Welcome to Puzzle Lovers! - Play Hard. Think Harder.

MondSemmel's top 10-ish games from 2025-ish

Hey there, Puzzle Lovers! Among the games I played in 2025, these were my favorite ones. They're sorted by puzzly-ness, then by play order.

(This is a follow-up to my top 10 list from last year, which got accidentally deleted in our curator announcements. You can find an archived copy here[gist.github.com].)

https://steamhost.cc/app/2582540/RoGlass/
Lovely and well-designed roguelite about strategically placing stained glass tiles to unlock achievements which improve tile effects. Used to be very short, but got a huge update in 2025 which added a challenge mode and increased the available playtime by a lot. I gave it a glowing review here.

https://steamhost.cc/app/1233070/Isles_of_Sea_and_Sky/
I'll repeat my comment from last year: "Exceptional sokoban-style puzzle game with a metroidvania/exploration vibe. In most puzzle games, puzzle levels don't feel like part of a world, you're just jumping from one disparate puzzle screen to another. Here, you're exploring a delightful archipelago of puzzles, one with a mesmerizing soundtrack to boot. I find pure sokoban games really dry to play, but had a blast with this game and its atmosphere."

The game also got a sizeable update in 2025, one which rebalanced one frustrating area and added a bunch of postgame mystery content.

https://steamhost.cc/app/2716400/The_Rise_of_the_Golden_Idol/
I'm a huge fan of the detective/investigation genre (see my review of Return of the Obra Dinn), and I loved The Case of the Golden Idol. In my opinion Rise isn't quite as good—I particularly miss the pixel art—but it's still a great candidate in this small genre.

https://steamhost.cc/app/2111090/Lets_Revolution/
Quoting from my Steam review: "Let's! Revolution! is an awesome roguelike with a Minesweeper-themed puzzle mechanic. I appreciated it for its short run lengths (usually 15-30 min for a full run), a cast of 6 characters/classes whose varied game mechanics make each one play quite differently, and a well-designed difficulty & "ascension" system (besides Easy and Normal difficulty, there are five NG+ levels of increasing difficulty). Art style and aesthetics are enjoyable and unique. Hooray for such an upbeat, rather than brooding, setting <3."

https://steamhost.cc/app/1569580/Blue_Prince/
Blue Prince is a great, ambitious, and deeply flawed one-of-a-kind 3D puzzle game with a drafting mechanic and tons of secrets. I had a pleasant time reaching Room 46, but didn't like the lategame which felt finicky and very time-consuming. I can recommend this game, but not trying for 100% completion.

https://playcebo.itch.io/strategems
Free on itch.io, Stratagems is ostensibly a deckbuilder, but it's more like a puzzle game in the guise of a deckbuilder. Each prime-numbered gem card has a different ability, and your objective is to defeat each Prime Master so you can acquire their gem card and use it in subsequent fights.

https://steamhost.cc/app/2830480/Gentoo_Rescue/
Strong sliding-based puzzle game which manages to cram a surprising amount of difficulty into its uncommonly small levels. The game also explores its mechanics very thoroughly... a bit too thoroughly, I would say, in that I wished the game had cut like a third or half of its puzzles. It's still a very solid pure puzzle game, though.

https://steamhost.cc/app/1336490/Against_the_Storm/
Against the Storm may not be a classic puzzle game, but as a real-time citybuilder with pause on demand and some pretty convoluted/complex mechanics, it may as well be one. I tended to play in such a perfectionist manner that most settlements took me 3-4 hours to win. Anyway, the game gets nigh-perfect marks from me, particularly for the remarkable atmosphere it evokes.

Incidentally, in 2025 I also tried playing Civilization 5 and Civilization 6, and I liked Against the Storm so much more.

https://steamhost.cc/app/2742830/Monster_Train_2/
Monster Train 2 is the game I spent most time on in 2025. As a deckbuilder it appeals to my puzzle-gaming sensibilities, and on the highest difficulty settings there's a lot to puzzle out in each card pick and combat turn to ensure each run is a success and one's win streaks are maintained. In any case, the sheer number of clan and champion combinations in this game is a sight to behold.

https://steamhost.cc/app/1043810/Tactical_Breach_Wizards/
The turn-based tactics genre is always puzzle-adjacent, but Tactical Breach Wizards leans far towards the puzzle side of things. The game is usually easy enough that the challenge isn't just to win, it's to win while obeying various constraints (e.g. win by turn 2, or by hitting three enemies with one ability). The game does a great job of combining gameplay with storytelling, too.

https://steamhost.cc/app/264690/Coin_Crypt/
Coin Crypt is the earliest Steam game by Greg Lobanov, who later made Wandersong and Chicory: A Colorful Tale. It has one of the most inspired themes I've ever seen in games, in that it's essentially a real-time deckbuilder, except that you have coins instead of cards, and played (spent) coins are naturally gone for good. I adore this game, though not its flabbergasting design decision to ship without an in-game tutorial.

• Hades II: worthy successor to the original Hades. The overarching main plot is quite a bit weaker than in the original, but the gameplay is a significant improvement upon the already remarkable original.
  
• Rhythm Doctor: great rhythm game, though that genre may as well be considered the anti-puzzle games...
  
• Hollow Knight: Silksong: soulslikes are yet another anti-puzzle genre. I liked Silksong, but preferred the original.
  
• Psychonauts 2: Fantastic 3D platformer with a heavy emphasis on storytelling and worldbuilding. I also replayed the original Psychonauts, and it held up pretty well, too.