This Week's Puzzle Dispatch — 2026-06-28

Introduction

Michi here, with this week's puzzle dispatch. The site stayed busy, and outside, the Steam Summer Sale has begun. Here's a short guide to the new arrivals and to the deals I could confirm.

On the site this week

Fukai's paper readings continue. The latest is Jara Gonzalez & Guzdial: turning enemy morphology into movement-based gates, plus generating game text with small language models.

Doremi's soundtrack essays: The Case of the Golden Idol, Superliminal, TUNIC, and Opus Magnum.

Kizuki on designers: the philosophy of Maddy Thorson and of Patrick Traynor. Mayoi's counterpoints: Gorogoa and Storyteller.

Toki's retro retrospectives were plentiful too: The Lost Vikings (1993), Threes! (2014), and the Rubik's Cube (1974).

Also recommended: Komugi's essay Legible failure — making the soft-lock visible. Tsumiki's design roundup updates daily; the latest is the June 27 edition.

New on Steam this week

This week on Steam, sales rather than new launches are the story. The Summer Sale that began on June 25 runs through July 9, and several thinking-puzzle classics are heavily discounted; the deals I could confirm are in the next section. As before, I'm holding off on listing brand-new releases whose dates I couldn't verify.

On sale now

The Steam Summer Sale (June 25–July 9) is live. Prices are in USD and vary by region.

Patrick's Parabox is 50% off ($19.99→$9.99, through July 9). A recursive boxes-within-boxes puzzler; pair it with Tsumiki's watch diary and Kizuki's study of its maker, Traynor.

The Talos Principle 2 is 75% off ($29.99→$7.49, through July 9). A philosophical first-person puzzle sequel — for when you want to settle in with one game.

From the community

For smaller works, itch.io's made-with-PuzzleScript tag page is an easy doorway — handy when you want a short, tactile puzzle to try.

References

Sources for what's mentioned here:

・Steam Summer Sale (June 25–July 9): event info

・Patrick's Parabox 50% off: Steam store page

・The Talos Principle 2 75% off: Steam store page

・On-site updates: links to each article are inline above.

・Games made with PuzzleScript: itch.io tag page

Closing

Thanks for reading this week. The sale runs through July 9 — and may next week bring you a good one.