thinky puzzle games
a quick intro
Sometimes people ask me about video games I like, and I have to explain to them that my favorite genre of games are “thinky puzzle games.” I have kinda struggled to explain what these are for a while, and people online joke about them being hard to define. Edit: these are now well-known enough there’s a website and everything: thinkygames.com. I still don’t think there are good lists though, so this page is staying up!
My description is as follows: thinky puzzles are not necessarily hard puzzles—some of the games below are probably pretty easy—but they’re non-routine puzzle games that have some nice moments of realization. Lots of them are grid-based and involve pushing things around? Imagine those puzzles you played as a kid where you had to get a car out of a busy parking lot, or the ice gym puzzles in Pokemon, but like… much less brute-force-y, and more filled with fun “aha!” moments. They’re cryptic crosswords, as opposed to normal crosswords. Usually they’re made by indie devs: there’s a Discord and everything! And if you know some computer science, these games are often theoretically NP-hard, PSPACE-hard, or even RE-hard—but all the best ones are designed explicitly with humans in mind.
Anyway, I figured I’d just make a page with a list of games I both like and consider to be thinky puzzle games, so I can send it to people like you, and you could maybe try some out…? I would not be surprised if you’ve played one or two already.
I made a meme. I will not be taking comments.
dedication
this list is dedicated to jack lance (1997-2023), the greatest puzzler of my generation. i recommend his games without reserve.
the list of games! (* means introductory, but introductory means accessible/pretty, not easy.)
*Baba is You: A game all about changing the rules of the game. Very very popular and very very good. 2D and grid-based. Caveat: The opening-through-mid game is introductory. The endgame is IMO not. I’ve not beaten most of the endgame.
*A Monster’s Expedition: A game about pushing logs around islands, to explore a museum of human stuff. So cute. Surprisingly deep and hard at times. Great aha moments. 2D and grid-based. One of my favorites to recommend.
*A Good Snowman is Hard to Build: A game about pushing snowballs to build snowmen. This used to be a strong go-to introductory recommendation. Then the same dev released A Monster’s Expedition, which is the same thing but better. 2D and grid-based.
*Braid: A game about time travel. A classic, and a great game to get you hooked. (Try to get at least one star! You’ll know when you’ve got one.) A 2D platformer.
*Return of the Obra Dinn: A mystery whodunnit story game. One of the coolest experiences in gaming, and has some definite thinky puzzle-ness going on. 3D.
*Case of the Golden Idol + DLC: Return of the Obra Dinn but with more story, and in 2D. Just stunningly good.
The Witness: A game about perception, and figuring out things yourself. Don’t read spoilers. 3D, but it also has a lot of 2D grid-based puzzles if you like those. (People might think this is introductory. Because it’s quite long—arguably too long for what it is—I’m going to say it’s not.) Also relevant: Fidel Dungeon Rescue, a game that is like The Witness, but a 2D roguelite.
Understand: A distilled version of The Witness, with only the 2D puzzles. 2D grid-based.
Stephen’s Sausage Roll: A game about moving sausages around. Sometimes monstrously hard, and probably my favorite game in the genre. 3D and grid-based.
Can of Wormholes: A frustrating 3D worm-y snake-y masterpiece. It’s hard to say more without spoiling some of the wonderful moments.
Bean and Nothingness: In progress for me. Rock hard, but cute: just what you’d expect from a team of Michigan math PhDs. The mechanics are not very elegant or simple, but it’s almost singlehandedly convincing me that that’s okay. 2D grid-based.
Recursed: A game about stack recursion and paradoxes. Maybe best for programmers, but brilliant for anyone. A 2D platformer.
*Patrick’s Parabox: Kinda like Recursed, but grid-based. Very, very good.
*Headlong Hunt: A game about chasing things around to catch them. Accessible and 2D grid-based.
Paquerette down the Bunburrows: An impossible game about chasing things around to catch them. Not accessible, and 2D grid-based. (I didn’t get far in this, if you can’t tell.)
*Portal and *Portal 2: You know these. :)) Lots of good mods and custom levels too.
*Hiding Spot: A game about finding a place to hide. 3D and grid-based.
*Bonfire Peaks: A game about burning your possessions. Excellent, and best played after Hiding Spot. 3D and grid-based.
*Yugo Puzzle and Jelly no Puzzle: A game about Jelly that sticks together. The former is a great introduction to this style of games. And the guy who made Recursed once called the latter “the perfect puzzle game.” 2D and grid-based (but side-view, so has gravity.) The one caveat is: you should play Jelly no Puzzle on Android for the best version.
*Campfire Cooking: A game about cooking marshmallows. Maybe a bit too easy, but very chill and relaxing. 2.5D and grid-based.
RYB: A game about colours! Not too hard, but too un-themed and plain to be called introductory. 2D.
The Outer Wilds: What? Isn’t this a mainstream indie space exploration game? Why is it here? (Sidenote: I love time-loop games, and that everyone is making them now. Check out The Forgotten City.)
Induction: An eponymous game. I found it quite hard, but it’s very good. Isometric 3D and grid-based.
Snakebird (and *Snakebird Primer): A very good pair of games about snakes that are also birds. Play Primer first; it’s not hard, but Snakebird itself is very hard. I like it enough I’m trying to design something similar. 2D and grid-based.
*Puddle Knights: A game about protecting princesses’ dresses from puddles. Silly and very good. 3D and grid-based.
*Railbound: Put the train carts in the right order. Good, and often devil-ish.
Pipe Push Paradise: A great game about plumbing. A bit like Sausage Rolls. 3D and grid-based.
Zach-likes: specifically: SpaceChem, Infinifactory, TIS-100, SHENZHEN I/O, Opus Magnum, EXAPUNKS, MOLEK-SYNTEZ, Manufactoria 22, Sokobond, and Silicon Zeroes. Sidenote: Ironclad Tactics and Eliza are also very good, but not really in the genre. Opus Magnum is the best place to start. Note: these games are very literally programming. I would not recommend playing them if you’re a programmer who is already tired of your day-job :’)
English Country Tune: A game without an obvious theme, beyond moving blocks around. 3D and grid-based.
The Golem: Another game without an obvious theme, beyond solving puzzles with boxes and switches. Too hard for me, so this is one where I didn’t get far, but it’s obviously good. 2D and grid-based.
Inner Tao: A game about minimalist mechanics and visuals. Very cool, and not too long, but still quite hard. 2D and grid-based.
*Kine: A game about starting a jazz band. Very cute, and fun music. 3D and grid-based.
*Linelight: A very relaxing and chill game. 1D?
Snapto: A game that is kinda like The Outer Wilds, but more explicit about being a puzzle game. 3D and grid-based.
Room to grow: A game about growing cactuses. A great example of exploring simple mechanics. 2D and grid-based.
Antichamber: I think it’s a little borderline as to whether it's in this genre, as it’s really kinda its own cool and weird thing, but I think it’s a decent example to put here. 3D.
*The Last Campfire: A very very cute game, and not too hard. 3D, but really 2.5D.
Her Story and Telling Lies: Two games that aren’t perfect, but I love what they do with the puzzle genre, and they are obviously much better at telling stories than most grid-based games. People debate whether they’re thinky, but I think they’re worthwhile regardless.
*Contradiction: Another rare FMV game. Not too thinky, but this game had one particular aha moment I really loved. It’s also just like… goofy British detective fun?
Starseed Pilgrim: A game which is best with no spoilers at all, until you’re really stuck. It’s not really a puzzle game though. 2D platformer.
SOLAS-128: A game about mirrors. A very cool game that had me claiming a solution was impossible more than once. Medium difficulty, but the UI is bad. 2D.
Brough-likes: in particular, I have played lots of Corrypt, Imbroglio, Cinco Paus, and P1 Select. All are 2D, and all are great.
*The Talos Principle: Honestly… this is the only game listed here that I don’t really like. It’s okay. But lots of people played and enjoyed it, so I’m including it just as an example of a thinky puzzle game, and as a decent introductory game. 3D.
Frog Detective 1 + 2 + 3: Masterpieces.
some games in the genre i’m looking to play
altered, snaliens, tetrobot and co, pushblox, squishcraft, full bore, lots of puzzlescript games, jelly is sticky, wildfire swap, an architect’s adventure
some unreleased games i’m excited about
labrat, sausage dog tends to infinity, inbox unbox. some of these have demos or betas!
some things that aren’t obviously video games but are related
mit mystery hunt, the youtube channel “cracking the cryptic”, some escape rooms
boring caveats/disclaimers that you should skip unless you are thinking about complaining about my list
I have not finished quite a lot of these games, and have 100%-ed very, very few of them. Unless otherwise disclosed, I’ve always played through enough to see most of the mechanics though. I’d encourage you to do the same. In particular, play through to see the mechanics you like and to have fun. If you get too stuck on a puzzle, then skip it and come back later. If you need to do the puzzle to proceed, then consider looking up the solution and instead solving the puzzle of “reverse engineering the aha moment based off the solution.” Puzzle games are about having fun, not about completion, competition, or smarts.
Eventually, I’ll probably add links and pictures to this page, but I don’t use this page enough to want to do it right now. :)
Eventually, I’ll add more free/web games to this list. For now, I’m focusing on paid ones so you get guaranteed ~production value, and because there are far too many free games to list. If you want free recommendations, contact me!
This is not every (paid) game I’ve played in the genre. It’s not even every (paid) game I like in the genre :(
Games I didn’t personally like are not included, mostly as I don’t want to be mean about anyone’s hard work here. In addition, I haven’t included some puzzle games I love but don’t quite fit with the others here. Less thinky examples include: Murder by Numbers, Greyhat, and Unheard.
I also like many, many games that aren’t this genre. Go play Sayonara: Wild Hearts!
I don’t like to gatekeep games, and the thinky puzzle label is only useful to the extent it helps me and others describe and share a certain style of game that I happen to like. If you think a game is a thinky puzzle game, it’s a thinky puzzle game. I’m not really here to define anything in any rigorous manner.