puzzler

“Islands of Insight is the modern reinvention the puzzle genre needs.” Pros Tons of fun puzzles Near infinite challenges Smart progression hooks Great co-op integration Cons Some dud formats Repetitive grid puzzles Meandering lore When I was a kid, my most…

“Viewfinder is an ingenious puzzle game that wows at every turn, even if its sci-fi story stretches to find deeper meaning in its mind-bending photo hook.” Pros Ingenious puzzle hook Room for multiple solutions Clever gameplay twists Doesn't overstay its welcome Cons Limited experimentation…

This British-made puzzle of a movie revolves around Liam (Neil Bishop), a young man who wakes up with amnesia in an eerily quiet hospital ward with stitches in his face and a big bandage around his head. He suddenly has a vision of an older man (Martin Bishop) dressed like a shepherd in a nativity play telling him to wake up. When he does, it’s as if he’s shifted to a different point in time, and the injuries are much less severe. The only doctor around is Emma (Zoe Cunningham), who helpfully explains he was exposed to an…

Trapped in another house Vertical Reach and publisher Armor Games Studios have announced that their puzzle-focused retro horror title, The Tartarus Key, is chambered for a May 31, 2023 release. Putting you in the shoes of the hapless Alex Young, The Tartarus Key takes place in a bizarre mansion where doors are locked with all manner of puzzles. Lifting the aesthetics of the PS1, it promises a horror experience without the use of jump-scares. That’s a fairly common goal for horror games. Hopefully, they can pull off the…

It deserves the comeback Back in 2014 I covered a game from Grumpyface Studios called Castle Doombad. I’m already a sucker for projects featuring traps as the core mechanic, but Doombad was sleek, cute, and a blast to play in short bursts or long sessions. Sadly, like many mobile games of that era (particularly under the Adult Swim banner), it was eventually put out to pasture. Given that it’s miraculously coming back this year on Steam (self-published by Grumpyface no less), it’ll likely have a longer shelf life.…

Flipping blocks and birds Team Meat has lifted the lid on a brand new title set within the Super Meat Boy universe — Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine is a brand new Match-4 puzzler currently in the works for PC and console platforms, with an expected launch window of 2023. The new title, a clear pun on the 1993 Puyo Puyo reskin Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, will similarly task players with clearing out a playfield of familiar Super Meat Boy iconography against a strict time limit. As new sets of characters drop…

It’s all about perspective Fun news for puzzle fans: Pillow Castle Games’ extraordinarily smart adventure Superliminal is now available on ninth-gen platforms PS5 and Xbox Series X, following on from its critically acclaimed 2019 release on PC and consoles. For those less inclined, Superliminal, (also known as Museum of Simulation Technology), is a first-person adventure title in the vein of Valve’s iconic puzzler Portal, and follows a protagonist as they attempt to escape from a looping dream sequence, guided by…

I’m always on the lookout for the perfect mobile game. It’s a difficult task as only one or two games fit the bill for me every year. The best mobile games need to be something I can either sit down with for hours or simply play for a few moments. They need to function offline so I can play them no matter where I am. And on top of that, I prefer that they have a tactile component to them that uses tap controls in a satisfying way. I’m pleased to say that I’ve found this year’s perfect puzzle game – and its an Apple…

Good Fortune Fun news for retro block-busting fans this week, as publisher Forever Entertainment has announced a return for the classic puzzle series, Magical Drop. Magical Drop VI, developed by studios Highball Games and Storm Trident, is scheduled to launch later this winter on Nintendo Switch. Magical Drop, for those less inclined, is a cute ‘n’ colorful arcade puzzler that first launch in 1995, at the height of the “tile-puzzler” craze. Playing from one of a number of cute avatars, all based upon the Tarot, players…

The old indie darling is back in 3D Desktop Dungeons, the beloved turn-based roguelike, is coming back with a new style. And while it can be tricky going from a quaint pixel art presentation to a more general modern 3D style (albeit with nice new illustrated character art), the main draw was — and should still be — the puzzle-solving gameplay. Developer QCF Design announced the 3D remake Desktop Dungeons: Rewind for Steam with an estimated Q4 2022 release. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smrfXYhnKCc According to the…