The Best Puzzle Games of the 2010s
In the last decade, the gaming landscape graced us with puzzle games transcending traditional gameplay. These games merge aspects of exploration and adventure and emphasize narratives and unique mechanics.
Players in various worlds require intellect, creativity, and lateral thinking to progress. From time manipulation and reality-altering spatial puzzles to building machinery and collapsing the environment, these titles reshaped the puzzle games, leaving lasting impressions.
1. The Witness (2016)
Inspired by the classic game Myst, The Witness places players on an enigmatic island filled with intricate puzzles. Scattered across the island lay artificial structures and natural landscapes. Through visual clues and elaborate design, players navigate the island with one crucial tool: perspective. One must orient oneself to various perspectives of an area to discover the hidden truths in plain sight.
2. Return of the Obra Dinn (2018)
Set in 1807, Return of the Obra Dinn tasks players with investigating the fate of a crew that vanished aboard a ghost merchant ship that set sail in 1802. Players wield a mystical compass-like device that freezes time, allowing one to piece together the events leading to the crew’s demise.
Through detailed investigation and logical deductions, unraveling the mysteries aboard the Obra Dinn becomes the key to progressing through this haunting and immersive story.
3. Baba Is You (2019)
Baba Is You offers a refreshing puzzle games experience where players alter game rules to navigate levels. Players redefine the game’s logic by shaping the environment by pushing around words to spell out new logic.
Word tiles like “flag,” “walls,” or “water” consist of nouns corresponding to obstacles on the field and can be pushed around with verb tiles and linking operator tiles to restructure the rules of the level. For instance, pushing “is win” next to “you” would solve the level as the new rules become “you is win.”
4. Outer Wilds (2019)
The Outer Wilds presents an extraordinary adventure through a tiny solar system trapped in a time loop. Players navigate diverse planets in their dinky spaceship, uncovering ancient secrets and unraveling the mysteries of an ever-changing universe.
Probe enigmatic ruins and investigate cosmic anomalies as a brave astronaut, piecing together the history of a universe caught in an eternal cycle. The signal known as “the Eye” beckons all who stay courageous enough to discover it.
5. Inside (2016)
By the same developers of Limbo, Inside plunges players into a dystopian world where a young boy navigates perilous artificial environments. Through unsettling encounters, players unravel a cryptic narrative without exposition.
The story develops through atmospheric gameplay as players evade dangers and solve puzzles. The striking contrast between light and shadow crafts an immersive experience that explores themes of control and conformity and how we navigate these things.
6. Gorogoa (2017)
Gorogoa involves a simple yet complex puzzle design paired with gorgeous hand-drawn imagery. Players manipulate and combine illustrated frames, creating dynamic interactions that reveal hidden connections and unlock new pathways. The panel frames act like jigsaw puzzles; each can zoom in and out to view various perspectives within each frame.
Through layered storytelling and creative puzzle-solving, the game unfolds a mesmerizing journey, merging artistry with inventive gameplay.
7. The Talos Principle (2014)
The Talos Principle challenges players with intricate puzzles in a world of advanced technology and ancient ruins. This game features a philosophical storyline with references to mythology and religion.
Playing as a robot with human consciousness, players get creative with environment puzzle solving, time manipulation, and experimentation. The game’s narrative unfolds through texts and experience, probing the nature of consciousness and existence.
8. Untitled Goose Game (2019)
Untitled Goose Game features goofy, mischievous gameplay as the players control a troublesome goose, causing chaos in an otherwise calm village. Players can honk and waddle through the stages, disrupting the villagers’ daily routines.
Through stealthy maneuvers and antics, the goose completes tasks and creates mayhem, all while navigating a vibrant setting. The game allows players the freedom to fashion their own path through feathered chaos, thanks to its whimsical design and open-ended gameplay.
9. The Room (2012)
Although the first game arrived in 2012, its four successor puzzle games came out within the last decade.
In a world with minimal narratives, cryptic meaning arises through letters and solving puzzles with bizarre contraptions and alchemical machinery. A core puzzle element revolves around a lens that allows players to see hidden secrets. One significant secret lies in a magical element responsible for the mysteries of this world, a substance known as “Null.” Players must investigate strange places throughout all the games to reveal more information on the Null matter and the events surrounding it.
10. Creaks (2020)
Creaks invites players into a surreal world of mysteries, beginning in the bedroom of the unnamed player character. The room wallpaper peels away to reveal a secret tunnel leading to a strange underground world.
Players use creativity and logic to solve puzzles, unveil secrets, and unearth the enigmatic origins of the bird-like creatures found in the realm. The animation style brews an atmosphere reminiscent of classic Czech animation.
11. The Turing Test (2016)
Set on Jupiter’s moon, Europa, The Turing Test challenges players with puzzles in a first-person narrative-driven adventure. As Ava Turing, an International Space Agency engineer, players solve complex puzzles using an energy manipulation tool.
The game intertwines exploration and puzzle-solving, pushing players to unravel the mysteries of the space station. It plays as a cinematic game with a great atmosphere and narrative twists and turns.
12. Opus Magnum (2017)
Opus Magnum presents players with a puzzle-based programming game about machinery and alchemy. Players craft intricate solutions to complex challenges using a machine within a transmutation engine, represented as a hex grid where tools and ingredients get placed.
Players use elements and alchemical processes to transmute materials used for solving puzzles. The goal for most puzzles relies on keeping a machine functional in order to produce outputs over several cycles, requiring players to think in multiple levels.
13. Superliminal (2019)
Superliminal invites players into a surreal game about optical illusions and forced perspective. As a participant in a dream therapy program, the player character gets trapped in a recurring dream cycle. Players manipulate objects to solve puzzles and navigate through dreamlike environments.
The game’s surreal environment and abstract objects challenge players to rethink their understanding of space and perspective, delivering a mind-bending experience never seen before.
14. The Gardens Between (2018)
Arina and Frendt walk through a world of dreams and memories found within a treehouse in a garden between their houses. In The Gardens Between, players control the two characters, solving environment-based puzzles using the flow of time.
The game’s soft visuals and innovative time manipulation mechanics create a heartfelt narrative and mesmerizing gameplay. The bittersweet storytelling invites players to explore the journey of adolescence, companionship, and nostalgia.
15. Q.U.B.E. 2 (2018)
Q.U.B.E. (Quick Understanding of Block Extrusion) 2 places players in Amelia Cross' boots, an archeologist stranded on a puzzling alien planet.
In this physics-based puzzle game, players manipulate structures using gloves with various abilities in order to escape a mysterious facility. The game's tactile interactions provide a challenging yet rewarding puzzle-solving adventure.
16. The Pedestrian (2020)
In The Pedestrian, players play a stick figure, solving puzzles in 2D space in a 3D environment. The game merges puzzles and platforming using street signs as the playable space.
By linking signs and boards, players traverse parts of New York City, using their creativity to connect pathways to progress. The game’s engaging mechanics offer a distinct perspective on puzzle-solving, inviting players to piece together a vibrant, urban walk through the city.
17. Monument Valley (2014)
Initially released as a phone game, Monument Valley was favored heavily for its surreal journey through architectural puzzles. Players guide a princess named Ida through a series of optical illusions and impossible objects by manipulating the environment.
Through perspective shifts, players navigate mesmerizing levels, revealing hidden paths. The game’s design and serenity blend artistry with spatial puzzles, creating an enchanting experience.
18. Donut County (2018)
Donut County follows the whimsical story of BK, the raccoon who owns a local donut shop, and his employee, Mira. By scheduling donut deliveries to the residents of Donut County, BK wanted to earn enough points in a new mobile app to get a quadcopter drone.
Instead of donuts, donut holes arrived, wreaking havoc on the community. Players assume the role of a hole with the goal of swallowing the world. By consuming objects, players grow the hole, causing chaos at the same time as solving puzzles.
19. The 13th Doll (2019)
As a fan game to the 1993 title, The 7th Guest (one of the seminal puzzle games), The 13th Doll immerses players in a sinister tale. The story centers around a grown-up Tad, the original seventh guest from the first game, revisiting the house to confront his past. As players navigate the chilling environment, they unravel the mysteries surrounding the haunted mansion.
The game maintains a suspenseful atmosphere with strange encounters and challenging puzzles to captivate players in this haunting, narrative-driven experience.
20. Obduction (2016)
From the same developers of the Myst series, Obduction immerses players in a strange alien world filled with human structures. Stranded in unfamiliar surroundings, players explore to solve puzzles with the goal of finding a way back home.
The game’s narrative unfolds through unraveling this enigmatic planet's secrets. Its emphasis on point-and-click exploration and immersive storytelling offers a compelling and puzzling adventure.
