Generally speaking, the difficulty of video games has been on a downward curvesince the days of arcade machines. Coin-operated arcade games were designed to ensure that most players would only last one or two minutes before getting a game over. This level of difficultycontinued into the days of the Atari 2600and early PC titles. Not only because it’s what gamers were used to, but because many people only owned a couple of games and wanted them to last long.
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Today, constant Steam deals andMicrosoft’s Game Pass servicemean that most people own far more games than before and are therefore willing to chop and change games if they get stuck. Furthermore, the dawn of internet forums has bought with it online guides. These guides provide a problem for puzzle game developers, as they can spend months creating a fantastically designed puzzle game with intellectual puzzles, only for someone to beat it in an hour with a walkthrough open on another screen.
Unfortunately, this has causedthe puzzle genreto somewhat die out, and new puzzle games are hard to come by. Thankfully, many of the games released in the 80s and 90s, when the genre was booming, have been re-released on places like Steam and GOG. For those looking to test themselves, there aren’t many tougher challenges in gaming than beating these games without a guide.
Updated on June 28, 2025, by Jack Pursey:Although the puzzle genre of gaming has had a drop in prominence over the last couple of decades, there is no shortage of classic puzzle adventures to play.
Classics will always remain among the best and toughest. For those who like a challenge, many of these classic games havehigh levels of difficulty, offering a tricky challenge for those who want to beat them without a guide.
15Grim Fandango
Available Platforms:Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
Grim Fandangois considered to be the game that marks the end of the golden age of graphic adventures. The game offers fantastic visuals for 1998, an excellent concept, and high-quality voice acting that was ahead of its time. The game also has a very well-constructed story, though progressing from scene to scene is easier said than done. That’s because of the game’s numerous tricky puzzles, that occasionally delve into the genre’s infamous moon logic.
Grim Fandangowas remastered in 2015 and is currently available on Game Pass.
14King’s Quest 1
Available Platforms:IBM PCjr, Tandy 1000, Apple IIe, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Amiga, Macintosh, MS-DOS, Master System
The first entry into the classicKing’s Questseries was released all the way back in 1984. Consequently, the technical performances and visuals are a far cry from other entries on this list, though they still have a nice nostalgic charm to them and the game’s puzzles largely retain their quality.
Unfortunately, the puzzles also retain their testing difficulty. The game’s toughest moment comes from the infamous “gnome puzzle” that requires players to figure out a character’s name, then work out that they have to write it backward after finding a note that says “sometimes it’s better to think backward” in another location. That’s not all though, as the correct solution isn’t to simply write the name backward as one might expect, it’s to write out the alphabet in reverse and then work out the corresponding letters, i.e. A=Z, B=X, etc.
13Toki Tori
Available Platforms:Game Boy Color, Android, Linux, iOS, OS X, Microsoft Windows, Windows Mobile, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch
When looking at images ofToki Torior seeing its wholesome front cover on a shelf, many people will expect that it’s a simplepuzzle game aimed solely at young children. The game starts off this way, with simple to understand puzzles and straightforward solutions, though it quickly has a sharp rise in difficulty. Before they know it, players will have gone from questioning whether they’ve wasted money on a puzzle game that’s too easy to straining on what the correct route for their chirpy protagonist is, often with written diagrams littering their sofa.
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To make matters worse, the cartoonyToki Torilevels are often short, making them appear easy to solve - further frustrating players as they surpass an hour of being stuck on one level.
12Braid
Available Platforms:Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3
LikeToki Tori,Braidmay initially seem like a simplisticpuzzle-platformerthat can be breezed through, though the challenge quickly ramps up. Interestingly, almost all ofBraid’slevel can be beaten in around 10-20 seconds, by simply running from one end of the screen to the other, with minimal obstacles or enemies in the way. This will provide players with a very underwhelming ending though, encouraging players to collect puzzle pieces.
Collecting these puzzle pieces require players to master the game’s time manipulation mechanics, which throw up some mind-bending difficult challenges.
11The Secret of Monkey Island
Available Platforms:Amiga, Atari ST, FM Towns, Classic Mac OS, MS-DOS, Sega CD, iOS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
The Secret of Monkey Islandis the second, but not the last game from LucasArts to appear on this list. Released in October 1990,The Secret of Monkey Islandintroduced the world to the struggling pirate Guybrush Threepwood and raised the bar forcomedy writing in video games.
The Secret of Monkey Islandmakes this list because, like many of the other entries, it has a fair few moon logic puzzles. Still, the game is a certified classic that is still thoroughly enjoyable to play today.
10King’s Quest III: To Heir Is Human
Available Platforms:MS-DOS, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Amiga, Atari ST, Mac, Tandy Color Computer 3
TheKing’s Questseries is one of the most recognizable names in the puzzle genre. The series was developed by Sierra Entertainment, known as Sierra On-line, at the time ofKing’s Quest 3’s release. Sierra’sKing’s Questseries, along with its other puzzle series' likeLeisure Suit Larry, were notorious for their difficulty.
The games were so difficult, in fact, that Sierra sold hint books alongside their games. These hint books were sold separately, implying that Sierra intentionally made their games too difficult to encourage players to buy one. Any of the classicKing’s QuestorLeisure Suit Larrygames could have made it to this list, butKing’s Quest IIInarrowly edges them as the toughest of the lot.
9The Witness
Available Platforms:Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nvidia Shield, macOS, iOS
The Witnessis one of the only games on this list that wasn’t released when mullets were still cool. The 2016 game was heavily inspired by the genre-definingMyst, with its large, beautiful island that players are free to roam around and explore.
The island doesn’t just have pretty trees and ponds though, it’s filled to the brim with complex line puzzles that are far more convoluted than they may initially seem. Moreover, Jonathan Blow’s game is filled to the brim with numerous hidden secrets around every corner, that help makeThe Witnessone of the most well-designed puzzle experiences of all time.
8Myst
Available Platforms:Mac OS, Saturn, PlayStation, 3DO, Microsoft Windows, Atari Jaguar CD, CD-i, AmigaOS, Pocket PC, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, iOS, Nintendo 3DS, Android, Oculus Quest, Oculus Quest 2, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
The aforementionedMystappearing on this list will come as no surprise to anyone that has even a casual interest in the puzzle genre. The game had very little hype behind it before release but smashed sales records left, right, and center. Cyan’s 1993 title was the highest-selling PC game ever untilThe Simsandis impressively still the third-highest today.
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Mystis the first game in theMystseries that featured many other tricky puzzles games likeRiven,Myst III: Exile, andUru: Ages Beyond Myst.
7Riven
Available Platforms:Mac OS, Windows, PlayStation, Saturn, Pocket PC, iOS, Android
Speaking ofRiven,this list wouldn’t be complete without it. When unknown developer Cyan, Inc. burst into the forefront of the gaming industry withMyst, a sequel was at the top of most gamer’s wish lists. Thankfully, the nearly four-year wait forRivenwas worth it. Cyan didn’t try to re-invent the wheel, and stuck to the same point and click, free-roam puzzle-solving as inMyst.Along with,of course, thedevilishly difficultpuzzles.
Although the game is every bit as good asMystto play retrospectively today, it didn’t score quite as well critically at the time of release. It’s understandable why, as the gaming industry went through a significant change betweenMystandRiven.Both the Nintendo 64 and PS1 were released, and games likeSuper Mario 64andOcarina of Timemade the point and click adventure feel outdated.
6Discworld
Available Platforms:MS-DOS, Mac OS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Discworldis based on a book series of the same name and was developed by Perfect 10 Productions & Teeny Weeny Games. It was released, like most games on this list, on Windows and Mac. Uniquely though, it was also released on the PS1, where players could use the oft-forgotten PlayStation Mouse.
Game reviewers are usually wary of criticizing a game for being too difficult, as many fans often either dismiss it as a moot point or say that the reviewer is simply bad at the game. This didn’t stop reviewers in 1995 though, as many deducted points from the game for its excessive difficulty. One such review was fromAdventure Gamers, who placed the difficulty in their ‘The Bad’ section and said that the game “stops short of being a classic simply due to its sheer difficulty”.
