Gamereactor’s Gamer Guides: Essential Puzzle -.

In our recent Gamereactor’s Gamer Guides series, we presented a selection of titles from a range of genres that serve as a great example of what genre can be at its best. For genres like action or adventure, even RPG, some of the best examples are modern titles that use modern technology to provide stunning experiences. For the world of puzzles, we can tap into titles and series that have transcended time, while also giving nods to brilliant indies of this generation and past generations.

5. Seeker

It starts with a game that is both new, but also an example of puzzling at its best. Sad Owl Studios’ Viewfinder is a delightful, simple and colorful title that plays with perspective in such a way that you will always be surprised with the solution to the problem at hand. Combining photography with environmental manipulation, Viewfinder is one of the finest examples of what a modern puzzle game can and should be.

4. Fez

It seems odd to consider Fez an indie classic, but since this game was born in 2012 when indie developments were much less common, it has become exactly that. This game is all about manipulating a 2D creature in a 2D world, or at least at first. Soon the protagonist Gomez becomes aware of a third dimension and this opens the way to perspective-shifting puzzles from four core angles.

3. Return of the Obra Dinn

One of the best indie puzzle games of all time. The Return of the Obra Dinn is a mind-boggling experience where you take on the role of an insurance investigator tasked with determining what happened to the merchant ship Obra Dinn, which, before entering Falmouth Harbor in 1807 with no crew and damaged sails, was considered lost at sea for five years… This game is all about deduction and using logic to solve the bizarre case.

2. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2

A double hit that combines two timeless greats. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is the love child of the Puyo Puyo bubble-popping series and the block-busting arcade icon Tetris. Essentially, it asks what happens when the two puzzle titans are combined, and leads to an entirely new experience that exudes both the brilliance of the historical puzzle genre, but with modernized and flashy flair. It may have been made in 2020, but this game has all the hallmarks of an ’80s classic.

1. Portal 2

This wouldn’t be a puzzle list if we didn’t mention perhaps the best modern puzzle game. Portal 2 took the refined and fantastic premise of the original portal puzzle game and then added some welcome extra mechanics and deep cooperative support to make a game that is frankly timeless. While the puzzles and mechanics are enough to make this game stand out and flourish, the great story and iconic characters ensure that this game remains above the rest and is firmly planted as our most essential puzzle game that every puzzle fan should play at least once.