What are the best puzzle games on Xbox One?

Limbo has very unique environment with highly creative puzzles that offer a great experience with monochrome, b/w and other dim colors. See More

score 8 · Answer 2

Limbo

Top Pro

Artistic puzzle

Top Con

Has some pacing issues

The first half of the game is filled with interesting creatures that you as a player encounter on the journey. While in sharp contrast, the second half of the game takes place in a deserted industrial area devoid of any lifeforms and even though puzzles become more and more interesting as you approach the end of the game, this sharp contrast between the two halves of the game creates some serious pacing issues. The pacing issues are even more evident as you reach the ending, which while good comes quite unexpectedly. See More

Specs

Most players die a lot in Limbo. fortunately this does not translate to a frustrating experience while playing the game. If you die from a trap, the game immediately reloads and takes the character right before reaching that very same puzzle. This way you can try again immediately and find a solution. See More

Top Pro

Does not become frustrating even if you die a lot

Top Con

Somewhat short

Limbo can be finished in about 5-6 hours on average. See More

Top Pro

Manages to communicate circumstance and casualty in a unique way

Being completely devoid of text, dialogue, and explanation Limbo manages to communicate circumstance and casualty to the player in a simple way not found in other games. Having a game completely devoid of those three things is hard but Limbo manages to pull it off perfectly. See More

Top Con

Ending comes somewhat abruptly

There's little lead up to the ending so it comes a little too suddenly and unexpectedly. See More

Top Pro

Astonishing sound design

The sound design is simply great. Even though there's virtually no soundtrack to speak of, the sound effects do a great job of creating the perfect atmosphere in which the players immerse themselves. What's more is that if you pay close attention to the sound cues while solving a puzzle, you will find out that the sound effects are quite helpful in reaching your objective. See More

Top Con

May be too dark for children

The game, by design, has the main character dying quite a bit, often very gruesomely, and so may not be appropriate for younger players. See More

Top Pro

Immerses the player fully

Since there are no cutscenes or loading screens, Limbo makes you fully immerse yourself in the puzzles and atmosphere of the game. See More

Top Pro

Good for people who don't want to waste too much time on a game

Being a relatively short game (five or six hours long), it's perfect for people who love interesting puzzle games that don't overstay their welcome. See More

Top Pro

Unique black and white aesthetic

Limbo uses (what was once) a very unique monochromatic color scheme to give an atmospheric feel. See More

Top Pro

Quite addictive

Limbo manages to keep your attention all throughout the game by consistently presenting new, interesting things for you to solve. It starts out simple, but increasingly gets more intricate and grows into smart multi-part puzzles. See More

The playable character in this game moves around like a boneless blob of jelly learning to walk for the first time, making for some silly animations and awkward movements. Animations and interactions are over animated and cartoonish which can lead to some hilarious - whether intentional, and most oftentimes unintentional - consequences such as falling off edges, flailing around, and knocking yourself over. See More

score 11 · Answer 3

Human: Fall Flat

Top Pro

Very funny

Top Con

Short

The game is too short and will leave you wanting more. The solo campaign clocks in at about 6 hours of game play. See More

Top Pro

Hilarious co-op mode

Playing co-op is where the hilarity and fun in this game truly shines. It's quite satisfying to push and bump your teammates around, even if that includes sending them plummeting over the edge of tall structures. There's nothing quite like slapping your friend's character, only to see them fall, slip, and bounce around the levels. It's funny to watch them struggle to get their bearings back, only to give them another good slap and watch them flail around all over again. Solving puzzles with your friends can result in some humorous situations as you accidentally slap and knock each other over trying to accomplish even the simplest of tasks. See More

Top Con

Not much visual appeal

This game doesn't contain much in the way of vibrant colors, interesting shapes, or textures. Mostly everything in the game is a shaded, blocky object that only consists of a few plain colors. Having an entire world populated by boring shapes and washed-out colors results in an environment without much visual appeal. See More

Top Pro

Playing co-op with your friends adds a whole new experience to the puzzle solving

Playing co-op with your friends allows you to reach new areas and solve puzzles that you can't do in solo play. Puzzles can be overcome and solved differently based on the number of players. For example, when playing alone you may find something you can't possibly lift or move yourself. However, add a friend into the mix and now you're able to work together to lift and move that object. Ledge you can't quite reach yourself? Have a friend give you a boost! See More

Top Con

Can cause motion sickness due to camera shaking

The excessive camera shaking causes a lot of players to experience motion sickness, and at the time of this writing can not be modified to a lower setting or disabled. Even if you aren't considered sensitive, you should still take precautions. Perhaps this will be solved in a future update. See More

Top Pro

Oddly rewarding control scheme

Being able to maneuver your bloblike character efficiently takes some skill, and as a result, feels rewarding once it's mastered. One of the things players will initially notice with the controls is that walking and jumping work as one would expect, however there is a very pronounced wobble and bounce to it. The playable character controls like a boneless blob of jelly, making each step and interaction look cartoonish and overly-animated in nature. These controls take some getting used to, but add a level of charm to the animation. Additionally, your left and right arms are controlled separately which is very unique among games. This is utilized in many of the game's puzzles such as holding yourself against a column with one arm, while using the other to move or manipulate another object into place. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic physics

Objects can be pushed, pulled, swung, and dragged around in a variety of ways as they collide into each other, fly through the air, spin, and twist - often with a low-gravity type effect. Pushing, pulling, and dragging objects just has a satisfying feel that makes you feel like each object has mass and density, and is a part of the world. See More

Top Pro

Levels have multiple paths, encouraging discovery

As you make your way through the game world, you will encounter a variety of different environmental puzzles that block your path to the exit. However, getting stuck or stumped is rarely a problem as most levels have multiple paths that you can find. With a little exploration, you should be able to discover an alternate route to bypass the environmental puzzle that is giving you problems. This gives the player an opportunity to replay levels in a different way, and discover each level in its entirety. See More

Top Pro

You can personalize your avatar with colors and textures

Included with the game is a basic paint option which allows players to customize their avatar. Selecting colors from a palette, you can paint your avatar's head, hat, and body using a variety of different brush sizes. Additionally, you are able to upload your own pictures (such as your own face) and apply them to areas of your personalized avatar as a texture. It's a great way for players to give their avatar a personal touch and make themselves stand out during co-op games. See More

Top Pro

Good progression of difficulty

The levels gradually become physically bigger and more challenging as you progress throughout the game. This gives us time to get used to how the character controls as well as how the puzzles operate. As you advance, the puzzles become increasingly more difficult, and the levels become increasingly wider. By building upon what you are learning in previous levels, there's a distinct sense of progression from one level to the next. See More

All of the puzzles use a simple concept where you draw a line from point A to point B to solve them. This could get old really fast, but the developer has thought of many ways to keep it fresh. While the regular variants are just maze puzzles, they gradually get new layers added to them. It can be symbols you have to separate, panels you have to look at from different angles or clues in the environment. Even after solving around 300 puzzles, the new puzzles you encounter will still feel exciting. See More

score 14 · Answer 4

The Witness

Top Pro

Cleverly designed puzzles

Top Con

Some puzzles might be impossible for the colorblind and hearing impaired

Certain puzzles use colors to hint at the solution. If you're not able to tell them apart it may be impossible to solve the puzzles. There are also that puzzles require you to listen to the sounds in the environment and use them for the solution. Some of them are masked with sound effects such as car horns or birds chirping, making the puzzles hard to solve. This becomes a lot more difficult if your hearing is impaired. See More

Top Pro

Thought provoking world

Even if some of the puzzles are rage-inducingly hard, the world of the Witness is really peaceful. It's an uninhabited island littered with stone statues and mismatched environments. Yet none of it feels out of place. It is really intriguing to explore each new area, especially because you can find voice recordings in them. At first these may seem like simple audio logs, but each one contains essential clues to gently shift your thought process. To succeed you need to shift your perspective and think outside the box. See More

Top Pro

Non-linear gameplay

You can do the puzzles in any order you'd like and you can explore the island any way you'd like. If a puzzle becomes too hard you can almost always find another one. See More

Top Pro

Vivid graphics make you want to explore

Everything about this game leads you toward exploration, even the graphics. They're very vibrant and feel alive, invoking in you a sense of wonder. This is thanks to a great variety of colors, ranging from wild, hot pinks to more subdued ocean tones. The colors are also used contrast the environments and make them stand out. For example, there's a location painted orange autumn colors next to a grayish-white quarry. See More

Spelunky gives the player everything needed to succeed from the start so it is only when the players skills get better will they advance. See More

score 7 · Answer 5

Spelunky

Top Pro

Provides an interesting challenge by heavily relying on increasing your skill

Top Con

Difficult to the point of frustration

Spelunky is pretty difficult and some could say abusive, but with practice and a desire for masochism the game can be mastered. See More

Specs

Genre:Platformer / Indie / Roguelike

Co-Op:4 Player Couch

Controller Support:Full

Spelunky features 4 player local co-op where players share the same screen, which can get a bit hectic. See More

Top Pro

Up to 4 player local co-op

Top Con

Co-op is boring and confusing

In co-op this game is very confusing with little instruction on how to play. With little to spice up the game play, it gets boring quickly. See More

Top Pro

Expanded gameplay through mods to improve replayability

Ranging from Mega Man to Metroid, there are a tone of great mods for Spelunky all of which make for a new experience in the game which vastly expands the replayability. See More

Top Pro

Quick sessions so you can play in short bursts

Being that Spelunky is at its heart a roguelike the gameplay sessions can tend to be quick as the player will die quite often. This makes for something that can be played in quick bursts throughout the day. The convenient saving also lends to this as a game that is still ongoing can be quickly saved in order to be picked up at a later time. See More

The puzzles in the game are great, but they're tied together with a thought provoking story line filled with mystery and intrigue. A story about a robot with human consciousness who is being guided by a disembodied voice, are they to be trusted? As the story progresses the player is drip fed clues which can lead them closer to the truth. See More

score 5 · Answer 6

The Talos Principle

Top Pro

Great storyline

GenerousChimalma's Experience

One of my favorite games. Intricate story, a bunch of easter eggs and just a well rounded puzzle game. See More

Specs

Genre:Adventure, Puzzle

Starts out easy enough, but gets to some truly difficult puzzles by the end. If you get stuck on a puzzle you can skip it and come back to it later. See More

Top Pro

Difficulty ramp-up

Top Pro

Lots of side content

Many Easter eggs and more difficult puzzles as well as an ending in many parts of the game, as well as hidden lore. See More

Top Pro

Rewards exploration and out-of-the-box thinking

It's hard to explain this without spoiling anything, but there are lots of "aha!" moments you will encounter on the areas if you get invested into the story, making the game deeper. See More

Top Pro

Great original soundtrack

The soundtrack is very pleasant to listen to and fits perfectly with all the areas and themes present in the game. It varies from calm music, for those heavenly areas where you are solving puzzles, to more misterious and epic pieces for moments when things get... real. It's good to have some nice music playing while your brain is melting from solving the puzzles, or just appreciating the scenery. See More

The puzzles in Valiant Hearts aren't exactly the most difficult, but they'll often require a little more thought than you initially believe. One type of the puzzles you'll have to solve is fixing a pipe system. You just have to turn sections of the pipe system until it all fits together. Even solving something so simple is very satisfying and leaves you with a feeling of achievement. See More

score 5 · Answer 7

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Top Pro

Simple but satisfying puzzles

Top Con

Historical facts may become annoying

There are historical fact boxes that will pop up during gameplay. They are optional, but can be annoying because they disrupt the flow of the gameplay. See More

Top Pro

A game about war where you don't kill anyone

Valiant Hearts tells a story about war, but you're not the one spreading death and misery. Your character simply journeys through battlefields, trenches, and various other locations. You meet other characters and solve puzzles along the way. This is quite refreshing because most modern titles about war always have a gun toting player character. See More

Top Con

Short

Valiant Hearts takes about 6 hours to complete and there's not much to do afterwards. While the collectibles give this game some replay value, not many players will be interested in finding them. See More

Top Pro

Striking artistic style

The style of Valiant Hearts appeals to most aesthetics. It's simple and clean, allowing you to spot even the tiniest details in character designs and backgrounds. You'd occasionally spot interesting things like a flute attached to a soldiers backpack. Or even spot a very detailed Cathedral in the spaces between the rubble. The colors are very dim and blend quite well, giving you the sombre feeling of war. There are no random mashups of colors or effects like in many recent games. See More

Here an there are a few really tough puzzles in the game which can be frustrating, luckily they are few and far between as the gameplay does not tend to repeat itself too often. See More

score 3 · Answer 8

Thomas Was Alone

Top Con

Some puzzles can be difficult

Top Pro

Enjoyable professional narration

What really drives the well crafted story home is the wonderful narration done by British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television, Danny Wallace. Not many indie small budget games receive the polish this game has in their voice acting, which really adds to the experience when playing the game. See More

Specs

Genre:Puzzle, Platformer

The gameplay only lasts about 3 or 4 hours. See More

Top Con

Short

Top Pro

SImple, peaceful gameplay

Gameplay is introduced at a relaxed rate, and is never frustrating or off-putting. It's not big on challenge, but does require some thinking. Everything is solvable, new techniques are introduced as they are needed for the story, and the whole thing just radiates relaxation and love. See More

Top Pro

Polished ethereal soundtrack

Haunting guitar strums mixed with beautiful piano chords and bits of chiptune creates a very fitting soundtrack that allows for an experience of polish not often found. See More

Top Pro

Great story

For what is a pretty simplistic looking game, Thomas Was Alone offers a truly great story that actually gets the player to care about what are basically squares and rectangles. See More

The controls for the game work through the player controlling two different characters simultaneously with the two analog thumb sticks on ones controller. A unique feature that creates a fun way to interact with the game that makes for a memorable experience. See More

score 4 · Answer 9

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Top Pro

Innovative control scheme

Top Con

Puzzles are on the easy side

While the story and environment of the game are a pleasure the puzzles themselves are pretty easy and casual offering little challenge. While it can be a good game for those that like casual puzzles, those that enjoy a more difficult gameplay will be at a loss. See More

Specs

Genre:Adventure, Puzzle

The story is told silently without text and it is through the games puzzles/gameplay that one learns the story of the game. This is quite a departure from many games where the story is told to the player, here is is learned through playing. See More

Top Pro

Uniquely tells much of the story through gameplay mechanics

Top Con

The controls takes some time getting used to

It might take some minutes of struggling before getting the hang of it. See More

Top Pro

It's a short game worth your time

This game takes you through an amazing world and tells a unique story, without any dialogue or text. See More

Never Alone is an actual collaboration work of top industry devs, an educational group and actual Alaskan natives. Ideally this is supposed to give the game a more genuine story and background while also staying educational and fun. See More

score 3 · Answer 10

Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)

Top Pro

Collaboration of veteran gaming devs an educational group and Alaskan natives

Top Con

Transition from game to videos feels disjointed

It almost feels like the player is interupted when a video unlocks and definitely feels disjointed to leave the gameplay to then watch another video. See More

Specs

Genre:Puzzle/Platformer

Being that the game wes helped developed by actual Alaskan natives, the folklore of the game holds a lot off weight that gets you right in the feels. See More

Top Pro

Interactive folklore

Top Con

Difficulty spikes 90 minutes in

The game spikes its difficulty at around the 90 minute mark, whether this is on purpose to stay true to life (in that some points in life are not fun and difficult to get through) or is just bad design is probably up to the player to decide. See More

Top Pro

Videos that tell true stories accompany sections in the game

At many points in the game a player will unlock videos that tell true stories that directly relate to what is happening in the game. See More

In order to overcome obstacles in your path, get at loot in hard to reach places, or use teamwork to solve a variety of puzzles, the game encourages a deep level of coordination and communication between players that isn't required in most other isometric dungeon crawlers. This makes it a great co-op game to play with friends. Boost a friend to the top of a column for hard to reach loot, pull a switch so they can access a locked gate in another area, or even lay down a rope line to help your friends cross a perilous chasm. Almost everything in co-op play will require multiple people working together to advance throughout the level. Additionally, the puzzles scale based on the number of players, oftentimes adding new mechanics such as switches, levers, and walls that aren't present in solo play. Nobody will ever feel left out as there's always a way for players to contribute to solving puzzles whether you're playing with 2 or 4 friends. See More

score 2 · Answer 11

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

Top Pro

Co-op play encourages strong teamwork and coordination

Top Con

The story is generic and simple

If you're looking for a deep and intricate story, you won't find it here. The plot revolves around Lara and friends finding all the pieces of Osiris and putting him back together to stop the evil god Set from enslaving all humanity. There's not much depth or character development. See More

Top Pro

Various loot adds a bit of an RPG element

While this is not a loot-based dungeon crawler, there's still a variety of different weapons to discover and blast your foes with, as well as gems and treasure chests scattered around the levels. The gems are used to open treasure chests that contain rings and amulets. This loot provides combat bonuses such as extra fire damage, a leech effect to steal health from enemies, or provide a bigger blast radius for your bombs. Finding these gems and treasure chests will require some exploration into hard to reach areas, oftentimes by utilizing the help of your friends, but looting a new ring or amulet to increase your combat capabilities makes it a worthy endeavor and gives the game a light RPG element. See More

Top Con

Online co-op with strangers can be frustrating

Most of the intricate and complex puzzles require intense cooperation and communication between players. Achieving that level of coordination playing online with strangers is difficult and frustrating in some situations. See More

Top Pro

Boss fights incorporate puzzles

Sometimes the boss battles incorporate elements of the puzzles from the level you just played, and build on them a bit. This makes the boss battles more strategic. Instead of just pumping lead into them and mashing buttons, you have to strategically alter the environment to take them down. For example, there is a snake boss that requires you to arrange mirrors and shoot lasers to expose the weak areas of the boss. Your friend may be arranging the mirrors while you're shooting the lasers. Discovering the trick to defeating each boss is highly rewarding as each encounter incorporates a clever, satisfying mix of action, teamwork, and puzzles. See More

Top Pro

Good balance between action and puzzle solving

You'll do your fair share of running and gunning through hordes of scarabs and skeletons, but the action is offset nicely by numerous environmental puzzles. There's just enough action so that you stay on your toes, but it's never overbearing to the point you'll ever feel overwhelmed by enemies. The puzzles are spaced liberally to give a break from the action and let your brain do the heavy lifting for a while. Every so often, you'll put your weapons down and instead pull levers, throw down rope lines, shoot lasers at mirrors, and change the flow of waterways in an attempt to continue down your path. See More

The puzzles are nothing difficult and the game mechanics are simple enough aswell for children to play through the game. See More

score 3 · Answer 12

Unravel

Top Pro

Simple enough for children to play

Top Con

Feels short

Though it's a good few hours of gameplay, the game feels a bit short. A few additional levels(memories to collect) would improve the experience. See More

Specs

Genre:Puzzle, Platformer

Though it's a platformer, the graphics are actually very lifelike, just in a side-view. See More

Top Pro

Awesome graphics

Top Pro

Beautiful environment

The environment is inspired by the beautiful scenery of Northern Scandinavia, including forest, swamps and fields. all during different seasons aswell. The game in colorful, but lifelike, creating a really pleasant vibe. See More

Top Pro

Amazing soundtrack

The soundtrack consists of sweet and beautiful instrumental pieces, adding to the overall nostalgic vibe. See More

The game's music is a special blend of sounds that all work well together. Fast-paced, frantic stages have rock music with catchy electronica influences. The more serious stages and story moments have cool modern-day remixes of old classics, like the familiar third movement of "Funeral March", and William Tell's Overtures, "The Storm" and "The Ranz des Vaches". Even if you can't remember the songs by name, hearing their renditions in Catherine will probably jog your memory. These tracks really heighten the energy and the drama as you play. See More

score 5 · Answer 13

Catherine

Top Pro

Unique soundtrack with rock songs and remixes of classical music

Top Con

Repetitive sound effects can get annoying

There's one small nitpick that can grow to be incredibly irritating as you play. Every time you move a block and connect it to another one by one of its edges, a female announcer says the word "EDGE" in a robotic way. This would be fine every once in a while, except this happens constantly as you situate blocks so that their edges connect for you to climb on top of them. Playing every single stage forces you to hear the same "EDGE" spam from the announcer over and over again. It's prolific enough to have turned into a running joke within the Catherine community online, but it's still really annoying. See More

Specs

Genre:Puzzle, Platformer, Horror

Co-Op:2 Player Local

The art style in Catherine is really cool in all the ways it pops out at you. The black and pink motifs are a clear running theme, showing up everywhere from the game's logo, to the menus, and the UI. Cutscenes have a neat anime aesthetic that help them stand out more. You can also find the game's ample imagery and symbolism everywhere, both obvious and subtle, such as the male and female signs, and the puns on "counting sheep in your sleep" with the characters who become sheep in Vincent's dreams as well as the bar named the Stray Sheep. The visuals are all creative with a lot of love and care that went into them. See More

Top Pro

Stylized, artful cutscenes, menus, and imagery

Top Con

Might be too hard for players who don't normally play puzzle games

If you're thinking of getting Catherine as your first puzzle game, then you may want to reconsider. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, the game is really tough and tricky to figure out. The hardest part is that you don't have the luxury of time to observe things and find a way forward: you have to keep making snap decisions, one after the other, for several minutes at a time, otherwise you'll fall to your death. The most difficult optional content is also pretty grueling even for the most seasoned veterans. This is definitely one of those games that you play when you want to push yourself with new challenges. See More

Top Pro

Your choices lead to multiple different endings

Playing as Vincent Brooks, a hopeless thirty-something man who's unhappy with his life, your decisions throughout the game determine how he turns out in the end. The main drama centers around his indecision to marry his steady, by-the-books girlfriend, Katherine, and his affair with the spontaneous and sexy young woman named Catherine. You can choose if Vincent stays with Katherine or Catherine, or if he goes off on his own way and leaves them both behind. The ways each of these endings play out are all unique and vastly different from each other, so it can be pretty fun to do multiple playthroughs in order to see them all. See More

Top Con

A lot of your choices boil down to binary decisions

In the end, the decisions you make aren't all that robust. Most of the choices you make happen in between stages where a narrator asks you certain questions, like whether you personally think it's okay to cheat in relationships. Your responses are usually just yes or no options, which is pretty black-and-white. These choices affect a morality meter that determines which ending you get, but because of how binary your decisions are, you never really get a sense that the system is accurate or insightful. The meter and the questions themselves are just okay, though your mileage will vary on how you feel about them. See More

Top Pro

Great cast of characters that deal with real-life struggles

You can get to know a colorful cast of characters aside from Katherine and Catherine. Every day, Vincent hangs out at a bar called the Stray Sheep where he and his friends drink together and commiserate about their uneventful lives. He can also go talk to other patrons of the bar who have their own problems, and possibly motivate them to change, like two different womanizers who had abusive pasts, a journalist who helped drive a celebrity to commit suicide, and a rich man whose parents won't let him marry his lower class lover. They all deal with some pretty mature and serious issues, but if you choose to help them out, there's usually a light at the end of the tunnel. See More

Top Pro

Horrifying boss designs with symbolism relevant to the story

The boss designs are clever in how accurate they are. Since they're part of Vincent's nightmares that plague him about his guilt over Katherine and Catherine, the symbolism fits right in with this theme. The boss "fights" themselves involve the boss at the very bottom of the stage chasing you and manipulating certain blocks to slow you down. One of the bosses is a mutated version of Katherine in a wedding dress, another is a disfigured toddler representing Katherine's desire to have kids with Vincent, and others are certain NSFW depictions of body parts. They're over-the-top on purpose, instilling a shocking fear that makes you want to get away from the boss chasing you and reach the end as soon as possible. See More

Top Pro

Challenging puzzles that constantly make you think on the spot

Catherine is uniquely challenging in the way it blends puzzle-platforming with horror elements. Each stage you encounter is a visualization of the main protagonist Vincent's "nightmare": they're a series of connecting blocks that you push and pull in order to reach the very top and escape from the madness. There are all sorts of different blocks, like ice blocks that cause you to slip and fall, bomb blocks that explore after a short time, spike blocks that shoot out traps to kill you if you stand on top of them for too long, and many more. And the kicker is that you have limited time, since the blocks gradually fall away to an abyss, keeping you scrambling to stay ahead of the puzzles. You have to be quick on your toes in order to figure out a way forward without letting the ground fall from underneath you. This chasing dynamic adds to the nightmarish quality of the stages, giving you an extra push to think strategically in the shortest amount of time possible. See More

While BCP at its core is a game about building bridges so your forklift can pass, the sci-fi elements of the Portal series make it a lot more interesting. This includes sentry turrets that try to destroy your forklift along the way, gel that speeds up your forklift letting it ascend almost vertical slopes, and even portals that allow travel between distant locations, creating solutions to seemingly impossible scenarios. It's simply fun to solve the many puzzles found in the game. See More

score 4 · Answer 14

Bridge Constructor Portal

Top Pro

Interesting puzzles

Top Con

Can seem a little bland in its presentation

It has a simple visual style that uses very little color, the soundtrack gets repetitive fairly quickly, and the story feels like an afterthought. The puzzles are the main focus of BCP, but it feels like the developers might've forgotten about every other aspect of the game. See More

Specs

While most puzzle games in this price range usually take only a few hours to beat, BCP has a total of 60 levels, taking about 10 hours for a full first time playthrough. You can even choose between a regular and a hard version of a level, further adding to the playtime. See More

Top Pro

Decent amount content for its price

Top Con

Can feel frustrating

BCP relies heavily on trial and error, requiring you to build very precise and efficient bridges that don't make much sense initially. Because of this, your well-reasoned and carefully planned bridge might not work at all, which can be really frustrating. So unless you're a really patient player that's willing to try over and over, you probably won't enjoy BCP. See More

The game throws some curveballs from time to time like switches that have to be pressed, oily floors that can move cubes, or pressure plates that require a cube to depress, but overall it's the simplicity of the easy to grasp base mechanics that makes the puzzles shine. There are blank spaces on walls and floors where you can place 3 different colored cubes, with each having a different effect. For example, orange cubes can be pulled out to form a ledge, and blue cubes act as a jump pad. As you move from chamber to chamber, it's up to you to figure out how to best use the cubes in each room to reach the exit. It's fun to experiment creating ledges and jump pads, and trying various color combinations as you figure out how to best navigate the room. See More

score 6 · Answer 15

Q.U.B.E. 2

Top Pro

Simple, but entertaining cube puzzle mechanic

Top Con

Puzzles get repetitive

While the puzzles do gradually get more complex and add some new mechanics from time to time, the same 3 cube mechanics are in play for most of the game. See More

Specs

Genre:First-Person Puzzle, Adventure

There's a distinct sense of feeling alone and isolated immediately as you wake up on the surface of a dusty planet with no memory of how you got there. The landscape is empty and alien, but before you lays a giant cube fortress. Once inside, the pristine cleanliness, seemingly endless chambers, and strange technology can be a bit unsettling and adds to the overall mystery. The feel and polish of this unique, almost surgical environment will have you believing you're actually in some strange alien fortress manipulating odd cube technology. See More

Top Pro

Unique and immersive atmosphere

Top Con

Mistakes are overly punishing

Some puzzles can require manipulating over a dozen cubes, and if you mess up at any point, you have to start the puzzle over from scratch. See More

Top Pro

Great graphics

This game uses the Unreal 4 engine and looks gorgeous. Everything is shiny and glistening in a pristine, almost surgically clean environment. The lighting effects as it reflects and shines off smooth metal surfaces is a treat to look at. See More

Top Pro

Minimal UI that allows the puzzle solving to take center stage

The UI is very minimal, only showing the color cube you currently have selected in the lower right corner. This allows the game world itself to fill up the entire screen and makes puzzle solving the main focus. Looking around and exploring while solving the various puzzles within the alien world is clutter-free with no distractions. See More

Top Pro

Enticing, mysterious narrative

You play as Amelia, and you've woken up alone with amnesia on a strange alien world. Soon, your earpiece crackles to life and you are informed by a woman named Emma you were on some sort of space mission. Guided only by the voice of Emma in your headset, you'll take shelter in a large structure and move from room to room using a mysterious suit to manipulate cubes and solve puzzles. The game is peppered with dialogue between Amelia and Emma that reveals pieces of the story, a little bit of a time. It gives you just enough to keep the mystery alive, and actually develops into a plot with some thriller elements. You'll be wondering what in the world you're doing on this strange planet, what Emma's real motives are, and how you're going to escape. The story doesn't feel tacked on, and it serves as a great way to keep you invested during the puzzles. See More

The game takes place in an alternate timeline 1886 victorian England, but with a steampunk twist. England and France go to war over Voltite, a recently discovered resource which causes a great surge in mechanical and engineering advances. From this new technology springs the Ironcasts, a war machine that is a cross between a tank and a mech. In the pilot seat of your Ironcast, you play on the side of England as it attempts to thwart a French invasion. See More

score 2 · Answer 16

Ironcast

Top Pro

Unique setting

Top Con

Favors RNG over skill

Due to the randomness of the gem matching game used for combat, an element of luck will always be present. Pure RNG determines what mix of combat gems (ammo, energy, repair, and coolant) are placed on the board, which may turn off those who want to truly master a game through skill. See More

Specs

Genre:Turn-Based Strategy, Roguelike, Puzzle

You must defeat 9 missions in order to win the game, however these missions are randomly generated and you are allowed to select 1 from a group of 3 each time you advance. The missions are also highly varied. Some missions require you to only do enough damage to your enemy so that your foe's mech can still be salvaged. Another may require you to battle waves of enemies until reinforcements arrive. Some require you to collect a certain amount of resources or even diffuse bombs. There's enough variety where you'll always be trying something new, so the randomized mission setup helps to keep the game feeling fresh. See More

Top Pro

A new experience each playthrough thanks to randomized missions

Top Con

Permadeath doesn't feel like it fits in a luck based game

Sometimes you simply won't get enough ammo gems to do much damage, or enough shield gems for a proper defense. This will result in a loss, and because of the randomness, it never quite feels like it was your fault. In a game based on RNG and luck, permadeath just doesn't work and can feel extremely frustrating. When you die, you lose all your gold, xp, blueprints, weapons, and upgrades. See More

Top Pro

Loads of strategic combat choices

While each mech has its own overall health bar, each of their subsystems (weapons, shields, and drive) also has its own individual health bar. That means you can target your opponents various systems to disable their weapons or shields, or even disable their drive so they're unable to maneuver away from your attacks. Deciding which system to go for at opportune times can result in some rather strategic and exciting gameplay. For example, you might take down their shields so your weapons hit harder. Or you may opt to take out their weapon systems so they will have to repair before they can unleash more attacks. In addition to being able to target various systems, you can also choose a pilot and a mech separately. The pilots and mechs all have their own special abilities and cooldowns, meaning you'll be able to mix and match quite a few different setups. See More

Top Pro

Gameplay feels fresh and new due to the puzzle based combat

Combining match three puzzle solving with resource management results in an extremely fresh combat system that is rarely seen in the roguelike genre. By taking turns with your opponent and matching various colored gems on a 6x6 grid, you'll build resources. These resources do such things as fire your weapons, power up your shield, repair, and keep your mech from overheating. While you are only able to make 2 gem matches per turn to build resources, you can take as many actions as you want provided you generated the resources needed to pull them off. See More

Top Pro

Fun and exciting combat

Choosing which gems to focus on matching each turn results in some fun combat choices. For example, you could focus on pooling your ammo gems for several rounds, only to turn around and unleash a devastating assault on your enemy. If your enemy is relentless, you could work on matching only repair and shield gems to keep your shields up. The combat revolves around deciding which gem matches should take priority versus working around what gems the board is providing. Since it's always random, it can lead to some pretty exciting choices where you'll have to think and react on the fly. See More