Whenever I need to kill some time (or distract myself from work), I like a good puzzle game. I’ve got a couple I’d love to share, but the best part is all these puzzle games can be played from your browser, and on almost any PC or phone.

7

Cyadonia

Brady Meyers / How-To Geek

I didn’t realize there was a game that’s essentially the same puzzle in Pryce’s gym from Pokémon Gold and Silver, and I’m glad I found it. However, Cyadonia is far more elaborate. The concept is simple: you can only move in four directions and whichever direction you choose, you go in a straight line. You can’t move after you’ve committed.

The goal is to reach the exit, but you’ll be stopped by a variety of traps and puzzles, like exploding mines, locked doors, lasers, and timed pressure plates. I’m particularly fond of creating my own levels though, which I can copy to a text file and send to a friend.

6

Six Cats Under

Brady Meyers / How-To Geek

Whether you’re a cat person or a dog person, Six Cats Under will tug at your heartstrings as you try to rescue six adorable feline friends. However, there is a twist: You are dead. Not in the Sixth Sense kind of way, but as a ghost that is aware they’re dead. And therein lies the fun of the game—using your powers to influence the apartment.

It’s adorable that each cat has its own personality, which is important because their personalities are essentially the puzzles, like Geoffrey being easily spooked. With your limited powers as a poltergeist, you can mess with the cuckoo clock to get Geoffrey moving.

5

Taiyaki Fabulous Museum of Fish

Brady Meyers / How-To Geek

Arguably the coziest browser game, Taiyaki Fabulous Museum of Fish is a nice mix of kooky characters, adorable sprite art, and nonogram puzzles. This was my first exposure to nonogram puzzles, which are similar to paint-by-number pictures, but you aren’t told the specific squares to fill in. Instead, you use vertical and horizontal numbers to deduce which blocks are filled.

What makes Taiyaki Fabulous Museum of Fish cozy is the lack of static gameplay. You’re never in one place for long as you move from puzzle to puzzle in hopes of earning every fish power. While you can save and play exclusively in a browser, I recommend emulating it on compatible hardware. It’s now a permanent resident on my Anbernic!

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4

Dragonsweeper

Brady Meyers / How-To Geek

Minesweeper is okay, I guess. It’s a level or two above boredom when your network is out. For a version of Minesweeper that’s actually exciting, I play Dragonsweeper. You are Jorge and the dragon must be slain, but you have to bulk up for the fight.

Rules of Minesweeper still apply in Dragonsweeper. Revealing a number on the board only gives you some idea of a monster’s power that may or may not be hiding underneath. You want to defeat monsters in order to level up, but battles cost hearts equal to the power of the monster. And since the dragon has a power of 13, Dragonsweeper becomes this balance of luck and skill as you try to survive long enough to slay the dragon.

3

Trace

Brady Meyers / How-To Geek

If you have to go out of your way to experience an escape room, I recommend just playing Trace. I was never a fan of point-and-click games or even escape rooms, this game won me over and made me a fan with its incredibly clever puzzles and atmospheric setting.

To me, the mark of a good puzzle is one that makes you say, aloud, “Aha!” A bad puzzle is one that makes me feel cheated. Trace was the former. It isn’t just the puzzles being clever, but making sense when you’ve figured them out as opposed to some obscure, seemingly random solution. It is a long game though, especially on the first go, but you can speedrun it in an hour.

2

Sulka

Brady Meyers / How-To Geek

Why not expand your definition of a puzzle game with some platforming? Sulka not only features an incredibly adorable bird, its mix of platforming and puzzles is satisfying. The arcade-like art style is also a big plus.

The levels in Sulka aren’t very long either, nor is the game itself. It’s just 20 levels and they get progressively harder as obstacles go from simple pits to altering gravity. Sulka’s controls are particularly tight too, as some of the jumps require pixel-perfect execution. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of playing Super Meat Boy, this game will feel familiar.

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1

Give Up the Ghost

Brady Meyers / How-To Geek

Give Up the Ghost is a thinly veiled box-pushing puzzle game with a cute ghost and I am enamored with it. I’m half-way through its 50 levels and I feel like that isn’t enough. The way it mixes logic and mind-bending mechanics is stimulating. You have to think outside the box—pun intended.

The game challenges you right from the get-go, but does well at establishing the different types of mechanics in the first few levels. For example, some portals require that you enter them a certain way, otherwise you’re dead. Give Up the Ghost is also very forgiving. If you make a mistake, there’s an undo button.

Hopefully, some of these puzzle games will end up being your favorites, and since they’re playable from a browser, I hope you share them with others, too.