How to spot a puzzle game worth your time

Puzzle games are the most crowded corner of any app store, and most of them are reskins of the same three ideas. A little scepticism saves a lot of storage.

The first tell is the tutorial. If it won't let you touch anything for two minutes, that's often a sign the game doesn't trust its own mechanics to teach themselves.

The second is difficulty. A good puzzle game introduces one idea, lets you master it, then twists it. Bad ones just pile on symbols and hope you mistake clutter for depth.

When a puzzle clicks in your head without a hint pop-up, that's the feeling you're chasing. Chase that, and skip anything that interrupts you to sell you a shortcut.