The best beam reflection games

Beam reflection games are a genre of video games that prominently features laser devices and narrow beams of light. Players interact with various devices, such as light sources, mirrors and prisms, in order to direct the light towards fixed receivers. Lasers in beam reflection games are usually not dangerous (as opposed to many action games or movies): they’re merely visual tools that help crafting puzzles based on lines of sight.

Most beam reflection games include rules related to color and additive light mixing. Players manipulate the trajectory of beams of different colors in order to have them meet with specific angles and produce a new beam of the desired color. For instance, opening up a cyan door would typically require the appropriate deflection of both a blue beam and a green beam to create cyan light.

The Talos Principle franchise famously includes beam reflection elements, although the genre is best showcased by games such as Archaica: The Path of Light and SOLAS 128. You can read more about the history of beam reflection games on Electron Dance [archived version].

The games listed below are the most favorited beam reflection games in the Thinky Games database.