There’s something satisfying about picking up a puzzle game on mobile. It’s an excellent way to fill an otherwise boring moment, and there are a huge array of creative, fun, and challenging puzzle games out there to choose from. Whether players prefer simple, Tetris-style games, or deeply layered, head-scratching puzzles and riddles, there’s a mobile game out there to fit the bill.
There are a few different styles on this list, as well as a variety of price points. Ranging from free to a few dollars, players new to mobile gaming will find hours of entertainment here. Plus, a few of the games here (like Monument Valley and The Room) have an array of expansions and sequels to complete. Get ready to feel like a genius!
6 Monument Valley
Released in 2014, Monument Valley was a monumental (sorry) success. Winning the Apple Design Award in 2014, it has sold millions of copies over the years and remains a beloved favorite of many puzzle game fans. It’s a beautiful game with a camera mode, so players can capture their favorite moments, and the stunning soundtrack has a calming, ethereal kind of vibe.
Onto the puzzles, then: Monument Valley is inspired by the works of MC Escher, and each level contains a reality-stretching geometry puzzle. Gently guided by small visual cues, players must guide the main character, Ida, from the starting point to the finishing line. Once players have finished it, they can move on to the sequel, which is similarly aesthetically pleasing Monument Valley 2as well as the expansions, Forgotten Shores and Ida’s RED Dream.
5 Cosmic Express
Cosmic Express is a simple puzzle game. Players must build a train track to pick up and drop off passengers at their respective destinations. The concept is simple, and it works well as a mobile game players can pick up quickly, but it becomes more complex in the later stages with the introduction of some…challenging passengers.
For example, players can’t drop an orange passenger into a purple destination; that in itself provides a challenge, as they will have limited space to lay down tracks. Later, the introduction of slime-oozing green aliens poses a challenge, as other passengers will refuse to sit in a slime-encrusted carriage, so players will need to make sure they pick green passengers up last. The visuals are pretty cute, too, making this a nice game to escape into for a while.
4 Two Dots
“When In Doubt, Just Make Squares.” Two Dot’s welcome message is handy to keep in mind! Starting with two dots, players must click and drag to draw a line between them, connecting them. The goal is to connect all the dots, with a few rules: don’t draw diagonal lines, connect the same colors together, and do it all in a certain number of moves. Simple.
Except it’s actually incredibly tricky, especially in later levels. Dots will drop down, but not always where players want them to go. The key is to create the longest chain possible, and, of course, to find squares. Drawing a square of one color will cause all the dots of the same color to disappear at once, which players will need to take advantage of as the game progresses. It’s a relaxing little puzzler with stripped-back visuals, and it’s generous with rewards, so players can enjoy the occasional endorphin boost. It’s got a lot of replay value, too.
3 The Room
The Room is a classic puzzle game, released originally in 2012. Winning several awards and selling millions of copies, The Room asks the player to solve a series of puzzles in order to escape, well, the room. It’s challenging, with intricately designed riddles and deep, multi-layered puzzles to challenge even the most experienced players.
The Room is impressive for the sheer array of puzzles; players will remain surprised at every stage of the game, and once they’ve completed the first game, they can work their way through the four sequels. An ideal game for fans of real-life escape rooms and puzzle boxes, it works well on mobile, but players may find it easier to play on a tablet.
2 Kitty Q
Not many mobile puzzle games come with a catchy little theme tune explaining the premise, but Kitty Q certainly does. Described as “a quantum adventure,” the cute cartoonish visuals are a nice contrast to the dark humor. Players will open the game only to be presented with a box. What’s in the box? That’s the big question.
A kind of silly poke at the concept of Schrodinger’s cat, players will open the box to find (unsurprisingly) a cat inside. Half-alive, half-dead, this cat is stuck and needs to be released into the world. Setting it free will involve solving a series of puzzles, while occasionally looking up the real science behind them using the Kittypedia. Kitty Q stands out for being educational and entertaining (and adorable, too).
1 Empty
This is a stunning, imaginative puzzle game. A quiet and reflective experience, Empty opens with the silhouettes of a traffic cone and a square. The idea is to rotate the scene so players are left with just the silhouette of the square. It’s a surprisingly difficult task to eliminate objects one by one, with the puzzles increasing in complexity as the game goes on.
Despite the challenging puzzles, it’s a relaxing, mood-boosting game, with a stripped-back style. It does have a hint system, so if players get stuck, they can get a subtle clue about how to progress. At the time of writing it’s free to play and makes a great alternative to doomscrolling in a quiet moment.