|
John Cletheroe's
Puzzle Programs And Web Sites Reviews |
The web sites listed on this page offer a large variety highly innovative puzzles.
I have no connection whatsoever with any of the sites listed, other than as a normal visitor to them.
Suggestions for additions to this page are very welcome, as are reports of broken links. You can email me using the link at the bottom of the page.
Many of the puzzles listed here can only be played online, for which an unmetered Internet connection with no automatic timeout is effectively essential. Some of the online puzzles involve large file downloads, for which a broadband connection will be very highly beneficial.
Some of the programs listed are payware.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.microgames.info/game_info.php?products_id=205 (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: 3D abstract logic puzzle. Play online free of charge.
3D Logic is played on three faces of a cube. Each face is divided into a number of squares. Your objective is to create paths joining matching pairs of coloured squares, for example make one path which connects two red squares and another path which connects two blue squares. To do this, click on one of the squares at the end of a path, then click in a normal square to change it to that colour. Black squares cannot be changed. If you change a square by mistake, you can change it again later. Paths cannot cross, hence the difficulty of the puzzle. The early levels are very easy but the puzzle starts to get more difficult around level twelve. There are thirty levels.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://3d.logic.fizzlebot.com/ (external link verified Nov-07)
Category: 3D abstract logic puzzle. Play online free of charge.
A sequel to the original 3D Logic program.
Category: Adventure game. Download and install. Freeware.
Download file size: 96,486KB.
Creator/publisher: Crystal Shard.
This is a full adventure game available free of charge. The graphics are fairly low resolution but well done. Configuring the graphics filter and resolution settings is awkward and confusing but only needs to be done once. The game has a fantasy theme. At the start of the program the number of different characters and their relationships takes a while to comprehend. Nevertheless, this game is probably well worth persisting with.
This program has no connection with the similarly named classic "Twin Kingdom Valley" adventure game for the Commodore 64.
Category: Logic puzzle game. Play online free of charge.
The alchemist has left you with a letter asking you to make three items, a book describing the available ingredients, and a recipe book. You have to mix the ingredients together to make the required items, puzzling out the logic behind the system.
Category: Abstract board game. Play online free of charge.
Amazong is a Java applet which plays the game of Amazon, which combines elements of chess and go. Amazong will run on most computers.
Category: Mysterious mechanism puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Ambivalence is very similar to many of the mysterious mechanism puzzles in Myst and its sequels. You are presented with a locked door, on each face of which are various devices. Your task is to unlock the door. What makes the game unique is that you can work from both sides of the door, switching readily between the two whenever you wish. Although the web site on which this program appears is in Japanese, this isn't a problem for non-Japanese speakers.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
To move on to each new web page, figure out the URL from the available clues. This game is not related in any way to the classic Commodore 64 game of the same name.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
Category: Simulation puzzle. Download and install; freeware demo version; payware full version.
Download file size (demo): 935KB.
Armadillo Run is a simulation puzzle game in which you have to create structures to guide a basketball to a destination. The structures are built using materials such as ropes, metal girders, sections of cloth and metal plates. Each structure can be tested and modified. Each level can be solved in a variety of different ways. The free demo version of the program only includes a few easily solved tutorial and introductory levels.
Category: Various games including some puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Category: Nonograms (abstract puzzles). Play online free of charge.
The nonogram puzzle concept originated in Japan. "Picross" is one alternative name, others include "griddlers". You are presented with a square grid of cells and need to discover which cells should be coloured in. There are clues which tell you about the groups of adjacent cells in each row and column, for example 3 5 means a group of three, then a gap of at least one blank cell, then a group of five. There are quite a few computer implementations available, all of which fall down in one area or another (awkward user interface, failure to present puzzles in any order, failure to record your progress, unwanted gimmicks such as time limits, etc). This is one of the better versions but you may wish to search for others and try them as well.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.babala.org (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: 2D turn based puzzle game. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: program 486KB; required GTK+ 2 runtime 4993KB.
Creator: Pavel Richter.
Babala shares some design concepts with DROD but is sufficiently different to be well worth exploring. On each turn you have a number of moves, each of which can be used to move or to fire a missile at the opposition. Unlike in DROD, turns can be made freely. The game has at least ninety levels.
Technical note: be sure to also install the GTK+ 2 Runtime Environment as explained on the Babala downloading and installation web page.
Category: Abstract maze puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Navigate one, two, three or more coloured circles around a maze, each to a square of its own colour. You can move either the red circle alone, or the red circle and the yellow circle, or the red circle and the yellow circle and the green circle (and so on for more colours). However, you cannot move the yellow circle without also moving the red circle, nor can you move the green circle without also moving both the red and yellow circles - which where it starts to become difficult. This is a clever and original idea, although it bears some resemblence to the mimic rooms in DROD. The game has well designed controls to adjust the brightness of the playing board and the choice and volume of background music.
Category: 2D puzzle game. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 2894KB.
Blackshift is a 2D overhead view/square grid puzzle game, somewhat similar in concept to Chip's Challenge. I have only just started to explore the program but so far it appears to be promising, although higher levels require fast reactions. Game features include being able to pick up one object at a time and then moving it or using it.
Category: Sokoban variant. Play online free of charge.
Push blocks of same colour next to each other, so they destroy themselves. Also make sure you don't block your exit path. An interesting new variation of a classic puzzle game.
Category: 2D abstact puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Slide coloured blocks to destinations of the same colour. The difficulty lies in making the blocks stop at the correct places. Users can create additional levels for this game.
Category: 2D abstact puzzle. Play online free of charge.
A variant on the "tilt mazes" concept. Guide a block to its destination. Once set in motion the block will continue to move until it is blocked by an obstacle. Fifty levels. The presentation is somewhat sparse, but adequate.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/games/bloxorz (external link verified Jun-07)
Category: 3D abstract maze puzzle. Play online free of charge.
On each level you have to rotate a 2 x 1 x 1 block around a path which is effectively a maze. There are additional features such as buttons and bridges which make your task trickier. A simple idea (although some of the puzzles are difficult), very nicely presented.
Category: 2D machine building puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: Teagames.
This puzzle game has a similar concept to the classic "Incredible Machine". You have to place objects such as ramps, tubes, funnels, conveyor belts and bumpers so as to guide a ball to a target. There are twenty-eight levels.
Category: 3D abstract logic puzzle. Play online free of charge.
The Bobitos are trapped on a 2D grid. When told to move, they continue to do so in a straight line until they are stopped by another Bobito, or fall off the edge of the grid. Your task on each level is to guide the king Bobito to the central square. Although the game is presented in 3D, this doesn't adversely affect visibility.
Category: Various games. Play online free of charge.
A collection of online games created by Bart Bonte, plus links to other games.
Category: Various games. Play online free of charge.
Users can create additional levels for all the games on this web site. Currently (Apr-08) only a few small number of games are available, with more promised for the near future.
Category: Platform game. Download and install; payware with freeware demo version.
Download file size (demo): 2000KB.
Creator/publisher: Blueskied Games.
This is the most complex of the three games in Blueskied Games' "Bound" series. You control a ball which can be made to change colour by hitting coloured circles. Your objective is to hit coloured squares so as to destroy them all. Complicating factors include skull squares which are fatal if hit, and an inability to change your vertical direction except by bouncing off squares. The freeware demo version only provided access to the first few levels. The complete game is payware.
See also Christmas Bound and Summer Bound.
Category: Logic puzzles. Play online free of charge. The Shockwave Flash animation SWF file can also be downloaded and played offline.
Slide the blocks left or right so as to make the golden ball drop, while preventing the silver balls from doing so. Unfortunately the game currently only has five levels, none of which are very difficult. The main challenge is to complete each level in the smallest possible number of moves. With more levels and more blocks the idea has considerable merit.
Category: Logic puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Category: Abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Push the correct combination of green and yellow buttons to make all the red lights go out. Very difficult!
Category: Gridlock/Rush Hour. Play online free of charge.
An implementation of the Gridlock/Rush Hour concept.
Category: 2D machine building puzzle. Play online free of charge.
The puzzle game is similar in concept to the classic "Incredible Machine". The objective is to place conveyor belts, fans and other devices so as to direct packages to the exit door on each level.
Category: 2D path tracing puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Visit every square on the board but you can only move to a previously unvisited square of the same shape or the same colour.
Category: Platform game. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 894KB.
Creator/publisher: Blueskied Games.
In terms of difficulty, this is the second of the three games in Blueskied Games' "Bound" series. You control a ball which can be made to change colour by hitting coloured circles. Your objective is to hit coloured squares so as to destroy them all. Complicating factors include skull squares which are fatal if hit, and an inability to change your vertical direction except by bouncing off squares.
See also Bound Around and Summer Bound.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://fizzlebot.com/cdt3.php (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: Assorted logical puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Creator: Simple Andy.
A collection of fifteen very varied and highly original visual and audio puzzles, many of which are excellent. However, most of the latest set (puzzles 11-15) are far too vague and overcomplicated in my opinion.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.clickmazes.com (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: Abstract puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Andrea Gilbert's personal site has a cornucopia of wonderful original puzzles:
Category: A billiards/pool/snooker variant. Play online free of charge.
Creator: Tonypa.
On each of the very varied levels, shoot the white ball so as to direct each of the coloured balls to a line of the same colour. You have control over the angle of the white ball but not the power of the shot, nor can you put on "side", etc. The white ball can bounce off white lines without penalty, but if it hits a coloured line you lose one of your available shots. Since the game has no realtime element as regards its controls, and considerable thought is required in making each shot, in my opinion it does qualify as a puzzle.
Category: Board game. Download and install; payware with freeware restricted demo version.
Download file size (demo): 6032KB.
Creator/publisher: Midnight Synergy
Colony is a two-player board game where the user plays against the program. The rules of the game are simple but gameplay sufficiently complicated to be interesting. A particularly attractive feature of the program is that each level is played on a different design of board. Unfortunately the program's 3D design makes operation difficult. I suspect that the version which can be downloaded free of charge may be a restricted demo.
Category: Tetris variant. Play online free of charge.
This interesting and unusual Tetris clone is based on combining colours according to the laws of physics.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Remove all the circles by clicking each one in turn. Each circle you click must share a colour with the previous circle. Some circles only have one colour, some have two, some four. Some circles fade between various colours. A simple but effective idea.
Category: Sokoban variant. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Move blocks of the same colour next to each other, anywhere on the board.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Find a path which connects all the tiles. Each tile must be visited exactly one and all paths must be horizontal, vertical or 45 degree diagonals. A simple idea nicely executed. The alternative interface option displays a grid which is extremely useful when checking diagonals.
Category: Play online free of charge.
Similar to the "Grow" series of games/puzzles. The instructions are in Spanish but non-Spanish speakers will probably quickly see what to do.
Category: 3D game. Play online free of charge.
Creators: Sean Hawkes and Brian Mooney.
Guide a ball to the required destination by raising areas of the terrain on which it rolls. Special squares slow the ball down, speed it up, teleport it, etc.
Category: Various puzzles. Play online free of charge.
This site is available in the Dutch, English and French languages. It offers a variety of different types of puzzles, including a number of Java applets which run on most computers. Being a Dutch web site, it inevitably has a version of Lingo :) . There is also a section of easier puzzles for children. Note that because it is spelt in Dutch, the URL includes the word "puzzels", not "puzzles".
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Navigate a block around a path so as to destroy all the red tiles and end on a white tile. The red tiles destroy themselves as you step off them. There are a few other types of tiles, such as directional conveyor belts. The game is presented in an isometric viewpoint but this doesn't interfere with the movement controls or visibility, except that on the larger levels not all of the level is visible at the same time.
Category: Sokoban variant. Play online, or download and install. Freeware restricted demo version; payware full version.
Download file size (demo): 5277KB.
Cubrius is a Sokoban-like game. However, instead of having to move the blocks to specific locations, in Cubrius you have to move blocks of the same colour so as to make them touch each other, which causes their destruction. On each level all the blocks must be destroyed.
The game suffers from several complications. It has an unnecessary 3D implementation which makes the positions of the blocks and gaps difficult to see at times. The man only moves a fraction of a square at a time, for no reason that I can see. The initial levels have rather too many different types of special blocks which might have been better left for the more advanced levels. Nevertheless, the idea of the game has considerable merit and the program is well worth investigating.
On one occasion the Spyware Doctor program prevented the downloaded version of Cubruis from installing a system-wide keylogger on my computer. This might have been a false positive, or a genuine matter of concern. Bazooka, Grisoft AVG, Lavasoft Ad-Aware, PestPatrol, SpyBot Search And Destroy and Windows Defender do not report any malicious element to this program. In explicit scans of the program's target folder (C:\Program Files\Cubrius, which contains one file called CubriusTrial.exe), Microsoft Malcious Software Removal Tool and Spyware Doctor do not report finding anything malicious.
Category: Abstract 2D block-sliding puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Move each block to its correct position. Once a block can been given a direction, it continues to move until it hits the edge of playing board or another block.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
The objective in this sliding block puzzle is to escape from each level. There are various types of blocks, each having different properties.
Category: 2D abstract game. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 593KB.
Rotate blocks of objects so as to make them line up.
Category: 2D maze puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Collect all the yellow diamonds. Each time you select a direction you will keep moving until you hit a wall but you can swap places with a special blue diamond whenever you wish. This swapping is the key to solving the puzzles. The concept of this game was originally devised by Joe Wingbermuehle.
Category: 2D machine building puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Place special blocks of various types so as to modify Dave's behaviour and guide him to his destination on each level. The game can be played online or downloaded, but the downloaded version requires players to be online while playing in order to obtain each level. Each time you fail a level, you need to manually replace all your blocks into position (with whatever modifications you wish to try) before re-running, which appears to be a serious design limitation. It is however possible to use the Pause button and add or remove blocks before continuing. The built-in editor option may also provide a means of saving your progress part-way through a level. A key concept, and one unique to this game, is that additional blocks may need to be added once the worm has been set in motion. This is done by using the Pause button.
Category: Ball bouncing puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator: Rob Allen.
Place one or more balls so that when they fall they will destroy all the Bodteds. This game has eighteen extremely varied levels. The number of balls you are given, the shape of the Bodteds and the curious devices all vary. By the way, while Google lists several hits for "bodted" I doubt if any of them are related to this game.
Category: Board game played against the computer. Play online free of charge.
Diam is an original board game involving the placing of counters in piles with the aim of matching colours at the same height on diametrically opposite cells. The program includes details of the rules. There is a choice of three skill levels for the computer player.
Category: 2D polyomino puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Move, rotate and reflect polyominoes (Tetris pieces) on a board so as to reveal some special squares.
This game is sponsored by a web hosting company and an advertisement for their services appears initially before the game loads.
The game's menu and instructions suffer from a poor choice of colour scheme, making them very difficult to read. The menu options become much brighter when the mouse is drifted over them but the instructions do not. The instructions are as follows: The goal of Digit Puzzle is to reveal the hidden treasure box, which occupies a number of contiguous special squares on the board. To pick up a piece, left-click it. To drop a piece, move it over empty squares and the left-click it. To rotate a piece, pick it up and move it so that it is partially or totally over occupied squares and then left-click it. To reflect (flip) a piece, pick it up and then press the "cursor up" key.
Category: 2D logic puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator: Bart Bonte
The doggs (with two g's) want to increase the size of their castle. To do that, they need to carry coloured blocks to the castle. However, at each stage of the building work, only the correct combinations of blocks can be used. There are static doggs who offer stacks of coloured blocks, and moving doggs who walk past them on their way to the castle. Each of the static doggs can be clicked so as to alternately face forwards or backwards. A moving dogg will take the top block off each static dogg's pile, provided the static dogg has at least one block, and the static dogg is facing forwards. If a moving dogg does takes a block, it goes on the top of their pile. Once you start the doggs moving, you must click the static doggs so as to achieve the desired results. Therefore you need to carefully plan your actions, then actually implement them in real time.
This is an original idea and a clever puzzle. However, for some reason it lacks something in terms of playability.
Category: 2D Incredible Machine variant. Play online free of charge.
Draw free-form lines to make a ball fall under gravity and bounce to its destination. Your ink supply is limited. Very nice but as far as can tell there is no way to erase part of what you have drawn, only all of it.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
Category: 2D turn based puzzle game. Download and install; various freeware and payware programs. The payware programs have free restricted demo versions.
Download file size: Architect's Edition/King Dugan's Dungeon 12,965KB; Journey To Rooted Hold demo 24,624KB; Journey To Rooted Hold full 54,371KB; The City Beneath demo 40.7MB.
Don't be put off by the name. DROD is a 100% puzzle game, and a first class one. It cannot be described as being a violent game, nor does it have any realtime element. Neither should you be put off by the complexity of the numerous different versions of DROD and the various DROD web sites.
Beethro is armed only with a sword. His only possible actions are to move (up, down, left, right or diagonally) or to turn so as to swing his sword (clockwise or anticlockwise). Beethro's movements are controlled by the keyboard. On an alternating basis Beethro makes a move (controlled by you) and then all the surviving monsters in the room move in reaction (controlled by the program). Most types of monsters move in a predictable way. You can plan and consider each of Beethro's moves for as long as you wish.
That might appear to be a very sparse game structure but perhaps the word "elegant" would be far more appropriate. The variety of behaviours of the different types of monsters and the game's other features, coupled with the incredible creativity of the level designers, make for a superbly magnificant and very highly addictive puzzle game. As one example, many rooms feature doors which are controlled by orbs. Hitting an orb with your sword might open some doors, close other doors, and toggle the states of yet more doors. As another example, in some rooms you have to manouvre one set of monsters in order to defeat a different set of monsters.
On restarting the game, you continue from where you left off. You can also restart any room. You can even restart from checkpoints within a room, which are conveniently placed in lengthy or particularly tricky chambers. There is also a facility to restart from any previously visited room. The game allows for numerous separate players, each of whom's progress is recorded independently. Only one person can play the game at a time.
drod.caravelgames.com (external link verified Oct-06) has the same content as www.drod.net, except for a different home page.
www.caravelgames.com (external link verified Oct-06) offers the payware versions of DROD, namely Journey To Rooted Hold (JtRH) and King Dugan's Dungeon Version 2 (KDD2). JtRH features additional characters including Beethro's innocent and wayward nephew Halph and the formidable, invincible and incredibly arrogant 39th Slayer. JtRH has twenty-five main levels, plus a special bonus level. Both JtRH and KDD2 feature voice actors. JtRH and KDD2 can be downloaded (broadband is required due to large file sizes) or for a slightly higher charge they are available on mail order CD. Free demo versions of both JtRH and KDD2 can be downloaded, which only include the first few levels of each game. This web site also has a free forum called CaravelNet, a free hints facility which is integrated into the forum, and a payware subscription online gaming facility for DROD which very confusingly is also called CaravelNet.
In addition, numerous additional dungeons (or "holds" to use the correct term) are available for both versions of the program. Most of these are free but some, called Smitemaster Selections (SS) are only available to the CaravelNet online gaming system's subscribers or on mail order CD's.
A new version of DROD, called The City Beneath (TCB) is now on sale. A trailer for it is available on YouTube (external link verified 17-May-08).
Category: 2D maze puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator: Lucas Marks.
This is a variant of the D-Star concept originally devised by Joe Wingbermuehle. Collect all the red squares. Each time you select a direction you will keep moving until you hit a wall but you can swap places with a special grey square whenever you wish. The grey square makes the same moves but doesn't collect red squares. Except for the first few levels this swapping is the key to solving the puzzles.
Category: Abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This is an innovative puzzle, implemented as a set of Shockwave Flash animations. Each Shockwave file contains a separate set of levels. On each level you have to use expanding and contracting telescopes to push and pull balls into holes.
The game can be played online, or the Shockwave SWF files can be downloaded for use offline (their locations are obvious if you look at the web page source files). Additionally, an EXE version of the first fifteen levels can be downloaded, but this is only a shell which actually runs a Shockwave animation.
Each Shockwave file automatically records which levels in its set have been solved. To erase this record, so as to be able to completed levels again, delete the appropriate .sol file in C:\Windows\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\... (this location is correct for Windows 95 but many differ in other versions of Windows). Each .sol file, which is tiny, will be automatically recreated next time you play that set of levels.
At present there are four sets of levels: First 15, More (16-25), Transporter and Grand Master. First 15 are all very simple, the other sets more taxing. The web site says more levels may be made available in the future.
Category: Platform-strategy-puzzle. Download and install; freeware demo version; payware full version.
Download file size (demo): 22MB.
Creator/publisher: Klei Entertainment.
In this platform game you must move various objects into position and then start the character moving. As the character encounters each object, the behaviour of the character is modified so as to cause it to jump small distances at the end of platforms, jump large distances, or reverse direction, etc. In addition, some realtime interaction is required once the character starts to move. On each level the character must pass over a featureless jigsaw puzzle piece.
Eets is a clever idea and has received some excellent reviews. However, I found the cartoon graphics annoyingly childish and the effect of the various types of objects is frustratingly not obvious from their visual appearance on the screen.
The free demo version involves a 22MB download and only allows for a hour's playing time before it expires.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
Category: Point and click adventure puzzle solving game. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 6934KB.
This is a completely different program to the classic Entombed game created by Ultimate for the Commodore 64.
This is a graphical adventure game, somewhat similar to Myst in concept. While exploring archaeological ruins in Turkey, you fall through a hole into a series of underground chambers. Each chamber contains one or more puzzling mechanisms. Your objective is to escape, which involves exploring the chambers and their mechanisms.
This game is somewhat similar to Myst. It would appear to be considerably larger and more complex than would appear at first.
When installing the program, accept all the defaults. Do not attempt to change the name that the game is registered to. Do not attempt to change the target folder from C:\Entombed. After installation, do not attempt to move the target folder from C:\Entombed. However, it is vital to change the compatibility properties of C:\Entombed\ENTOMBED.EXE so that "Run in 256 colours" is ticked. Manually create any desired shortcuts to C:\Entombed\ENTOMBED.EXE.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Push blocks from the outside to the inside, so as to make groups of the same colour.
Category: 2D tilt maze puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Destroy all the coloured balls, by tilting the maze and bringing balls of the same colour adjacent to each other. Be careful not to leave one ball of a colour, as it can then cannot be destroyed. The entire set of balls on each level can be destroyed over two or more moves. To add to the difficulty, only a limited number of moves are allowed.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge
A set of coloured balls must be slid up, down, left and right, each to its correct position. However, the mechanism by which the balls are moved is interlocked so that entire rows or columns of balls move at once, making for some very challenging puzzles.
Category: Abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator: Bart Bonte.
On each level, use the mysterious machines to paint the ball in precisely the required way.
Category: 2D physics mechanical device creation puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Create a structure and/or machine so as to make an object reach an objective. Operation is somewhat fiddly and the game would benefit from a few easier starting levels, but this is an entertaining if challenging program. The object you create can not only move the object, but also itself. You are limited to creating the object within a limited area of the screen, but once in motion it can move out of that area.
Category: Logic puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Category: Platform game. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 275MB.
The game consists of helping two fish - one large and one small - escape from each level. In order to succeed to two fish must co-operate by pushing and supporting various objects. The game bears some resemblence to Sokoban, but here the objects are of different sizes, gravity makes unsupported objects fall, and the objective differs. There is no real-time element - you can consider each move for as long as you wish.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
On each level, various shapes must be pushed into the required positions on a square board - but this is not Sokoban. There are four different types of shapes (squares, circles, crosses and triangles) each of which can be pushed onto the board from each side, but only into alternately rows (or columns). This is an original idea, nicely implemented, but the instructions are in Japanese and the puzzles are difficult.
Category: Sokoban variant. Download and install; freeware demo version; payware full version.
Download file size: 4858KB.
Fitznik is a Sokoban variant, involving not only pushing blocks but also collecting keys and gems, plus avoiding snakes and spiders. The free demo version allows access to the first nine of the game's 63 levels. All nine of the demo levels are fairly easy. On my computer the program failed to run on the first attempt after installation but worked on the second and subsequent attempts. The game has semi-3D graphics where pure 2D graphics would have been preferable, and there is a fair amount of irrelevant distracting and confusing clutter on the gameboard. However, the idea has merit, especially if the payware levels offer more of a challenge than the demo levels.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.onlinegamesquad.com/index.php?1086-4 (external link verified Jun-07)
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Drag coloured balls horizontally so as to cause them to fall. If two or more balls of the same colour touch they will explode. Destroy all the balls. The problem is to avoid being left with balls which cannot be destroyed. A good idea, well implemented.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.thefoolsgold.com/downloads/index.htm (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: Various puzzles with a linking overall plot. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 645KB.
Fool's Errand is a famous collection of eighty individual puzzles and other games largely themed around Tarot cards, with an overall plot. The challenges come in various categories and vary considerably in their difficulty.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Eliminate all the blocks by moving matching sets of two or more next to each other. Blocks are subject to gravity.
Category: Various. Play online free of charge.
This site offers some good material but you may wish to be selective. For those who prefer puzzles rather than games I can recommend Bridges, Go, Hexxagon, Rubik and Rush Hour.
Category: 2D board game puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Fugashu is an unusual and as far as I know original puzzle. A rectangular board is divided into cells, and initially there are numbers in each cell. The numbers can be moved to adjacent cells so as to build up continuous runs. For example: 3 can be moved to 4 so as to create a 3-4 run; 3-4 can be moved to 5-6 to create a 3-6 run; 2 can be moved to 3-6 to form a 2-6 run; 2-6 can be moved to 1 to form a 1-6 run. When a run is complete it is removed from the board. The objective is to remove all the numbers from the board. A new number chosen at random can be dealt into any blank cell and this is often required. There are also a number of special cards which add yet more complications, but thankfully there is an option to disable their use. Careful study of the in-game instructions is vital, and the game is far from simple, but it probably rewards those who persevere with it. The pleasant and peaceful Japanese flute background music helps players to relax.
Category: 2D path tracing maze puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Trace a path through the maze, visiting every square. You can choose your starting point, but each time you select a direction you will keep moving until you hit a wall.
Category: 2D path tracing maze puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Trace a path through the hexagonal board, visiting every blank cell.
News about, and reviews of, independent computer games of all genres including puzzles.
Category: Crossword puzzles. Play online for free.
This online crossword puzzle program has no clues. The board is initially partially filled in; your objective is to fill in the remaining blank squares. To do this you click on a blank square, then on a letter. All the squares that share a letter with the clicked square will be filled in with the selected letter - whether it is correct or incorrect. This is a clever idea, well executed. Most of the words are in common use, making the program suitable for a wide audience.
Category: Pentomino Jigsaws. Play online for free.
This site, provided by Kadon Enterprises, offers a collection of a dozen puzzles in each of which you have fit a set of pentominoes or similar shapes into a space.
Category: Railway shunting puzzle. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 1948KB.
Gartriage is a railway shunting puzzle game. The graphics are simple but the game is effective. Sixty levels are included with the game.
Category: Logic/adventure puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Direct a robot through various logic puzzles, interacting with the devices and objects you encounter in each room.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://jayisgames.com/cgdc3_redirect.php?gameID=2 (external link verified Jul-07)
Category: 2D collisions and bouncing puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This excellent program has elements of the traditional English pub game shove ha'penny and snooker. The objectives, the rules and the behaviours of the game's objects are all fairly simple and perhaps best discovered by exploration rather than being explained here. The game is difficult with a score of only ten being considered very good, but it is highly addictive. There is a real-time element but this does not detract from the puzzling aspect. Deciding on the best strategy is not always a simple decision.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
Enter a password (the answer to a riddle) to move on to each new web page. (Despite its name, this is not a Tower Defence game.)
Category: Play online free of charge.
Gwigle is a free online puzzle game which teaches how to use the Google search engine. The game presents a list of Google links, to which you have to supply the search query which generated them. Hint: It often helps to open the real Google in a separate browser window, for use in parallel with the game.
Category: Various puzzles. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 2671KB.
Heaven And Earth is a collection of numerous individual puzzles and other challenges, of varying difficulty, arranged in four sections.
Category: Abstract puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Both URL's lead to the same content. The Rogers' family personal web site offers:
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Slide each hexagon to its correct destination cell of the same colour. A simple idea, very nicely implemented, which leads to some tricky puzzles.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.aceinternet.co.uk/~mokona (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: 2D turn based puzzle game (3D graphics but 2D gameboard). Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 1024KB.
Each of the one hundred levels of Hex-A-Hop has a pattern of hexagonal tiles of various types which your player character can walk round. On each level your obejctive is destroy all the green tiles. Each green tile is destroyed as you step off it. Cyan coloured tiles turn green on your first visit and are destroyed on your second visit. All green pillars drop down to become green tiles as soon as there are no green tiles left. Similarly, all cyan pillars drop to become cyan tiles as soon as there are no cyan tiles left. Cyan tiles and pillars need not be destroyed in order to complete a level. Various additional complications such as trampoline tiles, missile-shooting tiles and slippery ice tiles are gradually introduced as you work through the levels. You can consider each move for as long as you wish. The game's level has a hexagonal pattern which allows a choice if you are currently having problems completing some levels. Hex-A-Hop features attractive well-designed graphics. For more information about the game search the DROD forum.
Category: Various 2D abstract puzzles. Play online free of charge.
This appears to be a personal site, although I cannot find any mention of the author's name. It offers various games and puzzles, some good and some perhaps less interesting, plus some computer art and web pages on other subjects. Puzzle fans might like to try Hex Mine and Xoki.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.turbogames.com/Hexiom.html (external link verified Sep-07)
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
On each of the forty levels, arrange the hexagons so that each has the number of neighbours specified on its face.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzles. Play online free of charge.
This program contains thirty-six very varied puzzles, of which twenty five are immediately accessible, the other eleven only when some of the original twenty-five are solved. In each case you must reveal or construct a star, but the means by which this is achieved must be discovered. Some of the puzzles are very easy, some are very difficult and some are rather obscure. A pleasant short puzzle game.
Category: 3D technical drawing puzzle. Play online free of charge.
On each level you are presented with the plan and elevations of a 3D object made out of cube-shaped blocks. You have to create the object in 3D so as to match. The problem is that you are only allowed to use a specified number of blocks. This is a superb idea and very nicely implemented but I do wish there were a few easy levels to get you started.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator: Simple Andy.
This puzzle, by the same author as "Click Drag Type", has no instructions. You're not even told what you're trying to achieve. The puzzle has some similarities to the interconnections of computer logic gates so as to form arithmetic units.
Category: Simulation puzzle. Play online free of charge (restricted demo version of a payware program), or download and install free of charge (restricted demo version of the same payware program).
Download file size (demo): 4089KB.
The objective on each level is to place bombs and other objects into positions where they influence the path of a ball as it falls under gravity, so as to direct the ball to hit a target. The objects include bombs of various kinds and teleports. In addition the ball's path may be influenced by fields of various types, over which the player has no control. After placing the bombs (etc) the simulation is started, the path of the ball observed, the simulation stopped, the objects' positions adjusted and so on in a cycle until success is achieved. The positions of the bombs usually need to be very precise. In addition, on many levels the bombs also have to be detonated at precisely the correct moment. Some players may therefore feel that the game is too fiddly and over-complicated.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
A very useful tutorial option provides hints for playing this type of game. Not all of the puzzles involve pointing and clicking. The spelling "hellix" appears to be intentional.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
Not all of the puzzles involve pointing and clicking.
Category: 3D abstract puzzle game. Play online free of charge.
This is a "marble run" puzzle game, similar to the classic "Marble Madness". Control is made somewhat awkward by the diagonal viewpoint but this is alleviated to some extent by allowing the user to choose control keys.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.jayisgames.com (external link verified Jun-07)
Category: Information about computer games and puzzles which are available via the Internet.
This excellent web site is well worth visiting on a regular basis. It mainly features free online games and puzzles.
Category: Information about computer games and puzzles which are available via the Internet.
This site tends to feature downloadable games and puzzles, mainly payware with freeware limited demos.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://kongregate.com/games/Chandler/jelly-blocks (external link verified Jul-07)
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This is a highly innovative puzzle idea. On each level you have to move blocks so as to make blocks of the same colour join together, the unusual feature being that all the blocks move at the same time, subject to immovable obstructions. The early easy levels are perhaps too numerous but around the mid-twenties things start to become more challenging.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
A number of blobs are located in some of the cells of a rectangular grid. You objective is to move the required number of blobs to a special target cell. You can drag blobs to other cells, subject to some unstated rules which you must discover yourself. This is a nice idea but it might benefit considerably by the addition of a clear statement of the rules. Without that, many potential players will probably abandon the program in frustration. In addition, level 1 is trivially simple while level 2 is by far the most difficult.
Here is a tentative attempt to list the rules, which might not be entirely correct. Additional complications are introduced in later levels but these are mainly obvious. Because some people may wish to discover the following information by themselves, the text is hidden. To read it, drag your mouse over it so as to select it.
Blobs can only be dragged to an orthogonally adjacent cell, i.e. a cell above it, below it, to the left of it, or to the right of it (no diagonals).
A blob with one eye cannot be dragged to an empty cell.
A blob with one eye can be dragged to an occupied cell and it then adds to the number of eyes in the destination cell.
A blob with more than one eye can be dragged to any adjacent cell. It will leave a one-eyed blob in its original location, and its other eyes will add to the number of eyes in the destination cell.
The number of eyes in any cell cannot exceed the maximum displayed for each level, except for the target cell on the final winning move of the level. Until the final winning move, the number of eyes in the target cell is subject to the limit.
Blobs can be moved out of the target cell as well as into it, subject to the above rules. This far from obvious rule is vital to the solution of some levels.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Rotate the board clockwise and anti-clockwise to make the jewels fall under gravity, with the aim of making them come together.
Category: 2D platform construction puzzle game. Play online free of charge.
On each level, move Lego blocks to create platforms so Junkbot can safely reach the garbage can.
Category: 2D platform construction puzzle game. Play online free of charge.
The sequel to Junkbot. Same concept, new levels.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: Joker-Games.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Make a frog jump around the lily-pads, destroying them until only one is left. The frog can jump over any size of gap horizontally and vertically. Turns of 90 degrees can be made, but not 180 degrees. This is a unusual and challenging puzzle, nicely programmed. (This site allows visitors to comment on games and some of the comments may be very childish.)
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.tonypa.pri.ee/kavalmaja.html (external link verified May-08)
Category: 2D maze exploration. Play online free of charge.
Creator: Tonypa.
Combining elements of Chip's Challenge, DROD and Sokoban, this is an excellent puzzle. There are very few instructions, meaning that part of the puzzle is to discover what each of the symbols represents. Games are automatically saved and the "Load Game" option will restore a saved game. This includes the vital facility to restart a room after running out of lives.
Category: 2D abstract platform square-rolling puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Use the cursor keys to control one or more red squares, which can jump and roll around platforms. Collect all the coins by passing over them, then get all the red squares onto the green squares. There is no realtime element, so you can take as long as you wish to decide each move. There's a restart option on each level and if you fail to collect all the coins then you play the level again. An original idea, nicely programmed.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://kiki.sourceforge.net (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: 3D puzzle. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 3972KB.
You control a small robot in this truly 3D game, which combines elements from Sokoban and other games. There is some real-time activity, but mostly puzzle-solving.
Category: Adventure game. Download and install. Freeware.
Download file size: 49,295KB.
Creator/publisher: Infamous-Adventures.
This is a full adventure game available free of charge. It is a remaking of the Sierra game of the same name. The graphics are fairly low resolution but well done. The game has a fantasy theme. You play the part of Gwydion, the young slave of the evil magician Manannan. At the start of the game your objective would appear to be finding some way of escaping from Manannan.
Category: Sokoban. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
A collection of small difficult Sokoban levels.
Category: Logic puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Category: Mazes. Play online free of charge.
Robert Abbott's personal site features:
Category: Simulation puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This original puzzle involving the movement of several spacecraft has a number of levels.
Category: Board game. Play online free of charge.
An implementation of the classic board game played in many parts of Africa. Play against the program (with a choice of three skill levels) or against another person.
Category: Board game. Play online free of charge.
This appears to have the same options and gameplay as "Mancala Classic", but different graphics.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.mathpuzzle.com (external link verified Oct-06)
The majority of the material on Ed Pegg Jr's personal site will be tough going for all but the most advanced mathematician but there is the occasional item of more general interest. In addition, Ed frequently includes valuable links to high quality puzzle web sites. It is through this web site that I discovered gems such as Clickmazes and DROD. Ed's home page is updated frequently and the site also has a large number of other pages to explore.
Category: Various games including some puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Category: 3D platform-like game. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: Joker-Games.
Category: Mazes. Non-interactive diagrams.
Adrian Fisher's web site includes a number of ingenious and innovative mazes.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle; free online demo version; payware downloadable version; freeware downloadable demo version.
Download file size (demo): 3890KB.
On a rectangular grid there are squares of various colours, plus a number of special squares with a snowflake design. Your objective is to destroy all the snowflake squares. This is done by making all the squares between two snowflakes the same colour by swapping orthoganally adjacent squares . However, there is a significant complication: if the number of squares between two snowflakes is even they and the squares between them are destroyed, but if the number of squares is odd then in addition a new snowflake is created at the mid-point. Any squares above destroyed squares will fall downwards. The game starts with quite a large number of very simple tutorial levels.
Category: 2D Sokoban variant. Play online free of charge.
In addition to blocks which can be pushed, this game also features useful objects which you can pick up and drop, doors which need to be unlocked, and enemies which have to be avoided.
Category: Railway shunting puzzles. Non-interactive descriptions, diagrams and photographs.
This excellent web site includes full details of the classic "Inglenook Sidings" and "Timesaver" railway shunting puzzles. While the site presents the puzzles in model railway terms they can equally well be played with pencil, paper and coloured counters, or with a railway simulator computer program.
Category: Abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Mozaik is a logic puzzle in which you have to rotate sets of coloured blocks so as to match patterns.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
As usual with these games, your objective is to figure out the URL of each successive page in turn, using the clues in the current page. In some cases you may need to examine the source code of the page and/or do some research on Google, Wikipedia and other sources. This particular game tends to have a few fairly straightforward puzzles, then a really difficult one.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Rotate the wires and other devices so as to connect everything to the source of electricity. The game board size can be specified so as to set the difficulty level.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
From the clues on each web page, figure out the URL of the next page.
Category: Mathematical puzzles and problems. Non-interactive descriptions and diagrams.
Many of these puzzles are very challenging.
Category: 2D geometrical puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Move the vertices of a linkage so as to make the links pass over every one of a set of points. In some levels, some of the vertices are fixed and cannot be moved. A good game but the "music" is more than slightly repetitive.
Category: Logic puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
Not all of the puzzles involve pointing and clicking. Many involve entering the correct URL for the next web page.
Category: Railway shunting puzzle. Non-interactive diagram.
Category: Railway shunting puzzle. Non-interactive diagram.
Category: 2D maze puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Work your way to the destination, opening and closing a maze of hinged doors. An original and unusual idea, well implemented but for some reason lacking in its ability to keep you playing. Perhaps some more variety is needed.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.gamebalance.com/games/orbox.html (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Your objective is to guide an object to a destination. The complication is that having chosen a direction, the object keeps moving until it hits an obstacle. The first few levels are very simple but the difficulty level soon increases.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.gamebalance.com/games/orboxb.html (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
A sequel to Orbox, which introduces some new features.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
From the clues on each web page, figure out the URL of the next page.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
A variant on the classic "Towers Of Hanoi" puzzle.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
On each web page, click on the image and enter the answer to the riddle.
Category: 2D turn based puzzle game. Play online free of charge or download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 139KB.
Creator: Pavel Richter.
Papalot is a new turn-based strategy and resource allocation game, currently in the early stages of development. At the moment the menu system and graphics are fairly rudimentary but gameplay seems to be fully operative. On each turn you have to decide whether to build a unit which will create money, or a unit which will attack the opposition. There are several possible units of each type. The game has ten levels with different starting conditions.
Category: Abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Brett Gilbert's web site features this number maze, programmed in JavaScript which runs on most computers. On each level you have to find your way from the spinning start square in the top left corner to the finish square in the bottom right corner. You can only move orthogonally (up, down, left and right), and can only jump the number of squares shown by the spinning square.
Category: 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This is an interesting variant of Sam Lloyd's classic "15" puzzle. Each car must be moved into the circle of the corresponding colour, but cars can only move along roads, and only to the currently unoccupied circle.
Category: 3D maze puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: Joker-Games.
In this game you navigate the inside surfaces of a cubiod, with the considerable complication of always taking exactly two steps at a time.
Category: Text adventure puzzle with graphics. Play online free of charge.
This is an old text adventure game, or perhaps a modern parody of one. Movement is by means of the cursor keys but all other commands must be entered as text. The graphics and sound are primitive. The game is quite amusing.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Phit is a sliding block puzzle. Slide pentominoes and similar shapes so as to make them fit into a rectangle. The shapes cannot pass over each other, nor can they be rotated. There are quite a few simple levels to get you started, then it starts to become far more challenging. Well worth investigating.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
In this game you are presented with a network of points connected by lines. Your task is to drag the points so as to avoid any lines crossing. The idea is very clever, the implementation is excellent, but all except the first few levels are very difficult.
Category: Complex puzzle and riddle solving game. Play online free of charge.
I get the impression that players would need to invest a fair amount of time and effort into this puzzle in order to gain much from the experience.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Expand the diamond shapes so as to connect them all together. A diamond cannot be expanded more than three times, nor can it be expanded twice in successive moves, nor can it overlap with another diamond. This is a clever idea but a very difficult puzzle.
Category: Mental arithmetic puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This game has no instructions. It's fairly obvious what to do after some experimenting, and as discovering this is part of the pleasure I won't go into details here except to mention that rapid simple mental arithmetic is required. An excellent implementation of a simple but effective idea, with some very nice musical chimes as special effects.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
A rectangular framework contains a number of coloured square tiles. Each row and each column of tiles can be rotated, rows leftwards or rightwards, columns upwards or downwards. The objective is to make all the tiles in each row the same colour.
This is a good game, well programmed, but even the initial levels are very challenging.
A commercial site. Most Popcap games are in the form of Java applets which can be played online on most computers, but a few are conventional Windows EXE programs which can be downloaded. In some cases charges are made for the full feature EXE versions. People looking for puzzles will probably like Mummy Maze.
Category: 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge (the downloaded SWF file is quite large).
Move around various chambers, in each case attempting to reach the exit. When your path is blocked by obstacles, you can fire a gun to open two portals. As you enter one portal you will exit from the other portal. The position at which each portal is created is not the current mouse pointer position, but the nearest solid surface in line with where your gun is pointing. Portals can be opened on walls, floors and ceilings but only in places you can fire at with the gun from your current position. If a portal is created at an undesired position, firing the gun again will open it elsewhere. Operation is more than somewhat awkward and takes quite a while to learn but this is a puzzle game probably worth persisting with.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Download and install. Freeware.
Download file size: 1443KB.
Pozzo involves traversing a maze in order to eat all the jello. Once a jello square has been visited, it cannot be visited again (i.e. jello squares act in the same way as trapdoors in DROD). Some squares act as keys which unlock doors (i.e. the equivalent of orbs in DROD). Later levels probably have additional features. Despite its similarity with the DROD trapdoor rooms, this game is probably worth exploring.
There is no automatic installation procedure. Extract the contents of the downloaded ZIP file into a folder, move that folder to C:\Program Files and create any desired shortcuts. There is also an alternative EXE download file version from other sources which has an automated installation procedure but the installed program then fails with an error on my computer. The ZIP file version seems to work without any problems.
Use the cursor keys to move. Press R to restart a level. Pressing F4 toggles between windowed and full screen. Pressing G toggles the grid lines on and off. I haven't found any method of disabling the music.
Category: 2D navigation/block pushing game. Play online free of charge.
Making moves up/down/left/right on a square grid, navigate to the ending point within the specified number of moves. On the later levels you must push blocks out of your path.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://puzzle.boy.flash.fizzlebot.com (external link verified Mar-08)
Category: Abstract 2D logic puzzle. Play online free of charge.
An original game but somewhat in the style of Chip's Challenge, DROD and Sokoban, having a 2D overhead view. You have to discover a path through a maze of revolving doors and blocks which can be pushed. On some levels you have to control two independent copies of your character. There are three sets of levels, easy, medium and hard. The game has no realtime element and levels can be restarted without penalty. A clever idea, with good progressive level design and nicely programmed.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.puzzlebeast.com (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: 2D abstract puzzles. Play online free of charge.
James W. Stephens' personal site has a collection of highly innovative Java applet puzzles generated by computer programs that he wrote:
Category: Abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge (restricted demo version); payware full version (presumably downloaded and installed).
Prepare paths in the form of arrows for sheep to follow - a similar concept to Tilez.
Category: Railway shunting puzzles. Static diagrams only, no interaction. Solutions included.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
River Crossing is physical puzzle game manufactured by Binary Arts, based on Andrea Gilbert's Plank Puzzles. These pages of the Puzzle.com web site feature the game. The "Play Online" page includes four very simple introductory plank puzzles which use the same Java applet as the ClickMazes and Henley Mob sites.
Category: 2D pinball machine creation puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This is a pinball variant on the "Incredible Machine" concept. Design a pinball machine to make a ball reach its destination. After each attempt each of the pinball elements can be moved, rotated, etc as desired. A clever idea, well implemented, plus excellent sounds. However, the level design is poor with even the early levels requiring luck rather than skill to solve. Around level six everything became too vague and difficult for my liking.
Category: 2D block pushing puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Push the blocks to their destination. Once set in motion a block will continue to move until it hits a wall or another block.
Category: Abstract 2D block-rotating puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Rotate sets of blocks so as to create columns of the same colour. A clever idea, well implemented.
Category: Abstract 2D board game. Play online free of charge.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
25 level version: http://laser.narr.as/laser.swf (external link to SWF file verified Oct-06)
28 level version: http://www.raymer.org/games/laser (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online for free.
Place mirrors and other objects in the path of a laser beam so as to direct it to all the lightbulbs. A password system provides a rapid return to the level reached during a previous session. Some of the later levels are very difficult.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.gamemaker.nl/games_exe/reflexion.zip (external link to the program's distribution file verified Oct-06)
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 1252KB.
Your objective is to set the directions of the mirrors so as to make a particle move through a set of gems to the final square. There are thirty-six levels. A good idea, very nicely implemented.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
You and your shadow must cooperate to work their way through a hazardous maze in this very difficult turn-based puzzle game.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Coloured blocks must be moved to their required destinations. This is done by specifying a rectangular path, around which the blocks on that path can be rotated clockwise or anti-clockwise. The width and height of each rectangular path must be at least two squares. A block with no supporting block below it will fall under gravity. This is a clever idea and well implemented, but to avoid frustration be sure to wait while all the instructions are displayed before starting to play. As an additional bonus the game features some rather nice background music tracks.
Category: Linked web page riddle game. Play online free of charge.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://jayisgames.com/cgdc2_redirect.php?puzzleID=1 (external link verified Feb-07 but may not be permanent).
http://mirror4.cgdc2.fizzlebot.com/?puzzleID=1 (external link verified Feb-07 but may not be permanent).
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
The objective on each level is to make a tree's branches grow so as to pass through all the rings. This done by choosing the type of growth at each stage (straight, branching, etc). A very clever idea and very nicely implemented. The game is an entry in a competition, so the above links may be temporary.
Category: A classic river crossing puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This puzzle is in Japanese but as the operation is wholly graphical it is not a problem. To start, click the large blue circle. To move a character on or off the raft, click the character. To move the raft, click either of the red circles on poles at the riverbank. The raft can only carry two people at a time. The father cannot be left anywhere with any of the daughters unless the mother is present to keep the peace. The mother cannot be left anywhere with any of the sons unless the father is present to keep the peace. The criminal cannot be left anywhere with any of the family unless the policeman is present to keep the peace. Only the father, the mother and the policeman can operate the raft. This is a difficult puzzle.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
A variant on the "tilt mazes" concept. Guide a ball to its destination. Once set in motion the ball will continue to travel until it is blocked by an obstruction. This game includes a number of innovative features, making it considerably more interesting.
Category: 2D sliding block/adventure game. Downloadable Shockwave animation file; freeware.
Download file size: full version 30MB; compact version 16MB.
To quote from the publisher's web site: "In Rooms, you're locked in this mysterious mansion with different rooms. Arrange rooms like a sliding puzzle, only using what's inside the room. Think about the location of rooms, using the right object at the right time."
To operate the game's main menu use the cursor left and right keys to move the man to a door, then the cursor up key to make him walk through the door.
The game consists of numerous levels. On each level a set of rooms are displayed in 2D, side on. Your objective is to reach the exit room and pass through its door.
Subject to walls, locked doors and the availability of ladders, it is possible to walk and climb between rooms by using the cursor keys.
A room can be slid into an empty space by holding down the left mouse key in a featureless area of the room, then moving the mouse pointer to one of the four direction arrows which appear, then releasing the mouse.
Clicking on a telephone will teleport the player to the other room which has a telephone. Clicking on a wardrobe will exchange the contents of the current room with that of the other room which has a wardrobe. The player does not move.
To pick up an object, stand near it and click it. To examine or use an object, left-click on the player, then click on one of the inventory objects displayed in the circles around the player.
It is possible to restart a level. This option is also offered should you die by walking outside any room, or into a room filled with water without wearing the fish bowl on your head.
A level password system allows progress to be saved.
Category: Clues and riddles. Play online free of charge.
In each room, examine the clues, deduce the password and enter it to unlock the door to the next room. To obtain a hint, enter a clue into the "HS System" text box and click "Go". The slider adjusts the magnification factor of the magnifying glass.
Category: 2D machine building puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This puzzle game is similar in concept to the classic "Incredible Machine". On each level you have to design a machine to move blocks to their required positions, then put the machine into motion. If the machine doesn't perform correctly then it can be edited. Additional levels can be created and published by users. There is a password system which allows you to recommence playing at any level that you have previously visited.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
The playing board is divided into squares of different colours. The objective is to remove all the coloured squares. Clicking a square will remove it and its neighbours of the same colour, provided it is in a group of two or more. Squares above and to the right of the removed squares will move down and left so as to close gaps. The skill lies in removing sets of squares in such as way that no isolated single blocks remain. The player can consider each move for as long as desired.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.analogik.com/multimedia_samorost.asp (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: Point and click graphical adventure puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Samorost is an online graphical point-and-click puzzle-solving adventure game, somewhat similar to Myst. Our hero has to visit another planetoid so as to stop it running into his home.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.samorost2.com (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: Point and click graphical adventure puzzle. Play online. The first half of the game is free of charge. The second half of the game can be accessed for a charge of US$6.90.
This is a sequel to Samorost. The web site for this program includes MP3 versions of the music tracks for the original version, wallpaper images for the sequel, a complete walkthrough for the sequel, links to similar games, and a discussion forum.
Our hero has to rescue his dog from alien kidnappers. I found this sequel considerably more challenging than the original game.
Category: Abstract 2D game. Play online free of charge.
This is a turn-based puzzle game in which you play the role of a wild fire which has to burn as much land as possible. Unfortunately the program suffers from inadequate instructions and a first level which is far too difficult, but there seems to be an underlying good idea here. Users can submit additional levels.
The number alongside the "Burn!!!" button indicates your current burn points. This is not your score. Burn points can be thought of as analoguous to money in a tower defence game or mana in a spell-wielding game. The number of burn points is incremented at the end of each turn by the number of squares currently alight with your fire. Burn points can be spent on making a fire spread, making a fire jump, starting a new fire area by causing a meteor to fall, or putting out an enemy fire with rain. Each of these options takes a different number of burn points.
To make a fire spread, click on an existing square which is alight with your fire, then the "Spread" button, then a square horizontally or vertically adjacent to the first square. Other operations are performed in a similar manner. Provided sufficient burn points are available, one square can be made to spread to one, two, three or all four adjacent squares.
Fires burn for a different number of turns depending on the terrain. The number of turns that each square will remain burning is displayed after each turn.
Once you have performed all your desired spread, jump, meteor and rain operations for the current turn, click the "Burn!!!" button. You do not need to use all your burn points on each turn, and any unused points will be carried forward (without any interest payments) to the next turn.
Your score is displayed in a smaller font size above the four option buttons. This is separate to the burn points. Your score is incremented by one each time a square is completely burnt by your fire. On each level a specified score must be achieved.
Category: 2D platform puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This is not an ordinary platform game. It has a unique feature which makes it very much a puzzle. Press the Shift key to discover what that special feature is.
Category: 2D platform puzzle. Play online free of charge.
The first sequel to Shift.
Category: 2D platform puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Another sequel to Shift.
Category: 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Hit balls against each other in a logical order so as to knock them off the table and only leave one remaining. This is an excellent idea, extremely well programmed except for one major flaw - the imposition of a time limit which ruins the game.
Category: 2D abstract logic puzzle. Play online free of charge.
On each individual puzzle, click with the mouse to turn flip the squares to the upper face. There is a useful indication of which squares will be flipped over. Overall, complete all the puzzles before the alloted number of moves expires, as indicated by the pointer which rotates round the outside of the large circle. This is a small puzzle, and spoilt by the total lack of any instructions, but worthwhile nevertheless.
Category: Sokoban variant. Play online free of charge.
Reach your destination by pushing blocks out your way, or using them as bridges. The game is played in real time, there are no barriers to prevent you falling into the water, and there are moving objects to avoid. All this makes for a difficult game in which executing your moves is as tricky as planning them.
Category: 2D "machine" puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Construct domino run chain reaction machines, with various features including special blocks, ramps, etc. Then run your machine to see if it achieves the required objective of making all the dominoes fall and then hitting the target to raise the flag. A level editor is included.
The direction in which the first domino falls is controlled by clicking in the lefthand or righthalf of its square.
This game features some pleasant if repetitive piano music in the background.
Category: 2D sliding object puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Slide coloured circles along wires to destinations specified by colour shading. This is a very good puzzle idea but the implementation leaves a little to be desired. The destination shading is difficult to see, especially on levels where the wire network is extensive and the size of the coloured circles is small. In addition, the method of progressing through levels, while flexible, is somewhat over-complex.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.johnrausch.com/SlidingBlockPuzzles/default.htm (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: Sliding block puzzles. Play online free of charge.
A large collection of sliding block puzzles, implemented as Java applets and which therefore can be played online on most computers.
Category: 2D abstract logic puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Clicking a border between two squares toggles a path on or off. On each level, create a continuous loop so that each numbered square has the correct number of neighbouring paths. There are three sets of levels: easy, normal and hard.
Category: 3D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Sloyd is a clever variant of Sam Lloyd's classic "15" puzzle (hence the name), involving coloured dots on the faces of a cube. Unfortunately there is only one puzzle, which limits the appeal considerably. However, you can attempt to solve the puzzle in the minimum number of moves.
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http://www.sourcecode.se/sokoban (external link verified Oct-06)
Category: Sokoban. Download and install. Shareware (some features are disabled after thirty days unless the program is purchased).
Download file size: V2.3 5324KB.
Numerous implementations of the classic box-pushing puzzle game are available. This is one of the best.
Category: 2D abstract puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Push each coloured block to its correct position.
Category: Various puzzles. Play online free of charge.
Eric Solomon's personal site includes puzzle games entitled Find Quigley, Hexagrams and Sheepdog Trials.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This is a variant on the classic "make the ball travel to a target by changing direction after it stops on an obstacle" concept. This program features various coloured bars which act as barriers. One at a time, these barriers can be deactivated. As usual, you can change the ball's direction each time it stops on an obstacle, and you can do this as many times as you wish. However, the number of times you can activate and deactivate barriers is very strictly limited. The graphics of this program are not particularly attractive, and the creator's spelling/typing leaves something to be desired, but the puzzles are well done and fun.
Category: Platform game. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 766KB.
Creator/publisher: Blueskied Games.
This is the simplest of the three games in Blueskied Games' "Bound" series. You control a ball which can be made to change colour by hitting coloured circles. Your objective is to hit coloured squares so as to destroy them all. Complicating factors include skull squares which are fatal if hit, and an inability to change your vertical direction except by bouncing off squares. Although this game only has thirty levels and none of them are extremely taxing, it is still a very worthwhile little program.
See also Bound Around and Christmas Bound.
Category: Abstract logical puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This is an interesting logical puzzle, implemented by means of numerous linked web pages. The introductory page explains the goal of the puzzle, together with (for those who are interested) an extensive discussion of the advanced mathematics behind it.
Category: 2D puzzle game. Download and install; freeware.
Creator: Crystal Shard.
Download file size: 6742KB.
SubTerra is a 2D overhead view square grid puzzle game with several game elements similar to those in Chip's Challenge and DROD. So far none of the levels I have explored have required any realtime movement skills.
Category: 2D puzzle game. Download and install; freeware.
Download file size: 5053KB.
Creator: Crystal Shard.
A sequel to SubTerra.
Java version (runs on most computers): http://warren-wood-web.net/PuzzleApplet.html (external link verified Sep-06)
Category: 2D network puzzle game. Apple Macintosh version: download and install (freeware). Java version: play online free of charge.
This is essentially a coin sliding puzzle, with the additional restriction that coins can only be slid along lines of the same colour and themselves. Despite the name, it cannot really be considered as being a railway puzzle, or a fast food sandwich restaurant chain puzzle! Regardless of categorisation, it is a clever idea and a good puzzle.
Category: Abstract puzzle. Play online for free.
The board consists of a square grid of counters which are white on one side and grey on the other. Your objective is to turn all the counters so that their white sides are showing. Clicking a counter turns it over - and also the other counters in the same diagonals.
(As far as I am aware, the name isn't a strange hybrid of Mexican and Japanese cuisine.)
Category: Abstract puzzle. Play online for free.
The same concept as Tacoyaki, except that now clicking a counter to turn it over also turns over its immediate orthogonal neighbours (the counters above, below and to each side of it).
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
This is an implementation of an original puzzle concept by Oskar van Deventer. Three player-controlled people have to co-operate so as to escape from a series of rooms.
Download file size: 1384KB.
Tilez is a puzzle game currently (May-06) being beta tested. A ball has to be directed through a set of jewels by correctly positioning arrow tiles that alter its path. At this stage of development the idea and the level designs are good but the user interface still requires more work. There is no real-time element and you can consider each move for as long as you wish.
Rather than quoting a specific URL which may very quickly become out of date, for information about the program and a link to the distribution file (the file you download) search the DROD forum (external link verified May-06) for threads about the game.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Play online free of charge.
Creator/publisher: LightForce Games.
Eliminate all the blocks by stepping on them. Each move can be one step or two.
Category: Simulation of a mechnaical sorting puzzle. Play online free of charge.
This web page includes a description of a mechanical puzzle in which counters in a continuous track must be sorted into order by means of a turntable. It includes a Java simulation of the puzzle.
Category: Communcition puzzle. Play online free of charge.
In this unusual puzzle your spaceship crashlands on an alien planet and have to learn the natives' language.
Category: 2D physics puzzle. Play online free of charge.
On each level, you have to remove pieces from a tower but at the same time prevent a totem from falling to the ground. The pieces and the totem topple, fall and slide in a highly realistic manner, making for a very nice set of puzzles.
Category: Abstract 2D puzzle. Download and install. Payware with a freeware demo.
Download file size (demo): 13,981KB.
Creator/publisher: Kudos Games.
On each level you need to direct a beam of light from a source to a target. This is done by moving mirrors, filters and other objects. There are also additional goals of collecting treasure and map pieces. The game is nicely presented, with a good tutorial introduction. The freeware demo is generous, allowing an unlimited amount of time to play through an extensive number of levels. Once these are exhausted, they can be re-played by creating a new player profile.
Category: 2D collision and magnet simulation puzzle. Play online free of charge.
You have to direct a ball so as to hit a number of circular objects. The ball bounces off the objects and its path is affected by magnets which attract or repel it. After each attempt the path tak