# Any good DROD-like puzzle games?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-drod-like-puzzle-games/695364>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [August 12, 2014, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-drod-like-puzzle-games/695364 "2014-08-12T12:20:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-drod-like-puzzle-games/695364/1 "2014-08-12T12:20:24Z")

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I’ve been playing pretty much consistently since it cane out [DROD: The Second Sky](http://www.caravelgames.com/Articles/Games_2/TSS.html). I’ve just about plateaued, and I’m probably not going to complete the “good” ending. I was thinking that I could get a recommendation for a puzzle game that has some of the same attributes as DROD.

1 No twitch gameplay, (preferably no timed/skill elements at all)  
2 Completely deterministic: no random elements  
3 lots of different elements that meld together to make a good selection of puzzles  
4. No payment up front. Either freeware or an extensive enough demo that I can make my mind up before forking over cash  
5 No needing to keep repeating elements that you have already solved  
6. Puzzles are generally solved by spotting the “linchpin” that ties the puzzle together, without which it seems impossible.

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**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-drod-like-puzzle-games/695364/2 "2014-08-13T14:20:29Z")

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I’ve been playing [Tetrobot and Co.](http://www.gog.com/game/tetrobot_and_co) and I think it meets all of your requirements except that there’s no demo.

I’m around 60% of the way through it and I haven’t enjoyed a puzzle game this much since the Swapper. Unlike the Swapper, though, Tetrobot is not too short. The mechanics are very, very simple but the puzzles, though there are a lot of them, haven’t felt repetitive or boring at all. There have been a decent amount that have stumped me for a bit before figuring out how to solve it. And once finding the solution, it’s almost always easy and quick to implement it (and obvious in hindsight, as well).

My only complaint is that the menus are all icon instead of text based. That only effects starting the game and getting to the next level, but it was annoying at first.
