A healthy dose of brain pain with the best puzzle games! - Android

Put on your thinking hat for these games!

Smartphone touchscreen controls offer a unique opportunity for puzzle game developers. Our pocket devices are uniquely suited for clever puzzle games because they're easy to pick up and play whenever you have a few free moments. If you're looking for a game to test your brain, check some of these out.

And when you're done here, be sure to check out our best games for Android!

The games

• The Room series
• Mini Metro
• Bridge Constructor Portal
• NYTimes - Crossword
• Threes!
• Twenty48 Solitaire
• Monument Valley
• Dissembler
• Two Dots
• Patterns
• hocus.
• Brain It On!
• Hitman GO
• Lara Croft GO
• Deus Ex GO
• Total Party Kill
• Vectronom
• Tetris
• Thumper: Pocket Edition
• The House of Da Vinci
• Transmission
• All That Remains: Part I
• The Eyes of Ara
• Hello Neighbor
• Chess Light
• Turn It On!
• I Love Hue & I Love Hue Too
• Samsara Room

The Room series

The Room is a widely celebrated puzzle franchise developed by Fireproof Games for mobile. There are four games in the series that each offer hours of challenging puzzle fun. They're reminiscent of point-and-click classic adventure series like Myst and Siberia that you can easily sink many hours into, so you've been warned.

The latest game in the series is The Room: Old Sins, which we've linked to below, but the whole series is worth checking out if you love a good puzzle. Each of The Room games is a premium title without ads or microtransactions and they're just spooky enough to keep you on your toes.

The Room series

$5 at Google Play Store

Dive into this popular series of puzzle games that hearken back to classics like Myst. Each The Room game is worth checking out.

Mini Metro

Mini Metro is an award-winning subway simulator that is steeped with puzzle elements. You're tasked with drawing up subway lines that connect the various stations that pop up as your city expands. You need to make sure passengers arrive where they need to go in a timely fashion, which often requires re-drawing your lines to be more efficient.

With a brilliant minimalist aesthetic, a responsive soundtrack that's fleshed out by the subway lines you build, and a ton of different game modes to enjoy, you will fall in love with Mini Metro. It's probably the best game to play when you're actually on the metro.

Mini Metro

$1 at Google Play Store

Mini Metro is great. It's a simple yet addicting game that has you drawing subway lines. Enjoy the minimalism.

Bridge Constructor Portal

Bridge Constructor is a great physics-based puzzle game in its own right, but this spin-off takes the concept and adds in all the wacky elements from Portal and Aperture Laboratories. There are 60 test chambers to complete using portals, along with propulsion and repulsion gels all while avoiding deadly lasers, pits of acid, and sentient turrets.

It's an outstanding cross-over title that provides a challenge that will delight fans of Bridge Constructor and Portal alike. It's an absolute delight to play with tons of Portal references and it even features Google Play Games achievements to aid in the replayability!

Bridge Constructor Portal

$5 at Google Play Store

Bridge Constructor meets Portal in this excellent cross-over. Avoid environmental hazards and use your technology to complete the 60 levels.

NYTimes - Crossword

The New York Times' daily crossword puzzle is arguably one of the most famous ongoing puzzle games of all time, and you can play them all right on your phone — no pencil or pen required — with this free app. To get access to the daily big puzzles you need to be subscribed to the Times, but you do get daily Mini puzzles on a 5x5 board for free.

Each puzzle only takes a minute or two to complete but they're really fun and satisfying ways to start your day. Other puzzle packs are also available via in-app purchases. You get a free week trial to the premium stuff, but as I said above, you'll need to be a Times subscriber to get everything.

Still, this is great for a quick puzzle in the morning when you're drinking your coffee, waiting for the bus, or sitting on the metro.

NYTimes - Crossword

Free w/ IAPs at Google Play Store

Who doesn't love a good crossword puzzle? The New York Times has just the app for you, and though you get the most out of it by being a subscriber, you can still get some smaller puzzles for free.

Threes!

Threes! is a fun and surprisingly cute number-based puzzle game where your goal is to swipe around the grid and match like numbers. You have to be strategic because if you fill-up the board and run out of moves it's game over! It's a simple game, but man can you spend hours trying to master it.

For a truly unfettered experience, you'll want to buy the full game for no ads or distractions. If you'd prefer to save your money, there's a free-to-play version, but you have to watch ads to earn more plays. It's a bit of steep price for a game of this type, but when the final product is this good, I'm more than happy to support indie developers.

Seriously, check this one out if you live time-killing puzzlers.

Threes!

$6 at Google Play Store

How can a puzzle game about numbers be cute, you ask? Give Threes! a try and find out.

Twenty48 Solitaire

Twenty48 Solitaire is an excellent mash-up between the 2048 puzzle game and classic Solitaire. It's varied enough to stand out from 2048's tile-swapping gameplay while adding in some of the more satisfying card tricks from Solitaire games. You set up a row with the right sequence to create a waterfall of cleared cards, which is so satisfying.

You need to be strategic about card placement because it's easy to box yourself in. To prevent those situations, you're given a discard pile that you can use twice before you need to clear them out by watching a video ad. I wouldn't say that the monetization model in this game is my favorite thing, but the gameplay is addicting enough that I do my best to overlook it.

Twenty48 Solitaire

Free w/ Ads, IAPs at Google Play Store

Twenty48 Solitaire is a really interesting take on two different games, satisfyingly combining 2048 and Solitaire.

Monument Valley

Monument Valley is an award-winning puzzle game that features outstanding art and sound design. You play as Ida, a princess who must find her way through fantastical structures, which you must manipulate and change to complete the path and help her reach her goal.

The controls are simple: tap to move the princess while discovering the different ways you can move the surrounding structures. It's an intuitive experience that forces you to look at things from a different perspective.

The sequel, Monument Valley 2, is much of the same, but in a good way. There are a few additional twists on the formula, but if you liked the first one, you'll appreciate the sequel.

Monument Valley

$4 at Google Play Store

Monument Valley is so good that it has copycats. Both games are wonderful puzzle games and worth playing.

Dissembler

Dissembler is a colorful and relaxing puzzle game that's deceptively simple to play and features fantastic puzzles. At its core, it's a tile-swapping match-three game, and each level requires you to flip the tiles to match up colors.

However, it's so much more than that. Things start nice and easy, with the game laying out basic principles before gradually presenting you with more complex puzzles. Don't fret though because you'll be ready for them. There are over 120 puzzles included with no time limits, move limits, ads, or in-app purchases to deal with.

Dissembler

$3 at Google Play Store

Taking match-three to all new heights, Dissembler is a wonderful puzzle game that takes time and thought to master.

Two Dots

Like all the best puzzle games, Two Dots is simple to learn, difficult to master, and highly addictive. This is the sequel to the wildly popular Dots game and the objective remains the same: connect as many dots of the same color as you can. The sequel brings new skills to the table, along with 900+ levels to work through.

Once you've completed the first 10 levels, which act as a tutorial, Two Dots offers a linear adventure of sorts in Treasure Hunt, and you unlock a new mode called Expedition once you've reached level 35. There's plenty of variety, fun, and adorable minimalism to keep you going. The soundtrack is something special, too.

Two Dots

Free w/ IAPs at Google Play Store

So much more than just connecting dots, Two Dots features spectacular variety and replayability.

Patterns

The best puzzle games are deceptively simple to play while offering a brain-busting challenge. This describes Patterns, a logic game that has you rotate pieces to create shapes of different sizes. Each puzzle tells you how many shapes to make and how many pieces can be connected for each one.

I swear, sometimes the puzzle looks impossible, and then suddenly it just comes together. If you want to put logic skills to the test, then this is a game you have to check out. There are two modes, a timed and a freeplay one; the former is aimed at people who want the stress and challenge.

Patterns is free to play, although you can buy the developer a cup of coffee via an in-app purchase to remove ads.

Patterns

Free w/ IAPs at Google Play Store

Probably one of the best brain-teaser/logic puzzle games in the Play Store, Patterns is a joy to play. It might be frustrating at times, but keep at it and you'll eventually succeed.

hocus.

MC Esher would be damn proud of hocus, a mind-bending, perspective-based puzzle game that is easy to play, challenging to master, and lets you create and play other user-created puzzles. Your goal is to get the cube to the red finish marker as fast and efficiently as you can.

There are over 100 official puzzles, which require you to swipe to move a cube around the shape. When you hit an intersection between two paths, you can completely change direction along a different path. It's glorious in its minimalism and easy to drop several hours into.

hocus.

Free at Google Play

A minimalist perspective-based puzzler, hocus forces you to really think outside the box. Things aren't always what they seem.

Brain It On!

Brain It On! is an addictive physics-based puzzle game that requires you to think outside the box to solve each level. Using your finger or a stylus, you draw lines, shapes, weighted objects, or whatever else you think will solve each screen. Sounds simple, right?

Things get progressively more challenging and creative as you progress through over 200 levels, with stars awarded for completing the level, finishing under the time limit, and minimizing the number of shapes used to solve. In the free version, future levels can be unlocked by earning stars. You can pay just to remove ads, or remove ads and add hints.

Brain It On!

Free w/ IAPs at Google Play Store

Yet another addictive game in our list, Brain It On! is an awesome physics-based puzzler with plenty of challenge and replayability.

Hitman GO

Hitman was the first gaming franchise Square Enix converted into its clever GO turn-based puzzle format, and it holds up. You play as Agent 47 and must work your way through heavily-guarded compounds using all the same techniques found in the full Hitman games: disguises, distractions, sniper rifles, and of course, 47's iconic Silverballer pistols.

There are multiple ways to beat each level, whether you want to be silent and sneaky, or forceful and deadly. You pick what kind of Hitman to be, as you work towards assassinating your main targets. The game also looks awesome and it's sure to please any Hitman fans out there who are looking for a bit more assassination on the go.

Hitman GO

$6 at Google Play Store

The first of the GO games, Hitman GO is a great turn-based puzzler that makes you think about how you want to approach a given situation.

Lara Croft GO

Tomb Raider's Lara Croft is back in this challenging entry that adds new wrinkles to the turn-based puzzles introduced with Hitman GO. Lara Croft is athletic and adventurous, and her GO game reflects that with turn-based puzzles that have her dodging boobytraps and deadly enemies as you work your way through 115 levels split into seven chapters.

It's an award-winning game that lures you in with its outstanding visuals and keeps you playing with its increasingly challenging puzzles. There are unlockables and some harrowing turn-based action that keeps you engaged. Like Hitman GO, there are several ways of completing a level.

Lara Croft GO

$6 at Google Play Store

Another excellent entry in Square Enix's GO mobile franchise, Lara Croft GO is a fun puzzler where you play the eponymous heroine as she explores ancient ruins.

Deus Ex GO

Deus Ex is the latest franchise to get the GO treatment, and it just might be the best one yet. With visuals that reflect the cyberpunk stylings of Deus Ex, along with new hacking gameplay elements, you play as Adam Jensen who's working to unravel a complicated mystery as you sneak your way through a well-guarded fortress.

This game goes so well with the Deus Ex universe and works perfectly with the GO formula. It probably features the most fleshed-out storyline of the three. It also sports time-limited puzzles along with a level editor, so you can design, share, and play levels from the game's community.

I remember spending a whole afternoon diving into this game when it came out a few years ago. I still go back from time to time to re-experience the puzzles and spend that much longer in the world of Deus Ex (which is one of my favorite video game franchises).

Deus Ex GO

$6 at Google Play Store

The best of the GO games, Deus Ex go offers a cyberpunk puzzle experience that is top-notch. Seriously, this one is awesome.

Total Party Kill

Most games that present you with a small party of playable heroes with unique skills challenge you to reach the goal while trying to keep everyone alive. This is not the case in Total Party Kill, where sacrifices must be made and only one hero — either your sword-wielding Knight, ice spell-casting Wizard, or ace archer Ranger — needs to successfully reach the exit of the 60 deadly dungeons presented in this game.

There's plenty of strategy, puzzle, and platforming action in Total Party Kill. It's a must-play game for any fans of retro platformers or quick puzzle games. And if you like quirky humor, then you'll get a kick out of Total Party Kill.

Total Party Kill

Free w/ ads at Google Play Store

Sacrifices must be made! Conquer each level where success means getting at least one of your three heroes to the end.

Vectronom

Vectronom is a psychedelic puzzle platformer where you'll need to stick with the beat if you want to succeed and solve each colorful level. The game features intuitive controls for controlling your cube that will have you swiping and tapping in rhythm. The levels are constantly changing in sync with the thumping beat of the music, so you'll need to keep up with the rhyth