The puzzle genre is one of the most varied in gaming, with titles that test everything from reflexes to deduction.
Puzzle games can be quite the mental workout, but that’s not always what you want, especially if you’re winding down after a busy work day.
Fortunately, there are plenty of great titles you can relax with if you know where to look. Here’s a selection of fun puzzlers you can enjoy even if you’re half asleep.
10Untitled Goose Game
Say Boo To A Goose
Untitled Goose Game
Untitled Goose Gameis an incredibly unique puzzle game where you play as a feathered menace and terrorize the neighborhood.
You play as a goose and are given simple tasks which often involvestealing items from a nearby town. You’ll never be attacked, but if you don’t want to be “shooed” away, you must devise creative schemes to get what you want.
Some puzzles inUntitled Goose Gamemay perplex you in the moment, but there’szero urgency.
The town is ripe for exploring, and it’s fun role-playing and seeing what you can get away with. The title iskid-friendly, and even the fussiest gamer will find something to enjoy.
9House Flipper
Rags To Riches
House Flipper
House Flipperisone of my go-to relaxing gameswith light puzzle-solving elements and an addictive gameplay loop.
Your goal inHouse Flipperis, you guessed it, torenovate houses and sell them for a profit. The puzzle-solving element comes from seeing what potential buyers want and decorating to suit their needs. Sure, you can make a masterpiece and hope it sells, but you’ll be laughing if you can entice multiple customers simultaneously.
There’s no time limit, no threat, and no urgency. you’re able to take your time on grand renovation projects or keep it simple;there’s no wrong way to play.
It can be quite tricky appeasing some ofHouse Flipper’s more fussy buyers, but selling for a profit always feels so rewarding.
If your brain is frazzled, you can even take jobs where you simply clean houses to line your pockets.
8Tetris Effect
A Visual Spectacle
Tetris Effect
There’s not much I can add to the conversation regardingTetris, butTetris Effectoffersmy favorite take on the timeless classic.
Tetris Effecthas every gameplay mechanic you’d expect from modern Tetris. There’s a marker that tells you where your blocks will fall, and you can instantly drop tetrominoes by pressing up on the d-pad.
Tetris Effectmakes the list because itfocuses on the visual spectaclerather than high-speed gameplay. Sure, you can play fast, but the standout feature of this iteration ofTetriscomes from thejaw-dropping visualsaround the playfield.
These details are so remarkable thatTetris Effectwasoriginally a VR-only title. I can’t recommend it enough if you own a headset, and it’s a solid, relaxing puzzler without it.
7Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek
A Guilty Pleasure
Key Information
Artifex Mundi
Hidden Object
Release Date
September 2011
I never thought I’d have the opportunity to talk about these games, but today is the day!Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek is ahidden object gameby Artifex Mundi and is the first in a trilogy.
Hidden object puzzles are fun, tasking you with finding specific objects on a busy screen, much like a “Where’s Waldo” book. Beyond that,Enigmatisis full ofsimple riddles and puzzles, like color matching. A cheesy story binds all the puzzles and tasks together, but it’s part of the charm.
Artifex Mundi has made dozens of games like this, so you’ll likely enjoy them all if you enjoy one. There’s no rush or time limit, andevery game has a hint feature, so you’ll never be stuck anywhere for long.
If you enjoy theEnigmatisstory, I recommendArcana: Dark Carnivalfor a similar game in a spooky amusement park setting.
6Strange Horticulture
How Well Do You Know Your Flowers?
Strange Horticulture
Strange Horticultureis anoccult puzzle gamewhere you run a florist visited by a host of unusual patrons.
Customers request specific flowers, but your inventory isn’t labeled. You mustconsult a book full of vague descriptionsand pictures to find the right plant, and you may even look at them under a microscope if required.
Like most games on this list, there’s no real urgency, and you can take your sweet time identifying plants before handing them over.
Beyond the Florist, you candecipher map coordinatesto unlock new stock, and there’s some surprisingly rich lore described in letters and diary entries.
Detective games that test your deduction are always satisfying, and you feel like theSherlock Holmes of the Florist businesswhen your hard work pays off.
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5Dorfromantik
Beautiful World Building
Dorfromantik
Dorfromantikis aserene tile-based puzzle gamewhere you assemble beautiful landscapes with hexagonal tiles.
While it’s clear from the visuals and soundtrack thatDorfromantikismeant to be relaxing, but there are still challenges and a scoring system to consider. For example, one challenge tasks you with placing multiple tiles with water on them to make an uninterrupted body of water of a certain size.
You’ll learn Dorfromantik’s quirks through multiple sessions, andlight planning and strategyare required if you want those high scores.
You earn points by placing similar themed tiles together, and there’s a slew of unlockables as you progress through the game.
In many ways,Dorfromantikis like a single-player board game. The playfield is wonderfully animated, and the music completes the ensemble.
4Cats Organized Neatly
It’s Exactly What You Think It Is
Cats Organized Neatly
Cats Organized Neatlyis acute puzzle gamewhere you attempt to fit felines of all shapes and sizes into a tiled grid.
The introductory levels are pretty straightforward, but it doesn’t take long for new cats to enter the fray. Those additions come in all sorts of obnoxious shapes and sizes and are paired with adorable cards with the cat’s name and a mini-bio.Later stages introduce hazards, like potted plants, onto the grid.
If you’re a cat owner, you know you take the carpet’s life in your hands when those two combine, so it’s certainly accurate!
Honestly, there’s not much to this entry. It’s a relaxed puzzler thatleans into its themein all the right ways. If you’re even remotely fond of cats, this game is for you!
3A Monsters Expedition
Not All Monsters Are Bad
Draknek & Friends
Open World Adventure
September 2020
A Monsters Expeditionis apicturesque puzzle-adventure gamewith intuitive mechanics, gorgeous graphics, and a great sense of humor.
You play as a monster whotours the world to learn about humans, and the puzzle aspect comes from traversing the landscape. You have to make bridges over water with logs, and many hazards require multistep solutions to navigate. The world is huge, and each island offers its own unique riddle to solve before you can continue.
My favorite part of the game is the human “artifacts” scattered across the world.You’ll often find human inventionswith a ridiculous write-up of what it is from a monster’s point of view.
Its subtle additions like this makeA Monsters Expeditionrather charming. While it’s a little tricky at times, it’s never frustrating, and there arefar tougher puzzlers out there.
2Unpacking
It’s Not This Fun In Real Life
Unpackingis categorized as a “Zen Puzzle Game,” and after some time with the title,I completely agree with that description.
As you probably guessed,Unpackingis about opening boxes and placing the objects inside around the room. The gameplay is pretty freeform and is as much about decorating the room as ensuring everything fits.
Anunimposing storybinds everything together, and snippets of lore reveal glimpses into the house owner’s life.
Honestly,Unpackingisvery light on challenge, but that’s the point. Later on, you have multiple rooms to manage simultaneously, but rest assured, this is acozy gameyou can relax in, no matter how casual or hardcore you are.
1Little Inferno
Burn All Of Your Toys
Tomorrow Corporation
Abstract Puzzle
November 2012
Little Inferno
Little Infernois abizarre puzzle gameby the creative minds at Tomorrow Corporation, who also brought usWorld of Goo 2.
InLittle Inferno, your goal is toset fire to items in a fireplaceto tick off entries in a catalog. The puzzle element comes in the form of combinations. Many items on the list requiremultiple objects burning simultaneouslyto trigger, so there’s plenty of trial and error while you deduce the combo.
Some combinations become quite complicated later on, but it’s pretty relaxing justnuking things in the fireplace. Everything you burn reacts to fire differently, and Tomorrow Corporation nailed the sound of a roaring fire.
Little Infernoiseasily one of the strangest games I’ve ever played, but it’s wonderfully addictive and a great addition to any puzzle library. I won’t spoil the ending, but you’ll never see it coming.
While the game came out back in 2012 for the humble Wii U, it wasreleased on the Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile in 2022 with free DLC baked in.
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