1
Animal Well
Animal Well is a single player, rouge like that is absolutely packed with puzzles. The world itself is dark, full of secrets, and you’ll need to explore and collect items to figure out what you need to do next. When it comes to creatures in this strange, under ground cavern, you will not know at first if they are friendly or not. Finding items is most of the gameplay, but you’ll also need to figure out the best way to use them!
If you are looking for a challenging puzzle game with hidden puzzles and tons of content, this is a fantastic option!
2
Return of the Obra Dinn
Return of the Obra Dinn is a first-person adventure that blends mystery and puzzle elements together. Take on the role of an insurance investigator who’s working for the East India Company. Your objective is to figure out what in the world happened to the merchant ship Obra Dinn that suddenly drifted into London’s port, five years after it was declared lost at sea. Use a mysterious pocket watch to turn back time and view each person’s last moments.
Return of the Obra Dinn features an utterly unique art style that looks both retro and fresh, it uses a black-and-white “dithering” technique to create high-resolution visuals using one bit per pixel. Don’t underestimate it though, because Return of the Obra Dinn is visually gorgeous.
3
Good Job!
Good Job! is an action Switch puzzle game that supports up to 2 players and offline gameplay. If you want to climb the corporate ladder, you better be prepared to do whatever it takes! Your job duties will vary from fixing the office’s internet connection to cleaning up the weird goo. With every puzzle you solve, you come one step closer to the executive suite!
Every puzzle is a hilarious exercise in “just how much chaos can I cause.” Why carefully water the plants when you can flood the office? Why wheel the copier into a new room when you can risk lives by constructing a catapult with zero regard for doors, walls, and basic safety? It’s brilliant, laugh-out-loud fun matched by a cartoony art style and slapstick humour.
4
Untitled Goose Game
Untitled Goose Game is another puzzle game for Switch that supports up to two players co-op in offline gameplay. You play as a loose goose that is about to bring chaos to a whole town. Steal hats, set up pranks, honk a lot, and do pretty much anything that you can to be super annoying and ruin everyone’s day.
Following the quest objectives is only part of the fun. Sure, you can steal slippers, trap a terrified kid in a phone booth and drop garden tools in the pond (“rake in the lake” is our favourite quest objective ever) but part of the fun here is in experimentation and generally being horrible. It’s great in single-player, but couch co-op makes puzzle-solving and chaos-worshipping even better. Therefore, we highly recommend you try this funny gameplay together with a friend. All hail the honk.
5
Catherine: Full Body
Vincent’s love life is… complicated… to say the least. On top of that, he’s starting to have weird nightmares that force him to climb for his life. Catherine: Full Body is a mature action-adventure puzzle with an intriguing storyline and challenging puzzles. Gorgeously animated in anime style, you’ll alternate between daytime segments where you’ll navigate Vincent’s relationships with various girlfriends, and nightmare segments climbing a tower made of blocks that must be arranged to facilitate your escape.
Aside from the great story, daytime segments also allow you to purchase drinks which will help in the nightmare segments… but have too many drinks, and you’ll make your escape that much harder. If you’re looking for a more mature puzzler, this is for you.
6
INSIDE
INSIDE is an award-winning puzzle platformer by Playdead. It is known for its art style, a combination of dark visuals and audio that creates a cold, dystopian world. In its 2.5D monochromatic environment, you control a young boy without a name who has to solve a series of puzzles in order to stay alive. This clearly isn’t the one for younger audiences.
INSIDE is atmospherically heavy and creepy, leaving the story open to your own interpretation as you sneak through its haunting halls and otherworldly environments. If you liked Playdead’s previous game, Limbo, you’ll love this.
7
Little Nightmares 2
Little Nightmares 2 is a single-player, 2.5D puzzle platformer. The story precedes the events of the original Little Nightmares. You play as Mono, a boy who’s trapped in a distorted world, caused by a humming transmission coming from a tower far away. A girl named Six will be his guide as he sets out to explore the Signal Tower and uncover its secrets.
It’s atmospheric, grotesque, and foreboding at every turn. A game with such a cute art style shouldn’t be this scary, should it? If you are up for a horror adventure that has a lot of mind-bugging puzzles, Little Nightmares 2 is a must-try. If you have already played it, and looking for something similar, here we have a list of the best mobile games like Little Nightmares.
8
The Talos Principle
The Talos Principle is a single-player, puzzle adventure. You play as a robot, tasked by its creator to solve a series of increasingly complex puzzles in an ancient-looking world. Here you will find 120+ puzzles with different levels of complexity, so it actually might take quite a while to beat the game.
It’s best to go into The Talos Principle knowing as little as possible about its story and its world, but excellent puzzle-solving experience, combined with a unique storyline, make this title a must-have for the fans of the genre. It’ll stay with you for a long time after the final credits roll. Sounds interesting, right? To learn more about this exciting title, feel free to read our The Talos Principle review.
9
Machinarium
There are all sorts of Switch puzzle games. Block-based puzzlers, platformers, first-person, strategy, and the list goes on. Machinarium is a single-player, point-and-click adventure puzzler that was originally released for PC back in 2009. Prepare to solve a series of puzzles and brain-teasers.
The story follows Josef, a little robot who’s trying to get back to the city and reconnect with his girlfriend after he was dumped in a scrapyard. Games are often criticised for being too “brown,” but Machinarium has a unique, sketch-like art style and brown-toned colour wash that only adds to the impression of a cold, surreal robotic world. In case you want to know more about the title, feel free to read our Machinarium review for some additional information.
10
Human: Fall Flat
Human: Fall Flat is an excellent puzzle game with lots of challenging puzzles and entertaining gameplay. You will have to complete levels full of various obstacles, find items and figure out how to use them properly in order to beat the level. The very first task here is to learn how to control your character because it is pretty complicated.
Human: Fall Flat also has a multiplayer mode, therefore, we recommend you play it with friends because solving puzzles together with someone is even more exciting here than in any other similar title. It is definitely worth your attention, but if you are still having doubts about it, feel free to read our Human: Fall Flat review to learn more about this exciting game.
11
Snipperclips – Cut it out, together!
Snipperclips – Cut it out, together! is a unique action-puzzle game. If you are looking for a title to play with friends or family, then you should give this one a try. Snip and Clip must cut each other up in order to overcome tricky obstacles and match the outlined shapes. Or just for fun. Too tall? Take a little off the top. Even though the puzzles are easy at the start, they get increasingly more complex as you progress.
It’s surprisingly pretty, too, with the characters reacting to each snip and cut with joy and laughter. If you have enough controllers, you can even play with four people on the one Switch, making this a fun, light-hearted party title. If you’re not convinced yet, and looking to learn even more about it, we have a Snipperclips review!
12
Human Resource Machine
Another type of Switch puzzle game that blends strategy and simulation elements together is Human Resource Machine, a delight for ‘expert’ nerds. At every level, you have to program little office workers, to automate a task given to you by your boss. If you succeed, and you make your boss happy, well, you get promoted to the next stage.
At the start of the HRM, you can only use 2 commands to program your workers, but as you advance new commands become available, making it more complex. You don’t need to know programming, either. You’ll be automating the workplace in no time! An exciting title, isn’t it?
13
Gorogoa
Gorogoa is a narrative-driven puzzle game. Arrange and combine a series of beautifully illustrated panels in order to solve the puzzles. It may be short and might only take you less than two hours to complete. But, its absolutely amazing art style and unique gameplay make for a great gaming experience. It is a cute story about a young boy that makes you relax and enjoy the adventure.
What makes this more impressive is that it was created by one person, developer Jason Roberts, hand-drawn and written over a period of six years. Without a doubt, such efforts truly deserve admiration, and the title itself is so beautiful you cannot just skip it. If you want to know our detailed opinion about it, make sure to read our Gorogoa review, where we explain in detail why this puzzler is a masterpiece.
14
The Gardens Between
The Gardens Between is a single-player puzzle adventure about two friends reliving their fond memories together. The game’s time manipulation mechanics offer an interesting take on the indie puzzle genre, allowing you to reassemble parts of the environment that were previously impossible. It is a pretty short title, you can complete it in a few hours.
The island environments are bursting with detail, too; from flood-soaked rocks to falling autumnal leaves, the visuals are vibrant, beautiful, and storybook-like. With simple controls and a calm, ambient soundtrack, this is a world you’ll love to get lost in.
15
Tetris 99
How do you make Tetris even better? You make it super competitive.
In this version of Tetris, you are not just competing against yourself, but you go up against 98 other players. That’s right, it’s Tetris meets Fortnite. Who knew the puzzle genre could work as a battle royale? You take part in large-scale online battles and defeat your opponents one by one in order to be the last player standing!
On top of being very entertaining, it’s also totally free for Nintendo Switch Online members, making it a fantastic reason to join the service (in addition to everything else it offers, of course). If that was not enough to convince you to try the game, feel free to read our Tetris 99 review, and after that, destroy your opponents on Tetris battlefield!
16
Death Squared
Most puzzle games are single-player, but not Death Squared. This is a co-op puzzler, and even though it can be played solo, it was clearly made to be played by a group of people. Each player takes control of a robot, which they need to guide to a colour-coded goal. But, there’s a catch. The path is full of deadly traps and hazards. For a team to survive, close observation and communication are key.
This is great to play at parties, but just don’t blame us if you lose a few friendships or relationships along the way. Also, we’re totally not advocating for sabotaging your friends. You won’t clear the level that way… but it’ll be really, really funny. And before you move to the next game on the list, make sure to check out our Death Squared review for more detailed information.
17
World of Goo
World of Goo is a physics-based puzzler where the player must use balls of goo to create bridges and various other large structures, in order to help other goo balls reach the endpoint of each stage.
You will have to overcome not only gravity but also various types of terrain. The challenge is to use as few balls as possible each time. Its strange, surreal levels and quirky designs just make this one even better. Indeed, the level design here is pretty interesting and unique, and on top of that, World of Goo has a simple but, at the same time, beautiful art style. Throughout the game, you will find many new goo balls that have various abilities that you should use wisely to beat the level. For detailed info, check out our review for World of Goo.
18
Super Bomberman R 2
Older players remember Super Bomberman as one of the first battle royale games, even before the genre existed officially. It was just known as a PVP game. Well, many years later, you can rejoice, as Bomberman 2 is out!
The essence of the game is rather simple, you have a limited ring where you need to blow up all other players in order to win. The gameplay is incredibly frenetic, as each player needs to destroy as many obstacles as possible and collect as many boosts as possible before going into a fight with another player. It’s a combo between puzzle solving and quick reflexes, and it’s fun as hell! Bomberman 2 brought a new Castle mode, where a player will have to defend his treasure against the rest of the team. We still think that the original gameplay is much more fun, as it will bring so much laughter.
19
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is an enhanced port of the action-puzzle game that was released for the Nintendo Wii U originally, and then ported to Nintendo Switch. Toad has never quite been the star of his own game quite like this. Take control of Toad and try to safely navigate through various obstacles to reach the endpoint of each level, rotating the levels to reveal hidden paths and avoid enemies. Even better, this port includes additional extra levels, and it also supports multiplayer gameplay.
We have a pretty detailed Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker review for those who want to learn more about the title.
20
Lumines Remastered
Lumines Remastered might initially look like a Tetris clone, but make no mistake: this title is its own addictive beast. Lumines has you dropping square blocks consisting of four smaller blocks and (often) two different colours. Match as many colours as possible before the timeline bar sweeps across the screen from left to right. When the bar touches your matched blocks, the combination will be counted and you’ll be awarded your score. Then, rinse and repeat.
It’s simple to explain, but fiendishly addictive in its execution. Couple that with the game’s sleek design, colourful visuals, and pumping electronic tunes by Mondo Grosso, Lumines is hard to put down. When the song changes, the stage changes. You’ll be returning to this one again, and again, tapping your foot to the rhythm of the bass.
