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Best puzzler games on GamesNostalgia

Puzzler video games have always been popular among gamers, challenging their minds with problem-solving activities. From guessing numbers or words, and simplistic block arranging to mind-bending physics puzzles, puzzler games have evolved over the years to provide increasingly complex challenges and innovative gameplay mechanics.

Simple mechanics and addictive gameplay characterized early games; versions of Mastermind or Hangman were probably the first examples. In 1984, Lode Runner and Impossible Mission launched the genre of the puzzle-platformers, mixing platform games exploration with puzzle solving. In Impossible Mission, you have 6 hours to collect the required pieces. Every death takes away 10 minutes. And there are many ways to die, from robots to electric obstructions.

In 1985, one of the most popular computer games ever was released: Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?. It was a mix of educational, detective investigation, and puzzler. The series continued for many years, have a look at Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego? or Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (Deluxe Edition) released in 1992.

The Sentinel (aka The Sentry) by Geoff Crammond, released in 1986, was one of the first puzzle games in 3D, like the brilliant Tower of Babel by Pete Coke, where you need to solve puzzles using three different robots.

Moving to something more colorful, Jumpin' Jackson for the Amiga and Atari ST mixed puzzle solving with cute pixel art and a top-down perspective.

The genre of puzzle games was changed forever when DMA released Lemmings in 1991, one of the most popular games ever. The success of the funny little characters trying to survive across the different levels demonstrated that puzzlers could be real hits. This influenced many other game studios, so we had Pushover and Troddlers in 1992, not clones, but games inspired by Lemmings.

We cannot avoid mentioning the arcade hit Tetris, ported and converted many times, like Tetris Pro in 1992, but also the many versions of MineSweeper in 1991, a game that every Windows 3.1 owner played at least once.

The mechanics of puzzle games, where you need to combine the skills of different characters to reach a goal, were perfected by Blizzard with their first success, The Lost Vikings, in 1993. The same year we had a great example of Rube Goldberg machine games, with The Incredible Machine.

You can find all sorts of puzzler games out there. Still, sometimes it's challenging to define puzzle games since problem-solving elements can be present in all sorts of video games, including graphic adventures, platformers, and action games. Let us know if you think some of your favorite puzzlers must be included!

Lemmings amiga

Lemming is a puzzle-platformer created by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis for the Amiga, DOS, and Atari ST in 1991. The game, one of the most successful games of the early 19...

Year: 1991 Genre: Puzzler

amiga original game puzzle strategy puzzler real-time

Zenji commodore-64

Zenji is a puzzle game published by Activision in 1984 for 8-bit platforms, including Commodore 64, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit. It was also released for ColecoVision, MSX, and ZX Spectrum.

Year: 1984 Genre: Puzzler

puzzle strategy puzzler top-down

Lemmings 2: The Tribes amiga

Lemmings II: The Tribes is a puzzle game released in 1993. It is the sequel to Lemmings. It was developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis. It was released for Acorn 32 b...

Year: 1993 Genre: Puzzler

amiga original game puzzle strategy puzzler real-time

Oh No! More Lemmings amiga

Oh No! More Lemmings was the first sequel to Lemmings. It was both released as an expansion and a standalone game in 1991 for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS and other platforms. As you...

Year: 1991 Genre: Puzzler

2 players puzzle strategy puzzler real-time

Scarabaeus commodore-64

Scarabaeus (Invaders of the Lost Tomb in the US) is a 3D search, puzzle-solving, and survival game developed by Andromeda Software. It was published in 1985 by Ariolasoft for the Commodore 64.

Year: 1985 Genre: Puzzler

3d ancient egypt archaeology first-person horror maze puzzler

Twintris amiga

Twintris is a Tetris clone developed by Svein Berge for the Amiga in 1990 and published by Digital Marketing. The following year, it was also released under the name Super Twintri...

Year: 1990 Genre: Puzzler

2 players amiga original game coverdisk falling block puzzle puzzler shape combination single screen tetris variant

Klax amiga

Klax is a puzzle game created by Atari Games and published in 1990 for arcades and home computers. The object is to catch assorted color-falling tiles and create rows, columns, or diagonals of a single color.

Year: 1990 Genre: Puzzler

2 players arcade coin-op conversion falling block puzzle puzzle strategy puzzler real-time

Dimo's Quest amiga

Dimo's Quest is an arcade puzzler created by Infernal Bytes originally for the Amiga in 1993, then ported to MS-DOS and CD-i. The game, designed by Tobias Prinz and Thomas B. Schul...

Year: 1993 Genre: Puzzler

amiga original game puzzler top-down

Troddlers dosamiga

Troddlers is a puzzle game developed by ATOD Design and published initially for the Amiga in 1992. It was also ported to MS-DOS and SNES. In this cute and colorful game, your task ...

Year: 1992 Genre: Puzzler

2 players amiga original game co-op fantasy lemmings variants puzzle strategy puzzler

The Lost Vikings amigagame-boy-advancegenesis

The Lost Vikings is a puzzle platformer created by Silicon & Synapse (former name of Blizzard Entertainment) and published by Interplay in 1993. It was released for SNES, Genesis, DOS, and Amiga.

Year: 1993 Genre: Puzzler

amiga cd32 character switch comedy fantasy mythology norse puzzle platformer puzzler science fiction

Pushover amiga

Pushover is a puzzler developed by Red Rat Software and published by Ocean in 1992 for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, and SNES. The game, whose concept was created by Charles Partingto...

Year: 1992 Genre: Puzzler

advergames platformer puzzle strategy puzzler

The Humans amiga

The Humans is a strategy/puzzler created by Imagitec Design and published by GameTek in 1992. It was released for the Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, and many other platforms, including Mega Drive/Genesis and Game Boy.

Year: 1992 Genre: Puzzler

humour lemmings variants multi-directional platformer prehistoric puzzler

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? doscommodore-64

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is the first game in the famous educational game series produced by Brøderbund Software. The game stars the renowned thief with a red fedora and trenchcoat.

Year: 1985 Genre: Puzzler

apple 2 original game detective educational geography puzzler

The Incredible Machine 2 dos

The Incredible Machine 2 was created by Jeff Tunnell and released in 1994 for DOS and the following year for Windows and Macintosh. It's the sequel to The Incredible Machine and ...

Year: 1994 Genre: Puzzler

paddle pong puzzle strategy puzzler rube goldberg machine single screen