Top Board Games That Reward Creative Puzzle Solving

While modern board gaming has been recently dominated by the rise of the escape room, creative problem-solving has always sat at the heart of our hobby.  

Whether it’s figuring out how to slay a dragon in D&D, optimized your turns in Mage Knight, or producing oil in Pipeline; finding ingenious solutions to tricky problems is our bread and butter. 

So, here are eight of our favorite games that reward engaging our brains to crack a thorny problem.  

Starting with-

While the Arkham LCG may rule the roost when it comes to troubleshooting (“So we run away, throw the Dynamite, burn Chris’ hand to use the backstab and then the rat is dead”), Eldritch is something special indeed. Set on a global scale, the game tracks investigators as they trot around the globe and stop the rise of unspeakable evil. Sorry, try to stop the rise of unspeakable evil. And it always ends the same way. Sanity is managed, health eroded, and you have one final Hail Mary to save the world – which involves some figuring out a bonkers solution to the problem. Cue references to errata, combining player powers, and making someone’s death a key part of your plan. And maybe, just maybe…you’ll survive another time. Lethal problem-solving at its finest.

Beloved by the legends at SUSD, DGG is a party game with a twist. Players are given a list of challenges at the start of the evening that range from the bizarre to the innocuous. This can range from getting players to comment on your unbuttoned shirt, eat an onion, or any number of homebrew options. And then…you have free reign to carry out your dastardly plans. This means mind games, elaborate tricks, and squeals of delight after you to trick your sister into wearing your shoes. Definitely a post-Covid classic that excludes no-one. 

There are two wonderful things about board games. First, is the hobby’s spirit of true inclusivity where no one is left out. Second is the appetite for experimentation that comes with almost every other release. Described as an ‘immersive story’, Crusoe Crew combines role-playing, graphic novels, and creativity as your group works together to get out of their jams. Finding themselves trapped on an island full of adventure, your group has to solve riddles, spot hidden clues and work together to find the right path. Designed for kids – this encourages younger players to think outside the box and offer something to part of the team.   

Creative thinking is at the heart of many board games. But as soon as you bring dexterity into the mix…all bets are off. A spiritual successor to Junk Art, MaW puts you in charge of a construction site and competing to complete assignments and kill as few people as possible. Each turn sees players draw cards with specific goals (place girders, balance workers) using pieces from a gorgeous selection of wooden components. However, the devil is in the details and while balancing your build may be simple…things get complicated fast. This requires skillful planning and clever problem-solving when it comes to creating a setup that works for you and absolutely shafts your opponent.  

Part of the infamous Ugly Bugs line, Cheating Moth is a game that rewards ingenuity like no other. Devilishly simple, the game asks players to ditch the cards in their hands before anyone else. And to do that…you’re going to have to cheat. While one player watches (the guard), other players legally discard cards from their hand or use every trick in the book to ditch ‘moth’ cards. Hide them up your sleeve, chuck them out the window, give them to the dog. Anything goes. Just be ready to pay a hefty forfeit if you’re caught…    

Never before have we seen a ghost do so much heavy lifting. An exceptional deduction game from Libellud, Mysterium asks players to take on the roles of psychic investigator and the silent spirit of a recently murdered scientist. Built around similar mechanics to Dixit, the ghost player knows their killer’s identity uses dreams (beautifully illustrated cards) to direct individual players to the solution. Simple right…except when people don’t get it. Clues can be easily misinterpreted, not understood, or just forgotten as you struggling to drag errant players back to the right track. This means thinking hard about what cards fit into inaccurate (but still solvable) interpretations, nudging players in the right direction, or responding to ideas they’d mulled over. We’ve yet to see a game end without the ghost player berating players for not “getting it”. And it’s truly glorious.      

If modern problems require innovative solutions, wait till you see what players come up with here. A brilliant dexterity game, players are asked to create an army of ‘cubes’ to knock their opponent’s King Cube off the table before they manage the same feat. Play moves back and forward with each ‘flick letting you nudge opponents off the table or (more often than not) overshoot the table and skitter under your wardrobe. However, before long, clever players can figure out a winning strategy. There is no restriction on the initial setup of your cubes. Stack them in a pyramid, create a wall, line them up for a full-frontal assault – the choice is yours. Before long, the game shifts into an attempt to outwit your enemy…and not become a victim of your own ‘genius’

Of course, we saved the best for last. A simple family game from Blue Orange, Eureka gives players test tubes, colorful balls, and a challenge card. Flipping this over reveals the balls in a set order that has to be replicated without touching the plastic spheres. And go! Cue shouting and yelling as balls are carefully poured, picked up without using hands, flipped upside down, or any number of tricks to achieve their goals. Once the screaming and shouting stops, you can reveal the truth…that was the practice round. Expert Mode (the real game for adults) requires players to hold all three test tubes at the same time and juggle careful pours, move counting, and howls of despair. Throw in a couple of house rules and you have a great game for creative kids and a world-class drinking game for adults at your next wine-and-cheese night.    

What board games tickle that puzzle-solving nerve for you? Tell us in the comments!