“No matter how great or small your accomplishments, to take time to think about a difficult problem is a beautiful thing.”
Welcome, puzzlers and problem solvers! We're a community of thinky fans who want to share amazing games with as many people as possible.
Thinky games are those you love to solve — all about careful reasoning, rather than fast reflexes or dexterity. If you find yourself thinking through a problem and then, when the insights finally dawn on you, exclaiming “aha!”, you’re probably playing a thinky game.
We believe thinky games are for everyone. If you enjoy relaxing with a crossword, figuring out whodunit before the TV detective does, or wrapping your head around an intriguing riddle, we think you'll love these games. Logic games, detective games, mystery games, strategy games, math games, adventure games — there are so many wonderful thinky games to discover!
Our hope, through sharing these games, is to introduce more people to the joys of playful problem solving.
Thinky Games has its origins in existing thinky games communities.
The first space to use "thinky" in this way was a Discord community created in 2018 by Alan Hazelden, founder of puzzle game studio Draknek & Friends. He created the space for fans of thinky puzzle games, many of whom joined the community after playing games like Stephen's Sausage Roll, The Witness, and Draknek's own Cosmic Express.
In 2022, now-publisher Astra Logical started building a website to grow the audience of puzzly, problem solving games, in partnership with the team behind Warp Door and puzzle influencer Joseph Mansfield. With the blessing of Alan Hazelden, this website was launched on 14 September 2022 as Thinky Games, the very website you're reading now.
Thinky Games originally launched as a blog featuring news, reviews, and other editorial content, but has since started a number of new initiatives, including a Discord community, newsletter, events like ThinkyCon and the Thinky Awards, and most recently, the launch of the Thinky Games database in October 2024.
It would not be possible to do what we do without the funding and support we receive from Carina, a non-profit organization that believes in the power of thinky games in creating a culture of playful problem solving.
We are, of course, a community of many thinky fans (you can come chat with us on Discord!), but we do have a core team who keep everything running smoothly:
Alongside running things at Thinky Games, Joe shares full puzzle playthroughs on his YouTube channel, Joe Plays Puzzle Games. He has a background in software development but in 2022 decided to fully immerse himself in the world of thinky games. Since then, he has worked with publisher Astra Logical and supported Draknek & Friends with the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase. He also makes his own little games and puzzles.
Luis Díaz Peralta (@Ludipe) is a game designer who loves game jams and releases small free games often. He has also made a couple of commercial games (like Sushi For Robots) and worked on all sorts of projects for clients. He’s very interested in community initiatives and has been organising game events (both virtual and physical) for years.
Rachel Watts (@rachel_wattts) is a freelance journalist with work published at PC Gamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, Edge Magazine, The Guardian, and others. Joining the Thinky team in May 2024, she’s in charge of editorial content on the website. If you know of an upcoming game you think Thinky Games would be interested in, she’s the gal to reach out to: rachel[at]thinkygames.com.
Corey Hardt (@corey_hardt) has been interested in games and writing for a long time, and has recently started to actually do something about it. You might know him from his work on Thinky Puzzles Quarterly, The Confounding Calendar, or his 7DRL entry Mosaic. He loves boardgames, cryptic puzzles, broughlikes and long walks on the beach.
We wouldn't be able to do everything without contributions from so many other wonderful people in our community, especially all the writers that have contributed articles and descriptions for the games database.
“Every human society in recorded history has games. We don't just solve problems out of necessity, we do it for fun! Even as adults. Leave a human being alone with a knotted rope and they will unravel it. Leave a human being alone with blocks and they will build something. Games are part of what makes us human. We see the world as a mystery, a puzzle, because we've always been a species of problem solvers."
— Alexandra Drennan, The Talos Principle
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