# Best Puzzle Games for PC? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 27, 2016, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280 "2016-02-27T10:53:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/1 "2016-02-27T10:53:48Z")
I’m looking for PC games like early stage Portal (or its addons like Rexaura), i.e. pure, straightforward puzzles. I don’t want a game where everything attacks you and you fire a ton of ammo at it. I don’t want a game where you have to click on everything you see, looking for clues, or worse, looking for some object that you needed three rooms ago. I don’t want a game where you have to commandeer various types of vehicles and travel for miles to get to the next puzzle, and sometimes don’t even know which direction to go. And I especially don’t want a game where success depends on ninja moves, or doing something very intricate in a short time limit. I just want something clean and simple like Portal, where the rules are clear, the equipment is provided, and the most important tool for solving the puzzles is your brain. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/2 "2016-02-27T11:27:34Z")
I haven’t played either, but based on your post I’d take a look at [the Talos Principle](http://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/) and [the Witness](http://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/). ---
**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:** [February 27, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/3 "2016-02-27T11:52:51Z")
I absolutely love DROD. It’s a simple mechanic. You play a swordsman, with a really big sword. It’s on a grid, you take up 1 square, your sword takes up 1 square, most enemies take up 1 square each. Each turn you can either hold position, move 1 space in any direction or turn your sword 45 degrees, then the monsters move. Monsters all move using a strict determinitve and intuitive algorithm, and there are various other puzzly things like trapdoors and 1 way arrows that add to the mix. The demo version is free and there’s masses of free top quality fan made level sets. The full game, (there are 5 of them) isn’t expensive either and is well worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Garula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Garula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garula)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/4 "2016-02-27T12:53:12Z")
SpaceChem is my all time favorite puzzle game. In my mind no other game matches its roller coaster feeling of “This is impossible! I must be the dumbest ever.” -\> “Wait a second, what if I try this…” -\> “Yes! I am the smartest person ever!” -\> “This is impossible! I must be the dumbest ever.” Infinifactory by the same guy is also great. Hexcells and Antichamber probably also deserve a positive mention. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/5 "2016-02-27T12:56:33Z")
Not quite what I’d call straightforward puzzles, as the game likes to perplex you with it’s perspective shifts, but Antichamber might be up your alley : [Antichamber on Steam](http://store.steampowered.com/app/219890/) Also I haven’t played it, but I’ve heard great things about Mirror Moon: [MirrorMoon EP on Steam](http://store.steampowered.com/app/231310/) Also I just thought about how amazing the inverse of your OP would be. A game where nothing attacks you, where you have to look for clues and objects you needed three rooms ago, where you are a commander of various vehicles and travel for miles to reach the next puzzle, without a map or compass or map markers so you are always lost, where success depends on ninja moves, and features super limited timed puzzles, a game that is dirty and complex, where the rules are hidden, equipment needs to be crafted, and the most important tool for solving puzzles is your crotch. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/6 "2016-02-27T13:46:37Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > I haven’t played either, but based on your post I’d take a look at [the Talos Principle](http://store.steampowered.com/app/257510/) and [the Witness](http://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/). Stop everything and get **The Witness**. It is probably the greatest puzzle game on the PC, and I mean pretty much of all time. Play for more than a couple hours and it will reveal itself to be one of the all time greats. Talos Principle was good, but is not as good. Antichamber is also an amazing game. ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/7 "2016-02-27T13:55:00Z")
I believe [the Swapper](http://store.steampowered.com/app/231160/) is exactly the kind of game you’re describing. ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/8 "2016-02-27T14:13:33Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > I absolutely love DROD. It’s a simple mechanic. You play a swordsman, with a really big sword. It’s on a grid, you take up 1 square, your sword takes up 1 square, most enemies take up 1 square each. Each turn you can either hold position, move 1 space in any direction or turn your sword 45 degrees, then the monsters move. Monsters all move using a strict determinitve and intuitive algorithm, and there are various other puzzly things like trapdoors and 1 way arrows that add to the mix. The demo version is free and there’s masses of free top quality fan made level sets. The full game, (there are 5 of them) isn’t expensive either and is well worth it. I strongly second this, DROD is an absolute classic among turn based puzzle games. That said, I would recommend buying the first three games from [GOG](http://www.gog.com/game/drod_1_2_3) and starting with the second game, Journey to Rooted Hold; it’s a pretty big step up in terms of puzzle design in my opinion. The first game has a number of great puzzles, but also a bunch that are just tedious, with the second game having much fewer duds. The first game also doesn’t have much plot to speak of, so there’s no real confusion doing it that way. I should add that there is a game in the series that is designed in part to be an easy entry point into the series, [Gunthro and the Epic Blunder](http://www.gog.com/game/drod_4_gunthro_and_the_epic_blunder). It is a prequel to the others. I have not played it myself yet, so I can’t say more than that about it. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/9 "2016-02-27T14:21:34Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > A game where nothing attacks you, where you have to look for clues and objects you needed three rooms ago, where you are a commander of various vehicles and travel for miles to reach the next puzzle, without a map or compass or map markers so you are always lost, where success depends on ninja moves, and features super limited timed puzzles, a game that is dirty and complex, where the rules are hidden, equipment needs to be crafted, and the most important tool for solving puzzles is your crotch. No thanks, that’s pretty much my daily life; I’m looking for something different. ETA: Thanks to everybody for the suggestions; I hope Steam has a discount weekend coming up soon. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/10 "2016-02-27T15:17:27Z")
Some great picks (Antichamber, Talos Principle, etc). Here’s a couple more good “Puzzle Room” style games: [Quantum Conundrum](http://store.steampowered.com/app/200010/) was made by one of the developers who helped make Portal. It tries to capture the same feeling with its physics based puzzle rooms complete with third party voice-overs but didn’t hit quite the same buttons to make it a Portal-esque phenomenon. The idea is that you have a device to “shift dimensions” on the fly, for instance making everything in the room soft and bouncy, or super dense, or frozen in time, etc. ($2.69 at [Gamestop](http://www.gamestop.com/pc/games/quantum-conundrum/102407) right now) [QUBE](http://store.steampowered.com/app/239430/) has you in a space station, manipulating portions of the room to either extend or contract and rotating your environment. ($5.49 at [GamesRocket](https://us.gamesrocket.com/download/QUBE-Directors-Cut.html?ref=516¤cy=USD) right now) [Polarity](http://store.steampowered.com/app/315430/) is about shifting colors of objects between red and blue to allow them to interact and open the path to “data” that you’re supposed to steal. (Steam is the only seller, so $11 right now. Been as cheap at 19¢) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/11 "2016-02-27T15:31:22Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > A game where nothing attacks you, where you have to look for clues and objects you needed three rooms ago, where you are a commander of various vehicles and travel for miles to reach the next puzzle, without a map or compass or map markers so you are always lost, where success depends on ninja moves, and features super limited timed puzzles, a game that is dirty and complex, where the rules are hidden, equipment needs to be crafted, and the most important tool for solving puzzles is your crotch. Sounds like a gritty reboot of Leisure Suit Larry! Also, no one cares but me but I messed up the description of Polarity. You change YOUR color from red to blue which allows you to interact with like colored objects, such as passing through a field or lifting a cube. The puzzle comes from how to get your blue cube through the red field. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/12 "2016-02-27T15:34:11Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > [QUBE](http://store.steampowered.com/app/239430/) has you in a space station, manipulating portions of the room to either extend or contract and rotating your environment. ($5.49 at [GamesRocket](https://us.gamesrocket.com/download/QUBE-Directors-Cut.html?ref=516¤cy=USD) right now) QUBE was the first thing I thought of - very good game. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/13 "2016-02-27T16:37:55Z")
I’ll second Quantum Conundrum. It is very much in the spirit of Portal. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/14 "2016-02-27T16:40:46Z")
Check out [Braid](http://braid-game.com/) and [The Bridge](http://www.thebridgeisblackandwhite.com/). They are both absolutely brilliant. The second is probably much closer to what you’ve described, but really give Braid a good look. It _looks_ like a traditional twitchy platform game, but it’s really not; there’s no such thing as “game over” because you can reverse time at will (and you have to, because it’s the major mechanic of the game). Puzzle Dimension is more a pure puzzle game. You roll a ball from the beginning of the level to the portal at the end, completing a seemingly simple task along the way. [The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom](http://winterbottomgame.com/) is not what the OP is looking for, but for anyone else reading who’s into more of a twitchy puzzle experience, it’s worth checking out. Many of these have free demos on Steam. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/15 "2016-02-27T23:10:22Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I’ll second Quantum Conundrum. It is very much in the spirit of Portal. It was a lot of fun. I’d almost forgotten about it. Seriously, though, the Witness is one of the greatest games since Portal 2. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/16 "2016-02-28T00:43:00Z")
Oh! Oh! I don’t know if it has a PC release, but Monument Valley! It’s one of the most purely satisfying gaming experiences I’ve had in ages. You play a character who navigates a 3d world with Escher physics. The mechanics are as simple as Portal’s; there’s no twitch to the gameplay; and it’s absolutely brilliant. Edit: [no PC release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Valley_%28video_game%29), sadly–but if you have access to an Android or IOS device, I highly recommend picking it up. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-puzzle-games-for-pc/747280/17 "2016-02-28T19:29:52Z")
If you liked Portal you’ll probably like Aperture Tag. I think you need Portal 2 to play it, but you should be playing that as well. Re: Aperture Tag: There’s one level that’s very twitchy, but I beat it so almost anyone can beat it. Another vote for Monument Valley.