Support NeoGAF

[The Horror the horror]

I'd like everyone's recommendation for DS/3DS games that force you to really, really think or improvise as you go along. Some puzzle games, but not of the platforming variety. So far, I've played/beaten:

Brain Training
Concentration Training
Professor Layton series
Hotel Dusk/Last Window
Pure Chess
Fire Emblem Awakening
999/Virtue's Last Reward
Picross
Ace Attorney series

I suppose you can draw some recommendations based on that list, hopefully I missed a few gems here and there because I'm eager to try something new...thanks!

 

[Kid Marin]

Slitherlink

 

[maxcriden]

Hmm, you really have some of the best on here. Might the Trauma Center or Rhythm Heaven games be a good bet? RH isn't puzzles exactly, but it does require exacting care and skill.

ETA: Oh, how about Pushmo/Pullblox?

 

[GoodMorningPluto]

Henry Hatsworth. Nice mix of platforming and puzzles.

 

[The Horror the horror]

Hmm, you really have some of the best on here. Might the Trauma Center or Rhythm Heaven games be a good bet? RH isn't puzzles exactly, but it does require exacting care and skill.

ETA: Oh, how about Pushmo/Pullblox?

Doesn't Pushmo involve some platforming activity? I'd rather read or click a button here/there without having to worry about jumping on this ledge or that ledge, etc. etc. Don't get me wrong, I love platform games, but I prefer to keep the two dynamics separate.

 

[Majestad]

Get Art of Balance Touch and Crashmo from the eShop. Awesome puzzle games.

 

[The Horror the horror]

Slitherlink

I had to look this one up. I take it that the game has failed to make its way to NA?

EDIT: Holy shit, just saw the cover art for the game on Amazon. It's an outline of Sherlock Holmes! I love SH!

 

[Kid Marin]

I had to look this one up. I take it that the game has failed to make its way to NA?

EDIT: Holy shit, just saw the cover art for the game on Amazon. It's an outline of Sherlock Holmes! I love SH!

Yes, the DS game is JP only and kinda rare.

Slitherlink by Nikoli (3DS eShop) is available in NA.

 

[The Horror the horror]

Yes, the DS game is JP only and kinda rare.

Slitherlink by Nikoli (3DS eShop) is available in NA.

Damn! It's available on eShop? I just bought a copy of the game from eBay for $27. Should I cancel?

 

[Ludist210]

Pushmo
Crashmo

Honorable mention to the anagrams in Crosswords Plus, but that's a different type of puzzle.

 

[maxcriden]

Doesn't Pushmo involve some platforming activity? I'd rather read or click a button here/there without having to worry about jumping on this ledge or that ledge, etc. etc. Don't get me wrong, I love platform games, but I prefer to keep the two dynamics separate.

Yes, I think it does. How about Ghost Trick then?

ETA: BTW, you might want to read this review of Slitherlink before picking it up:

http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/eshop/slitherlink_by_nikoli

 

[Kid Marin]

Damn! It's available on eShop? I just bought a copy of the game from eBay for $27. Should I cancel?

Sure. Give the eShop one a try, it's way cheaper.

 

[The Horror the horror]

Yes, I think it does. How about Ghost Trick then?

ETA: BTW, you might want to read this review of Slitherlink before picking it up:

http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/eshop/slitherlink_by_nikoli

You know, Ghost Trick totally slipped my mind. That, along with Trace Memory, have flown under my radar for years, but I think it's now time to pursue them.

 

[maxcriden]

You know, Ghost Trick totally slipped my mind. That, along with Trace Memory, have flown under my radar for years, but I think it's now time to pursue them.

Nice! I'll be interested to hear how GT is, I keep meaning to check that out.

 

[R&D]

Pushmo and Crashmo. Top 10 of 3DS library IMO.

 

[Tom_Cody]

Already in the OP but Concentration Training is the very definition of this.

 

[TDLink]

I know you said no platforming but try Henry Hatsworth. It's a very interesting spin and very puzzle oriented. Watch some videos to see what I mean.

I also recommend:

• Meteos (Sakurai does puzzles)
  
• Pushmo & Crashmo
  
• Trauma Center games

If you're looking for something similar to Fire Emblem, I can recommend both Advance Wars games on DS. Dual Strike and Days of Ruin. They are very different tonally from each-other too. Dual Strike is more cartoony, Days of Ruin more realistic.

I've also heard good things about Time Hollow, but I haven't played it myself. May be worth checking out.

 

[Palette Swap]

This looks super rad on 3DS:

Sudoku + 7 other Complex Puzzles by Nikoli doesnt only contain the incredibly popular Sudoku, but also 7 exciting new puzzles: Nurikabe, Heyawake, Kakuro, Akari, Hitori, Masyu and Slitherlink.

The game contains over 1000 different puzzles across the 8 different puzzle types.

This had a recent super stealth release in Europe. Hudson had already published a Nikoli collection that was okay but only had like 4 games.

 

[Amazeballs]

Pushmo, Crashmo and Art of Balance are the best puzzlers for the 3DS. There is platforming in Pushmo but it's all based on strategic positioning and there's an undo feature if you mess up.

The Etrian Odyssey series has a heavy emphasis on resource management and team building, but can be rather opaque with their difficulty. The map puzzles for III and IV are particularly good.

You may want to look into Picross E4 which will be released soon.

 

[gngf123]

Pushmo and Crashmo. Don't worry about the platforming aspect.

 

[anotherVegan]

Play all of the Phoenix Wright games. Some logical (and nonsensical) thinking and puzzles await you.

 

[TDLink]

Play all of the Phoenix Wright games. Some logical (and nonsensical) thinking and puzzles await you.

They're in the OP as games he has already played

 

[old manatee]

Mario Picross is great and somehow loses nothing by being a Game Boy game.

 

[The Horror the horror]

A lot of great recommendations. I'm saving all these for when I go on my next game run. Some of the games will be a bitch to find, but I'm all for the adventure.

 

[The Horror the horror]

Pushmo, Crashmo and Art of Balance are the best puzzlers for the 3DS. There is platforming in Pushmo but it's all based on strategic positioning and there's an undo feature if you mess up.

The Etrian Odyssey series has a heavy emphasis on resource management and team building, but can be rather opaque with their difficulty. The map puzzles for III and IV are particularly good.

You may want to look into Picross E4 which will be released soon.

Slightly off-topic, but being a Wii-U owner, should I just wait for the new one to come out for the console, or do you recommend that I get the 3DS version anyway?

 

[lewisgone]

A puzzle game came out recently on the eShop called Tappingo. I haven't tried it out, but maybe someone else has. It looked cool though. Anyway, I remember it being pretty cheap.

 

[Meohsix]

polarium!

 

[Tain]

Lup Salad. A side-view PSX puzzle game that's been ported/revised on DS and PSP.

Game gets pretty nasty-tough.

 

[Amazeballs]

Slightly off-topic, but being a Wii-U owner, should I just wait for the new one to come out for the console, or do you recommend that I get the 3DS version anyway?

From what I can tell, the Wii U version will have the same 200 levels but with added multiplayer, leaderboards and online play. I'm not sure about the differences in price.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

You know, Ghost Trick totally slipped my mind. That, along with Trace Memory, have flown under my radar for years, but I think it's now time to pursue them.

Definitely do so. Ghost Trick is so good.

Speaking of which, I have a copy of Trace Memory that a friend gave to me that I really should give a try sometime.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Tappingo - eShop - $2.99
Witch's Cat - eShop - $4.99
Art of Balance Touch - eShop - $6.99
Picross e1-e4 - eShop - $4-$5, I think

 

[VideoMan]

Tappingo - eShop - $2.99
Witch's Cat - eShop - $4.99
Art of Balance Touch - eShop - $6.99
Picross e1-e4 - eShop - $4-$5, I think

Tappingo is on sale for $1.99 until May 15.

I've only played the first few levels but it's pretty good so far. It definitely fits into the type of game OP says he's looking for.

 

[Kazerei]

Doesn't Pushmo involve some platforming activity? I'd rather read or click a button here/there without having to worry about jumping on this ledge or that ledge, etc. etc. Don't get me wrong, I love platform games, but I prefer to keep the two dynamics separate.

You can rewind if you miss a jump. The platforming aspect is very basic anyway. It's really just a puzzle game with moving and jumping to get on the blocks. The rewind function is moreso in case you make an irreversible move, like if you push one block off another one, and there's no way to put that block back on top again.