Abandonware puzzle games

Puzzle games are about solving logical or strategic puzzles, jigsaws, mathematical brain teasers, and quizzes. The player can control one or more characters (as in Lemmings) or interact with static or moving objects (as in Tetris).

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Bumpy's Arcade Fantasy

DOS1992 platform

Imagine Marble Madness had a caffeine overdose and fell into a platformer. That’s Bumpy’s Arcade Fantasy. You control a perpetually bouncing ball named Bumpy (creative, I know), who must navigate tricky levels full of ...

Bust-A-Move

DOS1997freeware tile-matching, action puzzle

Also known as Puzzle Bobble, this bubble-popping classic stars those cute dragons from Bubble Bobble, now in competitive puzzle mode. Match three colors, clear the screen, panic as the ceiling drops—repeat until addicted. Bu...

Bust-A-Move Again

DOSWindows XP/98/95Windows 10/111996 tile-matching, action puzzle

If you've ever wanted to pop bubbles while being taunted by adorable dinosaurs, Bust-A-Move Again (1996, DOS) is your jam. It’s like Tetris met a bubble tea menu and had a hyperactive child with color coordination issues. Th...

Cascade

DOS1990 word puzzle

Remember those endless, hypnotic tile-matching games before Candy Crush hijacked your aunt’s phone? Cascade was already there, dropping blocks and breaking combos like it invented the genre. The visuals are neon, the gamepla...

Centerfold Squares

DOS1988NSFW tile-matching

Let’s be honest—Centerfold Squares (1988) is what happened when someone asked, “What if Qix but hornier?” You draw squares to reveal pixelated images of... let’s say, confident women. It’s surpr...

Chagunitzu

DOS1990 action puzzle, sokoban

Before Indiana Jones had a whip, Chagunitzu had block puzzles. Released in 1990 by Softdisk (and developed by a young John Romero), this game is a precursor to God of Thunder and part of the Kroz lineage. You navigate tombs, avoid...

Chain Reaction

DOS1996 falling blocks

Imagine a game where minesweeper meets viral chaos—Chain Reaction (1996) isn’t quite that, but it is a fast-paced puzzle-action hybrid where things blow up in neat little patterns. The chain reactions are satisfying, t...

Chip's Challenge

DOSWindows 3.x1991 sokoban

Don’t let the pixelated graphics and cheerful music fool you—Chip’s Challenge is a gauntlet of logical torment. You play as Chip, a nerdy teen who agrees to navigate deadly mazes filled with monsters, traps, and ...

Classic Concentration

DOS1988 board game

Classic Concentration brings the Alex Trebek game show to DOS, complete with low-res puzzles and that addictive memory card-flipping mechanic. Match two elephants, and boom—you get a piece of a rebus puzzle that looks like i...

Classic Hangman

DOS1983 word puzzle

ASCII art has never been so morbid. Classic Hangman is exactly what it says on the tin: guess the word or watch your little stick figure meet a tragic end. Letters become lifelines, and vowels are your best friends. It’s edu...

Cloud Kingdoms

DOS1990 action puzzle

Imagine being a bouncing ball in a series of floating sky islands full of monsters, traps, and puzzles. Welcome to Cloud Kingdoms, where the laws of physics politely take a backseat. The graphics are whimsical, the gameplay is wei...

Codebreaker

DOS1994freeware trivia / quiz, board game

Put on your mental trench coat, because Codebreaker is here to make you feel smart—or incredibly foolish. It’s a brain-teasing logic game where you deduce secret number codes through trial, error, and a lot of second-g...

Color Balls

DOS1996 falling blocks

Ever wondered what it would feel like to be trapped in a neon nightmare where physics and color coordination decide your fate? Color Balls (1996, DOS) is like a Rubik’s Cube on caffeine—fast, tricky, and slightly frust...

Color Buster

DOS1992 sokoban

Color Buster (1992, DOS) is Sokoban’s rebellious cousin. You push colored blocks across labyrinthine floors like an underpaid warehouse worker in a pastel fever dream. Simple premise? Sure. But give it five levels and your b...

Color Lines

DOS1992 tile-matching

In Color Lines (1992, DOS), colors aren’t just pretty—they're plotting your demise. You match five or more balls in a row before your screen becomes a chaotic rainbow prison. Every move feels like a negotiation with a ...

Columbus Discovery

DOS1992 tile-matching, reveal the picture

Columbus Discovery (1992, DOS) is a history-flavored point-and-click adventure where you, as a pixelated Christopher Columbus, set sail to "discover" lands that are already very much discovered. Expect slow pacing, earnest educati...

Contraption Zack

DOS1992 action puzzle

In Contraption Zack, you play as a kid with more mechanical gadgets than common sense. Your job? Fix a series of increasingly absurd machines in a puzzle platformer that’s equal parts brainteaser and slapstick comedy. Every ...

Daffy Duck PI: The Case of the Missing Letters

DOS1991 action puzzle, word puzzle

Daffy Duck PI: The Case of the Missing Letters is a Looney Tunes spin on the classic edutainment formula. As Daffy, you’re on the trail of a nefarious plot to steal the alphabet—yes, literally. You’ll hop between...

Diggers

DOS1994 action puzzle

By 1994, digging had evolved from arcade twitch action to full-on economic warfare. Diggers on DOS turned mining into a cutthroat competition between quirky alien races, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and distinctly od...

Diggers 2: Extractors

DOS1995 action puzzle

In Diggers 2: Extractors, released in 1995, the digging franchise doubled down on strategy while adding a dash of science fiction flair. This time, your miners aren’t just bumbling aliens with shovels—they’re equ...

Dinosaur Balls

DOS1992 action puzzle, tile-matching

The title Dinosaur Balls might raise eyebrows today, but in 1992 it was just a quirky DOS puzzle game. Think of it as prehistoric Bubble Bobble: you fire colored spheres to match and clear rows, while a dinosaur mascot cheers you ...