The Greatest Puzzle Games On Xbox

Key Takeaways

• Puzzle games provide a rewarding experience, and there are quite a few available for Xbox console owners.
• For instance, Cocoon offers a unique concept of a recursive world, where you use orbs to navigate different maps, making for challenging yet manageable gameplay.
• Superliminal and We Were Here are also great puzzle games, the former requiring thinking outside the box and the latter offering a cooperative experience for two players.

Complexity doesn’t have to require hundreds of hours within a game. Beautiful visuals don’t have to mean the latest graphics engine with the largest development team. And engaging gameplay doesn’t necessitate online multiplayer with constant updates. Sometimes, you can get all of that in a smaller package that still packs a punch.

Puzzle games exist that meet all of those criteria, and they’re a blast to play. Xbox currently has access to some of the best puzzle games in the genre. Our favorites are ones that you can easily pick up but can only put down with difficulty.

Updated November 28, 2024 By Ben Jessey: If you’re looking for excellent puzzle games to play on the Xbox, then you’re in luck as there are many of them out there. We put a bunch of the best ones on this list. However, there were a few greats that missed out, so we’ve updated the piece to add a few more.

Tetris Effect: Connected

Tetris is one of the classic puzzle games that pre-dates even the original Xbox. Yet, there are newer versions of the game, including Tetris Effect: Connected. At its core, it’s the classic Tetris game where you have to place blocks in the correct positions to fill out rows.

Along with it, though, there is a heart-pumping soundtrack and psychedelic visuals. The original Tetris didn’t have those things. It also didn’t have a multiplayer mode like Connected does. This means you can play different versions of Tetris with or against your buddies.

The Talos Principle 2

Like the first game, The Talos Principle 2 mixes exciting puzzles with a psychological story. That story follows your character, 1K, who is the 1000th robot made in the game’s fictional futuristic city. Early in the title, you go on an expedition to a place filled with puzzles.

These puzzles generally involve things like lasers, portals, and different items. There aren’t an outrageous amount of mechanics in the game, but the puzzles are still complex and will test your brain power. As such, they feel very satisfying to complete, which is always a great thing for a puzzle title.

Superhot

Superhot is one of the most original and creative puzzle games on Xbox consoles. It’s a first-person shooter where time only moves when you do.

The puzzle-solving element comes into play as you attempt to figure out when and in which direction to move to avoid incoming fire from your enemies. After all, when you get hit by one of their bullets, you die immediately. Therefore, you need to be smart and plan your movements before you make them.

Donut Country

Donut Country has a bit of a wild premise, as you play as a raccoon who’s able to control a hole in the ground. You use this hole to suck up everything in sight.

Figuring out how to get everything in the ever-expanding hole in the ground is the game’s main goal. It isn’t a challenging puzzle title, but it is very charming. Plus, the sight of things dropping into the hole is incredibly satisfying and remains that way throughout the whole adventure. What’s more, there is a neat little story to the game, too.

Catherine

Catherine is a unique puzzle game in both gameplay and story. The narrative revolves around a man named Vincent Brooks, who is struggling to choose between his longtime girlfriend or the alluring 22-year-old he meets.

During the daytime, the game takes the form of a social simulation title as you interact with various characters. At night, the game becomes a puzzle platformer as you attempt to work your way up a tower. To do so, you need to move blocks around and create a pathway that takes you to the exit. That is easier said than done.

Little Nightmares

If you want your puzzle games to be dark and creepy, then Little Nightmares is for you. You play as a little person in a yellow trench coat who needs to escape from the strange place they’re in.

This place contains all sorts of extraordinary creatures that can take you out in a flash. You must use your puzzle-solving and stealth skills to find a way past them. The whole experience is very atmospheric, and the art style is incredible – if a bit unsettling.

Untitled Goose Game

In Untitled Goose Game, you play as a mischievous goose that terrorizes a nearby village. Yet, ‘terrorize’ is perhaps too strong of a word. It’s more accurate to say you mess with people’s days by stealing their stuff, moving their things around, and outsmarting them.

You don’t do these things randomly. Every area contains a list of tasks for you to complete that will annoy the residents of the village and allow you to progress forward in the game. Most of these tasks aren’t straightforward, though, so you have to figure out how to accomplish them, which is the puzzle aspect of the game.

Humanity

Humanity is a game where you have to order a large group of humans around. No, you can’t have them do your chores or steal things for you. However, you can use them to complete puzzles.

In fact, that is the whole point of the game, as you have to direct the group of people around and get them to the end goal. This means choosing what directions they go in, ordering them to move things around, and, occasionally, keeping them away from enemies. It’s a creative and unique game.

Braid

Braid is one of the best-looking puzzle games on Xbox consoles due to its unique and beautiful art style, which looks like it was hand-painted. Yet, the game delivers more than just visual thrills.

It’s a delightful puzzle platformer where you use time manipulation abilities to complete original and well-designed puzzles. You do so as a little sharp-dressed man who is attempting to save a princess. So, the game has a standard story premise. However, as you make your way through the game, that story gets a bit deeper and more creative.

Death Squared

The goal in each level of Death Squared is the same. You have to guide a cube-shaped robot to the color-coded circle. In the early levels, this is very easy. However, things continually get more complicated as different traps and obstacles get put in your way.

So, the game starts off a bit slow, but the enjoyment certainly picks up after a few levels. It picks up even more if you play with friends. In the co-op mode, you have to get all the cubes to the goal, which requires plenty of teamwork and good communication. Whether you’re playing with people or alone, it’s an enjoyable experience.

It Takes Two

When it comes to cooperative puzzle games, they don’t get much better than It Takes Two. It’s specifically designed for cooperative play. In fact, you can’t even play it alone. Don’t worry, though, as someone can download a free friend pass to play with you.

You control a married couple on the verge of divorce, who gets magically transformed into small dolls. Then, you make your way through a bunch of brilliantly designed levels filled with different puzzle and platforming sections. Each level has its own unique gimmick, which adds a lot of variety to the experience. It’s a ton of fun, and the story is surprisingly deep.

Unpacking

Unpacking your things in real life isn’t the most exciting experience in the world. Yet, in this video game, it’s actually quite soothing. Each level, you grab items from your collection of packed boxes and find a place for it all in your new home. It isn’t the most strenuous puzzle title, as it’s just about finding a spot for everything.

Once a level is complete, you get transported into the future, where your unnamed character has moved into a new home, and you have to unpack again. This happens for every level, and it serves as a unique form of storytelling. There aren’t cutscenes or even written dialogue, but you can get an idea of the life your character is living based on their items and the place they live. It’s an interesting and calming experience.

Botany Manor

My personal favorite puzzle games lean into the ‘walking simulator’ genre, and a great example of this is Botany Manor. You play as Arabella Greene, a brilliant botanist who is seeking to fill out her herbarium with rare and wondrous plants. Our reviewer, Gabrielle Castania, described her time with the game as follows:

The day I played the short, five-ish hour game was a gray and dreary one, but I sat snuggled up at my computer immersed in the peace of vivid colors, a minimalistic and ambient soundtrack, and a sense of whimsy.

The puzzle part of this delightful game comes from Arabella’s work germinating each plant because they all come with varying needs that you’ll need to discover through clues scattered across the manor. Some require a specific birdsong to flower; others need their seeds to be heated in the woodsmoke of a certain tree. These puzzles are incredibly satisfying to solve, and you always end up with a gorgeous flower or magnificent tree growing before your eyes.

The story of Botany Manor is picked up through discreet context as you explore the manor. You see letters of rejection from botanical schools that refused to take on Arabella as a student because she’s a woman. But you also see Thank You cards propped up on nightstands from grateful parents who appreciate Arabella taking the time to teach their girls botany. Overall, Botany Manor perfectly balances environmental storytelling with engaging puzzles, making for a prime example of the genre.

Peggle

This is an admittedly aged puzzle game that was initially available on the Xbox 360, but you can still play it on an Xbox Series X. And if you happen to have EA Play (available through a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate), you can download it for free from that library.

Peggle’s vibe is split between the chance of a pinball machine and the strategy of a game of pool. You play through levels as a variety of cartoon characters with the ultimate objective of clearing out orange-colored pegs from an arrangement of blue-colored pegs. You only have a limited number of shots, so you have to carefully pick your targets and hope your ball bounces onto multiple pegs to clear the way for future shots.

We’re describing it very straightforwardly (we know), but rest assured, Peggle’s gameplay loop is enticingly repetitive and unabashedly fun. Plus, nothing beats the rush of hearing Beethoven’s Ode to Joy as your ball slow-motions toward the final peg. Nothing. Don’t believe us? Try it.

Venba

The best puzzle games are often paired with either an innovative gameplay mechanic or an engrossing story, and Venba falls in the camp of the latter. While its puzzles are limited to click-and-drag situations as you figure out different cooking recipes with missing steps, the story that couches these puzzles is one of the most heartfelt of 2023.

Venba follows an immigrant mother as she uses food to maintain a connection to her family and culture, all while watching as her son, Kavin, grows more distant as the traditions of their new home inculcate him with a sense of shame for his Tamil heritage. Our reviewer here, Tessa Kaur, had heaps of positive things to say about Venba:

Venba is a truly wonderful game, and executes what it sets out to do wonderfully. The art is gorgeous, the music is excellent, and the storytelling is somehow both broad in what it manages to elucidate about the South Asian immigrant experience while deep in the family dynamics it portrays.

It’s a digestibly brief story but one that packs an emotional punch for its short runtime. You can expect tears as well as puzzles when Kavin and his mother reconnect.

Cocoon

The brilliance of Cocoon is not to be understated. One of the things that makes for a great puzzle game is how to balance, making gameplay challenging yet comprehensible. You see this in games like Portal, which slowly teaches you to “think with Portals” in order to solve its puzzles. Cocoon similarly sets you up to confront its difficulties by encouraging you to “think with orbs.”

The whole conceit of the game is the concept of a recursive world. The small orbs your character carries can be placed on an altar and then dived into, each one containing its very own map. You begin slowly, just diving into the worlds and exploring them. But then Cocoon tasks you with carrying orbs into other orbs in order to convey them to different parts of that orb’s map. Confusing? It’s not as tough as it sounds on paper, and Cocoon does a phenomenal job of making this complex-to-read concept feel manageable and inspired in its execution.

Our Jamie Latour reviewed Cocoon upon release, and he walked away from it quite happy, albeit more than a little confused as to why the character he was controlling was doing all this orb-traveling in the first place. But he was more than pleased with the difficulty and ingenuity of Cocoon’s puzzle.

The puzzles of Cocoon are challenging but offer up some unique situations that require you to think hard about how to use an orb’s power to manipulate the levels and their environments.

You can read more of his thoughts and critiques right here!

Jusant

Not every puzzle game has to be an absolute mind-bender. Sometimes, all you need from a puzzle is a light challenge and a top-notch atmosphere. Jusant has atmosphere in spades, literally. You play as a young adventurer set on climbing an imposing mountain tower. Wrecked ships are caught in the rocks and the sand surrounding this gargantuan outcropping, implying that at some point, a mighty ocean encompassed this tower. But all that’s left is the tower, and scaling it is enough to occupy your mind.

You must carefully maneuver upwards, keeping tabs on how much rope you have left, how much stamina you possess to clutch onto your handholds, and how many pitons you can safely use to prevent a progress-plunging drop. While the thrill of climbing is hard to truly capture in a video game, Jusant does an excellent job of it. And as you slowly clamber higher and higher, the majesty of your surroundings makes itself more and more apparent with every mile that grows between you and the distant, dried sea bed.

Lead Features Editor here at TheGamer, Jade King, played through Jusant and praised its gorgeously imaginative world.

This is the best game Don’t Nod has made since Life is Strange, but also unlike anything the developer has ever produced before.

Jade dives into the many aspects of Jusant, and you can read more of her insights in her review of the game!

Superliminal

If the mind-bending nature of Portal appeals to you, then Superliminal should be on your radar. Where Portal and Portal 2 taught you to approach puzzles with portals and momentum in mind, Superliminal tasks you with approaching puzzles with perspective in mind. You know how if you hold up an object in front of you, close an eye, and compare it to its surroundings, it can appear larger than it really is? Superliminal’s puzzles revolve around this kind of thinking.

Whether it’s size disparity, shadows, or just plain old optical illusions, the key to finding solutions is to think outside the box and inside the box. The level of satisfaction you’ll feel when you uncover exactly what perspective is needed to enlarge a stepping block or reveal a doorway is unparalleled.

Return Of The Obra Dinn

Return Of The Obra Dinn is an incredibly creative puzzle game set on board a merchant ship in 1802. You play as an insurance investigator sent to investigate why the missing vessel has arrived at a port without any living crew. You must use your Memento Mortem device to view the last few seconds before each crew member’s death. By looking through these short memories, you’ll eventually be able to figure out how everyone met their grizzly fates.

The puzzle of Obra Dinn can be a little daunting at first, but with a few tips and suggestions, you’ll soon be unraveling this intricate mystery like a pro. This game is a big, complex logic puzzle that is so satisfying to solve.

Outer Wilds

Outer Wilds is a vast exploration game in which you set off in your own little spacecraft to visit different planets around your solar system. But not everything is as it seems. You’ve been caught in a time loop moments before a supernova. You need to explore the solar system, solve various puzzles, and connect the dots to figure out what is going on and if there is anything you can do about it.

Not only are there lots of puzzles to solve, but the game is full of incredible hidden details and easter eggs to enjoy too. Outer Wilds is a really enthralling experience. Every location is fascinating. The mysteries will have you hooked and eager to explore everywhere in detail. The Outer Wilds is a must-play game.

Escape Academy

Escape Academy is a really good game for fans of escape rooms. You have joined the Escape Academy and are now training to become the best escapist ever. You’ll meet other students and get to know them while attempting to solve countless puzzles to earn a good grade.

There are many different rooms to escape from, each with its own theme. You can enjoy these challenges solo or with a friend. If you love real-life escape rooms, you need to give this game a try to really put your creative thinking skills to the test.

Q.U.B.E.

As the name suggests, Q.U.B.E. is a puzzle-solving game that involves you interacting with various cubes and shapes within the walls inside of your room. You wake up inside a strange room after a mysterious incident. You’re wearing a pair of gloves that can interact with specific shapes hidden inside of the walls.

The goal of the game is to unlock each room by solving the puzzle so you can progress forward until you reach the exit. Each block does something different, depending on the color, and the rooms become increasingly difficult as you go.

We Were Here Series Bundle

The We Were Here Series Bundle combines all four games into one big collection. These are fantastic cooperative puzzle games you need to play with your friend. You usually play as a duo lost in a frozen wasteland in each game. Seeking shelter, you get separated and must use your walkie-talkies to communicate as you attempt to navigate these puzzled-filled structures.

The series contains many creative puzzles to wrap your head around. Every puzzle is connected to what your friend can see. You might need to guide them through a maze or tell them what symbols to select to crack a code. Sometimes these trials are timed as well, adding a real sense of urgency throughout the experience. The We Were Here Series is an incredible bonding experience for two.

ChromaGun

ChromaGun is a puzzle-solving video game available on Xbox that revolves around solving color-based puzzles. To play the game, you will use a large ChromaGun to shoot colors at the walls and at various Worker Droids floating around the room.

When a droid is colored, it will gravitate toward the part of the wall matching them in color. You will need to arrange the droids in the right patterns to unlock the room. Primary colors can also be blended together to create new colors and add further complications to the game.

The Turing Test

The Turing Test is a first-person puzzle-solving game created by Square Enix where you control an International Space Agent named Ava Turing, who is working on one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa. Ava is part of a research team but awakens from cryogenic slumber and has to help save her teammates when a problem starts with the power system.

To save it, she has to complete tests, which include redirecting energy to unlock doors and other machinery. More elements and objectives are added to the puzzles as you progress through the story. The game received mostly positive reviews from critics.

Asemblance

Asemblance is a trippy first-person psychological thriller game, but it also involves a lot of puzzle-solving. The mind-bending game takes inspiration from popular shows like The X-Files and Black Mirror.

When you awake, you’re trapped inside a strange machine and forced to piece together memories to figure out what happened to you and the world around you. However, you will have to deduce which memories are real and which are part of the simulation. The only guiding force is a disembodied A.I. voice that tells you what to do.

Limbo

One of a pair from the studio Playdead, Limbo is a 2D puzzle platformer, and the atmosphere is soaked in tension and mystery. The indie title has received about as many awards and glowing reviews as an indie game can.

You have to experience it for yourself, though. The dark and grey world will pull you in and leave you breathless. The visuals alone deserve commendation, but the gameplay is also satisfying. Interesting puzzles block your path, and you have to navigate through and around them.

Inside

Inside proved that Playdead’s first attempt at the 2D puzzle-platformer was not a fluke. Their mastery of the genre was on full display with their follow-up, and it was just as warmly welcomed as the first game, if not more. The story centers around a boy who becomes enmeshed in a scary world from which he must escape.

The narrative will suck you in, though, and it will only spit you back out once you’ve invested in the life of this unfortunate boy. There’s so much that goes right with Inside. It deserves your time and attention.

Human Fall Flat

No Brakes Games developed Human Fall Flat, which is a surreal physics-based puzzle game where you explore a wacky landscape with humans that look molded from clay. The open-ended nature of the world is intoxicating, and you’ll have to make your way out by solving puzzles. As expected, physics plays a part.

You can play by yourself or with some of your friends, and the physics-based part is a really fun experience. The silliness in Human Fall Flat is not frequently present in the puzzle genre, so it’s a refreshing change from some of the darker or somber games that you might play.

Portal

From Valve (the guys behind Steam) comes one of the greatest puzzle games of all time and one of the most influential video games across any genre. This is where we met GLaDOS and learned that the cake is a lie. The pop-culture references alone demand that you play Portal.

That doesn’t take away from the gameplay, however. Who doesn’t want to make portals that you can jump through? One blue. One orange. And physics is never the same. Discovering how to solve the puzzles in Portal is so satisfying. Just take good care of your companion cube.

Portal 2

The Perpetual Testing Initiative is back, except it’s better than ever. Portal 2 introduced new puzzles and new ideas that made more challenging obstacle courses.

It also introduced the ability to play with a friend and design puzzles independently. Really, anything that gets us back to the gun that shoots the orange and blue portals is fine. Also, GLaDOS is a potato—one of the smartest machines alive embedded into a potato. Priceless.

The Witness

From the creator of Braid, this superb puzzling experience jettisons you on an island with nothing but puzzles. Some are easily visible and simple enough to solve, while others require more dexterity and patience. But one thing is certain: The Witness is fantastic.

There are hundreds of puzzles to solve, and as you progress, they will become increasingly complex to the point where you might leave it partially complete before leaving to find inspiration. There isn’t much of a story, but that doesn’t detract from the exciting challenges that await you on the island.

Unravel 2

Puzzles are challenging and fun, but they can also be fun with a friend. Combining the intellectual and strategic prowess of two minds helps to break down the challenges in a puzzle game. Unravel 2 incorporates successful elements from the first game, but it introduces a new character so that two players can navigate the world in cooperative mode.

That option is enjoyable when you want to relax with a friend and maneuver past obstacles together. There is something beautiful in playing as two Yarnys connected by a single thread.

The Talos Principle

A first-person puzzle game, The Talos Principle relies on philosophical science fiction to create a unique world. As a robot, your creator has built you with a singular purpose: To overcome puzzling challenges and prove your technological worth. But existential questions arise as you delve deeper into the world.

You’ll start asking questions about your identity and purpose outside of the restrictions your creator intended. That’s some heavy stuff. Most puzzle games won’t wade into the pool of philosophy, but The Talos Principle is not most games. It’s a journey that will linger in your mind long after you finish playing.

Life Is Strange

Life is Strange isn’t a full-fledged puzzle game. It’s more of a narrative adventure title with puzzles included. These puzzles revolve around the use of the main character, Max Caulfield’s ability to rewind time. So, they’re a bit different from what you see in most puzzlers.

The game also has a great story about Max and her best friend, Chloe, attempting to get to the bottom of some strange things that are happening in their town, Arcadia Bay. There are plenty of twists and turns from the game’s first episode to the last.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Ubisoft is not the first studio you’d envision when thinking of an artistic puzzle game. The studio’s devotion to history, though, is always present in Valiant Hearts: The Great War. World War I does not attract the same amount of attention in the entertainment industry as the second global conflict, but this puzzle game strives to correct that.

It’s a story of intertwined destinies in a place where love and happiness are hard to find. The protagonists who feature in Valiant Hearts are caught in the midst of trench warfare. A ghastly affair, indeed. Thankfully, they have faithful dogs to accompany them through the horrible war-torn landscape. Get the box of tissues ready. You may not have dry eyes when this is done.