Blackshift
I’ve played a lot of puzzle games before, but it’s been a very long time since I’ve been this enthralled by one! There are so many interesting puzzle elements that are introduced completely organically, allowing you to understand them without the use of an explicit tutorial and, instead, through experimentation. New elements are presented even late into the game, which always made me excited to see what would lie in each new area.
The exploration is also fantastic, with secrets hidden in tricky to reach areas that give puzzles an extra layer of depth and make hunting around every nook and cranny feel properly rewarding. The amazing, outside-of-the-box solutions to some of the secrets were mind blowing and always felt amazing to figure out!
– Real player with 324.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Grid-Based Movement Top-Down Games.
On September 22nd, 2020 the game Chip’s Challenge became free on Steam. In Chip’s Challenge you control a character on a tile grid and solve a series of puzzles around moving blocks, opening doors, using tools, avoiding enemies, etc. to reach an end. Here’s the thing, Chip’s Challenge is now thirty years old and shows its age. Puzzle design that seemed engaging and exciting to me in 1995 is now tedious and dull. The joy has worn off.
On September 22nd, 2020 the game Blackshift published on Steam. Blackshift is Chip’s Challenge if it were, well, still good. The base description of the mechanics are the same (ok, you blow up a thing instead of finding an exit) but the “etc.” above keeps on going and going. Even as far as the 98th level new ideas are being added. Puzzles are often creative and surprising. Sure, across 100 levels not all are going to be winners, but by and large figuring out a level is a joy. Every time you beat one you just have to peek at the next one to see what it has to offer. And then you’re there and you just have to give it a try. Then suddenly it’s hours later than when you wanted to stop playing.
– Real player with 38.0 hrs in game
Worm Jazz
A fun and clever little puzzle game that requires thinking ahead before each move. Really like the undo enabling backtracking for those times you take a wrong turn, very intuitive keyboard and mouse assignment as well. Lovely little gem, highly recommended!
– Real player with 15.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Grid-Based Movement Top-Down Games.
Got from IsThereAnyDeal 10 year anniversary giveaway, and love it!
Love the graphics and game play. Puzzles start off easy and ramp up well.
Thoroughly recommend this to anyone into Puzzle games!
Enjoying it so much I recommended it to my partner, and she bought it immediately!
– Real player with 10.4 hrs in game
Blind_
This game will make you reconsider your life and seek more harmonious friendships than the one I have with the developer of the game.
A solid title, possibly has a shot to be the GOTY.
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Grid-Based Movement Singleplayer Games.
A short little game about a Space Invader going blind.
All jokes aside, definitely worth picking up for an hour or two of fun, especially considering the price.
– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
Boxed-In
Story-free, simple action-puzzle game where you trap enemies who are trying to eat you by surrounding them with blocks on all side while avoiding enemies. Each level you complete will have you advancing to the next level where you’ll trap additional enemies. With simple mechanics you’ll find yourself eventually facing a hoard of enemies blocking your every path. Different game modes will give you a variation of game play and leaderboards will let you know where you rank.
Push Blox
Challenging block-pushing puzzle game, where the aim is to connect together all blocks of the same color. Navigate locks, conveyors, lasers, and other obstacles, amid fiendishly designed levels and contraptions.
Features:
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Hand-made puzzles
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Gradually increasing difficulty from simple to deep
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A relaxing, original guitar soundtrack
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Sleek, minimalist interface
Stacker Puzzle
Great game! I really like the minimalist design. Great game to relax and kill time. Congrats to devs!
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
A very good and relaxing puzzle game. To beat the last few levels you need some patience.
– Real player with 1.6 hrs in game
Blockdown
Brainy and unique little puzzle game. I really appreciated all of the filiping and the ways the difference game scenarios would ride out. The levels weren’t that challenging but will tip my hat to the conundrum level. I had to restart that one half a dozen times.
Well worth the price. Kudos to the developer!
– Real player with 11.2 hrs in game
Exquisite graphics with rollercoaster landscapes.
I was transported to a digital amusement park! 😎
– Real player with 2.5 hrs in game
Chessformer
Chessformer is a grid-based puzzle platformer with Chess pieces. Each of the pieces moves as expected, but they fall down after moving and can’t move again until they stop falling. Pieces also stack on top of each other which is key to solving most levels. The goal in each level is to capture the opposing king, who is lazy and never moves, so don’t worry about losing any pieces.
DUSK ‘82: ULTIMATE EDITION
Dusk ‘82 has reminded me of how awesome dungeon crawlers are, as well as the fun and sometimes tricky puzzles within them. If it’s okay to compare it to other games, I’d say there are elements/influences of Ultima, Rogue, Chip’s Challenge and even ZZT in here, intentional or otherwise. It combines a lot of what made those games fun to play and turns it up to 11.
It’s short, sweet and the world is your oyster in terms of customisation and level creation so hopefully this will be one of the most community-serviced titles on this platforms as it has the potential to be.
– Real player with 27.4 hrs in game
Another master piece of David Szymanski, DUSK 82 has to offer a great 8-bit action-puzzler that was used as the prequel of the original classic cult shooter DUSK.
Created in such a simple style, this game reached the expectations that the fans were hopping for the next title of the DUSK series.
I enjoyed the puzzles that the game delivered including the music that was adapted from the first game successfully, meaning that I didnt even felt boring while doing the run of the entire game.
In my final review I would give:
– Real player with 18.3 hrs in game
Maze of Memories
I finished all of these mazes in 3 days (an hour a day). I would put on my music and mindlessly play through the mazes. It was a nice way to wind down after a long day.
– Real player with 3.2 hrs in game