Top Puzzle Games To Play Right Now
A good puzzle is one of the best things in life. Some are relaxing time-killers, while others test
our skills in critical problem solving or quick mental gymnastics; both can be incredibly
satisfying.

The Best Puzzle Games
1

Tetris Effect – Connected
Let’s be honest. Tetris is already in the conversation of being one of the greatest games of
all time. Luckily, we’ve been recently graced with an awesome entry in the series with Tetris
Effect: Connected. This take on the concept comes from the mind of Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the man
behind games like Rez and Lumines, who sculpts the tetromino-dropping gameplay into a
complete sensory experience. Each stage has its own visual and audio theme that changes as
you play. Music will swell as the scenery pulses, and flipping your Tetris pieces becomes a
new note to the symphony of sounds. It’s a wholly unique experience in the puzzle space, and
what’s even better: Tetris Effect is a darn good version of Tetris. Compete with others in
the new Connected expansion or experience Effect a transcendent way in VR on PlayStation 4 or
PC.
2

Grindstone
Capybara’s mountain climbing hack and slash puzzler was a standout of the Apple Arcade launch
in 2019. As a beefy berserker named Jorj, each level of Grindstone has you drawing your path
of destruction through colorful, and sometimes dangerous, critters called creeps to escape
the level. Jorj can only cut through subsequent creeps of the same color unless he crosses
paths with a Grindstone. Picking one up along the way allows Jorj to change the targeted type
of creep and build even longer and more devastating combos. Along the over 200 levels of
pinnacle peril, blueprints and gear can be collected and crafted to assist in surviving the
treacherous ascent to the peak. While it debuted on Apple devices, Grindstone can now be
found on Switch and PC as well.
3

Gorogoa
Images aren’t always what they seem, and in Gorogoa, you have the power to shift and
manipulate a series of pictures to find the true meaning in the visuals. Each puzzle presents
the player with up to four photos that must be placed in a specific alignment to be solved.
You can take each segment and manipulate them in different ways, like zooming in or out of
the scene on display or changing the position of the image like a slide puzzle. Adjusting
these photos can shift the perspective of what you’re looking at entirely, making the
seemingly disparate images fit together perfectly. Gorogoa is a joy to look at with its
spectacular art. The experience is on the shorter end, so if you’re looking to relax on a
weekend afternoon, Gorogoa is a fantastic way to spend your time.
4

The Witness
Jonathan Blow’s open world puzzle adventure The Witness is a masterclass in design. Starting
on an island with no context of where or when you are, you only have one way to interact with
the world: drawing lines or paths on designated panels strewn about the environment. Each set
of these screens found around the island adds new rules to how you need to draw your route
from point A to B to complete the puzzle. These rules are sussed out by intuition or trial
and error, though as you progress through The Witness, puzzle elements and clues for drawing
the correct paths on panels may be inspired by your surroundings. So it’s essential to keep
your eyes and, most importantly, your mind open to solve some of the more important and
exciting mysteries on the island. We’ll leave it at that as The Witness is at its best when
starting with the bare minimum knowledge and letting the experience build until you realize
what’s actually possible.
5

The Turing Test
Originally released in 2016 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, with a Switch version in
2020, The Turing Test puts you in the shoes of Ava Turing. Confined in a laboratory, Ava is
tasked to complete a series of tests that only humans can solve. These test chambers are
designed by an artificial intelligence named T.O.M., which observes Ava’s progress throughout
the experimentation. Armed with an Energy Manipulation Tool, you can pull energy nodes from
objects to redistribute into other devices to solve the puzzle at hand. Sometimes, the
simplest answer isn’t the correct one, though. T.O.M.’s contraptions will require you to
think outside the box and “cheat” the tests in various ways. For example, you may find
yourself navigating a maze but decide to hop over the walls instead of sticking to the
labyrinth floor. The Turing Tests convoluted rooms will likely keep you busy for quite some
time, while also delivering a worthwhile tale between Ava and T.O.M.
6

The Room: Old Sins
Part virtual puzzle box, part spooky escape room, The Room series has been delivering
satisfying brainteasers for years. Its most recent iteration, called Old Sins, can be found
on iOS, Android, and PC. Old Sins has you exploring an unsettling dollhouse where each room
holds several puzzles and secrets to unravel. Items can be found and examined, giving clues
for solving a mystery. Important objects made of a substance called the Null, which is said
to have the power to warp reality, can also be used to progress. Puzzle solutions aren’t
contained to just one area, as some more significant problems will have you exploring all
over the house to resolve. The Room: Old Sins’ biggest strengths are in its atmosphere and
detail. Every object you interact with feels old and ornate but at the same time advanced and
intricate. There’s almost a sinister quality in the air, enhancing the urgency to get through
each puzzle and move on to learning all of the secrets within the dollhouse.