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If you’re planning a long trip, looking to exercise your mind, prepping to be a contestant on a reality TV show or just want to have some fun, check out puzzle games. Puzzle games use your brain in a way that helps give you mental stimulation as you figure out how to solve the puzzle. These apps are fun, addictive and may help give you more brain power.
The best games are ones that stimulate your brain while you’re having fun. Puzzle games can do just that by keeping your brain active and healthy. Studies have shown that people who stimulate their brains through activities such as puzzle games can have improved cognition and lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease later in life. See, National Institutes of Health Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease: What Do We Know?, Alzheimer’s Association Stay Mentally Active, CBS News Alzheimer’s brain plaques prevented by lifetime of puzzles, study suggests. No matter what your age, playing puzzle games will help exercise your brain.
This collection of new and classic puzzle apps will have you thinking while having fun!
[note] Also see, 5 Fantastic Puzzle Websites — Free Fun for Everyone! [/note]
NonoCube
This brand-spanking new puzzle app is a perfect fit for fans of Sudoku, Tetris, Rubick’s Cube and Minesweeper. The puzzles for NonoCube are a formation of 3D blocks and your goal is to reveal a secret object by keeping certain blocks while eliminating others.
You’re given clues to which blocks you should keep and which you should destroy. You never have to guess which blocks to eliminate with NonoCube and you get three wrong guesses per puzzle.
Here’s a video showing the game in action:
Solving the puzzle reveals an animated shape and unlocks the next puzzle. The puzzles get increasingly difficult the farther you progress. Helpful tutorials are included to teach you the game and help you master your strategy.
NonoCube is available for:
iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch for $1.99
Android devices in a Lite version for free
Android devices in the Full version for $1.99
Note that NonoCube was released in the iTunes App Store on May 15th, the day before the 50 billionth iTunes App was downloaded. I’m fairly certain my purchase of this app on May 16th was iTunes download number 49,999,999,999.
Dots
This free game takes one second to learn but will have you addicted in no time. Simply use your finger to connect dots of the same color, horizontally or vertically (not diagonally). The connected dots disappear and new dots fall into place. You have one minute to clear as many dots as possible. Longer strings of dots get you more points.
Try to build long strings by eliminating smaller strings of dots. You can connect dots around a corner to form squares, rectangles and “z” shapes.
This game has a leaderboard with impressive high scores, giving you an incentive to match their scores. This game is so easy to learn, kids of any age will start having fun with this quickly.
Dots is available free for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. You can purchase more dots to play with but you shouldn’t need to as playing the game earns you more dots.
Mosaique
Mosaique is a new game that challenges your puzzle-solving skills by shooting at colored squares with a similar colored square on the outer perimeter of the board. You have a limited number of shots to eliminate squares from the board. By eliminating a long line of squares of one color, you can re-energize your shooting power for future levels. Your goal is to rearrange the blocks to create long lines of squares in a single color so you can take as few shots as possible.
The developers have even created an interesting back story for the Mosaique.
This game not only makes you think, but also an interesting music sound track that plays in a 10 minute loop. The game doesn’t have a time limit so you can listen to the music as you relax and ponder the puzzles.
Check out this video giving you not only a glimpse of the game but a sample of the music.
Mosaique is available for $0.99:
iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch at the iTunes App Store
Android devices at Google Play
Kindle Fire and Android devices at the Amazon Appstore
Even if you don’t like the game, you may want to get 10 minutes of the music for the price of a song.
Flow Free
Flow Free is a puzzle game that also has you connect dots, but instead of trying to eliminate the dots, you try to connect them all with pipes (lines) so the pipes don’t cross. The game starts off simply with easy connections. The higher level games require planning so you don’t end up getting your pipes crossed. You can play timed or untimed (“free play”) modes.
Here’s a video showing you how Flow Free is played:
Once you’ve mastered Flow Free, check out Flow Free Bridges that lets you use bridges when pipes cross. While Bridges might sound easier, the game actually is more challenging to play.
Flow Free is available free for:
Flow Free Bridges is available for:
iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch for $0.99
Android free
The free versions include 900 games with additional games available for in-app purchase.
Ball Smash
This puzzle game is simple to learn but requires complex thinking to master. Send balls across columns and rows to smash similarly colored balls. The goal is to clear the board to move on to the next level.
The games starts off easy with a few balls and colors. As the levels progress, more balls and colors are added making the game much more challenging.
My full review of Ball Smash!: Ball Smash! My Favorite Game Ever!. I’ve been playing the game for nearly 10 years, when it was first a PC/Palm Pilot game and it’s still one of my favorite apps.
Ball Smash is available:
iTunes App Store: Full and Lite
Google Play: Full
Amazon Appstore: Full and Lite
The Full version of the game is $0.99.
Tetris
No puzzle game list would be complete without the classic puzzle game Tetris. Developed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union in 1984, this puzzle game was named the Greatest Game of All Time by Electronic Gaming Monthly in 2007.
Tetris is played by arranging blocks of four tiles onto a grid as they fall from the top of the screen to the bottom. When all of the squares in a row are filled with a tile, the row disappears, making room for another row. The tiles are arranged in six different shapes and your job is to nestle them into rows as they drop.
You can spin the shapes and move them side to side as they drop to the bottom of the screen. You have a brief moment to slide a shape into place once it rests on its row.
Tetris comes in many different formats for about every gaming console, mobile device and computer for the past few decades. You can get Tetris for:
iPhone and iPod Touch for $0.99
iPad for $0.99
Kindle Fire and Android for $2.99
Windows Phone for free
BlackBerry for $3.99
Online at the Official Tetris website
Bottom Line
Have fun while exercising your brain with these new and classic puzzle games. Immerse yourself in trying to solve these puzzles to while away the hours, have fun and maybe get a bit smarter in the process!
Do you enjoy puzzle games? Have you tried any of these games? Do you need to practice your puzzle-solving skills to be a contestant on Survivor or Big Brother? Do you try to exercise your brain? Let us know in the Comments section below!
Hi Carolyn,
I’m glad you shared these games as they gave me a chance to go back in time when as kids we really used to enjoy quite a few of them 🙂
Oh yes…even now, my kids come up with all kinds of puzzle games on their cell phones, but wheres the time to sit and play them right through. Yes, when we are travelling out of station, or the time when I don’t have my laptop with me is when I enjoy them.
I think Tetris is the oldest among all of these as we had it in our time too, though its got much more complicated and better for our brains now. Other than that I think what I’ve played is dots and flow free, but never get them right through — brain seems to be growing old I guess 😉
I agree with you that such games do help to keep your brain young and stimulate it, which helps to keep Alzheimer’s and other such diseases away.
Thanks for sharing this with us. Have a nice weekend 🙂
Hi Harleena, Yes, as summer approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, we want to find ways to keep our kids occupied and having fun while stimulating their brains. These puzzle apps do a good job of doing both! We can have fun with them too and keep our minds sharp as we age.
Dots is definitely the easiest to learn and play though I can’t figure out how people achieve the high scores that they do!
I hope you had a good weekend, Harleena and that you have a wonderful week ahead!
Had not seen Flow Free before. The others I all love. Thanks for the great tip about Flow Free, will download it now.
Hi Johan, I’m glad you were able to discover Flow Free here. I think you’ll really enjoy the game.
Tried it and really enjoyed. Recommend it to everyone else.
Thanks for letting us know, Johan!
Ahh…Tetris, brings back memories. I haven’t played it in a long time, might have to revisit it now.
Hi Frank, Yes, Tetris is a classic. This version of the game seems a bit easier that you get to see a few steps ahead which blocks are dropping and where they will be. But the game speeds up much more quickly. I used to play Tetris on a monochrome screen on my PC! Times are changing…
Awesome collection of puzzle games. I have already played (mastered??) at the flowfree and the tetris.
Just downloaded the nonocube and dots. They sound interesting, should keep me engaged over the long weekend for sure 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Praveen, I’m so glad you like these puzzle games. This weekend looks like a cold and rainy one where we are so having a slew of puzzle games to keep the kids entertained will be very handy. Have a great weekend, Praveen!
I think you know by now Carolyn that I’m not a big game player. I have my little old game of solitaire that keeps me entertained though that I’ve been playing for years. These types of games though just confuse me. I know, I was never very smart with these.
Oh well, they’re cool though so thanks for sharing them with us.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Yes, some people aren’t fans of puzzle games. These range from the super-easy (Dots) to the more challenging (Mozaique). Other than Dots, each game gets more challenging as you progress.
You don’t have to use puzzle games to stay sharp, Adrienne. You’re constantly learning new information and sharing it with us at your place.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Adrienne. I hope you’re having a great Memorial Day weekend!
Hi Carolyn,
Oh I love Tetris. Actually, I think I’m an addict. However, I haven’t played it since it came out on GameBoy. So I’m sure glad I found an online version thanks to your link. Not sure if I’m going to get the app once I get my iPhone because I’m afraid to fall back into my old addiction again 😉
Thank you so much for sharing this info though, and I’ll make sure to pass it on.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend!
Ilka
Hi Ilka, Yes, Tetris definitely has addictive potential. I was quite hooked when it first came out but getting back to it doesn’t seem as addictive.
NonoCube and Mozaique are the closest to Tetris on this list that you may enjoy. Dots is addictive too, but I think that’s because of the speed of the game.
Thanks for your good wishes and for sharing this post, Ilka! I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day too!
I will always be a fan of tetris. I like puzzles but Tetris really intrigues me.
Hi Radu, Yes, Tetris is really the king of puzzle games. You should definitely check out NonoCube and Mozaique which are similar to Tetris.
Enjoy the games, Radu!
Thanks Carolyn,
I will keep going with my Tetris game and i rediscovered Sudoku for a while. It drives me nuts :))
Lol, Radu. These games really can get in your brain, can’t they?
Have fun!
As a huge fan of virtual generative architecture and a parametric design enthusiast, I’ve been in love with these games since they’ve appeared on the old Commodore64 computers in the early ’80s. These games are really simple, need some logic, train and stimulate your brain and don’t need any strong hardware to display the graphics. Brilliant selection, I think I’ve just found my place to improve my collection, thanks for sharing the links;)
Hi Peter, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Wow, you certainly are a fan of puzzle games. I’m so glad you found this article helpful. You will love these games that will put your logic skills to the test.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your insights with us!
Hi Carolyn,
This is a very good compilation. I loved puzzle games but nowadays get rare time for the kind of games. However will try few of these games for sure as they can make my mind think of what I usually do. A change of routine for my mind.
Thanks for sharing this.
Hi Suhas, Yes, sometimes it’s difficult to find the time to play games, but a little mental break may recharge your mind for new tasks ahead.
Dots is the quickest game at 60 seconds, but other games you can pick up and put down as you find the time.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Suhas!
Hey Carolyn,
Cool! Usually I’m fond of racing and shooting games. But had few brain and puzzle games like Cut the Rope, What;s my IQ too.
I’ve been looking for some new brain and puzzle games lately 🙂 Came up with Bridge Constructor but didn’t try it out yet. Hmm… I don’t remember if I came across the games here when searching .
I’ll try out, especially Mosaique 🙂 Wish if Dots available to Android too.
You have a wonderful week there dear 🙂
Cheers…
Hi Mayura, I’m glad you like these games. Puzzle games can help your brain which make them useful as well as fun. I haven’t heard of Bridge Constructor, I will have to check that one out. I haven’t heard that Dots is coming to Android but I will certainly update this article and let you know if it does.
I hope you enjoy these games, Mayura! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your comment with us.
Hi Carolyn, I get addicted to games very easily. Though I am very choosy about games, I generally like strategy games. Games which allow me to apply tricks and tactics top my list. I like Mosaique, Dots and Tetris a lot.
Hello Jack, You’re not alone. Puzzle games can be very addictive, but at least you’re stretching your brain as you play these games. Excellent point, many people wouldn’t think of Dots as a strategy game, but it really is as you get more points for longer strings of dots. I think you’d enjoy NonoCube too, Jack as that game really gets you thinking
Enjoy your games, Jack!
Tetris! I remember that from my old Mac, and hadn’t thought about it in a long time. I’ve got a puzzle game called LineUp on my iPod Touch that I like to play when I’m waiting for the kids to come out of school, will have to look for Tetris now.
Hi Penny, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, Tetris is a classic and would be a great game for you to have on your iPod Touch to pass the time. Enjoy!
First of all i would like to thank you for giving some interesting apps for brian stimulating.i had tried some of the apps like Mosaique and tetris.i would also like to tell you about Plumber app it also a great one,i think it deserves a position in this list.Thanks again for sharing !
Hi Nithin, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m so glad you like these games. I checked out Plumber and it looks like a very interesting puzzle game app. Here are the links for people who want to grab it free for Android and iPhone.
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts and the Plumber app with us, Nithin!
This post has helped me by a great margin in exploring the puzzle apps that i had been searching for a long time. Thanks for such a useful info.
Hi Manish, I’m so glad you found this post helpful, Manish. I hope you enjoy your new puzzle games!