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From mind-bending physics experiments to surreal narrative adventures, puzzle fans have a lot to be excited about. In this countdown, we’re highlighting the upcoming brainteasers that could test your logic, patience and problem-solving skills in all the best ways. From inventive mechanics to stylish worlds, these are the puzzle games that have us eagerly waiting to play.
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00:02This video is brought to you by Order of the Sinking Star.
00:06Available October 8th on Steam, Nintendo Switch 2, and PlayStation 5.
00:11Wishlist now!
00:13Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for puzzle games on the horizon that we can't wait
00:18to get our hands on.
00:19Whether you prefer physics experiments, cooperative escape rooms, or surreal psychological nightmares, fans have plenty to look forward to.
00:27Order of the Sinking Star
00:29Jonathan Blow, who already gave us landmark puzzlers such as Braid and The Witness, is back with what might just
00:35be his most ambitious game to date.
00:38Seems like a place they want me to notice.
00:42Have you any idea where we are? I was about to ask you the same thing!
00:47Order of the Sinking Star is an enormous narrative adventure containing more than 1,000 handcrafted puzzles.
00:53Players explore four distinct worlds, each introducing its own characters, rules, and puzzle mechanics.
01:03Eventually, those worlds begin to collide, allowing tools and techniques learned in one realm to interact with systems from another.
01:09The ambition is as baffling as it is enchanting, made all the sweeter by a gorgeous visual palette that is
01:15sure to hit the spot for classic fantasy lovers.
01:18Thankfully, we won't have to wait long to get our hands on it.
01:20I have never imagined such a device that could fuse realities. Not just mashing together terrains, it weaves the very
01:28laws of nature into a composite home.
01:31Artificial
01:31Hey guys, my name is Ondrej, and I'm a solo developer of Artificial, a first-person physics-based puzzle platformer
01:37inspired by Portal and Half-Life series.
01:39If you've spent the last decade wondering where all the Portal-inspired first-person puzzlers went, Artificial should have your
01:45attention.
01:46Set inside an underground colony on Asteroid 2031 XT, the game combines physics puzzles, platforming, environmental manipulation, stealth, and survival
01:55elements.
01:56Everything is physics-based. Smaller objects can be grabbed and thrown to destroy logs, break planks, distract enemies, or design
02:02various traps from a safe distance.
02:04The colony has also been overwhelmed by something called the Corruption, an alien hive mind that's hunting the remaining survivors.
02:10Sneak, operate machinery, run for your life, just don't expect to be able to fight your way out.
02:15Developer Andrej Anjelovic openly cites Portal and Half-Life as inspirations, which is certainly setting the bar high.
02:22You can interact with various levers and valves to control cranes and other intricate physics-based mechanisms, which are usually
02:28a big part of the environmental puzzles.
02:30However, not everything is about puzzles. Platforming and sneaking are also a big part of the gameplay.
02:36Uncanyon
02:36The developers behind Maquette are returning with another game apparently designed to make us distrust basic spatial reality.
02:43You may not know this place, or how you arrived here.
02:49Uncanyon is a puzzle-first adventure built around multiple overlapping realities.
02:53Players control Sonya, who can blend different versions of the environment together.
02:57A doorway blocked in one reality might open in another, while combining those worlds can introduce entirely new dangers and
03:04options.
03:04You alone are destined to save this land from the unravelling.
03:11Even stranger, players can freeze the blending process midway, effectively creating hybrid spaces from several different realities at once.
03:19That mechanic alone has immense potential for brain-breaking puzzles.
03:22Now, we're apparently expected to manually mix them, and we couldn't be more hyped.
03:27What is this place?
03:29Where are my manners?
03:33Welcome to…
03:34Piku Niku 2
03:35What do giant fruit, malevolent robot frogs, and an all-powerful potato have in common?
03:41Nothing!
03:42Other than a shadowy conspiracy, of course!
03:45At long last, Piku is finally back, and somehow things have become even more bizarre.
03:50Piku Niku 2 begins with an escaped sandwich and a shipwreck before sending Piku across an archipelago searching for his
03:56scattered friends.
04:01Along the way, you'll solve increasingly wacky environmental puzzles, explore a fully 3D world, meet giant fruit, encounter evil robot
04:09frogs, uncover sinister economic conspiracies, and protect something described only as an all-powerful potato.
04:15Yes, this is definitely Piku Niku.
04:18The sequel looks set to retain the original game's cheerful absurdity while expanding the possibilities for exploration.
04:24Can't wait to see how deep this square-shaped rabbit hole goes.
04:28Feeling baffled by these affable denizens?
04:31Embrace these strange encounters and bring about an ultimate understanding.
04:35On the hunt for more games that will flip your world upside down?
04:38Scan the QR code on screen to hop on over to WatchMojo's 24-7 livestream for more great content.
04:45Time to join the resistance!
04:47Long Gone
04:48Post-apocalyptic video games usually ask us to shoot zombies.
04:51Long Gone would rather have us rummage through somebody's abandoned kitchen.
05:00Set decades after civilization collapsed, this atmospheric puzzle adventure has players exploring the ruined suburban neighborhood of Corvid Hills alongside
05:08a cat companion.
05:09Homes become exploratory hotspots while everyday possessions reveal what happened to the people who once lived there.
05:21There are also platforming sections, inventory puzzles, hidden areas, and, yes, zombies.
05:27Pair that with a rich 3D pixel aesthetic, and this is setting itself up to be one of the most
05:31beautiful zombie-infested wastelands in recent memory.
05:41Stage Fright
05:42Hello!
05:43You might know us from our other game, Overcooked.
05:47But this is our new game, Stage Fright.
05:49The creators of Overcooked are switching up genres, though it looks like friendships are still in danger of being demolished.
06:03Ghost Town Games' Stage Fright is a two-player cooperative adventure built around escape room-style puzzles, exploration, and communication.
06:10Rather than constantly screaming because somebody forgot the onions, players guide Drew, Blake, and Charlie through a mysterious town, forced
06:17to switch between different formations and pairings to conquer puzzles and obstacles.
06:21The developers have stated they wanted to retain the accessibility of their older games while moving away from constant time
06:27pressure,
06:28meaning the challenge is supposed to come from collaboration and problem solving rather than frantic button mashing.
06:36Whether that's on a train, in a maze, rowing a boat, surrounded by creatures in an escape room, keeping each
06:45other safe, or getting each other killed.
06:48Finally, an Overcooked-style co-op game where your partner has time to calmly explain why everything is your fault.
06:55Together?
06:57Together.
06:58Trine 6 – Together in Time
07:01Once upon a time, in a distant corner of the kingdom, two youngsters stumbled into trouble, and unknowingly bound their
07:10fate to the realm's greatest heroes.
07:13Few series of blended cooperative puzzles and fantasy platforming as consistently as Trine.
07:18Together in Time looks to expand the formula with five playable heroes.
07:21Returning favorites Amadeus, Zoya, and Pontius, joined by newcomers Moira and Adrias.
07:27Hold on, everyone! Watch out!
07:31Don't underestimate us!
07:32The game supports one to four players and introduces puzzles specifically designed around cooperation while still allowing the entire adventure
07:40to be completed solo.
07:41There's also a new time-slow ability available to every character, letting players manipulate hectic platforming and combat situations.
07:48If you've been itching to dive into this franchise but were hesitant about where to begin, this might be the
07:53one for you.
07:54Six times the charm.
07:55I shall see you soon.
07:57Heroes!
07:59Pony Island 2 – Panda Circus
08:10Daniel Mullins does not make normal video games.
08:12And we mean that in the best way possible.
08:15Despite the title, Panda Circus is apparently not about ponies nor pandas.
08:18Players take the role of a young nomad who is destined to conquer the world before dying prematurely and becoming
08:23trapped inside something called the Earth Prison.
08:31Escaping involves mythology, underworld deities, hacking, puzzles, multiple visual styles, and what will presumably be several moments where the game
08:39appears to break itself purely to mess with us.
08:41Given Mullins' history with Pony Island, the hex and inscription, expect nothing to be straightforward.
08:49Just wait a second, eh?
08:53Professor Layton and the New World of Steam
09:00The Professor is here and it feels so good.
09:03Professor Layton and the New World of Steam reunites Layton and Luke for their first completely new adventure together in
09:09years.
09:09The pair are set to travel to a brand new setting where another mystery inevitably requires solving an absurd quantity
09:15of riddles and logic problems created by townspeople who apparently refuse to answer simple questions with any degree of normalcy.
09:25As always, the game is dripping with charm, with this new entry made all the more enticing thanks to a
09:30heavy helping of steampunk thrown into the mix.
09:33There's a reason Layton has become a modern jewel in Nintendo's crown, so any eager puzzlers out there who haven't
09:38indulged yet may want to start saving for a Switch too.
09:49The Talos Principle 3
09:51Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
09:57Thought-provoking, meditative, stunning, and perplexing, few games have the kind of artistic flair and mature approach to puzzles quite
10:05like the Talos Principle games.
10:07Croteam describes this threequel as the final chapter of the story it's been building for more than a decade.
10:11Players awaken inside the anomaly, a mysterious locale where conventional physics have apparently stopped behaving properly.
10:17Earth. Life. Death.
10:23Across more than a dozen worlds, players are tasked with tackling demanding puzzles alongside entirely new systems,
10:30while piecing together fragmented memories and exploring questions surrounding life, death, consciousness, and humanity's distant future.
10:37In other words, expect complicated laser puzzles immediately followed by an existential crisis.
10:43But we are not stories.
10:47This video is brought to you by Order of the Sinking Star.
10:50Available October 8th on Steam, Nintendo Switch 2, and PlayStation 5.
10:55Wishlist now.
10:56Do you agree with our picks?
10:57What upcoming game has already got your brain working overtime?
11:01Let us know in the comments.
11:02We can say we should close the Chloe錯ie and the Kings.
11:02Oh my business, one hundred, the Kings, and the Kings Ça and the Kings.
11:03We are noterecht is for a place with orifice.
11:03You like that?
11:04Yes, it has helped us create a maneuver.