Welcome to the second-ever Thinky Third Thursday — a monthly roundup of thinky puzzle games that have caught my eye.
This will be a bit lighter than the first edition, but I think should be more representative of the scope going forwards — last time I was trying to catch you up on the several months of amazing thinky releases that led to me starting Thinky Third Thursday, but now that's out of the way I have a more manageable number of games to shout about.
Recent thinky highlights
The Roottrees are Dead, by Jeremy Johnston (free, web)
Piece together a family tree, in the aftermath of a plane crash which leaves a large inheritance up for grabs. If you enjoyed Return of the Obra Dinn or Her Story, this is worth checking out. It's pretty meaty for a free game - probably at least 6 hours if you don't use a lot of hints - so don't start playing if you're prone to binging and have something important to do today!
The Talos Principle 2, by Croteam and Devolver Digital (Windows/PlayStation 5/Xbox Series X|S)
This is the puzzle juggernaut of November, but I actually haven't played it yet. The first game has been in my "I must make time to play this sometime" pile for a long while, and although I gather you don't need to play it first, I think I want to. It's a big time commitment though - between the first game, its well-regarded DLC, and the sequel, there's a lot to dig into. I have my fingers crossed that I'll make some time over the holidays for their lasers and introspection.
Munchy Mammals, by Hjalte Tagmose and Spelkollektivet (Windows/macOS/Linux)
Grow snakelike mammals to the right size and then send them burrowing underground to digest their meal. I normally don't love puzzle games with move counters, but this one felt like it was non-essential... at least until it started gating progression by how many levels you'd got a gold medal on. Still, I had a pleasant time with this game - the mechanics are very familiar, but it has its own spin on things and a sense of character.
More recent thinky releases
- Hardhat Wombat, by All Yes Good
- Plungeroo, by Little Crown Games
- Lumins and Shades, by TheOnlyOne
- Polimines 2, by Molter
- Logic Town, by Mark Ffrench and Divide The Plunder
- Animal Planner, by MittagPause,PawPaw Games
- SokoChess Black, by Daisy Games
- Howl, by Mi'pu'mi Games GmbH and astragon Entertainment
Upcoming games to watch for
Orten Was The Case, by Woodhill Interactive (Windows demo available)
I didn't play enough of the demo for this to get a good sense of its thinkiness, but you just have to say the words "time loop" to get me intrigued. It's out in a couple of weeks and seems worth keeping an eye on — clearly a lot of love has gone into it.
Ligo, by Anthony Berleur (Windows demo available)
Don’t be fooled by the friendly art style — this has some devious puzzles that you’ll have to work for. I often don’t love puzzle games where multiple characters move at the same time with the same inputs, but here the puzzles are strong enough, and the gameplay rules are nuanced enough, that it works for me.
Want to make some thinky games?
Finally, I wanted to give a heads up about some cool game jams coming up, for anyone interested in making thinky games.
- Submissions are open until the end of the month for the Confounding Calendar. This is all about small self-contained puzzles, which are released across December as a thinky advent calendar. As an example, here's one of my favourites from last year: Boxing Up Bamboo.
- From Dec 1 to 17, look into The Case of the Thinky Game Jam. This is a jam organised by ThinkyGames.com, focusing on detective games - such as The Roottrees are Dead, highlighted above!
That's it!
Please let me know what you think - I’d love to know if you found it useful or have any recommendations.
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