The 10 best puzzle games of 2023

The best puzzle games released in 2023 to have you scratching your head

Author:
Ryan Woodrow
Publish date:
Dec 26, 2023 4:00 AM EST

While big RPGs and open-world adventures took center stage for much of 2023, the clever puzzlers were still tinkering away in the background, creating mind-bending experiences for anyone who dared play their games. It’s made 2023 a surprisingly good year for puzzle games, so we’ve picked out a selection of our favorites.

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code

Although most fans agree this didn’t quite live up to the developer’s previous work on the Danganronpa series, there is still a lot of fun to be found in Raincode. If you love that style of gameplay, animation, and storytelling, then there is plenty on offer here for something familiar yet new.

Molecano

Not every puzzle game has to be some mad mind-bending journey. Molecano is a much less intense puzzler, but you may find it every bit as addictive. Available exclusively on mobile, you have to create as many words as you can from the six letters you’ve been given, and then place them on the board to help your friendly mole character cross pits of lava. It’s a delightful little adventure that can tickle your brain whenever you have a little bit of time to kill.

Humanity

In Humanity, your job as the ethereal space dog you are the guide massive hordes of humans up into the afterlife. The only problem is that all they do is mindlessly walk forward like Lemmings, meaning you have to put objects in their path that they can use to get to where they need to be. It’ll have you head-scratching in no time, and the amount of humans you can have on screen at once is rather impressive from a technical standpoint.

Chants of Sennaar

If you liked Heaven’s Vault and how that game dealt with you translating unfamiliar languages, then you’ll love what Chants of Sennaar does, having you decipher an entire language from scratch to help a planet communicate with each other. It’s a theme that still not many developers have played around with, and this is another great take on the concept.

The Talos Principle 2

The Talos Principle 2 is one of the more high-profile puzzle releases of the year, and it’s definitely worth your time. The overbearing philosophy and so-so story can be a bit of a drag, but don’t let that distract you from the truly genius puzzle design on display – it’s the kind of game that no one else seems to want to make anymore, so we’re glad The Talos Principle is keeping it alive.

Viewfinder

Viewfinder is one of the best types of puzzle games in that, despite having beaten it, I’m still not sure I fully understand it. You can progress on your journey in Viewfinder by projecting images into the real world, and putting a 2D image into a 3D space is just as mind-bending as it sounds. It’s a game where I’m just as curious about how making it was even possible, as I am in playing it.

I Expect You To Die 3: Cog in the Machine

The I Expect You To Die games are some of the best available for VR. These games are essentially a series of mini-escape rooms, where you’re thrust into various spy missions and have to solve a series of puzzles to avoid your inevitable demise. This third game in the series keeps the quality of the first two while making the death-defying scenarios bigger and better than before.

Storyteller

This is a quick and simple puzzler, but one that is endlessly endearing. Here you have a limited number of panels to tell a specific story, and you must carefully organize the characters and scenes to get them to do what you want. Add to that bonus objectives and the recently added Devil levels, and you’ve got a game that you won’t be able to put down until you’ve done it all.

American Arcadia

This game flew under the radar of many, but it’s absolutely worth checking out for its story. It has plenty of fun puzzle and platforming sequences, but the real draw is the narrative. You follow Trevor, a man who is in a Truman Show-style scenario, except his life is so boring that he’s being removed from the show until an activist starts helping him escape. It has some brilliant twists and turns plus an incredibly satisfying ending you will not see coming.

Cocoon

This game is less mind-bending and more space-time distorting. It’s one of the most high-profile puzzlers of this year, but that’s because it really is that good. Cocoon will have you transporting yourself between layers of dimensions – dimensions that you can hold and move around inside of little orbs. It’s a difficult concept to describe, and the only way to truly click with it is to experience it for yourself, and we thoroughly recommend you do.