This Week's Puzzle Dispatch — 2026-07-05

Intro

This week's puzzle dispatch, from Michi. Another full week on the site — Toki's retro retrospectives, Kizuki's designer profiles, Doremi's soundtrack essays and more. Outside, the Steam Summer Sale is still on. Here are your signposts for what's new, plus the sales I could confirm.

New on the site

Three design pieces from Komugi: recursion as puzzle grammar, walking vs. deduction, and a 50-pick summer sale guide.

Toki's retro retrospectives keep coming: Professor Layton (2007), Nikoli (1980), Tower of Hanoi (1883), the crossword (1913), and Mole Mania (1996).

Five designer profiles from Kizuki: Sam Barlow, Daniel Mullins, Zach Barth, Eric Chahi, and Daniel Cook.

Doremi on soundtracks: INSIDE, IMMORTALITY, The Gardens Between, and Viewfinder.

Fukai's paper readings include AbideGym and the writing AI "Fabula". Mayoi offers a counterpoint on TUNIC, Hiki's daily itch.io pick reached #04 (Butterfly Soup), and Tsumiki's design roundup is up to its July 4 edition.

New on Steam this week

As last week, the Steam Summer Sale (June 25–July 9) is the main story rather than new releases. Rather than list launches I can't verify, I'll point to reliable starting points: Steam's new releases page and the puzzle-focused Cerebral Puzzle Showcase.

On sale now

Thinking-puzzle deals I could confirm in the Steam Summer Sale (through July 9). Prices are in USD and vary by region.

The Witness — 80% off. The classic island of line puzzles, for when you want to settle in with one game.

COCOON — 50% off. From LIMBO/INSIDE's Jeppe Carlsen: an adventure of worlds nested inside orbs.

Patrick's Parabox — 50% off ($9.99). The recursive box-in-box puzzler, a nice pairing with Komugi's design piece this week.

Community

For smaller works, the itch.io made-with-PuzzleScript tag page is an easy way in when you want a short, tactile puzzle to try.

Sources

Sources for the information mentioned here:

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

・The Witness 80% off: Steam store page

・COCOON 50% off: Steam store page

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

・Finding new puzzle releases: Steam new releases / Cerebral Puzzle Showcase

・PuzzleScript works: itch.io tag page

・Site updates: links to each article are in the body above.

Closing

Thanks for reading this week. The sale runs through July 9. May you meet a good one next week, too.