One of the best inventions of the modern age is the computer, and along with it came the countless number of video games we all can play. There are various categories of video games out there just waiting for us to download and start playing. If you want to spend some time playing video games and want to do something that stimulates the brain, then puzzle games for PC are just the thing you should look into.
When the computer first gained popularity, the number of games was quite limited. With the advancement of technology and the computer itself, a new wave of gaming has begun, and people have been getting invested in video gaming more and more. Like every other game, the demand for good puzzle games for PC has also grown tremendously.
Best Puzzle Games for PC
Puzzle games for Windows PC have been around for quite some time now but finding a good one can be quite rough these days because of the massive number of games published each year. In this article, we will discuss a list of the best puzzle games for PC that you can either purchase or download for free.
1. The Witness
The Witness is such a puzzle game that makes the player obsessed with it. Any review you find on The Witness will tell you the same thing. The gameplay is designed to make it more interactive than a typical puzzle game, and it will take you on a mind turning journey until you finally reach the endgame.
The Witness claims that it is in our human nature to seek the unknown and find the truth. This mind-boggling feature itself is enough to make The Witness one of the best puzzle games for PC, and if we consider the graphics, gameplay, and the puzzles themselves, it becomes the best puzzle game for Windows for sure.
Key Features of The Witness
- It looks like a typical puzzle game but has in-depth interactive gameplay.
- The puzzles are staged in a way to make them seem like an adventure.
- To solve the puzzles, you have to draw a line along a maze to find the finish line.
- This game stimulates the mind to seek the truth and teaches the player about humanity.
- The gameplay of The Witness is about 80 hours.
- The game features more than 650 puzzles.
Pros: The game is really fun to play and will keep you hooked on it for a very long time. It will take you on an adventure for humanity through gameplay and interactive puzzles.
Cons: There aren’t really any faults in this game other than it is a bit pricey, but you can still get in on Steam when it’s on sale.
2. Portal 2
Portal 2 is a puzzle game based on the previous game Portal, which is also a puzzle game that features a lot of the same in-game elements. This version contains a vast diversified world of puzzles and adventures that you have to go through to reach the endgame. The game takes you on a roundabout journey of puzzles through one portal after another.
The game features robotic beings that are trying to escape a scientific facility through portals, and in each one, they have to solve a puzzle; otherwise, they won’t be allowed in. portal 2 is a brilliant puzzle game that surpasses its predecessor by miles and gives us better gameplay, more diverse world and a great experience altogether.
Key Features of Portal 2
- Portal 2 is an escape puzzle game that features the characters solving puzzles to leave a scientist facility.
- The game is more challenging and difficult than the first version and comes with a very diversified adventure course.
- The gameplay of Portal 2 is about 6 hours long.
- The game has commentary from the game artists, developers, and writers.
- This can be played in both single-player mode and multiplayer mode.
Pros: Portal 2 is a game with a great adventure storyline and really interesting characters. It also features unique soundtracks in-game.
Cons: This game becomes quite slow-paced in the second part and can be quite hard to play with strangers in multiplayer mode.
3. She Remembered Caterpillars
She Remembered Caterpillars is an Indie puzzle game; it sounds simple enough, right? But that’s about all that is simple about it, and the game features puzzles that are hand-drawn; they are unique. You will be drawn in by the cute art style and soon find out how unsettling it also is, but the combination will keep you hooked in the game.
To play the game, you have to cross bridges that are made of living, breathing caterpillars. You need to help little mushroom creatures called Gammies to pass the bridges. It becomes increasingly difficult and more addicting the more you play. This vivid Indie game is one of the best puzzle games you can play on your PC.
Key Features of She Remembered Caterpillars
- The game features a few different playstyles for you to enjoy.
- Each playstyle gives you different puzzles to solve and new adventures.
- The game takes about 4 hours and 30 minutes to finish.
- It has around 40 levels through, with you will have to solve multiple puzzles to get through.
Pros: The game is brilliant to play and will keep your mind on the overdrive for hours trying to solve the puzzles.
Cons: It becomes really hard to finish the game as the levels increase, and you might get frustrated. The game also features snippets of texts describing a story about a father and daughter, but they are quite at odds with the actual gameplay.
4. FEZ
If you are up for a 2D 8-bit pixelated reality changing adventure, FEZ is going to be the perfect game for you to try. This is one of the top puzzle games for PC and an Indie game at that. In this game, you will get a tiny character called Gomez, who wakes up in his room to begin an adventure.
The game is basically 2D, but you can rotate the world in a 90-degree angle, making it 3D for a second. It gives a unique feeling to the game; the rotation of the world changes the perspective of Gomez and helps him navigate the world to get to the finish line. Though the game is a puzzle game, it heavily relies on adventure-based gameplay.
Key Features of FEZ
- The game will take you at least 12 hours to finish.
- It has unique gameplay that makes the player solve a 3D puzzle in a 2D world.
- You have to finish at least 32 cubes to complete the game.
- You can play on a total of 60 cubes in the game that gets harder on each level.
- There are no real bosses or monsters in this game, but it has a few enemies, and if the character dies, it just respawns.
Pros: The game is very relaxing with its unique gameplay and soothing soundtracks. The 2D 3D effect is done really well.
Cons: Though the game advertises and focuses on relaxing, the jumping technique is quite hard, which can be quite stressful. Also, the game is a bit glitchy, too, at times.
5. Limbo
Now we have one of the highest-rated puzzle games for Windows PC, Limbo. It is a classically beautiful puzzle game that brings you in a black and white world and incredibly haunting. Limbo brings something fresh and numb to the table and proves that not everything great has to be bright.
This beautifully crafted game takes you on a journey through a dark world, taking you on a road that features giant spiders, very dark roads, and worms that crawl inside your head. You will also come across quite a few hanging bodies on this journey. The whole game will give you a sinister feeling and keep you on edge.
Key Features of Limbo
- The game features a hauntingly beautiful world, even though it is a quite sinister world.
- To play the game, you will have to make the character walk forward in a dark world.
- The character will have the ability to push, pull, jump, and walk forward.
- It will take at least 4 hours and 30 minutes to finish the full game.
- The game has a total of 24 chapters to play through.
Pros: The game’s black and white visuals are unique and pretty. It also has unique soundtracks and a variety of puzzles.
Cons: The one thing that doesn’t suit the game is the fact that it just ends abruptly; there’s no buildup to it.
6. Braid
Braid is a game that takes the classical 2D games and twists them in a modern-day puzzle game. It’s a simple game with a gorgeous watercolor background that appeals to all sorts of puzzle fans. The game includes puzzles in-between adventures and solving difficult tasks, where you have to collect jigsaw pieces to solve another puzzle.
This is another great example of a good puzzle game for Windows PC, which makes even the intellectuals scratch their heads trying to solve the higher levels. Don’t let the aesthetics of the game fool you for a second because the more you progress in-game in becomes all, the more difficult it to beat.
Key Features of Braid
- The game is classically beautiful with a time rewinding feature that is very useful in solving the puzzles.
- Each stage of the game is a puzzle to find a key to reach the exit.
- In the later stages, you will see that the time warp does not work on some of the items on that stage, and you will have to figure out the way through that.
- There are 38 levels in total in the game.
- The game takes about 6 hours on average to complete.
Pros: The game is complex and has unique gameplay of its own. The time wrap feature makes it into one of the top puzzle games for Windows PC to date.
Cons: Though being complex is one of the good features of this game, and it is also a hindrance. Some might find themselves stuck on a stage for days on end, trying to figure a way out. The metaphors used in this game are also quite hard to understand.
7. Portal
Portal is the best puzzle game for PC from the late 2000s, keeping the player hooked for its entire gameplay. Though many people prefer Portal 2 after the release because the second version features many more diversified elements, that is to be expected.
Portal begins with a robotic voice trying to guide you through various portals by solving puzzles where you have no memory of how you got there or who you are. The game is played in a way that teaches you its game features through gameplay slowly.
Key Features of Portal
- The game runs very smoothly and starts with simple puzzles.
- It is a single-player game, unlike version 2, which allows multiplayer.
- The game has brilliant puzzles and unique audio that is exclusive for the game.
- It takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes for the game to finish on average.
- The game features 20 levels of unique puzzles.
Pros: The game has amazing puzzles that take you on adventurous gameplay. The robotic guide is sarcastic and funny. The game will definitely keep you entertained.
Cons: One of the biggest critiques of this game is that it is really short, and most players crave longer gameplay.
8. World of Goo
Released in 2008, World of Goo was created by two friends who developed it while sitting in their local Starbucks. Your job in the game is to help the Goo balls find a way out through a maze of puzzles. As you level up, you will be introduced to new types of Goo balls that add to the gameplay.
The music, the ambience of the game, the humor portrayed in it, the changing level of difficulties, all of it combined makes World of Goo one of the best puzzle games for Windows OS. Add in the unique graphics for each level of the game and the gorgeous sceneries, and you have it all.
Key Features of World of Goo
- The key feature of this is game is the Goo balls that you have to help cross bridges and other structures.
- The main objective of each puzzle is to help the Goo balls through a pipe to finish their journey.
- The game is easy to play at first but gets harder and harder with each puzzle.
- It has five chapters, and each chapter contains various levels and a subtotal of 48 levels.
- The total gameplay time of World of Goo is 7 hours and 30 minutes.
Pros: The best thing about this game is the building challenges that use physics and will keep your mind on overdrive trying to solve the puzzles. It helps increase creativity and keep the player focused.
Cons: The main problem of this game is that it can become quite hard, and the hints are too cryptic to figure out in one shot.
9. Hexcells Infinite
For understanding what Hexcells Infinite is, you have to take the theory behind Minesweeper and add it with yellow and blue hexagons. This game brings you a fresh view of the old logic puzzles and helps you get that good old rush of playing Minesweeper.
Granted, there are many games that feature similarities to Minesweeper. Still, Hexcells Infinite is the only game that captures its essence, making it a top-tier Windows puzzle game. You have to be very good at figuring out the logic behind each puzzle actually to finish the game.
Key Features of Hexcells Infinite
- The most important feature of this game is that it works with the theory of Minesweeper.
- It is very hard to beat the game and can take up to 16 hours to finish.
- The game has procedurally generated levels.
- It contains blue and yellow hexagons that feature as the main game blocks.
Pros: The game is very cheap if you plan on buying it and has long gameplay. And after completing each level, you will find yourself to be a lot smarter.
Cons: The only cons I can find for this game is that you won’t get any created puzzles for this game anymore. Because the creator added a procedural generator.
10. Kine
In Kine, you will be sucked into a futuristic cartoon world and be immersed in it for hours, trying to find a way out. The game is basically about music and puzzles and will seem very simple at first. But each level gets trickier with its own storyline and gives you satisfaction through and through.
If you are looking for a good puzzle game for PC that is aesthetically pleasing, has good music, great ambiance, quirky musical characters, and will be tricky enough to keep your mind buzzing, then Kine is going to be the perfect game for you.
Key Features of Kine
- Kine is set in a 2D cartoon futuristic world where you will have beautiful visuals and an overall calming experience.
- In this game, you have to play with robotic musical instruments to solve the puzzles.
- The game is about aspiring musicians trying to form a band of their own.
- The game takes about 3 to 4 hours to beat.
Pros: The game has very clever puzzles and unique mechanisms. It will take on a brilliant journey through great storytelling.
Cons: The puzzles might tend to be too easy at times, which might bore some players. The gameplay time is also on a little shorter side.
Our Recommendation
All of the games listed above are top tier puzzle games you can play on your Windows PC. All of the games are listed on Steam, so you get them pretty easily, but sadly, none are free to purchase. But, you can get really good deals on Steam puzzle games because they host sales on some occasions, and you can get up to 75%-90% off of games if you are lucky.
Among the games, if you are more into adventure based puzzle games, then you will absolutely love FEZ and The Witness. If you want to relax and spend some time-solving puzzles, then you should definitely try Limbo and She Remembered Caterpillars. And keep in mind that all the games are super fun to play and appeal to the larger audience.
Final Thoughts
Windows OS is the largest platform for PC games there is, and puzzle games are, without a doubt, takes a massive part in it. Even in just the puzzle category, you will find different genres that take puzzle games for PC to the next level. Though not the players ever accept every game in a positive light because everyone’s preference for gaming is different, as it is with every other thing.
