There’s probably no better, mass market appealing genre than puzzles.

They come in all shapes and sizes and span a multitude of skill levels.

Ranging from the almost “Non-Game / Non-Puzzle” games that a small child can easily complete, to the obscure mind-bending enigmas that will just curdle your brain into goop.

So, what makes a good puzzle?

Just like musical tastes, particular types of puzzle appeal to different people. Nevertheless, some puzzles, like some kinds of music, seem to have broader appeal than others. Like music or the other arts, the best kinds of puzzles can be said to have a certain aesthetic allure.

When looking at creating a puzzle game, we must not forget the very basics of Hyper Casual and, whilst baffling conundrums will please some, they stray from the “Snackable” audience too far.

The K.I.S.S ( Keep it simple stupid! ) rule should be always front and centre and a good rule of thumb is to create multiple options for the win result.

In essence, Hyper Casual puzzles should ideally have at least 2 or more win paths. Not only adding depth to your levels and overall gameplay, by creating these different win paths, you appease players who just want to pick up and play and get their quick shot of dopamine, and the players who are after more of a challenge.

It will always be a balance and there’s literally no rule book on what makes a great puzzle game, however, the more puzzles produce what psychologists call the “Aha effect,” the more aesthetically-pleasurable they seem to be.

Making your players feel smart, even if it’s relatively a simple win solution, your chances of higher engagement and retention increases. Match this will plenty of Hyper Casual Feedback and you could be onto a winning formula.

As the British puzzle-maker Hubert Phillips put it in his 1937 book “Question Time,” solving some puzzles provides an intellectual “kick,” which results from discovering the pattern, trap, or trick they conceal.

As we’ve discussed many times, games are really just a series of choices and never is this more “pure at the core” ( oooh that’s fancy ) than in puzzle games.

Henry E. Dudeney, one of the greatest puzzle-makers of all time, put it as follows: “Puzzle-solving, like virtue, is its own reward.”