People have loved a good brain teaser puzzle since long before video games, but as it turns out, gaming has become the best way to do it.
Puzzle games have become a mainstay in the gaming landscape and command a large audience. More great puzzle games drop every year as the genre continues to gain steam. As a result, gamers have countless puzzle games to choose from on modern platforms. Find profiled here the best PlayStation 5 puzzle games to keep the mind sharp.
1. Cocoon
Cocoon makes players turn the world upside down and change their perspective on a constant basis. Here, players will carry worlds around as physical objects to solve a plethora of environmental puzzles. Some involve using the worlds as keys to access new areas, while some require players to dive into these worlds and achieve other sub-objects to advance.
Each world feels foreign, which creates a disorienting vibe, but it still comes down to identifying solutions to problems like any other puzzle game. Cocoon should win most players over with its poignant art style, but it will keep them coming back with its provocative puzzles.
2. The Talos Principle 2
The Talos Principle’s long-awaited sequel boasts an imaginative story that mixes strange technology with intriguing alternate history concepts. The engaging brain teasers within its walls vary across situations and difficulties. They share a common denominator, though–offering satisfaction to solve. That phenomenon makes it one of the best PlayStation 5 puzzle games.
Players have a few contraptions that alter movement rules to find solutions, but even with these tools, some puzzles may prove too tough for some. The Talos Principle 2 provides keys and alternate puzzles as possible ways to keep progressing and move on. Some puzzle fanatics may balk at the ability to skip the occasional challenge, but they don’t have to use them.
3. Untitled Goose Game
Humor and simplicity often create a wonderful foundation for a puzzler, as seen in Untitled Goose Game.
Here, players control a goose who creates anarchy by taking things, wrecking things, and being a general nuisance to those around him. This game combines simple tasks with some light stealth that leads to hilarious situations as an old gardener chases the goose down to get an item back or scrambles to fix something the goose disturbed.
As PlayStation 5 puzzle games go, Untitled Goose Game encourages experimentation with its lighthearted nature that never makes the player feel like they’ve truly lost. Environmental puzzles like unlocking doors and finding obscured objects make up the bulk of the game, but it can also be a blast to just run around for a while and cause mayhem.
4. Little Nightmares 2
Little Nightmares 2 has a distinct mix of platforming, puzzles, and horror that set it apart from the herd well. The concepts might seem like they wouldn’t mix well, but they do, and the resulting cocktail remains one of the best-hidden gems among PlayStation 5 puzzle games.
Those who have played the original Little Nightmares should know what they’re getting into here. The sequel steps things up with a helpful new character and a notable turn to a darker narrative, though. Holding levers, doors, and other objects for the other character to go through comes naturally, thanks to a fantastic design that always seems to know how to nudge players towards solutions. The horror element only makes puzzles more of a challenge, as the added pressure and urgency make the mind race.
5. Maquette
Maquette’s story about the fraying of a close relationship serves as the backdrop for various puzzles. The first-person gameplay stays simple in concept, but expands in its application as the player needs to use stranger perspectives to advance.
Maquette’s main hook involves using objects at one scale to establish a solution at another scale. Holding up a dollhouse-sized staircase in the right spot can become the real staircase needed to travel to a higher floor, while giant keys can be inserted into smaller keyholes when viewed from the right distance. These optical illusions stretch the player’s imagination to the brink at times but always manage to make some sort of sense in the end.
6. Not Not – A Brain-Buster
Not Not feels like a stylized version of Simon Says. The player gets directional commands with a short time limit to complete them, which seems simple enough at first. The commands begin to confuse the player with subtle jabs at their subconscious, though.
The game might direct the player to go up three times, then get told not to go up, causing a break in intellectual rhythm. The player might get told to head to the “green” light, but the game might spell the word with red letters. Later, more confusing commands like “not not not up or left” appear to tease the noodle further. A two-player mode adds some icing on the cake, too.
7. The Witness
This game remains well-known for its visuals and artistic style but also houses some incredible puzzles. The Witness flaunts an excellent puzzle variety with so many different types that getting bored almost feels impossible. The game rewards patience and keen observation as it encourages players to take their time to understand the ins and outs of every situation.
Abstract storytelling pairs well with the slower gameplay here, and the gorgeous visuals provide plenty of eye candy. The Witness never quite explains what’s going on; rather, it lets the player ruminate and come up with their own interpretation of the game.
8. Manifold Garden
Leading PlayStation 5 puzzle games with its stunning visuals, Manifold Garden introduces players to a handful of rules about color and gravity early on. The game uses that basis to explore various puzzles in expansive zones. The limitless feeling of these areas feels unsettling and sometimes even gets integrated into the solutions of some situations.
The player must get certain boxes into their respective slots to open new, more confusing areas. The pastel colors of Manifold Garden combine with the strange illusion of endlessness and form a special identity for the game, which might not be for everybody, but stands out well.
9. Humanity
Those who have played Lemmings and other games might find Humanity has a familiar feel. Players will be leading massive mobs of humans around intricate levels with directional commands that they lay down in their path. As humans step on those commands, they obey them. This can lead the player to success with wise placements or failure if laid in a hurry.
The simple control scheme makes Humanity easy to get into, but the increasing variety of obstacles, streams of humans to manage, and possible directions for them to saunter add lots of complexity in no time.
10. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 makes great use of the frantic puzzle gameplay that put this series on the map many years ago. Here, players match different Puyos as they accumulate while also avoiding the garbage sent over by the opponent, but of course, it’s not all that simple.
Like all puzzle games of this type, the speed and frequency of pieces being sent the player’s way escalates as the game goes on until they fail. The cartoony presentation and goofy atmosphere keep the experience light, but that lightness conceals a rather difficult game. The players who master the art of planning ahead and getting combos become the ones who excel, as enemies will be quite aggressive.
11. Viewfinder
Viewfinder feels like a match made in heaven for VR, yet remains only playable in traditional 2D form on the PS5. This perspective-based puzzler gives players the ability to transform snapshots of objects into real solutions to overcome progress impedance.
Turning 2D images into 3D solutions feels limitless, and the possibilities expand even more when pictures rotate and flip around to meet different needs. New abilities get introduced later on to keep things spicy, so puzzle hounds will stay hooked throughout. Despite a rather bleak story, Viewfinder provides a fun mind-bender that all puzzle fans should try.
12. Oddworld: Soulstorm
Oddworld games have always felt adjacent to the puzzle genre. The deliberate movement, stealth sequences, and careful directing of other Mudokons often scratch the same itch as any traditional puzzler.
Soulstorm lays into these puzzle themes even more than its predecessors with revamped visuals and an increase in items Abe can carry. Complex levels with multiple hazards, traps, and enemies await the player here, as rushing into new areas results in Abe’s swift demise. The continuation of Abe’s Odyseey’s narrative also holds up well and creates plenty of motivation.
13. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Following instructions and clear communication might not be everyone’s forte, but Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes requires these skills.
Players fill the roles of “experts” who have access to a manual with all the solutions, and “difusers” who follow the expert’s advice on defusing a bomb. Both players need the other to succeed, giving the game balance and challenge. Multiple bomb types, time limits, and penalties for mistakes give each game a sense of freshness and urgency.
The gameplay itself might not seem that puzzling, but finding a rhythm of working together efficiently becomes a brain teaser that’s plenty of fun to unravel.
14. Superhot
Superhot masquerades as a shooter/action game, but intense puzzles hide beneath the surface. The player’s movement triggers the enemies’ movement, so plotting out a mindful series of actions becomes the key. Grab that bottle nearby and throw it at an enemy across the room. How about knocking out the nearest foe and taking his weapon?
The choices seem innumerable, but finding the most seamless path to victory requires lots of attempts. Unlike most games, Superhot makes trial-and-error fun. Seeing the same encounter unfold in dozens of different ways remains thrilling throughout. Even when losing most of the time, playing Superhot feels like a win.
15. Chicory: A Colorful Tale
Don’t let the childish visuals fool you. Chicory: A Colorful Tale’s breezy gameplay conceals a deep and thoughtful puzzle game that explores heavy themes and presents a wealth of head-scratchers.
Players solve puzzles throughout Chicory: A Colorful Tale while filling in its colorless world and meeting a fascinating cast of characters. The expanding toolset of different brush styles and paint types adds layers of complexity at a steady pace while the charming story explores depths of its own. Chicory: A Colorful Tale excels by checking all the boxes with a clever, addictive, and tightly-paced experience.
16. Unravel Two
Yarney returns in the sequel that Unravel fans deserve. Similar to the Little Nightmares sequel, Unravel Two takes what worked in the first puzzle platformer and adds a cooperative element to expand its gameplay. The fuzzy artstyle and approachable difficulty keep this one recommendable to a wide variety of gamers.
The two Yarneys need to work together to overcome obstacles, create pathways to progress, and just might discover some collectibles along the way. Unravel Two improves on the original game in every way, making it a blast with a friend, a stranger, or solo.