Editing Puzzle video game

{{Short description|Video game genre}}
{{for|the video game named Puzzle|Puzzle (American Video Entertainment)}}
[[File:Samegame-macos9.png|thumb|A 1994 Mac version of the 1985 tile-matching puzzle video game ''[[SameGame|Chain Shot!]]'']]
{{Puzzles |Types}}

'''Puzzle video games''' make up a broad genre of [[video game]]s that emphasize [[puzzle]] solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including [[logic]], [[pattern recognition]], [[Sequence|sequence solving]], [[Spatial ability|spatial recognition]], and [[word completion]]. Many puzzle games involve a real-time element and require quick thinking, such as ''[[Tetris]]'' (1985) and ''[[Lemmings (video game)|Lemmings]]'' (1991).

== History ==

Puzzle video games owe their origins to [[brain teaser]]s and puzzles throughout human history. The mathematical strategy game [[Nim]], and other traditional thinking games such as [[Hangman (game)|Hangman]] and [[Bulls and Cows]] (commercialized as ''[[Mastermind (board game)|Mastermind]]''), were popular targets for computer implementation.

In [[Universal Entertainment]]'s ''[[Space Panic]]'', released in arcades in 1980, the player digs holes in platforms to trap creatures. It is a precursor to [[puzzle-platform game]]s such as ''[[Lode Runner]]'' (1983), ''[[Door Door]]'' (1983), and ''[[Doki Doki Penguin Land]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usgamer.net/articles/greatest-years-in-gaming-history-1983|title=Greatest Years in Gaming History: 1983|first=Jeremy|last=Parish|date=28 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Door Door|url=http://uk.gamespot.com/door-door-mkii|website=[[GameSpot]]|access-date=13 September 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728115131/http://uk.gamespot.com/door-door-mkii|archive-date=28 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/sg1000/916318-dokidoki-penguin-land|title=DokiDoki Penguin Land for SG-1000 - GameFAQs|access-date=3 April 2017}}</ref>

''Blockbuster'', by Alan Griesemer and Stephen Bradshaw (Atari 8-bit, 1981), is a computerized version of the [[Rubik's Cube]] puzzle.<ref>{{cite web|title=Blockbuster|url=http://gury.atari8.info/details_games/2228.php|website=Atari 8-bit Forever|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151207072512/http://gury.atari8.info/details_games/2228.php|archive-date=2015-12-07}}</ref> ''Snark Hunt'' (Atari 8-bit, 1982) is a single-player game of logical deduction, a clone of the 1970s ''[[Black Box (game)|Black Box]]'' board game.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Powell|first1=Jordan W.|title=Ten Best from APX|journal=Antic |volume=1 |issue=6 |date=February 1983|url=https://www.atarimagazines.com/v1n6/tenbestfromapx.html}}</ref>

Elements of [[Konami]]'s tile-sliding ''[[Loco-Motion (video game)|Loco-Motion]]'' (1982) were later seen in ''[[Pipe Mania]]'' from [[LucasArts]] (1989).

In ''[[Boulder Dash (video game)|Boulder Dash]]'' (1984), the goal is to collect diamonds while avoiding or exploiting rocks that fall after digging out the dirt beneath them.

''[[SameGame|Chain Shot!]]'' (1985) introduced removing groups of the same color tiles on a grid, causing the remaining tiles to fall into the gap.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Juul|first1=Jesper|title=Swap Adjacent Gems to Make Sets of Three: A History of Matching Tile Games|url=https://www.jesperjuul.net/text/swapadjacent/}}</ref> ''Uncle Henry's Nuclear Waste Dump'' (1986) involves dropping colored shapes into a pit, but the goal is to keep the same color tiles from touching.<ref>{{cite web|title=Accidental Innovation, Part 1|url=https://prog21.dadgum.com/89.html |date=February 19, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Uncle Henry's Nuclear Waste Dump |magazine=Antic |date=December 1986 |volume=5 |issue=8 |page=35 |url=https://archive.org/details/1986-12-anticmagazine/page/n33/mode/2up}}</ref>

''[[Tetris]]'' (1985) revolutionized and popularized the puzzle game genre.<ref name=cnn_prisco>{{cite web |last1=Prisco |first1=Jacopo |title=Tetris: The Soviet 'mind game' that took over the world |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/tetris-video-game-history/index.html |website=CNN |date=October 31, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Kohler |first1=Chris |title=Tetris Turns 25, and It's Still an Addictive Pleasure |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/06/tetris/ |magazine=Wired |date=June 2, 2009}}</ref> The game was created by [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[game designer]] [[Alexey Pajitnov]] for the [[Electronika 60]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tetris {{!}} video game |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tetris |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=Britannica  |language=en}}</ref> Pajitnov was inspired by a traditional puzzle game named [[Pentomino]]s in which players arrange blocks into lines without any gaps.<ref name=cnn_prisco/> The game was released by [[Spectrum Holobyte]] for [[MS-DOS]] in 1987, [[Atari Games]] in arcades in 1988, and sold 30 million copies for [[Game Boy]].<ref name="gamespot_history"/>

In ''[[Lemmings (video game)|Lemmings]]'' (1991),<ref>{{cite book|last1=DeMaria|first1=Rusel|title=High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games|last2=Wilson|first2=Johnny|date=April 27, 2002|publisher= Osborne/McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0072224283|edition=First|language=English}}</ref> a series of creatures walk into deadly situations, and a player assigns jobs to specific lemmings to guide the swarm to a safe destination.<ref name="gamespot_history">{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/features/vgs/universal/puzzle_hs/|title=History of Puzzle Games|author=Miller, Skyler|website=GameSpot|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204081152/http://www.gamespot.com/features/vgs/universal/puzzle_hs/|archive-date=2010-02-04|access-date=25 September 2016}}</ref>

The 1994 MS-DOS game ''[[Shariki]]'', by Eugene Alemzhin, introduced the mechanic of swapping adjacent elements to tile matching games. It was little known at the time, but later had a major influence on the genre.
 
Interest in [[Mahjong video game]]s from [[Japan]] began to grow in 1994.<ref name="explosion">{{cite book|author=Wolf|first=Mark|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/954887105 |title=The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to PlayStation and Beyond|date=January 1, 2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0313338687|location=Westport, Connecticut|language=English|oclc=954887105}}</ref><ref name="game">{{citation|title=Gameplay Net|url=http://gamplay.net/cat/Animal/|access-date=February 1, 2014|year=2014|publisher=GamePlay.Net|archive-date=February 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203044005/http://gamplay.net/cat/Animal/|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

When ''[[Microsoft Minesweeper|Minesweeper]]'' was released with [[Windows 95]], players began using a mouse to play puzzle games.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Essential Guide to Flash Games |author1=Jeff Fulton |author2=Steve Fulton | publisher = Apress }}</ref>

=== Modern puzzle games ===
In 2000, [[PopCap Games]] released ''[[Bejeweled (video game)|Bejeweled]]'', a  direct clone of the 1994 tile-matching game ''[[Shariki]]'' with improved visuals. It sparked interest in the match-three mechanic which became the foundation for other popular games, including ''[[Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords]]'' (2007), ''[[Candy Crush Saga]]'' (2012), and ''[[Puzzle & Dragons]]'' (2012).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hester|first1=Larry|title=Inside Bejeweled: An Interview with Executive Producer Heather Hazen|url=http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/10/inside-bejeweled-interview-with-heather-hazen|website=Complex|date=October 21, 2013}}</ref>

''[[Portal (video game)|Portal]]'' (2007) was followed by other physics-based puzzle games.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-24|title=15 Puzzle Games You Have To Be A Genius To Complete|url=https://gamerant.com/puzzle-games-impossible-complete/|access-date=2021-04-06|website=Game Rant|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Sub-genres ==
=== Physics game ===
[[File:The Splatters 03.jpg|thumb|''[[The Splatters]]'', a physics-based [[Xbox Live Arcade]] game]]
A physics game is a type of logical puzzle video game wherein the player must use the [[Game physics|game's physics]] and environment to complete each puzzle. Physics games use consistent physics to make games more challenging.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4530631.stm|title=Game physics starts to get real|last=Ward|first=Mark|date=2005-05-14|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=2010-03-27}}</ref> The genre is popular in online [[flash game]]s and [[mobile game]]s. Educators have used these games to demonstrate principles of physics.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/living/article/225568|title=Video games getting deeper|last=Thompson|first=Jane|date=2007-06-15|work=The Star|access-date=2010-03-27}}</ref>

Physics-based logic puzzle games include ''[[The Incredible Machine (1993 video game)|The Incredible Machine]]'', ''[[Portal (video game)|Portal]]'', ''[[The Talos Principle]]'', ''[[Braid (video game)|Braid]]'', ''[[Fez (video game)|Fez]]'', ''[[World of Goo]]'', and ''[[Cut the Rope]]'', as well as projectile collision games such as ''[[Angry Birds]]'', ''[[Peggle]]'', ''[[Monster Strike]]'', and ''[[Crush the Castle]]''.

=== Programming game ===
Programming games require writing code, either as text or using a visual system, to solve puzzles. Examples include ''[[Rocky's Boots]]'' (1982), ''[[Robot Odyssey]]'' (1984), ''[[SpaceChem]]'' (2011), and ''[[Infinifactory]]'' (2015).

=== Exploration ===
This sub-genre includes point-and-click games that often overlap with adventure games and [[walking simulator]]s. Unlike logical puzzle games, these games generally require [[inductive reasoning]] to solve. The defining trait is that the player must experiment with mechanisms in each level before they can solve them. Exploration games include ''[[Myst]]'', ''[[Limbo (video game)|Limbo]]'', and ''[[The Dig (video game)|The Dig]]''. [[Escape room]] games such as ''[[The Room (video game)|The Room]]'' involve detailed exploration of a single location.

=== Sokoban ===
{{main|Sokoban}}
Sokoban games, such as its 1982 namesake title, or block-pushing games, involve pushing or pulling blocks on a grid-like space to move them into designated positions without blocking the movement of other blocks. Similar games include ''[[Baba is You]]'' and ''[[Patrick's Parabox]]''.

=== Hidden object game ===
{{main|Hidden object game}}
A hidden object game, sometimes called hidden picture or hidden object puzzle adventure (HOPA), is a genre of puzzle video game in which the player must find items from a list that are hidden within a scene.<ref name="retro">{{Cite journal|journal=Retro Gamer|issue=53|publisher=Imagine Publishing|title=Ally Noble Desert Island Disks|page=79|quote=Hidden object games ... For example, you're a detective looking for clues in a picture ... they might be in monochrome on the wallpaper or peeping out from behind something.}}</ref> Hidden object games are a popular trend in [[casual game|casual gaming]].<ref name="ew">{{cite web|author=Kim|first=Albert|date=September 30, 2008|title=Casual Games: 'Peggle Nights' and 'The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes'|url=https://ew.com/article/2008/10/01/casual-games-peggle-nights-and-more/|work=EW.com|quote=}}</ref><ref name="ign">{{cite web|author=George Roush|date=October 17, 2008|title=Everest: Hidden Expedition iPhone Review|url=http://uk.wireless.ign.com/articles/921/921322p1.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224091043/http://uk.wireless.ign.com/articles/921/921322p1.html|archive-date=February 24, 2009|work=IGN}}</ref>

=== Tile-matching ===
{{main|Tile-matching video game}}
In tile-matching video games, the player manipulates tiles in order to make them disappear according to a matching criterion. The genre began with 1985's ''[[Chain Shot!]]'' and has similarities to falling-block games such as ''Tetris.'' This genre includes games that require pieces to be swapped such as ''[[Bejeweled (video game)|Bejeweled]]'' or ''[[Candy Crush Saga]]'', games that adapt the classic [[tile-based game]] [[Mahjong]] such as ''[[Mahjong Trails]]'', and games in which pieces are shot on the board such as ''[[Zuma (video game)|Zuma]]''. Puzzle games based on ''Tetris'' include tile-matching games where the matching criterion is to place a given number of tiles of the same type so that they adjoin each other. That number is often three, and the corresponding subset of tile-matching games is referred to as match-three games.

== See also ==
* [[List of puzzle video games]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{VideoGameGenre}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puzzle Video Game}}
[[Category:Video game genres]]
[[Category:Puzzle video games| ]]