Puzzle Games

A puzzle game hands you a problem with clear rules and lets you work out the answer at your own pace. Some puzzles are about logic, like filling a sudoku grid so no row, column or box repeats a digit. Some are about order, like working out which block has to slide first to clear a path to the exit. Others are about patterns, where you spot matching colors, tiles or letters and clear them before the board fills up.

The common thread is that the solution is always there to be found. Nothing is random about a good puzzle, which is exactly why solving one feels so satisfying.

Many of the puzzles here have a daily board that is the same for every player that day: a sudoku at four difficulties, a sliding-block escape, a small crossword, a word hunt grid, a tile-matching level, a match-3 challenge and a riichi mahjong hand. One daily puzzle makes a short, regular break, and because everyone gets the same board, you can compare how you did with a friend.

Look at the whole board before you make a move, and ask what has to happen last, not just first. In sliding-block puzzles, work backwards from the exit. In tile-matching and match-3 games, take the tiles that free up the most others and save special pieces for crowded moments. In word games, try common endings like -ER, -ED and -ING on the letters you have. If you are truly stuck, walk away for a minute. Puzzles have a funny way of solving themselves once you stop staring at them.

Sudoku Daily is classic 9×9 sudoku with a daily puzzle at four difficulties. Slide Out is a sliding-block escape puzzle with 420 levels, Tile Trio has you tap tiles into a tray of seven and clear them in threes, and Critter Swap swaps critters to line up three or more. For bubble shooters, Tiger Pop: Bubble Shooter bounces shots off the walls and Comet Pop: Space Bubble Shooter plays as one long space run, while Dessert Drop: Merge Puzzle merges sweets in a jar all the way up to the party cake. Word fans can fill a small crossword in Letter Wheel, race a three-minute clock in Letter Trail and clear falling letters in Letter Drop.

Mahjong players get four puzzles of their own. Mahjong Cubes 3D is mahjong solitaire on a 3D block of tile cubes. Which Tile Wins? Mahjong Puzzles shows a hand one tile from winning and asks for every tile that completes it, and Riichi Endgames: Riichi Mahjong Puzzles does the same for riichi players, with attack and defense puzzles that each have one provable answer. Power-Up Mahjong is our three-player mahjong match, with Swap, Shield and Double Draw power-ups, scored in plain points.