Team Thinky's favourite puzzle games of 2025

Team Thinky, 22 December 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, it's time we take a look back and reflect on just how packed the last twelve months have been for thinky game releases. Between spectacular sequels, dazzling debuts, and an oldie but goldie, it's been another year of fantastic games, and with so many, we thought it would be nice for us here at Thinky to pick out a few of the favourites that we've played. We haven’t played every puzzle release this year, so if we've missed your favourite game, please let us know! We love hearing what folks have been playing (old and new!), so sound off in the comments or over on our Discord. 

It's been a busy year for games, but it's also been another busy year for Thinky! Not only have we kept our database and website up-to-date with the latest releases, organised another year of excellent talks in our yearly ThinkyCon, continued to keep you informed with our biweekly newsletter, AND are in the midst of planning our upcoming Thinky Awards show, but this year we also debuted our first Thinky Direct showcase and launched Thinky Dailies!

Everyone on the team has worked incredibly hard this year, and we're so proud of how much the website has grown. So, from all of us here at Thinky, thank you so much for your support, and we hope you enjoy our staff picks for the best games we've played in 2025!

0Player

Have you heard about this one? It made big waves in the online puzzle communities earlier this year, which might be surprising to some because it’s all contained within a static image. A big, chunky, unapologetically still PNG image. There are lines and boxes, a whole mechanical apparatus that mirrors other block-pushing puzzle games, except there are absolutely no animations and no avatar to control. And I thought I wouldn’t get it, but then I did. (Or it feels like I did, which is what matters here.) Removing the animations invites you to imagine a world of possibilities within a single box movement, until it eventually clicks with the extremely meaningful level design. Removing the avatar allows you to backtrack or fast-forward or teleport instantly to the time and place that matters. 0Player obliterates all tedium. Playing it felt like navigating a storm inside my brain. Potent stuff for the puzzle-proficient. —Oriane, Database editor

When you’re working day in, day out with puzzle game news, something truly fresh and new coming along breathes life back into you. Not just a new twist on an old mechanic, but something really new, imagining new shapes that games might take. You play this in your head, mostly. We find we can imagine the interactions as if they were animated, imagine what’s happening, understand it without being shown… as an experience, how different is it from playing a videogame, really? This spirit right here is why I fell in love years ago with free experimental indie games and the online communities where these sorts of creatives hang out. —Corey, News editor

Not a whole lot more to add, but 0Player is brilliant! If you’ve not played a rule-discovery pen-and-paper puzzle before, it might be tricky to understand how to even begin, but all you have to do is study the image and conjure up ideas about how it might work. And when the right ideas come to you, you’ll know. That’s the joy of these kinds of puzzles. You can try LOK if you want to start with something a little more guided, but 0Player really pushes the static rule-discovery concept in new and unique directions. —Joe, Manager

You can learn more about 0Player on our database.

Golden Idol Investigations

More murder, more mayhem, more more more. With each DLC more devious and more delicious than the last, Golden Idol Investigations proves that Color Gray Games are the masters of mystery. I cannot get enough of this series. The Sins of New Wells, The Lemurian Phoenix, The Age of Retraint and The Curse of the Last Reaper - the sheer volume of content is one thing (each DLC has four/five cases each!), but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every single one. Yes, the cases are fantastic, but what I absolutely love about the Golden Idol series is that it has edge. There’s often a sharp satirical comment at the bloody heart of each case, a mischievous punchline to a joke you didn’t know you were being told. With each DLC released steadily throughout the year, I’ll think back on 2025 as the year of Golden Idol.  —Rachel, Website editor

You can learn more about Golden Idol Investigations on our database.

Blue Prince

Honestly, Blue Prince feels like a fever dream (and I mean that in the best of ways). Sometimes I wake up remembering it and thinking, “Was that a real game? Was it actually such a big hit and not something only the most hardcore puzzle players bought?” I found it so bold and inspiring, it has such a strong creative direction, and it’s going there even if some players become frustrated. I became obsessed with it. I was taking hundreds of screenshots. I had a notebook next to the PC with about 30 pages of handwritten notes. It’s hard to put it all into words. —Luis, Project manager

I’m “only” 20 hours in Blue Prince (sorry I’m late to the party — I had others to attend first!) and it’s been a complicated beast to enjoy so far. The strategy aspect is admittedly brilliant, with clever tile-placement rules and a killer architectural theme. I’ve had a number of thrilling runs trying to balance every resource! However, I’ve struggled to actually care about whatever long-term objectives the game was dangling before me. Escape room-ish puzzles? Some of them are good. Oblique aristocrat drama? Meh. It’s hard to value the full picture when its pieces have been scattered over a thousand locations, and collecting them asks for so much of your time. I’d like to be surprised and challenged, but Blue Prince has been quite uneven in that regard. —Oriane

Well, so I’m 146 hours into Blue Prince, and wowee, what a journey it’s been. I won’t lie, the latter part of the game is quite exhausting and I think needs a bit more love (some puzzles have nowhere near enough clues, while others have way too many). However, I am still utterly blown away by the game and the first 60-70 hours featured some of my favorite gaming moments ever. It’s just such a love letter to puzzle-solving, and there are so many great moments where the game expands in mind-expanding ways. Tonda recently talked at ThinkyCon about how he sees Blue Prince as sitting firmly between puzzle and strategy, and I’ve noticed players sometimes get on well with only one of those aspects of the game, but personally, I’ve really enjoyed both. It’s certainly a fascinating experiment in how puzzles and strategy can be brought together, and it does it in such a mesmerizing and creatively-unrestrained way. —Joe

Blue Prince isn’t just the game I've played the most this year, it’s the game I’ve also thought about the most. I agree with the criticisms and quibbles that many have highlighted - my biggest gripe is that it suffers from diminishing returns - but it only makes me think about it more. It's a goliath of a game, and because of that, there's just so much to digest - puzzles, mysteries, game design, story - there's a lot to chew on here. A bit of advice: don't let people's play times put you off. Some folks are saying the game "only starts 50 hours in", but that's honestly BS. You can happily play Blue Prince for 5/10/20 hours, never play it again, and still get something out of it. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone.—Rachel

You can learn more about Blue Prince on our database.

Glowkeeper

Glowkeeper is a match-3 metroidbrainia. That’s right, the core mechanic is that you can select objects in the world and draw lines between them and, in true match-3 fashion, if you match 3 of the same object, they’ll disappear. However, these little match-3 puzzles exist within an open-world 2D platformer; you’ll be matching objects to create platforms and to open up paths through its non-linear world, discovering new tricks and secrets as you go. It’s such a clever idea and has all sorts of brilliant surprises up its sleeve, unafraid to explore the depths of its systems. —Joe

You can learn more about Glowkeeper on our database.

Spooky Express

Let me be honest here: as much as I like Draknek & Friends’ games, I had nearly no interest in a follow-up to their 2017 track-laying bonanza Cosmic Express. I have big sequel / remake / reboot fatigue — blame it on Hollywood and AAA gaming. But then I launched the game, and it was immediately catchy and snappy and creative and before I knew it I was several areas in. The game ditches most of the knotty topology from its predecessor (bye portals! you won’t be missed!) in favor of clever interactions between the train passengers. Lucas Le Slo, the game’s level designer, really outdid himself in crafting a neatly balanced progression of brain-twisters that will keep you on your toes. The whole game is a testament to why the studio is still such a respected player in the puzzle scene. —Oriane

I’m in full agreement with everything Oriane said! I was incredibly impressed with how strong the puzzle design is in Spooky Express, and how deftly it avoided some of the complexities of Cosmic Express. Every puzzle is just so snappy and satisfying to solve, it’s hard to stop playing. Although I played some of the advanced puzzles as I went through the main levels, it seemed to me like the main levels would provide a very approachable experience for any folks new to this kind of track-drawing game. And for the experienced puzzle solvers, the advanced levels offer really meaty problems to solve (and still satisfying!). —Joe

You can learn more about Spooky Express on our database.

Spectacle: Worlds Unseen

The games industry has become a much harsher place in the last few years. Everything is a huge struggle, pitching a project, releasing the game, surviving to make another one. Many projects die, and we never see the work put into them. Spectacle: Worlds Unseen is one of those games that didn’t manage to get funding, but the developers still chose to put what they had in Steam. It’s far from perfect, but it’s so full of heart and charm. Knowing I won’t be able to play the game makes me sad, but I’m still glad I got to glimpse into what it could have been. —Luis

You can learn more about Spectacle: Worlds Unseen on our database.

Strange Antiquities

I love pretty much any game with cozy vibes and a cute cat you can pet! I made sure to pet Hellebore at least once an in-game day when I played Strange Horticulture and Jupiter is just as cute! Strange Antiquities, with its relaxing rain sounds and ominous dialogue strikes the perfect balance between creepy and cozy! It’s pretty similar to the first game in the series, but continues to give you more to play with. And, of course, it expands upon the lore of the gloomy town of Undermere! The game encourages careful thinking and paying attention to little details before settling on a solution. Because of all the different sources of clues (maps, guide books, and strange devices) it really makes you feel like you’re a curator sorting through a library of information and trinkets. It’s a great game for a rainy day. —Cay, Social media manager

I loved Strange Horticulture, and I jumped into Strange Antiquities as soon as it was released. I didn’t want to play any demos or even watch a trailer. Just give me the keys to the shop and leave me alone. I like its puzzles but, more than that, I love how they make me feel like an actual researcher, investigating all sorts of strange artifacts to catalogue them. Just like when I have a delicious dish of food in front of me, I tried to pace myself but ended up going through the whole game in only a few days (I don’t normally take days to eat my food, but you get the point). Anyway, when are we getting the third game in this series. —Luis

You can learn more about Strange Antiquities on our database.

The Séance of Blake Manor 

A gothic detective tale woven with Irish mythology, shady mystics, and supernatural spooks?? Absolutely yes, please and thank you. The Séance of Blake Manor is an utterly brilliant detective game, and, in my humble opinion, the best detective game of the year. The story is great - you’ve been called to a spooky mansion by a mysterious benefactor to investigate the disappearance of a woman - love that, but what makes Blake Manor a favourite of this year is its mystery-solving systems. 

You need to interrogate suspects, explore the manor, look for evidence, yes, yes, same old, same old, BUT the way the game collects and presents your found information is all neatly displayed in a series of brilliant spider diagrams. There are so many threads to follow, and so many pieces of information to juggle, having this system was incredibly helpful and kept me on track without feeling overwhelmed. It’s a system with a wonderful balance of helping you streamline your thought process, but also giving you the freedom to follow your intuition. What a game. —Rachel

You can learn more about The Séance of Blake Manor on our database.

Chants of Sennaar

That’s one of the few games I replayed numerous times, chasing the 100% completion and all the Steam rewards. There’s something about this game that makes you appreciate language learning, the impact you have on the different societies, while developing compassion for each culture. The way everything intertwines, to the smallest details, is simply wonderful. What attracted me first was the design and the brightness of the game. It’s very unique and beautiful to look at. Every level has its own identity, color scheme and characters. If you are someone that gets attracted by beautiful visuals, and loves to discover new cultures, this game is not to be missed! Plus, the music is incredible to listen to, soothing and dynamic at the same time. Let’s not even dive into the ending - it’s another level ;) —Kami, Marketing manager

You can learn more about Chants of Sennaar on our database.

Öoo

Now this is the kind of indie gem you could almost go and play without knowing anything about it. Öoo currently sits at a staggering 99% positive rating on Steam with just over 1,000 reviews. I’m not sure this ever happened to a thinky game since the early days of Portal! But enough of me yapping about numbers (though it’s sure nice to see such a response from other players). Öoo is a puzzle-platformer that does everything right in just a few hours of smart bomb-jumping. It looks quirky and cheerful, ingenuously retro you could even say, but under the hood it’s also the cleanest masterclass of modern puzzle design. It’s got fun movement, focused little challenges, delightful discoveries, and a meaty post-game that will reward players looking for more. What an absolute joy that was. —Oriane

NamaTakahashi has knocked it out of the park once again. Just like ElecHead, Öoo has a wonderfully simple core mechanic — placing and exploding bombs — and then mines so much puzzling gold out of it. With nice, short, snappy puzzles, playful art and animations, and loads of neat discoveries, Öoo was a real joy to play. And I loved the way secrets were hidden, making good use of our very human tendency to see patterns in everything. Excellent game! —Joe

Fantastic puzzle game, also has the cutest game protagonist of 2025. —Rachel

You can learn more about Öoo on our database.

Leap Year: March

March is a DLC to Leap Year, a terrific puzzle-platformer that also made a splash in the metroidbrainia scene, and you could argue it’s everything a sequel should be. It commits to a deeper exploration of the mechanics that were established in the base game and it dares to build a quite different type of challenge. Instead of guiding you from one big reveal to the next, March doubles down on the non-linearity. It felt like I was invited to roam a treasure trove of tiny surprises in the tightest puzzle world ever built. And the finale was nothing short of spectacular. —Oriane

More Leap Year and equally wonderful. I’d play a DLC for every month of the year! —Joe

You can learn more about Leap Year: March on our database.

Inkwell Games’ Stars

I’ve been playing Inkwell Games’ Stars nearly every day since it came out! It’s a star battle game, which is a logic puzzle where you place two stars in each row, column, and region. I do sudoku and nonogram puzzles daily, and Stars certainly scratches the same itch. It’s super satisfying, although I sometimes have trouble finishing the puzzles later in the week. Despite this, I’ve avoided looking up strategies. Stars was my first experience with star battle games. So, I’ve been enjoying slowly gaining insights that allow me to fill in more “x”s on autopilot. I’ve gotten so hooked on Stars that I recently downloaded Star Battle Go (another star battle game) so I can do more than one a day! —Cay

You can learn more about Inkwell Games’ Stars on our database.

Orbyss

This is hands down the most beautiful thinky game I played this year. It’s like Tron Legacy and NaissanceE had a child, with dizzyingly monumental environments and a lighting so soft I could wrap myself in it and be content forever. And the sound design! The ambient, immersive soundscapes were a perfect match for the visuals. Puzzle-wise, Orbyss might not be the most innovative game in our list, but it sports a sense of rigor and focus that is only too rare in 3D puzzle design, and that was enough to carry me all the way to the extra challenges. I think it even reconciled me with record-and-replay puzzles, which is something I’d never expected to write in 2025. —Oriane

You can learn more about Orbyss on our database.

Type Help

All love to Roottrees, but my favorite game this year about navigating computer files in order to uncover a series of mysterious (maybe cursed?) deaths is Type Help. The free, SCP-flavored And Then There Were None-like masterfully merges interface and emotion. Type Help is lo-fi, told through an in-browser command window, and its unassuming simplicity allows it to unspool into something driving, creepy, and ultimately moving. But its design sense is all modern, slickly simplifying the text parser to remove any barrier between the momentum of the mystery and the player’s own ability to solve it. For those less impressed by white text on a black background, Type Help is also getting a remaster under the name The Incident at Galley House, published by… oh would you look at that, the makers of Roottrees! Love to see everyone getting along. Still, don’t miss trying out this title in its original glory. —Dayten, Contributor

Type Help has quickly become one of my favorite detective games! Just looking at the list of games it’s inspired by (Return of the Obra Dinn, Her Story, Unheard, and The Roottrees are Dead), I knew it had to be good. It has a really clever core mechanic that’s a twist on the database searching in Her Story, another favorite of mine. Similarly to Her Story, the game is composed of a bunch of hidden scenes that slowly reveal the mystery. Both the compelling story and the unique way it’s uncovered make for pretty exciting a-ha moments. The game is entirely text-based, yet the eerie descriptions and tense dialogue make it feel pretty vivid. Type Help has really inspired me to reread a particular Agatha Christie novel. I won’t say which one, as that might be too much of a spoiler. —Cay

You can learn more about Type Help on our database.

Strange Jigsaws

Just like 20 Small Mazes before it, this one breaks the mold. Or maybe it’s more like… they feel they were made with an entirely different mold, outside of and ignoring the tired and repetitive constraints of “how commercial games are made.” That’s probably why I love FLEB’s recent works so much: they feel much closer to the weirdo, underground, artsy webgame culture than they do the mainstream market. This is an imaginative game that will surprise and delight you, and that rare kind of excitement is what I’m always on the hunt for. (Also check out FLEB’s short talk from this year’s ThinkyCon, it’s excellent.) —Corey

You can learn more about Strange Jigsaws on our database.

Clues by Sam

We may have just launched our own daily puzzle game (*cough* Thinky Dailies *cough*), but it was Clues by Sam that carried me through all the busy times of the year. In Clues by Sam, you have a 4x5 grid of characters and have to determine who is innocent and who is a criminal based on clues given to you by those characters. The twist is that you are not allowed to make guesses — you can only ever mark a character as innocent or a criminal when there is enough information to know for certain. This forces you to take a very deductive, or dare I say, very thinky approach to solving them. I’ve fallen off a little recently and need to get back to it, but they’re always fun little puzzles to solve each morning with breakfast. —Joe

You can learn more about Clues by Sam on our database.