What is your favorite Puzzle Game?

In the world of gaming where there are thousands of choices, with so many games to play you would think puzzle games would be left out in the cold. The truth is for many people puzzle or mind engaging games are of the best kind. The great thing about a puzzle game is you really can decide how long to play it and it is normally a game you can turn off and on or walk away from in a second if need be.

The real draw for puzzle games today is you can play them everywhere and on anything from your phone to handheld systems to any computer that has flash. When handheld systems hit the stores it was games like Tetris that drew many people to buy them. Many people who you would think would never touch a video game owned a Gameboy primarily for the puzzle games available on that system.

This week on the insider discussion we take a look at some of the more popular puzzle games throughout history and some of our favorite ones.

Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo

I’ll start with my favorite. I have always liked Street Fighter and the idea of a puzzle game mixed with a fighting game really got me into it. In SPF2T you can pick from a number of Street Fighters and other Capcom characters to battle each other.

The object is simple enough. Different colored bricks slowly fall from above; with them are different colored orbs. The orbs when attached to a brick of the same color will detonate all of that color that is connected to the bricks. When this happens the amount of bricks you destroy are dropped onto your opponents screen.

Now depending on how many bricks you drop on your opponent your character will perform a fighting move. The more bricks you drop the more powerfully the move will be. There is a lot of strategy to the game and how and when you decide to detonate your bricks can make all the difference.

The visuals, the music and the overall theme and gameplay won me over and Puzzle Fighter is very popular in Japan. This puzzle game is definitely worth a go.

Dr. Mario

A runner up for me just because I really liked the title and the fact that Mario was now a doctor. However, the Tetris-like gameplay did keep me interested. The idea here is inside the medicine bottle are different colored viruses. Slowly, double colored capsules fall and you have to stack and surround the virus with the colored capsule that matches. If you stack four of the same color it will kill the virus. You win if you eliminate all the viruses and you lose if the narrow neck of the bottle is obstructed.

Columns

This is another fun Tetris-like game from Sega where columns of three differently colored jewels would slowly fall from the top of the screen to the bottom. The object was to line up three of the same color either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, if you did this the jewels would shatter and the columns would fall and if you planned it correctly you could create a chain reaction when multiple same colored jewels would line up and then shatter racking in bonus points.

To many to name

There are a ton of great puzzle games out there from the PC, Console and mobile gaming world. We asked our panel of gamer insiders what their favorite puzzle games are.

Aaron Hunter from Playtechtonics Inc wrote:

My favorite puzzle game of all time is Space Quest 1!

Jacob Stevens from Riverman Media wrote:

Well, of course I’m biased toward our own game, MadStone! But other than that, I love Tetris Attack and Meteos. Even now, those games draw me in more than any other form of interactive entertainment. Of course, maybe it’s because they are the only games I am good at!

Juan Gril from JoJu Games wrote:

Currently, the last puzzle game I loved was Auditorium.

Winnie Wong from Monkey Plum Media wrote:

I love puzzle games, they are so memorizing! Some of my favorites are Tetris (PC), Peggle (PC) and Hexic (Xbox) and if it’s referred to as a puzzle game – The Last guy (on PS3), others that require more brain power I love are: BrainAge and Rhythm Heaven (on the DS). Not only are these games addictive, but I love the catchy theme music of Hexic, The Last guy and who wouldn’t love to be cheered on after winning a level with Peggle? (Love rainbows, unicorns and fireworks!)

Visits: 2030