Welcome once again to our weekly newsletter with puzzle game news, new and upcoming releases, giveaways, deals and bundles, spotlight on a lesser-known or forgotten game and other stuff, posted on Mondays (evening US time, night EU time, Tuesday morning AUS time).

Greetings to those who joined since last week! If you found us through a link to the newsletter, read the group overview to see what else we can offer, visit the forum for puzzle discussion, follow our curator for reviews and recommendations, check out our Basic Functionality and Accessibility Guide on how to improve your games, and tell your friends if you like what you see. Thanks!

In case you missed it, we're building a top 20 for the year 2023. Just a few more days to nominate your favorite puzzle games released in 2023 in the group forum.

Let's welcome Brentnor as a new member of the curator team. He's been helping a lot behind the scenes in the past reminding us about price changes, and I'm happy that he agreed to help with posting reviews too. If anybody else would like to join the team, send me a message.

Ideally, every group member would follow our curator and vice versa, but until then here's the changelog. And don't forget our many lists based on themes and subgenres.

New curatees with full reviews:

• The Detective Reaper Invites (detective, cards)
  
• Kubikon 3D (sliding)
  
• Little Learning Machines (AI programming)
  
• Pygmalion (sliding, color-based)
  
• WizdomGems (sliding)

New curatees with mini-reviews: None, so please let us know in the Curator Info thread if you'd like to write mini-reviews (max. 200 characters, positive or negative) for puzzlers that aren't curated by us yet. Examples and inspiration can be found on the Group Member Recommendations list.

The giveaways are on SteamGifts, but no need to create an account, just visit the site and log in through Steam. Good luck!

Wordle 3[www.steamgifts.com] is available for everybody, courtesy of myself, Ugly[www.steamgifts.com] only for group members, courtesy of myself.

Got your own puzzler, adventure, demo or some new content coming out on mobile or PC? Let us know in the forum or by adding sdumitriu on Steam.

The Cerebral Puzzles Showcase is on a for a few more days, with plenty of discounts and demos. I didn't get to try all of them yet, but I really enjoyed Isles of Sea and Sky, Please Be Kind To The Chickens, Reflect and Way of Rhea from the new releases, and Ligo, LOK, Star Stuff, and Push The Cat with WASD demos.

Not that much puzzling, but the Open World Survival Craft Fest is on this week.

Price change:

Talisman: Digital Edition the base game is now free, but for the full experience you still need to buy a lot of DLCs. At least you can try it out for free to see if it's something you'd enjoy (thanks Brentnor). As mentioned below, you can get all the DLCs as a Humble Bundle.

New demos:

• The Art of Reflection (first person, Portal-like)
  
• Broken Life (point & click)
  
• Maxwell's puzzling demon (sokoban)
  
• Memory Adventures in the Jungle (memory)
  
• The Waking Know (board, strategy)

After last week's bonanza of puzzle games released for the Cerebral Puzzles Showcase, a slim offering this week.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2476100/Creepy_Tale_Some_Other_Place/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2495080/Hexxaris/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2686640/The_Mouse_The_Merrier/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2959150/Necromancia/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2989390/Puzzle_Garden/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2094070/Quest_Master/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1703020/SpaceKraft/

Why puzzle (or read the newsletter) in silence when there's some great music to be heard? Suggestions from puzzle and adventure games welcome below.

Sorry folks, a bit of a hectic week, and I'm out of quick ideas for now. Feel free to post some suggestions in the comments!

Puzzler screenshots are mostly for providing hints or solutions, but they can still be beautiful, funny, or some other adjectives, so post yours in the Screenshots thread on the forum, include a caption if you want, and we might put it in one of the next issues. No spoilers, please!

Rimebeard is a very underrated puzzle game. Create and destroy ice blocks to extinguish all flames, very tricky puzzles for those looking for a mental challenge.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2706902917


Indiegala:

• the Go Go Bundle[www.indiegala.com] has The Chess Variants Club and a couple of other games that may, with some indulgence, be considered puzzle-related.
  
• Check the main IG freebies page[freebies.indiegala.com] to see what games are still available. Or again, as they occasionally bring some back.

Humble Bundle:

• Talisman: The Complete Collection[www.humblebundle.com] has all the DLCs for the free base game.
  
• There's quite a bit of puzzling in metroidvania games, so if that's something you like, the Metroidvania Mania[www.humblebundle.com] has 8 fairly good games.

You can always check our curator for curated titles on sale. Specials on the front page is incomplete, click the Discounts tab for more.

The Last Campfire is a charming adventure, with thousands of overwhelmingly positive reviews, now at a new 90% off.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/990630/The_Last_Campfire/

Not to be confused with our Deal of the Week, which is just an especially good deal from the weeklies. Every week we'll pick a puzzler we really like and try to push it down everybody's throats. But with love because it's so good. Or highlight a lesser-known title that's unlikely to get curated. Comment below if you'd like to write about an undeservedly forgotten game for next time!

A Monster's Expedition is a very hard game hidden inside a cozy, charming and easy game. Really, you can "finish" the game solving easy puzzles, read funny messages, relax while drinking a coffee or sitting by the water, and have no idea of the nightmare difficulty that is the real game. A review for it is coming as soon as I make a bit more progress on it, but meanwhile you should give it a try, the easy part of the game is suitable for almost every skill level.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1052990/A_Monsters_Expedition/

Show the world how good (or bad) you are at puzzle games by submitting your Workshop levels, guides, walkthroughs, mods, artwork inspired by a puzzler, or whatever, even if it's not a game curated by us, in this forum thread or below in the comments, to be featured here next time.

A Tower Full of Cats[http//A+Tower+Full+of+Cats] is better than the usual "find hidden objects in the image" games popping up every week on Steam, it's got story, quests, and I can't believe how low the bar is for this type of game, more than one image! Sorry to the cat haters, this week I'm highlighting Gypsyrose's guide for A Tower Full of Cats.

Here are a few quick & easy ways you can help us out. A little can go a long way, otherwise we'll never achieve world domination.

• Feedback is important, so let us know what you like or don't like.
  
• Follow our curator and get notified about new additions and reviews.
  
• Tell your puzzle- and/or adventure-loving friends and your favorite developers about us and our Basic Functionality and Accessibility Guide.

Special event on Steam for the next 7 days, with plenty of good older games in the highlight, but also a few new releases and lots of demos for upcoming games. Take a look, play some demos, wishlist, and give feedback!

Welcome once again to our weekly newsletter with puzzle game news, new and upcoming releases, giveaways, deals and bundles, spotlight on a lesser-known or forgotten game and other stuff, posted on Mondays (evening US time, night EU time, Tuesday morning AUS time).

Greetings to those who joined since last week! If you found us through a link to the newsletter, read the group overview to see what else we can offer, visit the forum for puzzle discussion, follow our curator for reviews and recommendations, check out our Basic Functionality and Accessibility Guide on how to improve your games, and tell your friends if you like what you see. Thanks!

In case you missed it, we're building a top 20 for the year 2023. Please nominate your favorite puzzle games released in 2023 in the group forum.

Ideally, every group member would follow our curator and vice versa, but until then here's the changelog. And don't forget our many lists based on themes and subgenres.

New curatees with full reviews:

• Pilapila (block-man)
  
• Zink (sliding)

New curatees with mini-reviews: None, so please let us know in the Curator Info thread if you'd like to write mini-reviews (max. 200 characters, positive or negative) for puzzlers that aren't curated by us yet. Examples and inspiration can be found on the Group Member Recommendations list.

The giveaways are on SteamGifts, but no need to create an account, just visit the site and log in through Steam. Good luck!

Wordle 2[www.steamgifts.com] is available for everybody, courtesy of myself, Functional[www.steamgifts.com] only for group members, courtesy of the developers.

Got your own puzzler, adventure, demo or some new content coming out on mobile or PC? Let us know in the forum or by adding sdumitriu on Steam.

New content:
Triversal has new mechanics, new game modes, new content, cloud saving and new achievements (thanks Dohi64).

Price change:

Mazes and Labyrinths is now free, and Astra Ignota will stop being free soon (thanks Brentnor).

New demos:

• Blunted in The Malen (point&click)
  
• Chess Tools (chess)
  
• Gravity Lab (portal-like)
  
• The Lost Penguin (path finding)
  
• Past Particles (puzzle platformer)
  
• Puzzlemazed (maze adventure)
  
• Raster (puzzle platformer)
  
• Word Relay (word game)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640370/The_Court_Of_Wanderers/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1233070/Isles_of_Sea_and_Sky/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1889740/Paper_Trail/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1781010/Pine_Hearts/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2407090/Please_Be_Kind_To_The_Chickens/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2741360/Valiant_Hearts_Coming_Home/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1110620/Way_of_Rhea/

And the rest:

• AMAZE! (slide to paint)
  
• The Detective Reaper Invites (card battler + detective)
  
• Dooblets (co-op platformer)
  
• Duck Detective: The Secret Salami (detective, deduction)
  
• Echoes Of Despair (horror escape room)
  
• Excelios (platformer)
  
• Hexxaris (hexagonal Tetris)
  
• Kubikon 3D (sliding)
  
• LOGIX: The Missing Part (programming + portal-like)
  
• Ouros (geometry)
  
• Path Weaver (Framed-like)
  
• Ramas' Call: Twisted timing (p&c adventure)
  
• Reflect (light bending)
  
• Soul Link (physics)

Wow, so many interesting releases this week.

Why puzzle (or read the newsletter) in silence when there's some great music to be heard? Suggestions from puzzle and adventure games welcome below.

In sync with the release of the anniversary release of Braid, its soundtrack gets this week's spotlight. Although it's not specifically made for the game, just a selection of pre-existing songs from a few different artists, personally I found it a very good fit for the game, melancholic and relaxing. If you happen to have the original version of the game on Steam, you can purchase it here, listen on YouTube, or stream it.

Puzzler screenshots are mostly for providing hints or solutions, but they can still be beautiful, funny, or some other adjectives, so post yours in the Screenshots thread on the forum, include a caption if you want, and we might put it in one of the next issues. No spoilers, please!

Icewords is an interesting mix of word and board game, spell words as you move on a hexagonal board while fighting enemies. Reviewed on the curator a few years ago, it's a good game if you're a fan of word games.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2705060151


Machinika Museum is free to keep until May 27th, 100% Orange Juice is free until May 22nd.

Indiegala:

• The Hype Tower Bundle[www.indiegala.com] has 3 puzzle-ish games, and the Go Go Bundle[www.indiegala.com] has The Chess Variants Club and a couple of other games that may, with some indulgence, be considered puzzle-related.
  
• Check the main IG freebies page[freebies.indiegala.com] to see what games are still available. Or again, as they occasionally bring some back.

You can always check our curator for curated titles on sale. Specials on the front page is incomplete, click the Discounts tab for more.

GRIS is a puzzle platformer, not too difficult, but very beautiful. The publisher has a big sale on for a few more days, with plenty of other puzzle games, check that out too.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/683320/GRIS/

Not to be confused with our Deal of the Week, which is just an especially good deal from the weeklies. Every week we'll pick a puzzler we really like and try to push it down everybody's throats. But with love because it's so good. Or highlight a lesser-known title that's unlikely to get curated. Comment below if you'd like to write about an undeservedly forgotten game for next time!

Chuchel is one of the wackiest games out there, focused more on making you laugh than on making you think, a true laugh riot. Suitable for all ages, go ahead and give it a try if you didn't already, or introduce it to someone new.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/711660/CHUCHEL/

Show the world how good (or bad) you are at puzzle games by submitting your Workshop levels, guides, walkthroughs, mods, artwork inspired by a puzzler, or whatever, even if it's not a game curated by us, in this forum thread or below in the comments, to be featured here next time.

Nothing new this week, so please post something in the discussion above to share your work more widely.

Here are a few quick & easy ways you can help us out. A little can go a long way, otherwise we'll never achieve world domination.

• Feedback is important, so let us know what you like or don't like.
  
• Follow our curator and get notified about new additions and reviews.
  
• Tell your puzzle- and/or adventure-loving friends and your favorite developers about us and our Basic Functionality and Accessibility Guide.

Hey Puzzle Lovers, let’s put together a top 10 (or 20) list of puzzle games from 2023. Until the end of May, comment in the group forum with up to 3 games you think should be on the list. The only three rules are:

• It must have been released in 2023
  
• It must be a puzzle game
  
• It must be on Steam

You can easily check which of your games were released in 2023 on SteamDB[steamdb.info].

The developer announced plans to start charging for it "soon". Not reviewed yet by the curator, but it looks like a decent logic game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2666410/Astra_Ignota/

(Thanks Brentnor for the heads up!)