Kwirk, known in Japan as Puzzle Boy, is a puzzle video game developed and published by Atlus in Japan on November 24, 1989, for the Game Boy. The game was later published in North America in March 1990 by Acclaim Entertainment.
Braid is an indie puzzle-platform video game developed by Number None. The game was originally released in August 2008 for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service. Ports were developed and released for Microsoft Windows in April 2009, Mac OS X in May 2009, PlayStation 3 in November 2009, and Linux in December 2010. Jonathan Blow designed the game as a personal critique of contemporary trends in video game development. He self-funded the three-year project, working with webcomic artist David Hellman to develop the artwork.
A hidden object game, also called hidden picture or hidden object puzzle adventure (HOPA), is a subgenre of puzzle video games in which the player must find items from a list that are hidden within a scene. Hidden object games are a popular trend in casual gaming. Time-limited trial versions of these games are usually available for download, although many are free to download on app stores. Popular themes include detective crime stories, adventure, gothic romance, and mystery.
Bubble Ball is a physics puzzle game created by American developer Robert Nay when he was 14 years old. It was released on December 22, 2010 and in its first two weeks was downloaded 2 million times from Apple iTunes. On January 8, 2011, Corona Labs, the company which makes the software development kit that Nay used, chose Bubble Ball as its app of the week and it has since surpassed 16 million downloads, and at one point displaced Angry Birds from its number one spot on the list of free games in Apple app store.
Hohokum is a 2014 art video game developed by Honeyslug and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita, and by Annapurna Interactive for Microsoft Windows. The player controls a snake-like creature to explore 17 whimsical worlds with no set objectives. The developers, who began development in 2008, compared the concept to flying a kite and were inspired by free London museums, Portmeirion, and indigenous cultures. It was released on August 12, 2014, and features a soundtrack by Ghostly International artists. The game received "generally favorable reviews", according to video game review score aggregator Metacritic. Critics appreciated the game's presentation, including its art and music, but felt that the gameplay turned to drudgery towards its end and that the objectives were too vague.
The Bridge is a 2013 video game designed by American developer Ty Taylor for Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Ouya, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch. It was developed by The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild. The player controls an Escher-like character and the rotation of the 2D environment, which affects gravity based on the changing orientation of the landscape.
Monument Valley is a puzzle and indie game by Ustwo Games. The player leads the princess Ida through mazes of optical illusions and impossible objects while manipulating the world around her to reach various platforms. Monument Valley was developed over ten months beginning in early 2013 based on concept drawings by company artist Ken Wong. Its visual style was inspired by Japanese prints, minimalist sculpture, and indie games Windosill, Fez, and Sword & Sworcery, and was compared by critics to M. C. Escher drawings and Echochrome. The art was designed such that each frame would be worthy of public display.
Greg Wohlwend is an American independent video game developer and artist whose games include Threes! and Ridiculous Fishing. He originally formed Intuition Games with Iowa State University classmate Mike Boxleiter in 2007 where they worked on Dinowaurs and other small Adobe Flash games. Trained as an artist, Wohlwend worked mainly on the visual assets. As Mikengreg, they released Solipskier, whose success let the two take a more experimental approach with Gasketball, which did not fare as well. At the same time, Wohlwend collaborated with Asher Vollmer to make Puzzlejuice, and with Adam Saltsman to make Hundreds based on Wohlwend's first game design. He later released Threes! with Vollmer in 2014 to critical acclaim. His later games TouchTone and TumbleSeed were also the products of collaborations. Wohlwend was named among Forbes' 2014 "30 under 30" in the games industry.
Carmen Sandiego Returns is a 2015 social studies puzzle adventure video game, part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise. It is developed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and uses Intel RealSense Technology in order to enhance the immersive nature of player interaction. The educational game aims to teach players about world geography and culture to its 10–14 year old target market.
Donut County is a puzzle video game developed by American designer Ben Esposito and published by Annapurna Interactive in 2018. The player moves a hole to swallow objects, which makes the hole increase in size. The concept originated in a game jam based on pitches from a Twitter account parody of game designer Peter Molyneux and later added a mechanic similar to that of Katamari Damacy. Other inspirations for the game included Hopi figurines—a theme Esposito later relinquished—and locations from Bruce Springsteen songs. Donut County was released in August 2018 for iOS, macOS, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows platforms, while versions for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch were released in December 2018. It was also released for Android in December 2020.
The Trace is a 2015 dark immersive murder mystery adventure game developed by British developer Relentless Software. The whodunnit game, which sees the player assume the role of a detective out to solve a series of murder cases by examining the crime scenes, has been described as "part escape-the-room and part hidden-object, with a bit of puzzle-solving mixed in". The game was available for iOS devices
Bonza is a single-player crossword puzzle application developed by MiniMega, which was chosen by Apple to become part of the App Store's Best of 2014 list.
Mushroom Wars 2 is a real-time strategy video game, developed and published by Zillion Whales. It is the sequel to Mushroom Wars, and was released on iOS, tvOS, Android and Microsoft Windows via Steam on October 13, 2016 and on Nintendo Switch on July 5, 2018. The game is also available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Train Valley 2 is a puzzle-strategy train simulator video game developed by Flazm as a sequel to Train Valley. It was released in early access on 29 March 2018, and fully released on 13 April 2019.
Projection: First Light is a puzzle-platform video game developed by Australian indie developer Shadowplay Studios and published by Blowfish Studios. A prototype of the game was created in Global Game Jam 2016; the developers then teamed up with another Australian Indie studio SweatyChair to create the game in full. It was originally released on iOS through Apple Arcade as a launch title on September 19, 2019, and on Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on September 29, 2019.
Baba Is You is a puzzle video game created by Finnish independent developer Arvi Teikari. The game centers around the manipulation of "rules"—represented in the play area by movable tiles with words written on them—in order to allow the player character, usually the titular Baba, to reach a specified goal. Originating as a short demo built for the 2017 Nordic Game Jam, the game was expanded and released on 13 March 2019 for PC and Nintendo Switch. Mobile versions were released in June 2021. A free update titled "Baba Make Level" was released on November 17, 2021, featuring 250 new and previously unused levels and a level editor with online sharing. Baba Is You received generally favorable reviews from critics.
Mekorama is a puzzle game developed by indie developer Martin Magni. Players control the movement of a robot through paths and various obstacles to reach the end of a level by tapping or clicking the screen. The game features a level editing tool, where players can create custom levels and share them online. The game was initially released for iOS and Android in 2016 and was later ported to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One in 2020.
The Clockwork Man is a hidden object adventure video game series developed by Greek development studio Total Eclipse Games. Featuring a steampunk setting, The Clockwork Man games typically require players to find a certain number of items hidden somewhere on a painted scene, as well as solve a variety of adventure and logical puzzles in order to progress through the game.
Kamibox is an independent German video game developer founded by Philipp Stollenmayer. Stollenmayer is the sole employee of the company, which creates almost exclusively mobile games. Some of Kamibox's games have received awards for their design, including an Apple Design Award. Kamibox games often have a philosophical element to them, such as see/saw and Sometimes You Die, which explore the concept of death in video games.
Lost in Play is a 2022 point-and-click adventure game by Happy Juice Games and published by Joystick Ventures. It was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Nintendo Switch on August 10, 2022, and for iOS and Android on July 12, 2023. As a family-friendly game intended to look like a children's cartoon, the game follows the adventure of two imaginative siblings. Upon release, the game was praised for its charm, creativity, and accessibility.
