You are a new spaceship engineer from Sunshine Heavy Industries. Your job is to solve problems, whatever they may be—from customer demands to budget woes. On top of it all, you have to attend to the needs of your business partners, keeping your livelihood afloat all of the madness.

This would not be a list of the best puzzle games without some version of Tetris. Born in the modern era, Tetris Effect: Connected is an unparalleled multiplayer game experience like no other. What makes digital puzzle games so special is their relatively long history. The most popular game in the genre, Tetris, is so revolutionary that there is no game like it today. The most popular puzzle games can be matching-type, visual, time-bound, or memorization challenges. While developers can shape these puzzle games however they want to, all puzzles have one thing in common: they get more difficult as you go along. Since Tetris, puzzle games have made bolder strides but also have managed to keep their introverted charm. As most puzzle games are randomized, players are always kept on their toes. Moreover, other digital puzzle games that have made their mark in this era also have a simple style. Candy Crush, for example, can be played by adults and kids alike. Released in 2012, this is still one of the most popular and best puzzle games of the 21st century. Play as a group of four in this co-op sci-fi adventure from Room710Games. In this game, you wake up in a room with your friends, not knowing how and why you got there. No, it wasn’t a wild night. This is the beginning of the wildest, most terrifying day of your life, though.

IQ Mini

To find the answer to Renee’s questions, you have to solve strange and unusual puzzles in the premise of her own home. Your choices and game strategy will shape the ending of your game. Whether you are playing as a group of four or alone, Somewhere in the Shadow has many riddles and horrors for you to discover. It also is a challenge of the mind, from keeping your cool to thinking on your feet. This list only rounds out the 21 best puzzle games, but given the genre’s reach, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of these to explore further. This game is full of brain teasers for you to solve. Rendered like a “modern noir deduction thriller,” it is a sentimental true crime puzzle game. In many ways, this is its appeal. However, this comes as no surprise as Murder Mystery Machine is produced by Blazing Griffin, a BAFTA-winning production company.

A success, Tetris sold millions of copies across decades of gaming. It became a hallmark of the Atari, one of the world’s first popularized consoles. Because of Tetris’s simplicity, it was passed on from one platform to another with no issues. Robbers, raiders, and explorers want a taste of your treasures and secrets, and as the goddess Snek, it is your duty to draw the line. Play as a giant snake and guard your temple using puzzle strategies, special abilities, and gameplay settings. Like in Half Dead 3, the goal is to stay alive. You realize that the place you found yourselves in is a cursed and haunted house and that the only way out is to solve its puzzles while fending off its residents. Straying away from the genre of horror, My Life Changed is a personal project of an indie developer, Naoka Games. Named literally, this game is an avenue for storytelling. It is simple and low stakes. In many ways, My Life Changed is an art piece shared through a game. Of course, compatibility depends on the game you want. Lower-budget games can be compatible with smaller devices, while specialized games such as the Tetris Effect are more fun on consoles.Introducing a Tetris co-op mode, Connected ups the ante when it comes to competitive Tetris. There are also modes like “competitive online” and “local multiplayer” for you to explore, along with over 10 other modes.