puzzle games i have played somewhat recently:
void stranger (kino)
a monster’s journey (chill, comfy, not too tough if you’re going for a regular clear but 100%ing it
patrick’s parabox (fun gimmick but on the easy side, good for if you’re casual)
elechead (puzzle platformer, does a few clever things, somewhat tricky execution in spots but nothing too crazy)
i tried the witness but bounced off it once i got past the introductory puzzles, because the world opened up and i didn’t like having to decide where to go/figure out what the rules to puzzles were
bonfire peaks was one i tried and it starts off okay but seems clearly inspired by steven’s sausage roll, it gets really screwy and the mechanics are not explained to you whatsoever
some retro puzzle games i like that can be had for free on an emulator:
adventures of lolo 1/2/3 (NES): good sokoban-like game, but a lot of the early levels are filler and they only get really interesting near the end
fire & ice (NES) - you’re moving blocks around but it’s from a side perspective rather than top down so there’s gravity to worry about, it’s pretty unique. again has the issue where a lot of the game is easy though
little magic (SNES): another sokoban-style game, but this time you’re pushing a magic heart around and the only action you can take is to make bubbles, but there ends up being a ton of strategy and technique you can do with them. this also has the issue where the early difficulty curve is shallow, but the endgame levels are straight-up evil, incredibly devious and hard to solve
