5 Puzzle Games to Close Out the Year
Here are 5 puzzle games I'm reasonably confident you probably haven't heard of before, but are definitely worth your time
The end of the year is a busy time and it’s nice to relax with some fun puzzle games. I’ll have some larger thoughts about what my game of the year was (it’s not Baldur’s Gate 3). But I wanted to spend some time spotlighting some smaller and less well known games.
This year has been a big puzzle year for me, so I want to highlight some games that you can pick up and play by the end of the year, and also games that deserve some extra love!
1. Kartoodle
Kartoodle is the first puzzle book I’ve 100% in… ever(?) maybe(?). It’s puzzle book with a simple concept. You have to draw a line from the car at the start, to the home at the end. The rule is that you have to go through each segment of the game a specific number of times.
What’s fun about Kartoodle is how you can intuit many of the paths by looking at them. Unlike other puzzle games (like Sudoku) where you have to carefully parse out what the logical constraints might be, this one you can eyeball the routes and get a sense of what is and isn’t possible. The theme also adds a lot of charm to what otherwise could be a dry math game. And thanks to Amazon you can get it before Christmas if you order today!
2. LOK
LOK by Letibus is like what would happen if you combined a Light’s Out style game with a parameter puzzle. The words themselves don’t have meaning, they’re commands that change the patterns of buttons you can black out. The goal of the game is to black out all of the squares in the tile.
It’s easily the hardest game of the list, but it’s also the most charming. My favorite part is the way that it feels like a digital game without being too annoying to calculate or erase. While I highly recommend getting the physical book it’s also available for print, so you can download it today!
3. Storyteller
Storyteller is the latest game from one of my favorite game designers, Daniel Benmergui. Fidel Dungeon Rescue is still one of my top 10 games that has stuck with me. Storybook is a completely different type of puzzle though. Instead of trying to trace steps, or complete an interlocking set of word or math clues you’re trying to tell a story.
Each round you have a series of comic panels (between 3 and 6), that you have to tell a story to the logical conclusion based on the title. The most charming part of the game is how it guides player decisions based on what they’ve put previously. If they kill a character in one scene, they will show up as a ghost in subsequent panels.
Also, it’s the one game that’s available on Netflix for iOS and Android! If you have a subscription you can (and should) try it out today.
4. Sumaddle
Sumaddle is what would happen if you mashed together Sudoku and Nonagram puzzles. You’re given a square grid and you have to fill out each row and column with unique digits and two squares. For example, if you have a 6x6 grid, you would fill it with the digits 1-4 and two squares. The game gives you hints about what the sum of the values between the squares will be. So if you have, for example the number 3, in a column, you would have to fill the space between squares with either a 3 or a 1 and 2.
The app is free to download and you can buy additional puzzle packs for 99 cents each. What’s great about it is you can pick the level of brain burn you want. The easy ones will fall into place quite easily, while the more challenging ones will leave you scratching your head for answers.
5. Paper Golf
Paper Golf by Gladden Design is a simple physical game requiring a pencil and a single D6. The goal is to get from the tee to the hole in as few strokes as possible. It’s a game mostly about luck and drawing lines, but there are a few tweaks that make it dynamic and interesting. The trees will block you, the green will let you hit further, and you can maneuver diagonally to try to get around the challenges on the course.
If you want a pleasing puzzle to relax your brain, Paper Golf could be right for you. While I found the physical notebook quite charming, the PDF download version is also available today.
May the Puzzles Be Ever In Your Favor
Hopefully you found a puzzle that piques your interest! I’ll be back over the next few weeks to talk about my favorite games of the year, and highlight what I’m looking forward to in 2024.
All the best,
Stuart