out on the 20th
http://store.steampowered.com/app/746710/Cypher/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/746710/Cypher/
There's a trailer on the Steam page
I picked up Picross S for the Switch because of this thread. Really addictive. Puzzle games are dangerous for me. I will end up playing them too much, which is why I tend to stick to adventure games because the story comes to an end eventually. I noticed that Peggle is not in the OP. Does it count as a puzzle game? Also the pushmo games were fun too although maybe the 3DS is too old now.
I just discovered Pipe Push Paradise: http://store.steampowered.com/app/721390/Pipe_Push_Paradise/
Looks really great. It's also in an indie gala bundle right now: https://www.indiegala.com/hump-day-steam-bundle-52
Looks really great. It's also in an indie gala bundle right now: https://www.indiegala.com/hump-day-steam-bundle-52
Matthew Brown of Hexcells fame has a new game coming out on the 20th
http://store.steampowered.com/app/746710/Cypher/
There's a trailer on the Steam page
Anyone played this yet? I love his games, but I'm unsure if I want to dive in. I've never liked cypher puzzles, but if this game has a good method of progression and onboarding, maybe this will be a way of making me enjoy the form. I wonder about the interface and if there's good methods of helping with trial and error that usually come with the territory.
The game gives you a couple of hints but that's all. It's definitely a game for people with the patience to do the decrypting themselves.
There's an OT now: https://www.resetera.com/threads/cy...ryptography-from-the-maker-of-hexcells.25033/
Picrastination coming to Steam in March.
I love a good Picross game and this looks a good Picross game. I prefer playing on portable devices, but one I'll certainly give look once I finish Picross S and Piczle Lines on the Switch.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/799110/Picrastination/
I love a good Picross game and this looks a good Picross game. I prefer playing on portable devices, but one I'll certainly give look once I finish Picross S and Piczle Lines on the Switch.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/799110/Picrastination/