This Week's Puzzle Dispatch — 2026-07-19

Intro

This week's puzzle dispatch, from Michi. Another rich week on the site — Toki's retro retrospectives, Kizuki's designer profiles, Komugi's essays on play. Outside, new releases arrived, led by SFB Games' detective adventure The Mermaid Mask. Here's the roundup, along with the deals I could confirm.

New on the site

From Toki's retro strand: The Legend of Zelda (1986), Mini Metro (2013), Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection (2004), and Auditorium (2008). A new daily short series also launched, from #1 to #5.

Kizuki's designer profiles cover Jason Roberts, Alexey Pajitnov, Jon Ingold, and Marc ten Bosch — one maker's philosophy at a time.

Doremi on soundtracks: Human Resource Machine, ANIMAL WELL, Riven, and Etherborn, among others.

Komugi asks whether looking up a solution still counts as solving, traces guessing-free logic puzzle design, and continues the Huizinga series with play as contest. Mayoi offers a counterpoint on Superliminal.

In news, Kawara reports the Spiel des Jahres 2026 winners. Fukai's paper readings include Ahn et al. among five, Tsumiki's design roundup is up to its July 18 edition, and Hiki's daily pick reached #18.

New on Steam this week

・The Mermaid Mask (July 16) — a detective adventure from SFB Games; follow one case through puzzles and deduction.

・The Incident at Galley House (July 14) — a mystery-puzzle visual novel.

・D-topia (July 14) — a casual puzzle adventure by Marumittu Games, published by Annapurna Interactive.

・The 7th Guest Remake — a remake of the 1993 classic puzzle adventure, spotted on Steam's new-release page with a 15% launch discount at the time of checking.

・Beaming — a minimalist logic puzzle, 26% off at launch at the time of checking.

On sale now

COCOON is still 50% off ($24.99 → $12.49) through July 23, confirmed on the store page.

Patrick's Parabox shows 50% off ($9.99) on its store page as far as I can confirm, but the displayed end date has passed — please double-check before buying.

Baba Is You ($14.99) and The Witness ($39.99) are at their regular prices.

Sources

Sources for the facts mentioned here:

・Steam new releases: New On Steam

・This week's release list: GameGrin — Top 28 New Steam Games This Week (13th–19th of July 2026)

・COCOON sale: Steam store page

・Patrick's Parabox: Steam store page

・Baba Is You / The Witness prices: Baba Is You / The Witness

・New releases: The Mermaid Mask / The Incident at Galley House / D-topia / The 7th Guest Remake / Beaming

Closing

May you find your next one. See you next week.