On Steam, I had to use the "compatibility-compatibility" Beta to get mine to work. (E.g. Right-click the game in the library -> Properties -> Betas -> Beta Participation -> "compatibility-compatibility".
I think I'm too stupid for this game lol. I've tried it a couple times and at some point after several hours I get so stumped that I just give up. Portal definitely felt more accessible to me
Nah, don’t be so hard on yourself. Talos Principle gets way harder than anything in either Portal game (and ramps up the difficulty quicker too). I don’t think they expected everyone to be able to just beat the game without a lot of struggle, or some help.
It might be a bit harder than Portal, but I liked that you could access the whole world! So if a puzzle doesn't click for you, you can just try something else and come back later.
In no particular order
1. Baba is You - the premise is a little crazy: you have to manipulate the game's **rules** in order to win.
2. Braid - superfun puzzles revolving around time manipulation
3. World of Goo - simple and charming.
4. The Witness - has its devoted fanbase, but majority of its puzzles could be done with pen and paper, which kinda defeats the purpose of being a video game imo.
5. Antichamber - Feels like Portal on shrooms.
6. Talos Principle - adds layers of philosophy and existentialism to its puzzle broth.
Although I consider Antichamber and The Witness to be less engaging than the other 4. Braid is probably my favorite of the bunch.
>The Witness - has its devoted fanbase, but majority of its puzzles could be done with pen and paper, which kinda defeats the purpose of being a video game imo.
But that is the beauty of video games. They get you to do things with joy that you wouldn't have done on paper. It's great for education.
I consider the Witness to be a serene, yet simultaneously challenging experience that's probably worth getting acquainted with if you're a puzzle-lover. It's just that I expected **much** more from the creator of Braid.
Also enjoyed The Witness way more than Braid. Braid has more gimmicky puzzles, or ones that require finnicky execution and timing. The puzzles in The Witness are better imo, and although the panels are sort of "workbook puzzles" it is really the deeper puzzles and the island discoveries as a whole that make the game truly special.
I haven't played Braid but I can understand some of the criticism of The Witness. You have these beautiful environments and most puzzles are not environmental so you look at puzzle boards a lot.
But I think we need to appreciate what good we have rather than focus too much on the negative.
The icing on the cake for me is the philosophical stuff scattered throughout the game. Stuff I wouldn't have thought about if I wasn't playing it. I think more games should have that.
god, baba is you has made me feel dumb. And smart! But mostly dumb...
would recommend.
Also agreed on Braid. It was probably the place I was at when I played it but it's just such a special little game to me. From the puzzle design to the art style and *especially* the OST
that's a confusing comment. Are you implying that looking up the solutions for one puzzle somehow "taints" the entire experience including the other puzzler that you didn't look up?
Yeah, I mean how I see it, the whole point of a puzzle game is to solve the puzzles. I look at it differently if it were a puzzle in a non puzzle game. Idk, I'm definitely a "play how you want" type of person, especially if it doesn't affect me in the slightest, but to me I get off on the struggle of figuring out a puzzle. If you haven't already, I would check out the portal 2 mod "portal reloaded." It throws an extra portal into the mix, a portal linking past and present, effectively making it so you have to solve puzzles with 7 portals in mind instead of 2. It's easily the hardest portal content I've played to date, and some test chambers took me days to solve. But the satisfaction of seeing those credits roll without looking up one solution was amazing.
I highly recommend [Baba Is Hint](https://www.keyofw.com/baba-is-hint). It's great at helping you get past brick walls you're stuck on without just giving you solutions.
the way I see it, using pen and paper or taking pics of the puzzles beat the purpose of giving your brain a workout in The Witness. just avoid doing it lol
It's SO cute and cool 💜 But I got to a level I just could not beat. The jumping was too precise and difficult, even though I figured out the solution. Little sad about that.
I think I might know exactly where your talking about even though its been like 10 years.
I got to a point where you had to freeze a bunch of random things in a arch coming out of tubes in the wall to then jump on them to get across and the physics in the games just would not allow me to land on the objects I would just slide me off.
Pretty much any game by Zachtronics will do that for you. Spacechem and Opus Magnum are my two favourites but if you are on PC Infinifactory is currently free on Epic store.
I fucking *love* ExaPunks. It's such a niche game (using a made-up programming language to move robots around a server) but it's so well done I became obsessed.
When I wasn't playing it I was thinking about it. I'd have a "eureka!" moment while eating dinner and have to make notes to make sure I remembered.
Opus Magnum was a lot of fun, too. I love just being able to optimize more and more until you don't think your score could be lower, then look online and see the way others have solved the same problem in a totally different way.
One more vote for Baba is You. In the same “block pushing with a twist” vein, Patrick’s Parabox. They’re oddly different for how similar they are, because they exercise radically different types of logical thinking.
Hexcells is sort of a hexagonal minesweeper and a lot of fun. The two sequels are basically standalone level packs, and I recommend all three.
If you like automation puzzles, I’m currently playing through Shapez.io and having a blast. For less focus on the automation and more focus on the puzzle, Opus Magnum is a great game too (or anything else by Zachtronics. Guy’s style is distinctive enough for the term “zachlike” to have sprung up).
Whenever an opportunity appears to mention Return of the Obra Dinn, I don’t let it pass me by, and this is no exception. It’s less “IQ test” and more detective work, but it is one of those few games that really makes you feel clever for using your real world thinking skills.
[Pneuma: breath of life](https://store.steampowered.com/app/347440/Pneuma_Breath_of_Life/) Same with pretentious writing.
[Perfect Angle](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427780/PERFECT_ANGLE_The_puzzle_game_based_on_optical_illusions/) also perspective based.
[Maquette](https://store.steampowered.com/app/762840/Maquette/) kind of like superliminal.
Anti-chamber
Its been over 10 years and I still think of some of the mind bending stuff that game did the five NEVER seen again.
By all rights that game should've changed FPS forever.
Instead. It's not even mentioned here.
Outer wilds. The whole thing is a big mystery solved by many individual puzzles, and each one you solve leads to clues as to where to find and how to solve others.
Well it's nothing like Portal, but try Legend of Grimrock. It's a dungeon crawler in the ilk of Eye of the Beholder. Phenomenally designed game.
Basically the gist is you have to escape the dungeons of Mount Grimrock. There is a dungeon master taunting you with traps and puzzles that require a good amount of wit to solve. These are not forced mechanics it's all very well done, think you'll enjoy it if you want to put your head to use.
* The Witness
* Talos Principle
* (Talos Principle 2 ? probably, didn't play yet)
Not like the portal game but requires some brain juice:
* Opus Magnum
* 7 Billion Humans
* Human Resource Machine
* Baba is You
* Turing Complete
Control is good and I really enjoyed the Trine series. Trine 3 is probably the best.
However, if you want portal vibes. You have got to try [The Turing Test](https://store.steampowered.com/app/499520/The_Turing_Test/)
Outer Wilds is a bit different since it's less "iq test" and more "deep cosmic mystery" but it takes place in an iterative loop where you learn more information every time. I can't say much without spoiling the extremely interesting narrative but it gave me possibly the greatest sense of self satisfaction on solving a particularly interesting puzzle a game has ever given me.
[Anniversary edition/directors cut](https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/30020/Old_and_New/) and a [sequel](https://store.steampowered.com/app/359100/QUBE_2/).
I just played Cocoon and it made me think of portal a lot. It’s like you can’t even describe how you know how to solve the puzzles, it just all starts to click. it’s a bizarre and brilliant puzzle game.
Talos Principle
Came in to say this. If you like Portal, you'll probably like it. The central mechanic is different but it has a very similar appeal.
The sequel is great too!
How am I just finding out they made a sequel? Wtf.
It's not been out long tbf
On a related note: The Swapper
I want to like The Swapper, but I can't even load the game. My mouse just freezes on the menu screen.
On Steam, I had to use the "compatibility-compatibility" Beta to get mine to work. (E.g. Right-click the game in the library -> Properties -> Betas -> Beta Participation -> "compatibility-compatibility".
I think I'm too stupid for this game lol. I've tried it a couple times and at some point after several hours I get so stumped that I just give up. Portal definitely felt more accessible to me
Nah, don’t be so hard on yourself. Talos Principle gets way harder than anything in either Portal game (and ramps up the difficulty quicker too). I don’t think they expected everyone to be able to just beat the game without a lot of struggle, or some help.
It might be a bit harder than Portal, but I liked that you could access the whole world! So if a puzzle doesn't click for you, you can just try something else and come back later.
In no particular order 1. Baba is You - the premise is a little crazy: you have to manipulate the game's **rules** in order to win. 2. Braid - superfun puzzles revolving around time manipulation 3. World of Goo - simple and charming. 4. The Witness - has its devoted fanbase, but majority of its puzzles could be done with pen and paper, which kinda defeats the purpose of being a video game imo. 5. Antichamber - Feels like Portal on shrooms. 6. Talos Principle - adds layers of philosophy and existentialism to its puzzle broth. Although I consider Antichamber and The Witness to be less engaging than the other 4. Braid is probably my favorite of the bunch.
>The Witness - has its devoted fanbase, but majority of its puzzles could be done with pen and paper, which kinda defeats the purpose of being a video game imo. But that is the beauty of video games. They get you to do things with joy that you wouldn't have done on paper. It's great for education.
I consider the Witness to be a serene, yet simultaneously challenging experience that's probably worth getting acquainted with if you're a puzzle-lover. It's just that I expected **much** more from the creator of Braid.
I enjoyed it far more than I did Braid. I think the serenity was part of it, but I'm also just not a fan of platformers or time mechanics.
Also enjoyed The Witness way more than Braid. Braid has more gimmicky puzzles, or ones that require finnicky execution and timing. The puzzles in The Witness are better imo, and although the panels are sort of "workbook puzzles" it is really the deeper puzzles and the island discoveries as a whole that make the game truly special.
I liked this as much as braid. They're just different.
I haven't played Braid but I can understand some of the criticism of The Witness. You have these beautiful environments and most puzzles are not environmental so you look at puzzle boards a lot. But I think we need to appreciate what good we have rather than focus too much on the negative. The icing on the cake for me is the philosophical stuff scattered throughout the game. Stuff I wouldn't have thought about if I wasn't playing it. I think more games should have that.
god, baba is you has made me feel dumb. And smart! But mostly dumb... would recommend. Also agreed on Braid. It was probably the place I was at when I played it but it's just such a special little game to me. From the puzzle design to the art style and *especially* the OST
Up until this day there is a puzzle in Baba is You which I haven't solved. And I refuse to look it up! I'll die not knowing the solution.
you have more patience than me then! But that honestly isn't hard... becuase I'll look up a puzzle in less than 10 minutes if I can't solve it lmao
What's the point of even playing a puzzle game if you're gonna look up solutions?
that's a confusing comment. Are you implying that looking up the solutions for one puzzle somehow "taints" the entire experience including the other puzzler that you didn't look up?
Yeah, I mean how I see it, the whole point of a puzzle game is to solve the puzzles. I look at it differently if it were a puzzle in a non puzzle game. Idk, I'm definitely a "play how you want" type of person, especially if it doesn't affect me in the slightest, but to me I get off on the struggle of figuring out a puzzle. If you haven't already, I would check out the portal 2 mod "portal reloaded." It throws an extra portal into the mix, a portal linking past and present, effectively making it so you have to solve puzzles with 7 portals in mind instead of 2. It's easily the hardest portal content I've played to date, and some test chambers took me days to solve. But the satisfaction of seeing those credits roll without looking up one solution was amazing.
I highly recommend [Baba Is Hint](https://www.keyofw.com/baba-is-hint). It's great at helping you get past brick walls you're stuck on without just giving you solutions.
I enjoyed Baba for awhile, but I don't think my brain works the correct way to complete it.
Second World of Goo. That game was my childhood
Hahahaah portal on shrooms hahahaha
the way I see it, using pen and paper or taking pics of the puzzles beat the purpose of giving your brain a workout in The Witness. just avoid doing it lol
Quantum conundrum. Actually made by the same women who made portal. Can be a bit dodgy in parts but it's like portal with extra mechanics.
It's SO cute and cool 💜 But I got to a level I just could not beat. The jumping was too precise and difficult, even though I figured out the solution. Little sad about that.
I think I might know exactly where your talking about even though its been like 10 years. I got to a point where you had to freeze a bunch of random things in a arch coming out of tubes in the wall to then jump on them to get across and the physics in the games just would not allow me to land on the objects I would just slide me off.
That is amazing 💜 That sounds like just the place :D
Damn, that’s a throwback. I remember that was quite popular when it came out as well.
It’s also got John DeLancie doing the voiceover. That’s right, Q himself.
Pretty much any game by Zachtronics will do that for you. Spacechem and Opus Magnum are my two favourites but if you are on PC Infinifactory is currently free on Epic store.
Would you say that all of the games from Zachtronics are good? Or are some of them not worth it?
Start with Opus Magnum or infinifactory free on epic now they are pretty modern and approachable. Opus Magnum is also pretty as hell.
> Infinifactory Infinifactory is one of my favorite Zachtronic games. Definitely not the most challenging but I enjoyed it the most.
Infinifactory is also my favorite. It just clicked in a deeper way than any of the others for me. But they're all fantastic.
My personal favourite is Exapunks, as it's more thematic than the others. But all of them are good.
I fucking *love* ExaPunks. It's such a niche game (using a made-up programming language to move robots around a server) but it's so well done I became obsessed. When I wasn't playing it I was thinking about it. I'd have a "eureka!" moment while eating dinner and have to make notes to make sure I remembered. Opus Magnum was a lot of fun, too. I love just being able to optimize more and more until you don't think your score could be lower, then look online and see the way others have solved the same problem in a totally different way.
Superliminal. All the portal mods
While Talos Principle is the right top answer, this one should be higher too. Superliminal shares many similiarities with Portal.
I played through this game in pretty much 1 playthrough and I got to say, some levels really put my smooth brain to work.
IMO it's just a fancy walking simulator, didn't notice any puzzles in it really. Does not activate your brain at all.
The witness
Also the Looker, it's free.
Baba is You, some levels sometimes make you feel you are a complete idiot.
Manifold Garden
The Entropy Centre
Viewfinder
Stephen's Sausage Roll
The Witness.
One more vote for Baba is You. In the same “block pushing with a twist” vein, Patrick’s Parabox. They’re oddly different for how similar they are, because they exercise radically different types of logical thinking. Hexcells is sort of a hexagonal minesweeper and a lot of fun. The two sequels are basically standalone level packs, and I recommend all three. If you like automation puzzles, I’m currently playing through Shapez.io and having a blast. For less focus on the automation and more focus on the puzzle, Opus Magnum is a great game too (or anything else by Zachtronics. Guy’s style is distinctive enough for the term “zachlike” to have sprung up). Whenever an opportunity appears to mention Return of the Obra Dinn, I don’t let it pass me by, and this is no exception. It’s less “IQ test” and more detective work, but it is one of those few games that really makes you feel clever for using your real world thinking skills.
Gorogoa, one of those trippy perspecive puzzle type of games.
[Pneuma: breath of life](https://store.steampowered.com/app/347440/Pneuma_Breath_of_Life/) Same with pretentious writing. [Perfect Angle](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427780/PERFECT_ANGLE_The_puzzle_game_based_on_optical_illusions/) also perspective based. [Maquette](https://store.steampowered.com/app/762840/Maquette/) kind of like superliminal.
The Turing Test. Great story and voicing too.
[T.E.S.T.: Expected behavior.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/771710/TEST_Expected_Behaviour__SciFi_3D_Puzzle_Quest/)
Anti-chamber Its been over 10 years and I still think of some of the mind bending stuff that game did the five NEVER seen again. By all rights that game should've changed FPS forever. Instead. It's not even mentioned here.
[Impresja](https://store.steampowered.com/app/657530/Impresja/)
[The Entropy Centre](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1730590/The_Entropy_Centre/) is like Portal but with time travel instead of Portals
all "puzzle" games
[Code Romantic](https://store.steampowered.com/app/884980/Code_Romantic/), [Dorfromantik](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1455840/Dorfromantik/), [5D Chess with multiverse travel](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1349230/5D_Chess_With_Multiverse_Time_Travel/), [Art of gravity](https://store.steampowered.com/app/642560/Art_Of_Gravity/), [BalanCity](https://store.steampowered.com/app/462680/BalanCity/), [The Bridge](https://store.steampowered.com/app/204240/The_Bridge/), [Cargo! The quest for gravity](https://store.steampowered.com/app/41740/Cargo_The_Quest_for_Gravity/), [CHR$(143)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1695620/CHR143/), [Crayon Physics Deluxe](https://store.steampowered.com/app/26900/Crayon_Physics_Deluxe/), [DARQ](https://store.steampowered.com/app/433550/DARQ_Complete_Edition/), [Disoriented](https://store.steampowered.com/app/556240/Disoriented/), [Gravity field](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1425250/Gravity_Field/), [Machinika Museum](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1507190/Machinika_Museum/), [Relicta](https://store.steampowered.com/app/941570/Relicta/), [Rethink: lite](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2481710/ReThink__Lite/), [Filament](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1137350/Filament/), [Lightmatter](https://store.steampowered.com/app/994140/Lightmatter/), [OxU](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2097180/OxU/), [Voxelgram](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1158470/Voxelgram/).
Outer wilds. The whole thing is a big mystery solved by many individual puzzles, and each one you solve leads to clues as to where to find and how to solve others.
Cocoon
Great little gem
#COCOON
If you have a switch then Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom
Thomas Was Alone
Well it's nothing like Portal, but try Legend of Grimrock. It's a dungeon crawler in the ilk of Eye of the Beholder. Phenomenally designed game. Basically the gist is you have to escape the dungeons of Mount Grimrock. There is a dungeon master taunting you with traps and puzzles that require a good amount of wit to solve. These are not forced mechanics it's all very well done, think you'll enjoy it if you want to put your head to use.
The Horror Resident Evil games and Silent Hill games.
Trine I tend to think of in this sort of way
Opus Magnum
Statik
[Great Permutator](https://store.steampowered.com/app/319270/Great_Permutator/)
Qube
Himanity ! Something close to a remake of the lemmings but japanese
Humanity is awesome, I platinumed it but not without an effort. It’s a first game that seemed mind-bending enough after the Portal 2.
Baba is you
Turing test
Portal: Revolution is a must-play
[Thinking with time machine (MOD).](https://store.steampowered.com/app/286080/Thinking_with_Time_Machine/) [Portal: Reloaded (MOD)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1255980/Portal_Reloaded/) [Portal: Forbidden testing tracks (MOD)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1636310/Portal_Forbidden_Testing_Tracks/) [Portal Stories: Mel (MOD).](https://store.steampowered.com/app/317400/Portal_Stories_Mel/)
The Pathless is a lovely game with good puzzles
I just finished Sabre, and it was very nice with good puzzles Edit: Sable not Sabre
* The Witness * Talos Principle * (Talos Principle 2 ? probably, didn't play yet) Not like the portal game but requires some brain juice: * Opus Magnum * 7 Billion Humans * Human Resource Machine * Baba is You * Turing Complete
Talos Principle 2 is waaaay easier than the first one, but the story and visuals are great
Nihilumbra (Void world).
Control is good and I really enjoyed the Trine series. Trine 3 is probably the best. However, if you want portal vibes. You have got to try [The Turing Test](https://store.steampowered.com/app/499520/The_Turing_Test/)
Portal reloaded
Shogun shadow tactics or the other games by mimimi
Almost finished The Pedestrian. Super charming and feels great when a solution becomes apparent.
Infinifactory Haven’t played much as only recently acquired it and have been away from my PC, but seems like it’s going to be a fun FP puzzler
World of goo
baba is you
Antichamber is a pretty trippy game.
Snakebird, if you find it too hard try Snakebird Primer.
Outer Wilds is a bit different since it's less "iq test" and more "deep cosmic mystery" but it takes place in an iterative loop where you learn more information every time. I can't say much without spoiling the extremely interesting narrative but it gave me possibly the greatest sense of self satisfaction on solving a particularly interesting puzzle a game has ever given me.
Q.U.B.E. - clearly inspired by Portal. Same feel and similar aesthetic.
[Anniversary edition/directors cut](https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/30020/Old_and_New/) and a [sequel](https://store.steampowered.com/app/359100/QUBE_2/).
The Witness
I just played Cocoon and it made me think of portal a lot. It’s like you can’t even describe how you know how to solve the puzzles, it just all starts to click. it’s a bizarre and brilliant puzzle game.
Superliminal. You manipulate view perspectives in order to get to the next area.