5 Best Xbox Puzzle Games You Should Be Playing - Ultimate Guide

When you think about popular video game genres, action games will surely pop up in your mind. However, puzzle games are not trailing far behind. The main point is that puzzle video games are not exactly a genre. It can be an action, adventure, and role-playing game as well. And puzzle games may be more popular than you think. In the United States and the United Kingdom, they contribute 27% and 24%, respectively, of gaming revenue.

Here are the main reasons why puzzle games are so popular among players:

• Passing time
• Relieving stress
• Immersing into another world or character
• Exhilaration from completing challenging tasks
• Learning something useful outside of gaming

Despite all the hysteria about the dangers of video games, which have been popping up here and there over the past two decades, video games really help develop critical thinking. Just like writing an essay does. However, the latter is often considered to be too dull by students tasked with it.

If you don’t feel like developing critical thinking today by doing your writing assignments, you can order custom essay from one of the online services. While professionals are writing your perfect essay, you can use your Xbox to improve critical thinking while playing puzzle games. And here are some game suggestions for you.

The title pretty much reveals what the game is about. Limbo follows the nameless boy stuck in limbo, a place on the border between hell and heaven. There, while looking for his sister, he encountered various dangers, including a giant spider and demented humanoids who tried to kill him. Aside from that, he must go through several elaborate traps. Finally, if the player succeeds in the mission, the boy leaves limbo.

The Turing Test

The narrative unfolds on Europe, one of Jupiter’s moons. The game follows Ava Turning, an engineer sent to Europa by the International Space Agency to conduct certain studies. After waking up from the cryogenic sleep, she finds half of her crew dead and the other half missing. She needs to find out what happened to the crew, prevent deadly viruses from getting to Earth, and figure out whether she should trust T.O.M., the AI that aids her.

Thimbleweed Park is also similar in design to the games of the late 1980s and early 1990s. So, players who enjoy the retro style will surely enjoy it. In addition, the game has an interesting release history. It was announced in 2014, together with the crowdfunding campaign. The goal was $375,000, but the campaign collected over $600,000. Released in 2017, Thimbleweed Park received several nominations, including the Golden Joystick Awards nomination for Best Indie Game.

Considering the shows that Thimbleweed Park is parodying, it comes as no surprise that the game follows two FBI agents who arrive in the small town of Thimbleweed Park to investigate a murder. Unfortunately, they soon find themselves trapped in the video game, and the only way to free themselves is to delete it. So naturally, players will have to use critical thinking to succeed in the game.

Tacoma is set in 2088. Amy Ferrier, the main character, is sent to the eponymous abandoned space station. There, Amy needs to collect AI data from different sections of the station and, using augmented reality, figure out what has led to Tacoma’s demise. Mind that Tacoma was nominated for Best Storytelling at the 2017 Golden Joystick Awards for a reason. The successful completion of the mission will lead to a mind-blowing plot twist.
Valiant Hearts: The Great War

The plot of Valiant Hearts: The Great War follows a group of people, accompanied by the dog named Walt, as they struggle to survive during World War I. Unlike most war games, Valiant Hearts: The Great War is not a shooter. Instead, the game is more concerned with the conditions people find themselves in during the war. Players need to solve puzzles and collect various items, revealing various facts about the war, throughout the gameplay, which consists of four chapters.

Final Thoughts