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This year has been another great year for indie games. While no major blockbuster release has dominated both fan and critic game discussions in 2024, independent teams are once again coming into the spotlight. From years-long anticipated releases to break-out hits, one trend that has emerged in the best indie games of 2024 is the number of absolutely stellar puzzle games.
Don’t get me wrong: for puzzle fans keeping up with the genre, every year is packed with great games. But, if you’re not an enthusiast, the genre generally gets overlooked and underestimated unless there’s a Return of the Obra Dinn or The Witness. However, this year is different. This year, puzzle games have not only dominated the indie space, but have been part of the wider gaming conversation too.
And it’s not just two or three games, either. There has been a bumper crop of indie puzzlers that encompass a wide range of subgenres – from layered Metroidvanias, arthouse puzzle adventures, to one of the best detective games of the decade getting a sequel. Puzzle games are having their moment in 2024 and I couldn’t be happier. I’m going to dive into a handful of the big ones, chuck a bunch more standout games at the end, and then reflect on why puzzle games are having their moment now.
Use your head
Let’s kick off with one of the most anticipated indie games of the year: The Rise of the Golden Idol. It’s quite the feat to have your debut game be called the best successor to Obra Dinn, but to then make your sequel even better is some magic. The Rise Of The Golden Idol’s approach to evidence gathering and fill-the-blanks whodunnits continues to be intuitive and engrossing puzzle design. To put it simply, The Rise of the Golden Idol is the first game but better; with deeper mysteries, updated UI, and a bigger, more complex story. Color Gray Games has cracked the code, and with a handful of DLCs on the way, I’ll be following the idol's bloody path into 2025.
Keeping in theme with highly anticipated indies, Animal Well was a game that many had their eye on – and not just because it was the first game to be backed by YouTuber Dunkey’s indie publisher Big Mode. There was an understanding that this game would not be your usual puzzle adventure, as evident from the game’s Day of the Devs preview. Developer Billy Basso hid a bunch of clues in the Day of the Dev's trailer that invited eagle-eyed viewers on a virtual Easter egg hunt that included hidden URLs, encrypted messages, a Picross nonogram, and a cipher from the 1500s. It’s a testament to what you should expect from Animal Well - a fantastic MetroidBrania whose mechanical puzzle rooms and obscure worldbuilding are just the beginning.
For those unfamiliar with MetriodBranias, they are a subgenre of puzzle games where exploration and progression are achieved through knowledge and information rather than objects and keys. Just like you would use a particular weapon or key to progress in a Metriodvania, in games like The Outer Wilds and Tunic it's your knowledge of the world that will let you explore further. Often these are presented as being hidden in plain sight - you just didn't have the key information to understand it.
Obscure storytelling leads me right into Lorelei and The Laser Eyes, my personal pick for the best puzzle game of the year. A whole world away (an entirely different reality might be more accurate) from Simogo's first game Sayonara Hearts, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a powerhouse of design. Not only does it incorporate many different styles of puzzle, but even its story is a riddle to be solved. What impressed me the most was how, in most of the genre's games it's difficult to connect the story and the puzzles in a way that feels natural. There’s often a disconnect between the two – Professor Layton finds something for Luke to solve on the bottom of a soup can and then it’s straight back to the story. This isn’t true for all games, but Lorelei is the best example of how to seamlessly intertwine the two together. This combination of logic-based puzzle-solving and dreamy, nebulous storytelling is totally spellbinding.
Speaking of spells, let’s chat Tactical Breach Wizards. Now, I’m not a huge turn-based strategy fan or someone who likes the fiddlyness of spellcasting (Barbarian over Wizard in D&D every time for me), but TBW might well turn me into a convert. Its excellent cop-drama story and interesting counter to modern military games aside, Tactical Breach Wizards is an excellent puzzle game. First and foremost, you're encouraged to use your spellcasting squad's abilities to maneuver enemies around the space in a way that you can then take them out as efficiently as possible. That’s not unusual in strategy games, but what really solidifies TBW’s puzzle potential is that you can also undo moves and use your Navy Seer's ability to foresee the outcome of your turn's decisions. This means you can try different solutions until you find a combination of moves you’re satisfied with – creative problem-solving at its finest.
That’s four big puzzle hitters of the year, but there are still plenty more! This year's break-out hit, Balatro is not strictly labeled as a puzzle game, but it's certainly a game where you need to get your brain into gear, counting cards, crunching the numbers, and using math to work out what the best hand to play is. Other notable games include Arranger and its world-shifting puzzle design, Great God Grove’s focus on words and language, block-pushing adventure Isles of Sea and Sky, and the utterly authentic point-and-click callbacks in The Crimson Diamond.
I’m sure there's plenty more (sound off in the comments below) and I think this amount of certified bangers in the genre is due to a couple of reasons. The first is the boom in popularity of daily puzzle games like Wordle and as I said before, the lack of one blockbuster hit dominating game discussions, forcing players to look elsewhere. But I think the biggest reason is the changing way we think about the genre.
Puzzle games, the break-out indies from this year in particular, are more story-led in how they communicate their brainteasers. These stylish noirs, thrilling military shooters, and grisly murder mysteries are all accompanied by other engaging (and surprising) systems. Sure, we’ll always love the pure, minimalist puzzles offered by the likes of Sudoku or Picross, but I think 2024 is a reminder that the way we think of puzzle games needs to be broadened. In the future, when I think back to the games of 2024, I'll be reminded of how this year belonged to the indie puzzlers.
Go on, scratch that itch for thinkin' with these best puzzle games
