Best games
Best Puzzle games of 2021
The 15 best Puzzle games released in 2021, ranked from 4,546 critic and player ratings.
The best Puzzle game of 2021 is Escape Simulator, with a critic score of 100/100 — updated September 2026.
How this ranking is built
- Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
- A game only enters the ranking with at least 80 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
- Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
- Release window covered: 2021.
- 15 games are listed on this page, carrying 4,546 ratings between them.
- Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 28 September 2026.
Top 15
01
Escape Simulator
Escape Simulator is a next-gen escape room experience: pick up and examine everything, move furniture, smash pots and melt locks! Play solo or with a friend to solve cryptic puzzles and riddles.
100
/100
02
Unpacking
Unpacking is a zen puzzle game about the familiar experience of pulling possessions out of boxes and fitting them into a new home. Part block-fitting puzzle, part home decoration, you are invited to create a satisfying living space while learning clues about the life you’re unpacking. Over the course of eight house moves, you are given a chance to experience a sense of intimacy with a character you never see and a story you’re never told.
92
/100
03
A
It Takes Two
Embark on the craziest journey of your life in It Takes Two, a genre-bending platform adventure created purely for co-op. Invite a friend to join for free with Friend’s Pass and work together across a huge variety of gleefully disruptive gameplay challenges. Play as the clashing couple Cody and May, two humans turned into dolls by a magic spell. Together, trapped in a fantastical world where the unpredictable hides around every corner, they are reluctantly challenged with saving their fractured relationship.
88
/100
Escape Simulator
Escape Simulator is a next-gen escape room experience: pick up and examine everything, move furniture, smash pots and melt locks! Play solo or with a friend to solve cryptic puzzles and riddles.
100
/100
02
Unpacking
Unpacking is a zen puzzle game about the familiar experience of pulling possessions out of boxes and fitting them into a new home. Part block-fitting puzzle, part home decoration, you are invited to create a satisfying living space while learning clues about the life you’re unpacking. Over the course of eight house moves, you are given a chance to experience a sense of intimacy with a character you never see and a story you’re never told.
92
/100
03
A
It Takes Two
Embark on the craziest journey of your life in It Takes Two, a genre-bending platform adventure created purely for co-op. Invite a friend to join for free with Friend’s Pass and work together across a huge variety of gleefully disruptive gameplay challenges. Play as the clashing couple Cody and May, two humans turned into dolls by a magic spell. Together, trapped in a fantastical world where the unpredictable hides around every corner, they are reluctantly challenged with saving their fractured relationship.
88
/100
04
Road 96
Road 96 is a crazy, beautiful road-trip. The discovery of exciting places, and unusual people on your own personal journey to freedom. An ever-evolving story-driven adventure inspired by Tarantino, The Coen Brothers, and Bong Joon-ho. Moments of action, exploration, contemplative melancholy, human encounters and wacky situations. Set against a backdrop of authoritarian rule and oppression. A stunning visual style, a soundtrack filled with 90s hits, and a thousand routes through the game combine so each player can create their own unique stories on Road 96.
83
/100
05
Inscryption
Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie. Darker still are the secrets inscrybed upon the cards...
82
/100
06
Little Nightmares II
Little Nightmares II is a puzzle-platformer and survival horror game in which players control Mono, a young boy navigating a nightmarish world warped by the transmission of a distant Signal Tower. Gameplay combines environmental puzzle-solving with stealth and light combat, as Mono and his AI companion Six work together to evade grotesque enemies and traverse dangerous environments. The game is a prequel to the original Little Nightmares and features collectible items that unlock additional story content.
82
/100
07
A
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is a remaster of the 2011 game Skyward Sword that features enhanced graphics and frame rate. The game now has a standard resolution of 1080p, an intuitive auto-save function and a streamlined item description among other improvements.
81
/100
08
The Artful Escape
On the eve of his first performance, Francis Vendetti battles with the legacy of a dead folk legend and the cosmic wanderings of his own imagination. In this 2D adventure platformer, Francis, a teenage guitar prodigy, sets out on a psychedelic, multidimensional journey to inspire his stage persona.
80
/100
09
Rain on Your Parade
You are a mischievous Cloud set to rain on everyone's parade! Travel the world and cause mayhem in numerous short-and-sweet levels, each with unique objectives. The ultimate Schadenfreude Simulator!
78
/100
10
Omno
A single-player journey of discovery through an ancient world of wonders. Full of puzzles, secrets and obstacles to overcome, where the power of a lost civilization will carry you through forests, deserts and tundras - even to the clouds. Besides offering an interactive world, Omno challenges you with puzzles, hidden secrets and obstacles to overcome in 3D puzzle platformer style.
76
/100
11
Sable
74
/100
12
Maquette
70
/100
13
Oddworld: Soulstorm
70
/100
14
Twelve Minutes
69
/100
15
Poppy Playtime
66
/100
Road 96
Road 96 is a crazy, beautiful road-trip. The discovery of exciting places, and unusual people on your own personal journey to freedom. An ever-evolving story-driven adventure inspired by Tarantino, The Coen Brothers, and Bong Joon-ho. Moments of action, exploration, contemplative melancholy, human encounters and wacky situations. Set against a backdrop of authoritarian rule and oppression. A stunning visual style, a soundtrack filled with 90s hits, and a thousand routes through the game combine so each player can create their own unique stories on Road 96.
83
/100
05
Inscryption
Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie. Darker still are the secrets inscrybed upon the cards...
82
/100
06
Little Nightmares II
Little Nightmares II is a puzzle-platformer and survival horror game in which players control Mono, a young boy navigating a nightmarish world warped by the transmission of a distant Signal Tower. Gameplay combines environmental puzzle-solving with stealth and light combat, as Mono and his AI companion Six work together to evade grotesque enemies and traverse dangerous environments. The game is a prequel to the original Little Nightmares and features collectible items that unlock additional story content.
82
/100
07
A
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is a remaster of the 2011 game Skyward Sword that features enhanced graphics and frame rate. The game now has a standard resolution of 1080p, an intuitive auto-save function and a streamlined item description among other improvements.
81
/100
08
The Artful Escape
On the eve of his first performance, Francis Vendetti battles with the legacy of a dead folk legend and the cosmic wanderings of his own imagination. In this 2D adventure platformer, Francis, a teenage guitar prodigy, sets out on a psychedelic, multidimensional journey to inspire his stage persona.
80
/100
09
Rain on Your Parade
You are a mischievous Cloud set to rain on everyone's parade! Travel the world and cause mayhem in numerous short-and-sweet levels, each with unique objectives. The ultimate Schadenfreude Simulator!
78
/100
10
Omno
A single-player journey of discovery through an ancient world of wonders. Full of puzzles, secrets and obstacles to overcome, where the power of a lost civilization will carry you through forests, deserts and tundras - even to the clouds. Besides offering an interactive world, Omno challenges you with puzzles, hidden secrets and obstacles to overcome in 3D puzzle platformer style.
76
/100
11
Sable
74
/100
12
Maquette
70
/100
13
Oddworld: Soulstorm
70
/100
14
Twelve Minutes
69
/100
15
Poppy Playtime
66
/100
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Puzzle game of 2021?
Escape Simulator currently tops the ranking with a score of 100/100 across 89 ratings. Ranking updated September 2026.
How is this ranking built?
Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.