Engage your brain with these Steam Deck friendly puzzle recommendations.
We're all increasingly guilty of it — scrolling aimlessly from one video to the next on our smartphones, caught in a doom spiral of consumption. In fact, it's such a pervasive thing, that the Oxford University Press has dubbed 'brain rot' the Word of the Year for 2024.
They define it as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration"
Yasmin RufoBBC News
The term has seen a dramatic increase in usage over the past few years, no doubt aligning with the rise of TikTok and the dominating presence of the short form vertical video format.
So, if such overconsumption of 'trivial or unchallenging' content is the issue, what's the solution? I say videogames, and challenging ones at that.
With this in mind, I've taken a look over the Steam Store and hunted down some of the most tricky, challenging games — all of which are Steam Deck friendly too by the way.
If you're looking for a break away from the algorithm, here's fourteen games that will get you thinking. It's good for you, probably.
Wilmot Works it Out
A fairly chill puzzle building game about completing a set of beautiful images and then hanging them in your house. There's over 60 puzzles to solve here, and all are rather charming.
There's a demo available on Steam should you wanna give it a go before buying. It's Steam Deck Verified too.
Storyteller
This award-winning puzzler tasks you with creating a story that works, tackling each page by placing the panels, characters and settings in a specific order in order to progress. It has a neat comic-panel design along with charming animations that allow for plenty of experimentation so that you can frame the story just right.
Yep, it's Deck Verified.
Stuffo the Puzzle Bot
An ingenious little Deck Verified 2D pixel puzzle platformer packed with logic challenges to overcome. It's tricky, but offers a chill and approachable experience: "challenges your brain, not your reflexes".
Stuffo the Puzzle Bot on Steam
Arranger
Released earlier this year, Arranger is a breezy 'role-puzzling' game that takes place on a novel, interconnected grid. As you move you affect the game world around you. A charming and colourful adventure.
There's a demo available, and it's Verified for Steam Deck.
Sushi for Robots
A quirky little challenge in which you, sure enough, have to deliver sushi to robots. You have to set up the sushi-go-round conveyer to ensure the right sushi dish gets to the correct, demanding robot. There's 60 puzzles to take on here. Here's my Sushi for Robots review if you want to learn more.
Demo available, Deck Verified, and yours for the price of a Starbucks.
Patrick's Parabox
This Steam Deck Playable puzzler is somewhat mind-bending — take just one look at the trailer and you'll quickly see why. It's an award-winning 2022 puzzle game that explores a unique recursive system of boxes within boxes within boxes within boxes. Good luck keeping tabs, as its boxes all the way down in this collection of over 300 puzzles.
The Pedestrian
A neat 2.5D side scrolling puzzle platformer that's marked Playable on Deck. You play as a pedestrian exploring public signs. Rearranging and reconnect the signage to advance your way through the world.
Cosmic Express
A cute sci-fi puzzler about planning the train route through an awkward space colony. It promises to be "harder than it looks" and offer "frustrating fun across hundreds of levels".
The Talos Principle
This celebrated 3D first-person sci-fi puzzler features over 120 immersive, complex challenges set amongst ancient ruins that are intertwined with advanced technology. It's an open non-linear experience, so if you find yourself stuck, you can always go and explore elsewhere. Both it, and the recent sequel are Deck playable.
Baba Is You
A tricky, award-winning game of push and pull. All of the rules at play are visible on screen and can be moved around, meaning you can change how the game plays. A real head scratcher set over 200 increasingly difficult levels. Deck Verified.
Superliminal
A mind bending 3D spacial puzzler that plays with your sense of perception. There's forced perspective and optical illusions a plenty here. One review called it "perhaps the most innovative first-person puzzle game since Portal".
Shenzhen I/O
Always read the manual? This is for you. Shenzhen I/O is a detailed programming/automation puzzler all about building circuits that work. Logic puzzler to the max.
Understand
A curious little Deck Verified 'experimental' puzzler, with over 100 levels. The only catch? Every level has a different ruleset. Trial and error, until you understand, understand?
That's a wrap. If you've play any of these, that should get your brain flexing. You can thank me later.
Shout out to the Thinky Games database for helping with my research for this article — go take a look at the site if you want more titles like this.