• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

What's your favorite puzzle game?

AIan

AIan

Member
Oct 20, 2019
4,930
What's your favorite puzzle game and why? Bonus optional Q: Is it the kind of puzzle game with a set of rules (The Witness, Tetris), or is it more abstract (Myst, Fez)?

Looking for games to play. Could also help others find some games! My favorite puzzle game is Fez, and it's abstract, with some rules that you have to figure out on your own.
 
Last edited:
Strings

Strings

Member
Oct 27, 2017
31,601
Pure puzzle:
d00a0d37287840c1b54a5f6d6139a655_Large.png

It's just insanely addictive and uber satisfying to carve out shapes.

With y'know, a narrative and shit to go along with it:

71lPiF97meL._AC_SL1500_.jpg


The escape room format is oodles of fun and the justification for it to exist, story-wise, is pretty brilliant. Available as part of the Nonary Games collection on Vita/PS4/PC.
 
Last edited:
CupOfDoom

CupOfDoom

Member
Dec 17, 2017
3,257
I've played too many puzzle games to be able to narrow it down to one lol.

The Talos Principle is the best portal-like to come out since portal 2. The writing is very philosophical, but also total ignorable. The Puzzle design is 10/10 though. Still can't believe that it was designed by the same people as serious sam 4.

I'm a huge fan of Zachtronics stuff, with Opus Magnum being my favorite of the ones I've played. Each puzzle has you designing a machine that does does some alchemy. Way more abstract than a "pure" puzzle game as each puzzle as you have alot of freedom on design, as long as what it produces is correct. There is also the added layer of competing on the leaderboards/with friends to see if you can make the most efficient machine.

And, idk, if your looking for something more recent. The Room 4: Old Sins is a short but fun time. The story is brief but good and, the puzzles manage to tow the line of being abstract with out being obtuse, most of the time.
 
AvianAviator

AvianAviator

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Jun 23, 2021
6,481
Recency bias probably plays into this, but few have been able to top Baba is You.

Except maybe Portal 2.
 
XSX

XSX

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,178
Tetris Effect (Vr and "normal" are both amazing), and Portal 1 & 2 !
 
Vulcano's Assistant

Vulcano's Assistant

Member
Oct 29, 2017
13,618
While Portal 2 does not have my favorite puzzles, it happens to be my favorite game and it has puzzles.

My favorite game from the puzzle solving alone is Antichamber.
 
Last edited:

vixlar

Member
Dec 5, 2017
400
Panel de pon/ puzzle league.

It is my favorite competitive puzzle game. The pressure of having the blocks over your board, but the satisfaction of turning them into a weapon is great.
 

Deleted member 17210

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
11,569
It's such a typical choice but it's still Tetris in its different incarnations.

For non-mainstream choices, I will always have strong attachment to Penguin Land, especially since I spent so much time with its level maker.

download.png
 
Kouriozan

Kouriozan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,254
Panel de Pon (Puzzle League) for me, I absolutely love this IP and it hurts to see how little Nintendo care.
Puyo Puyo is also pretty good, even though I'm not a competitive player so my average combo is 7.

Otherwise, Puzzle Quest 1 I liked a lot with its RPG elements.
 
Kneefoil

Kneefoil

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,474
Ghost Trick. It's quite inventive with its systems and doesn't focus on any of them so long that they overstay their welcome, has a good story, and great visual presentation. The one issue I have with the game is that it's quite handholdey and quick to give players hints what to do.
 
PirateHearts

PirateHearts

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,692
North Texas
The Professor Layton series covers a wide array of different types of puzzles and has such a nice cozy vibe. I don't know if it's necessarily my all-time favorite, but it's an easy series to recommend to anyone who likes puzzle games of any kind.

Hard to beat Tetris, of course. Tetris Effect in particular is hands-down the best version I've ever played.

Picross is always a good time, and there's a zillion games in the Picross S series on the Switch.

Portal has better puzzles than its sequel and a better credits song, but Portal 2 has some hilarious narrative beats and some really great audio design to accentuate its character movement.

The Witness is one I can see myself revisiting every couple of years. I love existing in its world as much as I enjoy solving its puzzles, and it's always surprising how many ideas it manages to squeeze out of a conceptually simple mechanic.
 
yyr

yyr

Member
Nov 14, 2017
3,499
White Plains, NY
I can't possibly choose between:

Tetris (favorite versions in no particular order: TGM2+/3, Tengen NES, Effect Connected)
Bust-A-Move/Puzzle Bobble
Picross e-series on 3DS*

* I am spoiled by the touch controls, so I'll never be able to enjoy the Switch versions, unfortunately
 
The Mango Sentinel

The Mango Sentinel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,861
A couple of my favorites that I haven't seen mentioned yet are Devil Dice and Intelligence Qube. Good luck playing these though.
 
AlgusUnderdunk

AlgusUnderdunk

Member
Dec 30, 2020
15,420
mole-mania-review-header.jpg


Love the above/below ground puzzles in Mole Mania, replay that game every few years.

Also love some Picross 3D, a bit of Professor Layton, and the No Escape series are quite nice too. Also loved the Rube Goldberg puzzles in Capcom's Ghost Trick game.

push-over.0.png


Also I spent WAY too much time when I was little obsessing over Push-Over (SNES), where you play an ant arranging dominos to knock them over in a specific way to open a door.
 
Zippedpinhead

Zippedpinhead

Fallen Guardian
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,809
I love picross titles, so murder by numbers was a great fit for me.

Also really enjoyed Meteos back in the day
 
Airi

Airi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
341
This is a hard 3 way tie for me since every game offers a different perspective and approach to puzzles.
Tetris - A classic and straightforward. I've played it since the OG Gameboy and never gotten tired of it.
PuyoPuyo - Easy to learn, difficult to master. The wide array of characters keeps me revisiting it.
The Witness - I loved exploring the island as much as learning the puzzles and being able to approach it all at my own pace.
 

Shuckle

Member
Mar 30, 2018
419
I love puzzle games even though I'm usually not smart enough to beat them. Part of me wants to look up solutions when I get stuck but it's so hard to admit defeat. Stephen's Sausage Roll is a great one I haven't seen mentioned yet. Deceptively simple looking sokoban style puzzles that very elegantly reveals new mechanics through gameplay.
 
KeyChainDude

KeyChainDude

Member
Oct 28, 2017
691
outer-wilds-780x405.jpg


Outer Wilds. The way exploring each planet reveals the solution for a puzzle in another one (and the solution itself) is absolutely genius.
 
Last edited:
Miamiwesker

Miamiwesker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,696
Miami
The Witness is the greatest puzzle game ever made IMO. It is perfectly designed and executed, a game about the quest of learning, brilliant in every way.
 
TheSpaceBetween

TheSpaceBetween

Member
Jan 11, 2018
9,671
Probably Portal 2. The Witness is really close though (Too bad Blow is such a PoS though). Shout out to Zack & Wiki as well.
 
radiogra

radiogra

Member
Jun 27, 2020
238
the talos principle is my overall favorite. its pacing of mechanics, its semi openness (so if you get stuck you can try a different puzzle; the witness is also pretty good with this) and of course its story and world-building elevate it a bit for me. it also hit me at the right time i think.

witness (blow aside), return of the obra dinn, fez, portal 2, call of the sea, baba is you + any decent picross or tetris are all some of my favorites too lol. quietly a really diverse genre with unique gems.

edit: oh yeah if outer wilds counts then that too. more exploration heavy than just sitting in front of a logic puzzle for hours trying to figure it out, but still one of the most rewarding and wonderfully bespoke games ever made.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.