If you’re a puzzle game fan, you’ll enjoy this list of the best ones to play in 2024.
Puzzle-themed video games have carved out a distinct niche in the gaming industry by engaging players with mentally challenging puzzles, creative visuals and compelling storylines. These games transcend traditional genres by offering an engaging combination of entertainment, problem solving and creativity. What’s more, puzzle games offer a welcome break from the fast-paced action and intense competition typical of many other categories, as players search for solutions to mysteries and patiently overcome obstacles. In this guide, we will list some of the most enjoyable puzzle games. Here is the list of the 9 best puzzle games
LEGO Bricktales – Classic LEGO aesthetic, familiar puzzle design
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android, Windows PC
Release date: October 12, 2022
In LEGO Bricktales, players are tasked with helping other minifigures across many different theme-based worlds. The ultimate goal is to help your grandfather get his theme park up and running. Other troublesome minifigures will give you the crystals you need to complete the assigned tasks.
The puzzle-solving mechanics here are quite enjoyable. Each world will be shown as an intricate LEGO creation, and players will need to rotate and tilt their camera to complete objectives. In some missions, players will also build structures such as bridges to help the minifigures reach their destination.
Paper Trail – A storybook adventure
Paper Trial features an art style reminiscent of a children’s storybook. In this game, players will control a young girl as she travels through many different scenes helping those she can. There are some unique and interesting mechanics that set Paper Trail apart from other puzzle games.
Storyteller – Create the perfect story
In Storyteller, players are given several pieces of a puzzle and must complete the story to reach the desired ending. At first, these puzzles can be simple, such as two characters falling in love. But the story then becomes ambiguous and complex.
Given a few characters and a plot to start with, creating a story might not sound difficult. But Storyteller only gives players a few scenes to accomplish the goal. Finishing a masterpiece can be much harder than it seems.
Planet Of Lana – Scary robots and beautiful landscapes
Planet of Lana is a side-scrolling puzzle game with a dark and deep narrative set against stunning landscapes. Fans of games like Limbo and Inside will be familiar with the mechanics presented in Planet of Lana.
Players have to dig deep to discover the story threads that tie the game together. There is a voice narrator and some dialog clues. But these are presented in a language that doesn’t exist, forcing players to gather information they can glean from the game’s puzzles and enemies if they want to uncover knowledge of the world.
We Were Here Expeditions: The Friendship – To trust or not to trust
We Were Here Expeditions: The Friendship is a unique puzzle game intended to be played in pairs. You and your friend can sometimes get mad at each other in an abandoned amusement park. In the game you will have to go through several different trials that will test your honesty.
The production is reminiscent of other cooperative puzzle games like Bread and Fred or It Takes Two. So if you enjoyed those, We Were Here Expeditions: The Friendship is probably for you. Trust, partnership and communication are required to successfully complete this game.
Humanity – Manage people by issuing commands at the beginning of each round
Humanity is a great game with a wide range of puzzles. Controlling a glowing dog, players will herd a group of humans like sheep across a map to reach their desired goal. This sounds relatively easy. But the puzzles are far from simple.
Watch them carry out commands successfully or until their death. Puzzles are solved by prompts before or during the round. Players set directions for people to follow and watch them fulfill the commands successfully or until their death.
Viewfinder – See the world from a unique perspective
Viewfinder is a complex game. In this game, players need to take photos of the world around them. They then need to use these photos to change the terrain and level around them to reach an objective.
This may seem easy at first. But as you play (and as the difficulty of the levels increases), the game’s inherent difficulty quickly becomes apparent. There is a lot of variety here. The possibilities are endless in Viewfinder as you try to solve its intricately designed puzzles. The novelty of perspective-based puzzles loses steam towards the end, but the Viewfinder experience is incredible.
The Talos Principle 2 – Beautiful world and complex puzzles
The Talos Principle 2 is much more than a puzzle game. It’s set in a beautifully crafted world with characters, story and some complex mechanics. Puzzle games don’t always have elaborate narratives. But Talos Principle 2, like its predecessor, makes players think about more than just solving a puzzle.
The story is something that the players themselves have to experience. As such, it has a lot of weight on the player’s character. With thought-provoking storylines, detailed world design, and unique and memorable characters, it’s no surprise that this game tops our list of the best puzzle games.
