Best PS1 Puzzle Games, Ranked

Key Takeaways

• Puzzle games are popular due to simple yet addictive gameplay & are perfect for testing skills without stress.
• PS1 had a great selection of puzzle games like Bomberman Party Edition, Tecmo Stackers, & Mr. Driller.
• Unique puzzle games like No One Can Stop Mr. Domino, The Next Tetris, Kula World, & Devil Dice offer challenging gameplay.

Puzzle games are some of the most popular games of all time, often with simple yet addictive gameplay. They are the perfect games to test your skills without causing too much stress. Due to the limitations of PlayStation 1, puzzle games were some of the most common games on the console.

Whether players were looking to wind down with a simple game of Tetris, or want to test their skills (and most likely get frustrated) on a game like Irritating Stick, the PS1 had a great selection of puzzle games to choose from. These are some of the best that the console had to offer.

10 Bomberman Party Edition

The Classic PC Game On The PS1

Bomberman Party Edition is a version of the classic PC game Bomberman. Bomberman is a maze-style game where players need to plant explosives, avoid explosions and defeat enemies to progress to the next level.

Bomberman Party Edition shines when playing against a friend. In this mode, players need to be more strategic about where they place their bombs, while ensuring they have got the timing right. Bomberman Party Edition also has an array of powerups, giving players the ability to place multiple bombs at the same time or increase the radius of their bombs.

9 Tecmo Stackers

A Simple Puzzle Game To Play With Friends

• Developer: SEGA
• Release Year: 1997

Tecmo Stackers is a simple puzzle game which is very similar to the popular Japanese game Puyo Puyo. Players must match the falling balls with the same color balls to make them disappear and collect points.

What makes Tecmo Stackers so much fun is that players can go head-to-head with multiplayeror against the computer, adding a slight sense of competition to this otherwise simple game. Tecmo Stackers made up for its slight lack of originality with a fun and arcade light art style and soundtrack.

8 Mr. Driller

The Arcade Game Released On The PS1

In this game, players control the titular Mr. Driller as he tries to keep the blocks away from his city. Mr. Driller was originally an arcade game before it was released on video game consoles. The gameplay is fairly simple: players must destroy the colorful blocks and reach the bottom as quickly as possible.

A key aspect that makes Mr. Driller more challenging — and therefore more fun — is having to watch out for falling blocks, as these will crush Mr. Driller and cause the player to lose a life. Players must also collect Air Capsules to replenish their oxygen as they make their way to the bottom.

7 No One Can Stop Mr. Domino

The Ultimate Game Of Dominos

• Developer: Artdink
• Release Year: 1998

In No One Can Stop Mr. Domino, players must strategically place dominoes in a row and knock them over to move obstacles out of the way and cause new areas of the level to open up. What makes the game more challenging is the time limit. Players must move swiftly through the level while avoiding obstacles and triggered events.

No One Can Stop Mr. Domino also has a points feature adding extra replayability. Players can revisit levels to attempt to beat their high score or complete the level quicker.

6 The Next Tetris

Tetris, But More Confusing

• Developer: Blue Planet Software
• Release Year: 1999

The Next Tetris was truly a frustrating yet refreshing twist on the classic game. The Next Tetris adds Multiminoes, a multi-coloured block that can interact with any block no matter the color. If there was an open space beneath the Multiminoes, the squares matching the colors beneath would drop into place.

This addition meant that even the most experienced Tetris players had to essentially rethink how to play the game. Although Multimineos seem simple enough, their inclusion into the game meant that certain positions that simply wouldn’t work in normal Tetris could now be exploited.

5 One Piece Mansion

A Stressful Puzzle Experience

• Developer: Capcom
• Release Year: 2001

One Piece Mansion is a stress management puzzle game, and after playing it, gamers may need stress management for themselves.. In One Piece Mansion, players must keep the stress level of the mansion’s guests as low as possible.

Many reasons can cause the guests to become stressed, like room position, fires in the mansion, other guests, their personalities, outside interference, and more. Players will probably want to mute the game’s soundtrack to help manage their stress levels, as the music can become annoying at times.

4 Kula World

The 3D Platforming Puzzle That Inspired Many Mobile Games

Kula World sees players take control of a beach ball as they traverse through platforms and obstacles to get to the finish without falling off. As players progress through the levels, more and more puzzle-like elements are added.

Kula World had some truly innovative puzzle-like aspects for the, such as bouncing platforms and jumping pills which sent the beachball flying toward other platforms. Although this game may seem simple with all the 3D aspects, it can become very tricky the further players progress.

3 Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

Street Fighter Meets Puzzle Games

• Developer: Capcom
• Release Year: 1996

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo combines Street Fighter and puzzle games to create one interesting and unique experience. Players must gather points by placing colored blocks on top of other blocks of the same color.

Although the gameplay itself is rather unimaginative, what makes the game so much fun is the street fight taking place in the middle of the screen. Each time a player places the correct blocks together, their character will attack their opponent. This leads to a comical and entertaining battle between friends or against the computer.

2 Devil Dice

The Most Frustrating Game Of Dice

• Developer: Shift
• Release Year: 1998

Devil Dice was perhaps one of the most popular games on the PlayStation 1, receiving critical acclaim and selling over a million copies. Players take control of a small ‘devil’ to roll dice to match all the numbers on top.

Although this may seem simple, players cannot roll the dice in place. Instead, they must be moved into the next area of the grid, forcing players to do a lot of strategic thinking. Each level gets harder throughout the game, with more unique grid layouts or the number of dice.

1 I.Q.: Intelligent Qube

The Best Selling Puzzle Game On PS1

• Developer: G-Artists
• Release Year: 1997

In I.Q.: Intelligent Qube, players take control of the main character and navigate a thin platform made of cubes, while destroying certain cubes as they get closer. What makes the game so challenging is the fact that certain blocks cannot be destroyed.

The black cubes cannot be destroyed, meaning that players must think a few rows ahead to avoid being knocked off the platform. Players can ensure their safety by selecting certain cubes that will cause a chain reaction when destroyed, opening up more space and allowing them more time to decide what cub to destroy next.