We all know puzzle games. Games like Tetris, Puyo Puyo, and Candy Crush. Though some consider this genre of game to be “Not a real game.” Though I would disagree. Puzzle games can be incredibly interesting and are perhaps the most competitive game genre. Today we will be looking at some puzzle games that are popular and some that are more unknown.

First, let us look at Tetris. Tetris is the most known puzzle game ever, considering it is the 2nd highest-grossing game ever and has been on over 60 different platforms. It has a simple premise, just clear the lines by stacking the blocks. To keep players on their toes, the longer you play, the faster the pieces come. This results in a game that is simple to learn, and very difficult to master. Many sites have Tetris, though the one I always will recommend is Tetr.io due to the multiplayer and wide array of customization. Of course, you can not play this on a school Chromebook so I recommend playing at home.

Even though Tetris is amazing, whenever you have Tetris you must also have Puyo Puyo. Puyo Puyo is a lot more difficult than Tetris, in Puyo Puyo, you must line up 4 “Puyos” to pop them and clear that space on the board. The game is much more popular in Japan and only recently came overseas under its original name with the series usually using the name “Puyo Pop” Puyo Puyo has a lot of fans despite it being less known and is mostly playable in the game Puyo Puyo Tetris. Even though I am not too good at it I think it is a very fun puzzle game nonetheless.

Lastly, we have my favorite game, Puzzle league. Puzzle League is a game where you must stack three blocks either vertically or horizontally to get rid of them as the board rises. My favorite part of the gameplay loop is the fact that you can only move the blocks horizontally, which keeps you on your toes. This game has only had around 5 entries here in North America, with the most recent entry being on the Nintendo 3DS as a minigame. The first game in the series known as Tetris attack has been on the Nintendo Switch online service for quite a while so there may be hope for the series soon!

Even though some of these games may not have as many entries as others, they are all enjoyable. Tetris and Puyo Puyo are simple but fun games and puzzle league is a game with a lot of promise, though sadly unnoticed. With each year that comes by the number of puzzle games increases, games like Peggle, columns, and Zuma are all games that retain the puzzle game genre while also being something new. No matter what, puzzle games are everywhere you just gotta solve them.