There are unwritten rules that apply to puzzle games that don’t necessarily apply to other genres of games. Puzzle games do not need flashy high-res graphics to be fun. Puzzle games do not need to be overly complex to be fun and challenging. Lastly, puzzle games do not need to be rage-quit inducingly difficult to provide a worthy challenge.
In fact, it seems the more a puzzle game deviates from these rules, the lower the prospect of it being considered a great game – unless there are other aspects to the game. Catherine, although its puzzles have been criticized for being too difficult, is an example of this. Perhaps this is why the puzzle games for early consoles, like the NES, have a timeless appeal.
10 Yoshi
In Yoshi, the player controls Mario, who is at the bottom of the screen beneath four plates. The player can have Mario switch the position of two adjacent plates. From the top of the play area drop various familiar characters from the Mario games; like goombas and piranha plants. Stacking two of the same type of creature on top of each other causes them to disappear. In addition to these creatures, parts of eggshells will also drop down from above. The player must try to trap as many creatures between two falling pieces of eggshell for bonus points. This game gets really fun when played cooperatively with a friend.
9 Krazy Kreatures
This is an intense unlicensed puzzle game from Bitmasters that can also be played cooperatively by two players. The game areas that come in different shapes, and as the game is played animals are thrown into the play area. The player controls a reticle around the play area that is used to move the animals, like pink elephants, into columns or rows of three or more; at which point those three animals are removed from the play area. As the player advances through the levels the play areas become more varied, the animals are thrown into the play area at faster rates, and more columns are required to advance.
8 Wrecking Crew
Wrecking Crew is one of the original “black box” games for the NES, and one of the first games that had Mario as a playable character. In Wrecking Crew the player controls Mario with the goal of using a mallet to destroy all the walls, doors, and white ladders on the level.
The difficulty comes from the enemies that run around the levels trying to catch Mario. The levels have wrapping edges – meaning if Mario runs off one side of the level he will appear on the opposite side. Scattered around are bombs and barrels that Mario can use to temporarily remove some enemies from the level.
7 Castlequest
This adventure/puzzle hybrid was an early Metroidvania type game. The player controls the hero as they navigate a labyrinth-like castle on a quest to rescue his beloved, Princess Margarita. The player must find color-coded keys to open doors of the same color. Not far into the game the player must start backtracking to previous areas to find the appropriate color key to advance. There are many puzzles that involve movable blocks, conveyor belts, and enemies. The hero has the ability to jump, and also has a sword that can be used to dispatch some of the enemies. This game is immensely fun, and is challenging without being too difficult.
6 Palamedes
This game has an interesting premise; it combines puzzle-solving with Yahtzee. In Palamedes the players controls the character at the bottom of the play area, who holds above his/her head a box that resembles one side of a six-sided dice. The player can change the value shown on the box and throw the box to the top of the play area.
Other blocks appear at the top of the screen, and the player must throw the blocks so that they hit a block of the same color and value. As this is done those matching blocks are placed below the play area, where the player attempts to make winning hands of poker.
5 Wario’s Woods
Wario’s Woods is not only a great puzzle game, but it is also the last game Nintendo released for the NES. Coming so late in the NES’s life, the game has a colorful, polished look that early NES games were unable to achieve. In Wario’s Woods the player controls Toad with the objective of clearing the play area that is gradually filled from the top down with various creatures, objects, and bombs. The player can pick these objects up (and kick them) to arrange and stack them by color. When a bomb comes into contact with two of these objects of the same color they are removed from the play area.
4 Dr. Mario
In this blatant rip-off of Tetris, the player controls different colored pills as they fall towards the bottom of the play area – which is shaped like a pill bottle. The player can rotate these pills, and the goal is to match four sections of the same color into a column or row.
In the play area are colored viruses that need to be removed by including them in the same colored column of pills. There are a lot of variables the layer can control before starting, such as the number of viruses in the play area.
3 Adventures Of Lolo
This is an extremely fun and addictive puzzle game from Hal Laboratory, the makers of the Smash Brothers games. The player controls a small blue puffball named Lolo on his quest to rescue his beloved, named Lala. The game is set up as single-screen stages that have creatures, and obstacles, on them. Lolo must move pieces of the level, such as boulders, to block the attacks of these creatures. This game requires a lot of trial-and-error experimenting, especially on the later levels. Be careful with this game; once you start playing it is extremely hard to put the controller down.
2 Tetris
Most gamers were probably expecting to see Tetris on this list; it is the #2 best-selling game of all time after Minecraft. In Tetris there are different shaped blocks that fall from the top of the screen towards the bottom. The player can freely move and rotate these blocks with the goal of forming a horizontal line. As the game progresses the blocks begin to fall faster and faster. This can get quite intense towards the later levels when the speed of the falling blocks give the player almost no time to find the best landing spot.
1 Solomon’s Key
This incredibly fun puzzle/platformer from Tecmo is maybe the most underrated of NES games. In Solomon’s Key the player controls a wizard who has the power to create blocks to act as platforms, but can also destroy these blocks if needed. This game, like Adventures of Lolo, takes place on successive levels that occupy a single screen. In these levels, the player is trying to get the key, and then use that key to unlock the door to the next level. This task is made more difficult by enemies that roam the levels. What sets Solomon’s Key apart from similar games is the ability to find items – like potions that allow the player to shoot a fireball at an enemy.