Solving puzzles without rules

“The mere formulation of a problem is far more often essential than its solution.”
– Albert Einstein

Some games just throw you in the deep end. No tips, no instructions, no puzzle box placed square in front of you to take a crack at. Instead, you’re faced with mysterious patterns, codes or shapes. Like Einstein said, identifying the problem is part of the challenge.

This makes things harder of course, but that’s why we turn to puzzles in the first place. Discovery is part of the thrill.

Gorogoa starts with hand-drawn movable panels on a grid. The game is like a sliding tile puzzle, except from the start it’s unclear how each animated image is related. Some of them feature a boy, others a full-grown man. The object is figuring out the cause and effect between actions – across space and time.

It may seem like an intimidating concept, but the game is filled with hints to get you going. For instance, leads can be hidden in a painting, or perhaps in the pattern on a flag.

The biggest clues, however, come from details in the characters’ thought bubbles. They contain no text, so players must scrutinise them closely and quickly before they disappear. The game’s beautifully illustrated images are not just for show. Every detail holds a secret, so keep your eyes and mind open.

Gorogoa

A patchwork fable

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Coloured blocks are suspended in a three-dimensional space. You are armed with powerful wrecking balls. It’s pretty clear what should happen next.

Art of Gravity is a voxel/physics-based game where players shatter blocks by aiming single-shot spheres. Of course, that’s just the beginning: what do the coloured spheres do? Why do some blocks destruct differently? And how do you pass a level?

Those answers are for you to figure out while enjoying this graceful, gravity-free puzzler.

Art Of Gravity

Games

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If there’s a contest for most mind-boggling game, GNOG would surely be ranked up there.

The first level is a perfect example: it starts with a butterfly parked on a green robot’s chin. Try and touch the butterfly, and it flaps its wings. Poke the robot’s eyes and it blinks. OK, so? Is there a connection between the robot and the butterfly? And wait, what about the robot’s teeth? They make sounds when you touch them. Twist the robot’s head around, and you find a bunch of buttons that light up and reveal symbols. But what does it all mean?

GNOG is filled with all sorts of buttons, cranks and dials that seem pointless at first – and that’s the point. Buried in the neon-inspired art and cool sound design are the answers to all the above questions, and more.