2019 was a great year for gamers who like a good puzzle game. There were puzzle games for all tastes; pure puzzle/logic games like Tetris, puzzle games that are a little on the experimental side, and puzzle games that expertly blended multiple gameplay styles.
There are many great puzzle games that just missed being on this list by a couple of points; like Etherborn (74), Concrete Genie (75), and Bomb Chicken (77) – which was released on Switch in 2018, but PS4 and PC in 2019. There are also some great puzzle games that are just too new to have an official rating on Metacritic, What Never Was is a prime example. These are the top-rated puzzle games of 2019 as rated by Metacritic.
10 The Sojourn – PC Rating: 78, 6.9 User Score
The Soujourn takes place in a beautifully constructed 3D world that at times reminds one of the classic game Myst.
The player is able to switch back and forth between the world of light, and the world of shadow, and must be clever with this game mechanic to solve the puzzles in this game. The Sojourn was also released for the PS4 and Xbox One, but the PC rating is the highest of the three. The Xbox One rating is 74, and the PS4 rating is 71. The most common complaint was that the scenery was a little repetitive.
9 Boxboy! + Boxgirl! – Nintendo Switch Rating 80, 8.2 User Score
Boxboy! + Boxgirl! Is a charming but challenging puzzle game for the Switch. The game follows Boxboy and Boxgirl as they travel through dangerous locations. The player can extend boxes from Boxboy and Boxgirl; the player then has options as to what to do with these boxes.
The boxes can be extended into simple shapes. An upside-down “L” shape can allow Boxboy or Boxgirl to catch the edge of a high platform, and then as the boxes collapse they drag the player onto the higher platform. The boxes can also form solid structures that can be used to cover a hazard (like spiked pits).
8 Catherine: Full Body – PS4 Rating 81, 7.5 User Score
Catherine: Full Body is a remake of Catherine for the PS3. For those who have never played Catherine, it is a weird (but excellent) puzzle game/dating simulator hybrid. There have been new elements added to the story, and the puzzles have been reworked to make them more accessible to a wider audience (they were made a little easier). The puzzles consist of climbing a tower of blocks, but it gets way more complicated than it sounds.
The player controls the game’s protagonist Vincent in these tower puzzles; making him move blocks to facilitate a path to the top. This game is a PS4 exclusive.
7 Hypnospace Outlaw – PC Rating 82, 6.6 User Score
Hypnospace Outlaw is a challenging puzzle game with an interesting premise. This game puts players in control of an enforcer on a network that people access while they sleep. It is up to the player to make sure the rules of the network are enforced.
This can be done by reporting cases of copyright infringement, “extra-legal commerce”, and numerous other violations. With the passing of time the laws change, and new laws are also added occasionally. This game also does a very good job of imitating the internet experience of the late 90s.
6 Vectronom – Nintendo Switch Rating 82, 8.3 User Score
Vectronom is a fantastic memorization-based puzzle game for the Nintendo Switch. The player controls a cube that must navigate its way from one side of the play area to the other. This is done by synchronizing the cube's movements to the pattern of the shifting platforms that move in-time with the constantly playing music; that ranges from a driving, intense techno-style to soothing piano compositions.
Vectronom can really get intense at times. This game can be difficult, but thankfully the levels don’t get too large until later in the game. This game is available for the Switch and PC; the PC version does not have ratings posted yet.
5 Manifold Garden – PC Rating 85, 7.9 User Score
Manifold Garden is like playing a puzzle game inside an M.C. Escher drawing. The player is free to travel onto any surface in the game; when the player steps onto a new surface the world spins about the player so that the new surface is the floor.
The game’s puzzles consist of moving blocks, activating control blocks (which typically open a door), and matching blocks to surfaces of the same color so they complete a circuit. The game has an ominous feel to it; which the eerie sound effects amplify. Manifold Garden is available for PC and iOS.
4 Vignettes – iOS Rating 87, PC User Score 7.0
This game is not something one simply plays, it is something one experiences. Vignettes is a unique puzzle game that involves changing shapes into other shapes. By rotating a lightbulb it becomes a lamp; which becomes a circular fan if the player continues to rotate it.
At times it feels almost like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube. The change happens subtly and almost feels like the computer is using sleight of hand tricks. The controls are simple and intuitive. At any time a map of item creation possibilities can be brought up, so the player is never lost as to what needs to be done next.
3 Baba Is You – PC Rating 87, 8.0 User Score
This is a challenging and imaginative puzzle game for the PC and Switch. The player controls Baba, who is usually a cute white little animal. The player moves words around so that the change conditions of the game. The first level is a great tutorial of the gameplay.
This game is probably the most mentally challenging of the games on this list. The game has a simple look that at times looks like an Atari 2600 game or a child’s crayon drawing. The Switch’s rating is 84, but with a User Score of 8.2.
2 Return Of The Obra Dinn – PC Rating 89, 8.0 User Score
This is one of the most visually unique games on this list. Return of the Obra Dinn’s graphics are in monochrome; meaning black and white with variations of gray. This game puts the player in control of an investigator working for the East India Trading Company trying to solve the mystery of the recently found ship Obra Dinn.
The ship was found with no one alive on board, and it is up to the player to piece together what transpired. The player relives the events in reverse time; which usually only add more questions than provide answers.
1 Tetris Effect – PC Rating 90, 6.6 User Score
Much like Vignettes, Tetris Effect is an experience as much as it is a game. This game is three parts Tetris, and two parts Child Of Eden. As the player plays Tetris the background images and music are affected by the player’s every move. In other words this is a game that incorporates visual and auditory rhythm and timing elements to Tetris.
The morphing particle effect images are pure eye-candy. It is recommended that players play this in a dark room with as large a television as possible, and preferably with the audio running through a stereo system.