With the cold blowing in across Canada, and the amount of snow blocking your front door step, it’s hard to brave the weather and make it out to an escape room. Here are EGC’s top 5 puzzle-based video games to play from home that you may not have heard of.
Coming in at number 5, if you haven’t played the Nancy Drew PC games then they are definitely worth checking out. There are currently 34 games in the series, so there’s plenty of content already out for these story-based point-and-click puzzle-solving adventures. Play as Nancy Drew as she interrogates suspects, finds clues, and dodges danger. Available on PC.
At number 4 we have the The Room series, a set of puzzle-solving games where you interact with objects and a special puzzle box through time and space to solve the mystery of the box and the secrets it contains. There are currently five games in the series, if you count VR, and they’re available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Android and iOS.
If you have a partner who loves solving puzzles as much as you, then this is definitely a game you should try. Tick Tock: A Tale for Two is a co-op game you play in separate rooms, where you and your partner solve puzzles side-by-side but from different points in time. Using the information from both the past and the present, you work together to solve the labyrinth of riddles and puzzles set before you to escape this bizarre dreamscape before the clock runs out. It is currently available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac OS, and Android.
Did you love Portal as much as we did? Are you a fan of the Stanley Parable? Then this is the game for you. Superliminal challenges your creative thinking and your perception to have you really thinking outside of the box to solve challenges (sometimes literally). Using your perspective, you manipulate objects to accomplish the tasks set before you. If in escape rooms you like to take a step back and get a new perspective on things, then this wacky game is right up your alley. Currently available on PS 5, Nintendo Switch, Mac OS, PC, and a plethora of other platforms.
Finally, at number 1 is the We Were Here series. We Were Here is a co-op puzzle solving game where you and your partner are explorers traversing hidden labs, dangerous dungeons, wintry castles, and other mysterious locales to solve the enigmas set before you–with only walk-talkies to communicate. Of all the puzzle games we’ve played, this series has felt the most like an escape game, and we loved the design of almost every puzzle we encountered. We Were Here takes the top spot for puzzle video games in our books. There four games in total, and the first game is free on Steam. Currently available on PC, Xbox, and PS5.
So there you have it, EGC’s top 5 puzzle-based video games to play for when you get snowed in but still want to scratch that puzzle-solving itch. Let us know if you would like more puzzle video game recommendations–puzzles are what we love best!
