Alan Hazelden's Thinky Third Thursday – March 2024

Alan Hazelden, 21 March 2024

Welcome to Thinky Third Thursday, curated by Alan Hazelden of Draknek & Friends - a monthly roundup of thinky puzzle games that have caught my eye.

Often I'm using this newsletter to highlight commercial games that I think are worth buying, but I don't want to neglect the many great games available for the low price of free. This past month I've played several web games that impressed me, so I wanted to put the spotlight on a few that particularly stood out.

Recent free webgame highlights

CO-DOOR by yuji_ap

This is short and sweet - just four floors of puzzles, each containing a mysterious black door connecting to a featureless void. If you only have 15-30 minutes to spare, this is the one to check out.

Maintenance by lethargic

I don't know what a "calibration inspector" is, but this game doesn't make me want to become one. It's heavy on the vibes, with simple "what order do I trigger these" puzzles that are satisfying to execute.

All the games in the "Tiny block-pushers" series by Hempuli

Not content with having made Baba Is You, one of the most impressive and most successful puzzle games of all time, since the start of the year Hempuli has been making and releasing about 5 new block-pushing games every month. Each of them has a smart and surprising gameplay mechanic strong enough to be the core of a game that anyone else would take months or years to craft - instead he makes them in just a handful of days and I'm delighted every time.

Thinky releases from the past month

• Crayon Computer, by Artless Games ($3.99)
• 20 Small Mazes, by FLEB
• Wonderway, by GameDreamland ($9.99)
• CO-DOOR, by yuji_ap
• Craftomation 101: Programming & Craft, by Luden.io ($9.99)
• Gambit Shifter, by Volcanite Games ($7.99)
• Omnibullet, by Arbitrary Combination ($11.99)
• Epigraph, by Matthew Brown ($2.99)
• Snake Solver, by bedbed
• Close Cities, by Juanma Altamirano
• Liquidum, by Marvellous Soft ($4.99)
• Mimic Logic, by Nihohe Soft ($3.99)
• Sokobond Express, by José Hernández and Draknek & Friends ($14.99)
• RYBot, by Pinethree Interactive ($5.99)
• Covejank, by Hempuli
• Cats Love Boxes, by Devcats ($3.99)
• HER TREES : THE PUZZLE HOUSE, by Stone ($1.99)
• Wallmount, by Hempuli
• Fixban, by smyrnensis
• Cavemount, by Hempuli
• Permaban, by Hempuli
• King of the Bridge, by Finn Schuuring ($2.99)
• CYOM, by Hempuli
• UDLR_Modify, by Idolon
• Shape Magic, by Oscar
• Maintenance, by lethargic
• Grab Box, by eggygooey
• bunny hungry, by ggidk games ($3.99)
• The Boxed Visionary, by Rowbay
• Trovemount, by Hempuli
• Slice & Dice, by Tann ($8.99)

Upcoming games to watch for

Here's a trio of thinky games which all look great and have recently announced a release date a few months in advance.

ANIMAL WELL by Billy Basso and Bigmode

On the surface this doesn't look like a puzzle game, but everything I've heard about it makes me very intrigued. They just announced a release date of May 9, so there's not long to wait to discover its secrets.

Paper Trail by Newfangled Games (Windows/macOS demo available)

Fold the world to uncover new paths in this origami puzzle adventure. I've been talking to this team for a while now and their attention to detail is impressive. It's releasing just a couple of weeks after ANIMAL WELL, on May 21.

Slider by boomo (Windows/macOS/Linux demo available)

The world is made of sliding block puzzles you control. This won Best Student Game at the Independent Games Festival last year, so you know it's going to be worth checking out. It's coming out on July 24, and keeping with the subject of today's newsletter, it's going to be completely free!

That's it!

I know, the "thinky releases from the past month" section seems like it's getting bigger every month - hope you didn't have anything else to be getting on with. For my part, I'm not allowed to get too distracted because... in two weeks I'll be announcing an exciting new project that Draknek is publishing!