Highlights from Thinky Puzzle Game Jam 4
Thinky Puzzle Jam is an annual game jam organised for members of the Thinky Puzzle Games discord server that I run (and others in the wider puzzle game community). It took place earlier this month, so there's now a bunch of great new free puzzle games to try.
My favourites were all made in PuzzleScript or a variant of it, so they're all low-res and Sokoban-y, but that's not true of everything made for the jam. If you're looking for more recommendations, ThinkyGames.com has some highlights (hi!) that don't overlap with mine.
First up, here's three that are reasonably approachable.
Ultimate Javelin Golf, by Toombler and Patrick Traynor This starts simple enough with frisbees you throw onto targets and then javelins that you throw through targets, but it goes surprisingly deep on combining its mechanics in unexpected ways.
Ultimate Míčošťouch Intergalactic Cup Extreme, by pluf and Tonyl When taking out the trash, you get teleported to an alien world and are forced to compete in a strange tournament. I love the theme of this one, and the visual polish.
Boarding Zone, by aspeon Use your rad skateboarding tricks to collect the letters S-K-A-T-E. After completing this short 4-level game, there's a surprise reveal that made me appreciate it even more.
This second group of selections share a common theme that I'm a sucker for: they have great puzzle design but they're very hard. A lot of people will bounce off them, but patience will be rewarded.
Yoohoo, by competor A weird and satisfying theme (you can shout to push blocks around from a distance), but what makes it stand out is the excellent puzzle design with each level laser-focused on highlighting a new consequence of the mechanics.
Dungeon Parkour, by Dom Camus In the Dungeon Parkour world championship, at each stage you must jump and climb to the exit. Each level introduces a new type of gadget you can use to your advantage, or a new type of trap that will block your way.
Peakoban, by muratsubo At first glance this is a pretty basic sokoban variant, with some blocks being normal and others having an arrow that makes them want to move in that direction. Very quickly you'll discover that it's a little more involved than that though. It very quickly got too hard for me, but I think it's very smart, and having previewed some of the later levels I can tell it does a thorough job of exploring the mechanical possibility space.
A Sporting Investigation: The Fall of Peacon St. Hamstring, by Corey Martin, Mairi Nolan, and Alan Hazelden Lastly, I helped make something for the jam: a detective game entirely unlike the games I've highlighted above. It could have used a little more polish time, so apologies for the rough edges! If you play it, we'd love to hear what you think.
Thinky releases from the past month
- Many more games made for Thinky Puzzle Game Jam 4
- Kitiplant, by TACSOU ($4.99)
- Riven, by Cyan Worlds Inc ($34.99)
- Hologram, by NinaBirb
- Cubicatch, by Birchfruit ($4.99)
- Polyoshapes, by UnSweet ($2.99)
- Magnecopter, by ThatScar
- Bizarre Button (prototype), by smyrnensis
- Shaman Steps, by Daniel Moreno
- The Legend of Lumina, by Wizbane
- Prune & Milo, by Flocons Studio and JanduSoft ($8.79)
- PSEUDOKU, by KristophersVictory ($5.39)
- Treasure Journey, by Argyron ($7.99)
- Captain Contraption's Chocolate Factory, by Pill Bug Interactive ($8.49)
- Wormspell, by Chris Wade, Eric Franco, Gumboot, gleefulbeest, and canderson819
Upcoming games to watch for
The Operator, by Bureau 81 (July 22) The core gameplay of The Operator is simple yet compelling: criminal cases are assigned to you, and you must use surveillance tools to investigate, find discrepancies, and make connections. Alongside these assignments, there's clearly something else going on, and the demo starts and ends on a note of intrigue.
The Star Named EOS, by Silver Lining Studio and PLAYISM (July 23) From the creators of Behind the Frame, The Star Named EOS is a new hand-drawn point and click puzzle game, centred around composing and snapping the perfect photographs. In the short 20 minute demo, the game teases an coming of age story told through a series of tactile and environmental puzzles.
Linkito, by Kalinarm and Playdigious Originals (July 23) Wire and rewire contraptions to earn your place in a dystopian society. If you're familiar with AND/OR/NOT logic you'll likely breeze through the early puzzles - though that doesn't mean they're unsatisfying - but the trailer promises some intriguing mechanics like controlling robots will show up later on.
Slider, by boomo (July 24) The world is made of sliding block puzzles you control. This won Best Student Game at the Independent Games Festival last year, and will be completely free when it releases.
Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure, by Furniture & Mattress LLC (July 25) Arranger has a lovely art style and a simple gameplay hook: shift objects around as you move towards or away from them. Over the course of the game it explores many varations on that mechanic - the trailer teases rafts, hookshots, bosses, fishing, and more.
That's it!
Did you particularly enjoy any of the games above, or do you have a recommendation for a game I should check out? Please get in touch!
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