Best Philosophical Puzzle Games on PC

The Talos Principle

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!

“The Talos Principle” is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding gaming experiences I’ve EVER had and I’ve been playing video games since the Atari 2600 days. There is a reason why “The Talos Principle” is a hit among critics and the player reviews are “Overwhelmingly Positve.” For me this is a new classic. A game that catches lightning in a bottle. One of those games that scratches an itch I didn’t even know I had.

NOTE: If you think you might get this game, I’d recommend against watching video and looking at player screenshots. They are both highly likely to contain spoilers and inadvertent puzzle hints, both minor and major. I only played the demo going into the full game and I feel the experience was better for it.

– Real player with 103.3 hrs in game

Read More: Best Philosophical First-Person Games.

My favorite game by far in 2014 (and in the last couple years, probably), was The Talos Principle. It was as if this game was specifically made for me.

The most important things for me in single player games are:

the quality and inventiveness of the mechanics—and whether or not I can manipulate them in a meaningful way
immersion (which usually means first-person perspective, excellent sound design, etc..),
the writing/story

Regarding mechanics, combat-focused games are the majority in the industry—especially on PC and especially in first-person games—so those that aren’t centered on combat often must work more creatively to be interesting—games like Myst (1993) and Portal (2007). This is also true of games which have combat, but also offer non-combative methods to play through the game (stealth/sneaking, for example)—ie., Deus Ex (2000), Splinter Cell (2002), and Dishonored (2012). These are my favorite types of games—especially the latter, perhaps because the avoidance of combat adds a further complication to the mechanics of gameplay. So, I was really excited about the First Person Puzzle design of Talos when I played the demo at PAX Prime 2014. It was love at first sight in the demo booth. I had trouble getting through the last couple demo levels on my first try, but it was still extremely satisfying and fun. As I sat struggling with the connectors and fans and boxes, of the fellows from Croteam warned me the Enforcers were coming to run everyone out of the Indie Megabooth, but told me to come back the next day to finish the demo—they’d get me back where I’d left off. So I went back the next morning, finished the demo, and gushed to Croteam about how interesting I found the game and how excited I was to play it on release. I tried to explain that it reminded me of playing Deus Ex and System Shock 2. It’s hard to articulate exactly how Talos relates to these types of games, but they all give me the same kind of satisfaction upon completing an area, even if the mechanics and design are quite different—the end feeling as a player is similar, so there’s some kind of overlap in how the gameplay works on the player. And the first-person immersion helps with that. (I should note here that you can play the game in third-person and easily switch between first- and third-person. I simply prefer first.)

– Real player with 66.5 hrs in game

The Talos Principle on Steam

Dabado Puzzles

Dabado Puzzles is a very difficult puzzle game that takes its inspiration from the classic Tetris, but provides a completely different approach to block stacking.

The objective in every level is to place the blocks in a configuration that allows you to reach certain spots. While in Tetris the goal is to fill up lines to the full, in Dabado you’ll have to spread them out as much as possible (keeping them connected and on top of each other), and extend your construction in all directions. What you obtain in the end is not a wall of tiles, but a branching structure, very much resembling a tree, like so:

– Real player with 13.0 hrs in game

Read More: Best Philosophical Adventure Games.

disclaimer: I did some beta testing before release.

dabado puzzles is a gorgeous tetris-like, and sadly that’s pretty much all the praise I can give. weird shapes of varying weight are falling, try to arrange them in a way that some of them will eventually touch and collect keys (they end the level immediately, so leave them for last), goal and special items, etc. so yeah, tetris with some fluff, pointless abbreviations, a narrative of sorts, and some unnecessarily complicated (or simply unnecessary) resource management.

– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game

Dabado Puzzles on Steam

The Court Of Wanderers

The Court Of Wanderers is a logic focused, non-linear puzzle game set in an enchanted estate where you never know what you will find behind the next door. Due to its mechanics driven design, there are lots of puzzles and surprising interactions to discover. Explore, think, struggle, and be amazed as the impossible becomes possible before your eyes.

Features

Tightly designed and fair puzzles

Learn the rules of The Court, and discover how puzzle mechanics combine and interact in surprising ways. The numerous puzzles are novel and quick to solve, if you know how…
Challenging yet accessible

No feats of timing, quick reactions or dexterity are required, just insight, and unlimited undo and reset a mistake is easily reverted. The game offers plenty of challenging conundrums, but due to its non-linear nature you can always explore somewhere else, and return later with a fresh perspective (or not at all).
An impossible and mysterious world

Discover and rediscover a world that appears and disappears as doors open and close. Make your way through shifting corridors, secret chambers and hidden passages. Will you be able to tease open the doors closed?
Non-linear story

Learn about The Court and its residents through strange memories and philosophical encounters, as you wander through a world that might defy understanding.

Read More: Best Philosophical Fantasy Games.

The Court Of Wanderers on Steam

Revived Souls

You play as Harry the Hermit in this old fashioned celtic world full of magic devices, hidden passages, talking animals and clever logic based puzzles. But do be warned… your killer is in hot pursuit with a plan to destroy you before you can save your village from impending doom! Explore a labyrinth of perplexing puzzles in this quirky escape game that’ll have you wondering whether you’ve reached the conclusion… or just the beginning!

Notice something strange or out of place? Making mental notes and observations will aid you in solving tricky puzzles later on. As you explore the world of talking animals that hate your guts, collecting objects and using them cleverly is crucial in unlocking a trail of puzzles leading you ever closer to saving your loved ones before its too late!

Revived Souls on Steam

reYal

Absolutely worth playing, and worth the money. Like people have said, mindbending, difficult but in a way that guarantees you’ll never be stuck. It’s not that you don’t know the solution, for the most part you’ll know the solution but it will be very mentally taxing to carry it out. Simple, elegant, with appreciated randomization so you could play it again while keeping quite a bit of the challenge.

I’ll admit I’m kind of sour about

! adding a new gameplay mechanic during the most laborious part, when the visuals aren’t even good enough to be sure what it is you’re looking at or what rules might have changed.

– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game

Oh wow! Great puzzle game! Really had me thinking differently.

I had to take it one step at a time til completion!

I love the little characters and different styles.

The tunes were great and had a very peculiar sense of things getting… odd.

I can’t wait to see more by the developer.

– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game

reYal on Steam

Shape

Great art, solid first person puzzler. It’s just a bit short, but worth the price if this dev will make a longer part 2.

– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game

poetic

– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game

Shape on Steam

Yin Yang

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

– Real player with 4.9 hrs in game

Was a pleasure to play

– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game

Yin Yang on Steam

Dooria

This is a great game for someone who has some time on their hands and likes to figure things out. Each section of the game has its own rules, which provides for a good deal of variety. It has a pleasant atmosphere throughout and is contemplative as opposed to action-packed. A lot of bang for the buck at $16.

– Real player with 105.0 hrs in game

If you want to get your ass handed to you by a gentle sweet game with calming music and the meanest puzzles I’ve seen in a while, by all means try this game out. This really itched a part of my lizard brain I that I had been missing from other puzzle games.

Downsides are: 1) It can be frustrating and tricky to figure out all of the rules at first (due to some differing door varieties and etc) and 2) it’s not easy to figure out the “plot” of what all doors to open and how close you are to being finished…. but overall definitely persevere if you’re a puzzle junkie like myself.

– Real player with 6.0 hrs in game

Dooria on Steam

Recursive Ruin

Lose yourself in the Infinite Realms, a dying, fractal world of strange beauty and mind-bending physics that repeats eternally inward and outward. Uncover the secrets of seven unique locations filled with hidden spaces and strange denizens. Overcome the impossible and use circular logic to manipulate recursive physics and solve challenging, self-referential puzzles.

Begin an introspective search for meaning and experience a bittersweet story that cascades into the surreal. Use your unique abilities and shape the world to beat back the scourge known as Ichor, a malevolent substance eating away at the fabric of reality.