Top 10 Puzzle Video Games

Lets get things bouncing with a game about unicorns that shoot balls. Loosly drawing inspiration from Japanese Pachinko Machines, this game has you bouncing marbles off multiple nodes in order to score sweet combo point. It notably gets a crown of awesome for spontaneously breaking out into Beethoven’s Ode to Joy with flashing rainbows.

The oh so lovable Sherlock Holmes inspired character with his sidekick Luke taking care all of Contemporary London’s problems … by solving puzzles which are a analogous to the “real life” situation. With 7 games in the series along with an upcoming crossover game with Phoenix Wright, these games are sure to get your thinking caps working. Even if it doesn’t work on Layton Himself(“Something has gone terribly wrong”) No shit Sherlock

Before Rockstar North had players running over hookers and stabbing crack dealers in Grand Theft Auto, they were known as DMA design, and their 1st sucsess came in the form of telling brainless lemmings what to do. Guiding the hapless creatures over 120 levels covered in traps an environmental hazards, it was up to the player to make sure that most, but most likely not all of the little guys got home safely. Plus anytime you got frustrated you could always let out your rage on blowing up the little guys. Mwa ha ha ha ha

This immersive PC experience had players wound up on a mysterious island, solving puzzles to find books that take you to different worlds, these puzzles really racked your brain over seemingly simple things, like turning off the lights to see a screen. Myst was so dense that the original game shipped with a blank notebook for players to jot down clues in. Should also mention the developer Cyan recently ran a successful Kickstarter campaign for their spiritual sequel “Obduction” look out for that in the future.

Talk about never judging a book by its cover. Though it looks like a platformer its mechanic for rewinding time makes it essentially a puzzle game, and not just any standard puzzle game. With each world the laws of time manipulation changes, so, for example, in once instance the enemies only moved when you moved, and the next reversing time brings forth a shadow version of youself.

This was arguably the first must own have title on the DS. In this game you have to line up 3 or more blocks to propel a stack of blocks off the screen, and towards your opponents, though sometimes you need to chain your lineups to get enough boost. What sets this game apart from the other titles on the list is it’s multiplayer, as matches can get incredibly tense as you struggle to hang on. There is an Xbox Live version available, but honestly, this game is best suited for touch screen play.

Sometimes the most addictive puzzle games are often the most simple and strangely addictive. Drawing inspiration from Tetris, herein the goal is to line up three of the same jewels in order to make them disappear and shift the board. Add a candy themed art style and a dangerously addictive Free 2 Play system in the mix and you have the highest grossing game on iOS and Android.

A game that’s as interesting as its backstory, developed by 2 former EA employee’s on their laptops in a coffee shop with free wifi. Combining an insanely charming art style and an astounding physics engine, this game has you build bridges and other bizarre structures out of pieces of goo, to safely transport said goo over various hazards. The more goo you used to achieve your goal, the less you save in the end, so you really need to have your creative wits handy.

Just when you thought Puzzle games could never hit mainstream ever again, along came Valve with a surprisingly amazing puzzle game. Set in the chambers of Aperture Science Centre, players are armed only with a gun that can create portals. Even more of a surprise was hilarious dialogue that comes from the Malevolent computer GladOs who’s running the show, rounding out the mind bending puzzles with some of the best writing ever seen in a game. While the cake may have been a lie, the Portal games are never a disappointment.

Before we unveil our top pick lets take a look at what other games had us killing time.

Was there ever any doubt? It’s a timeless classic that’s seen multiple versions realeased on so many platforms. Yet its core gameplay after all these years still remains the same since its debut in the 80’s. Plus its now used with scientific studies in order to treat lazy eye syndrome. And the 1999 Tetris World Champion now has a PhD in Physics. Anyone who’s ever said video games are bad for you, never played Tetris.

There are so many fantastic puzzle games to choose from so it’s more than likely some of your favorites didn’t make the list. So let us know what your favorites are in the comments, and for more procrastinating Top 10’s published everyday, be sure to subsribe to Watchmojo.com