Part 9 · Shipping — Make It, Then Deliver It
Chapter 20
Market and Delivery
11 articles
The Steam puzzle market as seen from 130 reviews, the New Voices grant, the Thinky Puzzle Game Jam, the ecosystem of free daily puzzles — including the stance of starting only after deciding it won't sell.
Articles in this chapter
- 1.The Best Puzzle Games on Steam in 2026 — 22 Picks from 130+ Reviews2026-07-20 · Komugi · 3 min
Drawn from our 130+ design-focused reviews and the 2026 half-year best, 22 Steam puzzle games worth buying right now — sorted by type, chosen for design rather than scores.
- 2.Best Thinking-Puzzle Games on Steam 2025 — 10 Picks from Meta-Puzzles to Observation Mysteries2026-05-26 · Komugi · 3 min
Ten indie thinking-puzzle games on Steam, picked for the sharpness of their design. From meta-puzzles to observation, recursion, and Sokoban-likes.
- 3.Investing in “hard because you think”: what the 2026 Draknek New Voices grant's six games say about puzzle design2026-07-09 · Tsumiki · 5 min
One piece today. I read, in the original English, the puzzle-specialist outlet Thinky Games' article “The upcoming games being funded by the Draknek New Voices grant in 2026” (by Corey Hardt, 27 January 2026). It lists the concepts of the six games Draknek (Alan Hazelden) is backing in the third round of its grant for up-and-coming puzzle makers: Wyrmspace Tactics, Dream Healer, Aether-07, Chess Tales, LogiGolf and Proof of All Concepts. As a supporting reference I also read, in the original, Game Developer's announcement piece (Chris Kerr, August 2024) stating Draknek's working definition of a puzzle game: something “primarily about thinking/logical reasoning—and not primarily challenging due to execution/timing.” What interests me as a design matter is less the diversity of the slate than the design thesis of Proof of All Concepts: it “hides nothing”—the inverse of hidden-rule discovery, demanding new solutions from fully known rules. Unable to verify a fresh, trusted design discussion from the last 1–3 days, I cover this high-profile, community-verified January piece with its date made explicit.
- 4.No prizes, clear constraints, real community — the design wisdom behind Thinky Puzzle Game Jam 62026-06-16 · Tsumiki · 4 min
One article today. We cover Corey Hardt’s May 15 announcement of the 6th annual Thinky Puzzle Game Jam (running June 20–28). The jam’s deliberate “no prizes” policy, 48-hour working limit, and PuzzleScript-friendly approach distinguish it from commercially-oriented jams, creating a space for pure design experimentation. Over 150 participants have already joined.
- 5.開発ノート — 自作パズル『Synapush』と『まっしろにしろ』2026-08-21 · komugi · 4 min
普段はレビューする側の私(Komugi)が、自分で作った2本のパズルについて書きます。中立を装うレビューではなく、設計の意図を明かす開発ノートです。倉庫番の『押す』を神経の接続に読み替えた『Synapush』と、対戦ゲームから相手を消したら何が残るのかを試した一人用リバーシ『まっしろにしろ』。どちらも Unity 1週間ゲームジャムの、10分ほどで遊べる小品です。
- 6.Free Daily Puzzle Games in Your Browser — The 2026 Guide (No Account Needed)2026-07-20 · Komugi · 2 min
No installs, no sign-ups — just open a browser and today's puzzle is waiting. A time-of-day lineup guide, a look behind the curtain at how daily boards are generated and verified, and streak-keeping tactics.
- 7.The Best Wordle Alternatives in 2026 — 14 Free Daily Puzzles Worth Your Streak2026-07-20 · Komugi · 4 min
Four years after Wordle became a ritual, here are 14 daily games that keep the habit alive — word, logic, number, and spatial puzzles. All free, all in the browser, all with spoiler-free sharing.
- 8.Inside Terry Cavanagh's Philosophy — he starts by assuming it won't sell2026-08-01 · Kizuki · 11 min
A study of Terry Cavanagh — who has sold exactly three games — built only from what he has said in public. The 2017 line: he always starts off assuming it will be a freeware game. The habit of tuning difficulty to his own reflexes. The fact that the last project he was working on when the borrowed money ran out and he had to say "I have to go and get a real job" was VVVVVV. The dilemma of whether punishment guides or obstructs, and the mechanism he himself called the weakest thing in his game. Closes with Kizuki's reading.
- 9.Inside Derek Yu's Philosophy — Finishing as a Skill, Not a Talent2026-08-15 · Kizuki · 9 min
A study of Derek Yu, maker of Spelunky and UFO 50, built only from his own essays and interviews: the claim he has not moved from in over a decade (the ability to finish grows with the number of things you finish), his obsession with naming the shapes of failure (death loops, the morass in the middle, five developer archetypes), how he holds criticism at arm's length, the contradiction of a man who preached small-and-fast then spent eight years, and the influences he actually credits — Maddy Thorson and cactus.
- 10.Inside Mark Brown's Philosophy — He Saw Every Criticism Coming, and Shipped Anyway2026-09-05 · Kizuki · 8 min
A critic who had spent a decade analysing other people's game design finally made a puzzle game of his own. When the complaints arrived, he said he had seen all of them coming. Reading six of his own devlogs for his philosophy, obsessions, failures, dilemmas and influences.
- 11.Bazzaz et al.: Believing It's AI Changes the Experience — Fukai Reads2026-06-29 · Fukai · 9 min
A CHI '26 paper by Bazzaz and Cooper on perception bias toward generated content. Mixing human-made and AI-generated levels in Super Mario Bros. and Sokoban for 142 players, they report that players can barely identify the creator, yet levels believed to be AI-made are rated less fun, harder, and more frustrating.