Yep, I scoured through each and every game on CrazyGames — even the countless dress-up games and Flappy Bird clones — in search of the best games to get your brain whirring. And would you believe it, I actually found some great thinky games, even a few classics that brought back fond memories!
For those who aren’t familiar, CrazyGames is one of those sites that all the kids go on when their teachers aren’t paying attention. With many thousands of games to choose from, I hear that some children never return from the depths of the CrazyGames catalogue. When I was at school, we’d be distracted by similar sites like Kongregate, Miniclip, or, the best place for puzzle nerds, Clickmazes.
We’re excited to share that we’ve now partnered with CrazyGames to introduce Thinky Games to those nerdy kids who love puzzles and problem solving as much as I did (and do!). If you take a look at their home page, you’ll now find a brand new “Thinky” section featuring our very own thinky mascot. However, this category didn’t just magically appear — I had to help them out by painstakingly playing all 4000 of their games in search of the thinkiest gems I could find.
The “Thinky” category features over 50 games, but I thought I’d highlight my top 10 picks right here. These are some truly great games that are totally free to play, right in your browser.
Star Stuff
Star Stuff was one of my personal favorite thinky games of 2024 and winner of Best Approachable Game at our most recent Thinky Awards. In Star Stuff, you solve puzzles by programming little bots to help you navigate through the level. The combination of discrete programming with real-time movement leads to some really amazing puzzles. You can try out a slimmed down version of the game on CrazyGames, and if you enjoy it, I highly recommend the full game!
Disclaimer: Star Stuff was published by Astra Logical, who are funded by the same organization that funds Thinky Games: the Carina Initiatives. However, I legitimately loved Star Stuff - it’s an excellent game and features brilliant puzzles from one of my favorite puzzle designers, Steven Miller! So I’d be giving it a shout-out either way.
Growmi
Growmi is a delightful little grid-based puzzler, in which the hero can extend and retract their body to move through a mini metroidvania-like world. Solving puzzles will lead to upgrades, allowing you to extend one space further and opening up new paths to explore. At just a couple of hours long, you could play through Growmi’s clever puzzles in just one sitting.
Die in the Dungeon
Die in the Dungeon is a delightful deck-building (or dice-building) strategy game, about strategically placing dice on a grid to win turn-based combat encounters and venture deeper into the dungeon. I believe the version on CrazyGames is an early demo, as Die in the Dungeon went into early access on Steam just earlier this year.
Play Die in the Dungeon on CrazyGames
Trace
There are a lot of interesting escape room style games on CrazyGames, but here’s one that stands out in particular. Trace has a particularly unique visual style, and is a little heavier on the puzzles and less on the pixel-hunting than many of the other similar games. And it would be remiss of me not to mention that Trace just got a Definitive Edition release, now available on Steam.
SSSPICY!
SSSPICY! is one of those sokoban games where the core mechanic and theme just work so perfectly to create a silly, playful, but still brilliantly thinky puzzle game. In SSSPICY!, you control a snake with a penchant for hot peppers, despite their tendency to send you flying across the room. It’s a relatively short game which manages to find a good amount of depth in this clever, intuitive mechanic.
Bloxorz
This one’s a blast from the past! Bloxorz is now almost 20 years old, and you can tell as much from its slightly dated visuals, but it’s certainly a classic. It’s a simple game about rolling a cuboid around on a grid, avoiding traps and pressing buttons to find a way through the level. It’ll really get you thinking about parity and three-dimensional shapes.
Toodee and Topdee
Toodee and Topdee has such a great premise. You shift your perspective between two characters, turning it from a platformer into a top-down game. Toodee is bound by gravity, so must jump from platform to platform, while Topdee can walk around on the background, placing objects for Toodee to jump on. This demo on CrazyGames is a great way to play a whole bunch of puzzles before buying the full version. Also, don’t miss that the developer, dietzribi, is working on a new game, UvsU, which looks equally fascinating!
Play Toodee and Topdee on CrazyGames
Hidden Oxygen
Here’s an unexpected find - Hidden Oxygen is a logic puzzle game, kind of like Picross/Nonograms crossed with Tapa. The goal is to give each carbon atom two adjacent oxygen atoms, while ensuring there are the appropriate number of oxygens in each row and column. I think the puzzles are generated, but I still had fun solving them! Just like good ol’ Picross, it’s easy to get lost in these puzzles for a while.
Play Hidden Oxygen on CrazyGames
Lava and Aqua
The developer of Lava and Aqua has made a bunch of great thinky games featured in our “Thinky” category on CrazyGames, but I wanted to highlight Lava and Aqua in particular. It’s a grid-based game about reaching the goal in each level, but you have to avoid the lava that is spreading, turn-by-turn, throughout the level. By carefully placing blocks and guiding water to obstruct the lava, you have to find a safe path to the exit.
Play Lava and Aqua on CrazyGames
A Grim Chase
There are a good few thinky puzzle-platformers on CrazyGames, but A Grim Chase is one in particular that stood out to me. The basic mechanic is simple: you can throw a skull horizontally and then teleport to its location, gradually making your way to the exit of each puzzle. However, the game features some clever little twists, leading some great little rule-discovery moments.
Play A Grim Chase on CrazyGames
If you’re looking for more excellent thinky games, make sure to check out the Thinky category on CrazyGames for the full collection - it’ll make my sacrifice worth it!
Disclaimer: Thinky Games is part of the Carina Initiatives and may have professional relationships with individuals and businesses related to the subject of this article. Please see our Editorial Policy for details.
