Thinky Games
Search games
Sign in
DiscordBlueskyInstagramSteam CuratorXYouTubeTwitch
Events > ThinkyCon >

ThinkyCon 2025

On 5th to 7th November 2025, Thinky Games held the second ThinkyCon event, an online conference for creators of thinky games. We had three days of inspiring and insightful talks from the developers of some of your favorite thinky games, covering a wide range of topics, including puzzle design, production, art, marketing and much more.

All of the talks from ThinkyCon 2025 were recorded and can be watched below in full.

For the previous year's event, see ThinkyCon 2024

Day 1

  1. What Donald Judd's 1964 Art Essay "Specific Objects" Means To Me

    FLEB

    What Donald Judd's 1964 Art Essay "Specific Objects" Means To Me

  2. Thinky games are emotional experiences, and designing with those emotions in mind will help you build better games

    Caroline Clark, Queensguard Games

    Thinky games are emotional experiences, and designing with those emotions in mind will help you build better games

  3. CorgiSpace, or, short legs on purpose, or, my approach to making small games

    Adam Saltsman, Finji

    CorgiSpace, or, short legs on purpose, or, my approach to making small games

  4. Playful Puzzle Mechanics - updates on puzzle game research

    Craig G. Anderson, Zack Carpenter, and Nasim Eshgarf

    Playful Puzzle Mechanics - updates on puzzle game research

  5. Using a puzzle solver to aid design, discovery, QA, and playtesting

    Jagriff

    Using a puzzle solver to aid design, discovery, QA, and playtesting

  6. The Programming of Patrick's Parabox

    Patrick Traynor

    The Programming of Patrick's Parabox

  7. People Hate Puzzle Games, but...

    vexorian

    People Hate Puzzle Games, but...

  8. Adapting a Word Game: How Alphabirds Became Birdigo

    John August and Corey Martin

    Adapting a Word Game: How Alphabirds Became Birdigo

  9. We Built for Grandparents First, Then Discovered We'd Built for Everyone

    Anastasia Miliano, Inkwell Games

    We Built for Grandparents First, Then Discovered We'd Built for Everyone

  10. Is a Puzzle Game Without An Undo Still A Puzzle Game?

    JohnLee Cooper

    Is a Puzzle Game Without An Undo Still A Puzzle Game?

  11. Puzzle Design through Curriculum Design

    Gwen C. Katz, Nightwell Games

    Puzzle Design through Curriculum Design

  12. Art of Nurikabe World: Bringing a pen-and-paper classic to life without ruining it

    Wiebke Spieker, Hemisquare

    Art of Nurikabe World: Bringing a pen-and-paper classic to life without ruining it

Day 2

  1. Mathematics for Puzzles 2

    Ivan Koswara (chaotic_iak)

    Mathematics for Puzzles 2

  2. What puzzle games can learn from Nicolas Cage

    Ludipe

    What puzzle games can learn from Nicolas Cage

  3. The puzzle that launched a games company

    Dan Wiseman, The Detective Society

    The puzzle that launched a games company

  4. You vs You - Designing puzzles where you play against yourself

    dietzribi

    You vs You - Designing puzzles where you play against yourself

  5. Metapuzzles: From Puzzlehunts to Puzzle Games

    Greg Filpus (Aspeon)

    Metapuzzles: From Puzzlehunts to Puzzle Games

  6. Newspapers, Games, and "Newspaper Games"

    Daniel King, The Boston Globe

    Newspapers, Games, and "Newspaper Games"

  7. Leveraging Thinky Principles For Accessible Design

    Matt MacLean, Generic Lake Monster

    Leveraging Thinky Principles For Accessible Design

  8. The Rules of the Game: Modelling Puzzles as Constraint Satisfaction Problems

    Alastair Aitchison, Playful Technology

    The Rules of the Game: Modelling Puzzles as Constraint Satisfaction Problems

  9. Towers of Pen: puzzle experiences that zoom out and out

    Andrew Plotkin

    Towers of Pen: puzzle experiences that zoom out and out

  10. Silly reasons to not make a puzzle game

    Cerise Talis

    Silly reasons to not make a puzzle game

  11. Cute Enough to Try, Clear Enough to Solve: Approachability in Star Stuff

    Sylvia Aguiñaga, Ánimo Games

    Cute Enough to Try, Clear Enough to Solve: Approachability in Star Stuff

  12. A Journey Into Space

    Dom Camus

    A Journey Into Space

  13. Mathy Thinky Puzzly Problem Solving: Today's Most Important Skill

    Nick Chen, PlayMath.org

    Mathy Thinky Puzzly Problem Solving: Today's Most Important Skill

Day 3

  1. Designing for Discovery - Lessons from Hungarian Maths Education

    Levente Bodnár and Zsombor Fehér, EmptyMatter

    Designing for Discovery - Lessons from Hungarian Maths Education

  2. Composing Music for Chants Of Sennaar: The Soundtrack of Storytelling Puzzles

    Thomas Brunet

    Composing Music for Chants Of Sennaar: The Soundtrack of Storytelling Puzzles

  3. Making Multi Purpose Puzzles

    Ethan Clark

    Making Multi Purpose Puzzles

  4. Designing Puzzles Based on Real Languages

    Daria Jerjomina

    Designing Puzzles Based on Real Languages

  5. Adults Can’t Count Either: Design Tricks We Used at PBS That Apply to All Games

    Dennis Ramirez & Charlie Mackin, Videogame Workshop

    Adults Can’t Count Either: Design Tricks We Used at PBS That Apply to All Games

  6. Be Your Own Playtester with Random Number Generation

    Terry DuBois

    Be Your Own Playtester with Random Number Generation

  7. How to make cute, speedy 2D Animations in Google Slides!

    Charlotte Pang, Queensguard Games

    How to make cute, speedy 2D Animations in Google Slides!

  8. Under the Hood of Stumbling in Puzzle Games

    Jackson Nagy, Starmaps

    Under the Hood of Stumbling in Puzzle Games

  9. Using a fantasy console for serious gamedev

    Perttu "Borb" Tuovinen, borbware

    Using a fantasy console for serious gamedev

  10. Testing Blue Prince

    Tonda Ros, Dogubomb

    Testing Blue Prince

Join our newsletter

Get a free thinky game to play and discuss, plus the latest thinky news and reviews, directly to your inbox every 2 weeks!