Puzzle games that don't waste your evening

A great puzzle game teaches you something new every few levels and then trusts you to run with it. A bad one recycles the same idea a hundred times and calls it content.

The best ones we've reviewed keep introducing a fresh mechanic just as you've mastered the last, that steady drip of new ideas that makes you say 'one more level' at midnight.

Hint systems are a good tell. A confident puzzle game offers help without punishing you for using it, because it knows the fun is in the aha moment, not in feeling stuck for an hour.

Length is overrated. I'd rather have three tight hours of brilliant puzzles than thirty hours of filler. Some of my favorites are short and unashamed of it.

When you're browsing the store, watch for titles that lean on limited-move stars or hard-timed levels as their only 'challenge'. Real difficulty comes from ideas, not stopwatches.