puzzle-solving games

Once again our three heroes are thrust into another Frozenbyte adventure with puzzles, enemies and bosses. Play as the knight, mage and bowoman with all of their unique abilities. Overcome physics-based obstacles and take down all the enemies in your way! What could possibly go wrong?

https://www.gog.com/game/trine_3_the_artifacts_of_power

This Trine is a bit different from the other Trine games. Your characters are no longer restricted in 2D space and can move freely in and out of limited 3 dimensional space. Jump tricks, physics and lining up your character is more challenging because depth perception is "off" a bit. There is also an interactive map where you can freely select any level you like, but you have to unlock them with golden triangles. Didn't find enough triangles in the last map? Go back and search again... and again... and again... oh and the mage cannot spawn multiple cubes or planks. He can only spawn a single cube. No wonder he's confused...

Trine 1 completely blew-me-away with detailed 3D graphics, special effects, physics puzzles and co-op action. Who knew they could out-do themselves with Trine 2? Play as the same three characters: Knight, Mage & Thief and traverse amazingly detailed environment where almost everything is interactive! Upgrade new skills on the skill-tree and use your abilities to solve physics puzzles and reach your objective. There is even more amazing fantasy environments where everything is animated and almost every object or ledge is interactive.

https://www.gog.com/game/trine_2_complete_story

There is even an epic level where you are swallowed by some huge monster and you have to jump around this oozing disgusting level of guts, acid and flesh. Don't miss this one... its amazing! I'm not even a huge platform fan, but Trine has much more to offer than most simple platform games.

The only issues I had running the GOG version is in Mint. Full-screen would not cover the bottom...

Remember the movie Tron? When Flynn was digitalized and trapped in a fantasy computer world?
EXSynchronous is like that on STEROIDS!
Reflective black surfaces with bright colors animation all over the place, representing digital movement of data and communication. Solve puzzles and perform jump tricks without and real direction... this game is about exploration!

https://ravee.itch.io/ex


Ravee provides a Linux port made in Unity and it runs beautifully! There are some nice presets for graphics and audio. I was able to play without any serious performance problems! I am super impressed with this game and all the eye-candy! Its amazing! I don't know how they did it! Its absolutely free and quite a unique experience... you can't miss this one!

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 460

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Trine is a clever physx based fantasy platformer where you can switch between 3 characters in order to progress through the levels. Play as an female archer, wizard or knight and use their skills to traverse through traps, skeletons, dungeons and much more! Also connect a controller and play co-op with a friend! Amazing graphics, animation and effects... what else could anyone want?


https://www.gog.com/game/trine_enchanted_edition

Trine is an older game from 2009 and required a few older libraries, but I found they were already available in the "Lib" directory in the game folder. So I just renamed them to the library the game was expecting and it worked. Here is also a post on GOG about how to install the proper libraries:
https://www.gog.com/forum/trine_series/fix_missing_libraries_for_trine_1_2_on_ubuntu_1804_64_bit

Other than that, I was able to play with Keyboard & mouse and my wife was able to play with Amazon...

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is yet another installation of the mystery franchise. Play as Sherlock and Watson in a mystery simulation solving murder crimes. Learn to spot clues, document findings, create a timeline and test chemicals. Puzzles are in every corner and apply to the great theme of sleuthing. Released in 2012 boasting amazingly detailed graphics and interactivity.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/205650/The_Testament_of_Sherlock_Holmes/


I tested Sherlock Holmes years ago and it just ran way too slow. My video card couldn't handle the high quality models and textures. Today my GeForce GTX 1060 handled the game perfectly on max settings. Proton was able to install and run the game without any issues!

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 455
Proton 5.0-10

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Play as a cat in space and sneak your way around a human space station solving puzzles. Don't get caught by the alien monsters and make it to the escape pod! This is a free mini game developed in Unreal Engine with a clever cat's-view of an alien infestation... Solve puzzles, jump tricks, physics and stealth.



https://polyartstudios.itch.io/in-space-no-one-can-hear-you-meow

I was able to play "In Space No One Can Hear You Meow" in PlayOnLinux with ProtonGE. Everything ran fine on my GeForce GTX 1060 and I was able to finish this short puzzle/action game.

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 440
ProtonGE 5.0-9

Play as "Black" a mercenary/detective in this psychological action-packed FPS thriller. Attached to a new technology you are captive in your own mind and go back to the events of a terrorist act where a girl was murdered. Use your smartphone to find clues, solve puzzles and reveal hidden areas... then enter your own memories to learn secrets of your past. Is this real or a dream?



https://store.steampowered.com/app/299950/GET_EVEN/

Get Even played beautifully in Proton on my GeForce GTX 1060. I'm amazed at the quality of visuals and graphics in this game. The action and fancy experimental weapons are pretty fun to use as well.

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 440
Proton 5.0-9

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Waking up in a hotel not knowing what happened is disturbing enough, but to find a hostile ghost child is horrific! Fobia St. Dinfa Hotel is a first person psychological horror puzzle game with beautiful design, effects and graphics. Pay close attention to your inventory and search every corner. The puzzles are fairly logical, but you can only hold so many items at once and you will need to heal yourself in the process.



What happened in this hotel?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1298140/FOBIA__St_Dinfna_Hotel/

Fobia is a native Linux game and the demo is available for free on Steam. It played fairly nicely on my GeForce GTX 1060 in Mint. It is a very dark game, so make sure you turn the lights off as you will have to find items in the dark and open every drawer. The graphics are amazingly real! Lighting, shadows and textures are top notch professional and the level design is very realistic. Every object looks naturally in its...

Superliminal is a first person puzzle game with some fancy depth perception special effects. I can't really explain how it works, but its amazing... you have to try it yourself. You awaken in what appears to be a test chamber and a bunch of random objects. Move to the next room by completing the puzzle. The thing is... why? What are you doing here and how do you escape?



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1049410/Superliminal/

Play the demo for free in Proton, but the full version will be full Linux support. Proton didn't have any problems playing this game with my GeForce GTX 1060.

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 440.100
Proton 5.0-9

Layers Of Fear is a horror adventure with almost unending rooms of jump scares. Play the role of a drunken artist who is trying to finish the masterpiece of his life... a portrait of his wife. But there was an accident and she was scarred from a fire. Live his drunken nightmare as he tries to find out what happened to his child, his wife and his house.



Playing Layers of Fear is a crazy psychedelic horror experience where you explore a massive house full of room with terror. Anything can happen and anything does! Search through cabinets riddled with wine bottles and hear the artists memories of items you find. Every room is different, but seems familiar... turn around and its different again. Are you afraid of dolls?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/391720/Layers_of_Fear/

Layers of Fear provides us with a native Linux port as it was developed in Unity 3D engine. So the game ran quite well on my GeForce GTX 1060. There are a few...

Ash Asylum demo is a creepy introduction into a haunted asylum with puzzles and jump-scares. Search through the remains of a derelict madhouse with your lighter. Not everything is as it seems... Interact with objects and find a way through this hellish prison before you are locked in it for eternity.



I was unable to run the Linux version, but the Windows demo ran perfectly on my GeForce GTX 1060 in Proton. I was able to play without any bugs or artifacts. The graphics and lighting are stunning and creepy. Some of the puzzles are easy and other are very hard. You will acquire plenty of items which are not utilized in the demo, but hopefully are needed in the full game.

https://taintedgames.itch.io/ash-asylum

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 440.59
ProtonGE5.0 64-bit
DXVK: 1.7 64-bit

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Dark Fracture is a first person psychological horror/puzzle game. You work at a morgue and have to stay late one night, but are you alone? Strange sounds come from dark rooms and bloodstains suddenly appear on the floor... the electricity goes out... find your lighter and get out!



https://twisted2studio.itch.io/dark-fracture

ProtonGE 5.0 was able to handle this demo just fine in PlayOnLinux as it was developed in Unreal Engine. I didn't have any performance issues or graphical issues... the demo ran perfectly on my GeForce GTX 1060 with DXVK 1.7

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 440.100
ProtonGE 5.0 64-bit
DXVK 1.7 64-bit

Note: Also requires vcrun2019 and Media Foundation installation


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Dungeon Nightmares was so good that I stumbled on the sequel and decided to purchase it!

Dungeon Nightmares II is a much improved horror experience with a new story-like experience. You wake up in a mysterious hotel room with the time of day on the screen. Exploring the hallways is useless as none of the doors are unlocked... but at the end of a hallway is a creepy elevator. Take it down to the basement dungeon and find a way out. Alive if at all possible!



All the same features from the origin Dungeon Nightmares are here:

• Jump Scares
• Spooky Environment
• Exploration
• Roguelike
• Procedural Generation
• Small Download
• Replayability

But this time you can find the keys to the hotel rooms. Explore the haunting dungeon and survive long enough to enable the elevator up. Find newspaper clippings and candles as you sneak around the...

Eden is a game developed by six graduate students in Unity 3D engine. In this surreal FP adventure you will find many unexpected turns and twists. This is no ordinary puzzle game, your mind will be tested and your patience stretched thin. Is there a way out?



https://missingmountain.itch.io/eden

Graphically Eden is cleverly designed with stylistic and beautiful textures. The models and assets are designed to enhance the environment without standing out. What you see is not what you think it is... Take a second look. I was truly amazed at the genius puzzles! I played through twice just to make sure I did everything.

Wine in PlayOnLinux was able to handle this game nicely on my GeForce GTX 1060. In fact I had to stop mid game and found that it saved my progress and I was able to continue. Eden is now one of my most favorite indie thrillers. I hope these developers make more games!

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia...

Notes Of Obsession is a short First Person horror experience. Explore an empty house and work your way into a child's room to find a music box. When you play the music box secret symbols will appear and the nightmare begins.



How do you escape?

What is following you around the house?

https://creaky-stairs.itch.io/notes-of-obsession

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 440.100
PlayOnLinux 4.3.4
ProtonGE 5.9
DXVK 1.7

IKAI is a first person horror game in ancient Japan. Play as a priestess and explore a creepy haunted Japanese building looking for a way out. Solve puzzles and don't awaken the evil lurking in the walls.
The visuals and environment are beautifully made in Unreal Engine. The lighting and creepy ambient sounds will force you tread lightly through every room. Inspect objects up close and watch your back.

https://endflame.itch.io/ikai-demo

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 440.59
PlayOnLinux 4.3.4
ProtonGE 5.8 64-bit
DXVK 1.7 64-bit

A Story About My Uncle is not a read-along adventure... or a children's book...
This is an epic first person physics adventure where your grappling hook and jump tricks allow you to traverse amazing terrain. Jump super high with your suit and grapple floating islands, rocks and structures. Fling yourself around cliffs and waterfalls above bottomless worlds. Meet alien creatures who inhibit these mysterious floating lands and use energy crystals fly themselves across the landscape. All in the name of finding uncle Fred.


A Story About My Uncle ran great in Steam with my GeForce GTX 1060. I never had any performance issues and the graphics settings were cranked to high. This Linux port made with UDK (Unreal Development Kit) in 2012 by a group of students at Södertörn University.

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 440.100

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Adam Lost Memories is a psychological horror game that follows the surreal imagination of the developers traumatic childhood experience. Adam's true fears are shame, terror and humiliation! The only thing he had was a book...

Explore Adams imagination in this very detailed system of rooms, caves and sci-fi environments. Solve puzzles and avoid the creatures in the shadows. Every dark room has meaning and every object is interactive... but how do you get out? Is something following you?

https://adam-lost-memories.itch.io/game

This prologue is just a 1hr demo of Adam Lost Memories. Developed in Unreal Engine you can purchase the full game and play through the entire story. The full game was not tested. The prologue ran fairly well in PlayOnLinux with ProtonGE and DXVK. There were a few areas where the framerate dropped, but it was infrequent.

Specs:
Mint 19.3 64-bit
GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia 440.100
PlayOnLinux 4.3.4
ProtonGE 5.9 64-bit
DXVK 1.7 64-bit...

https://joeydrewstudios.com/batim

Bendy And The Ink Machine base on a cartoon made back in the 30's where you (an animator) re-visits the old studio and find that something has gone terribly wrong. Expect jump scares, spooky cartoon-esque environments, survival elements and puzzles. This first person horror adventure doesn't disappoint. It may be short, but currently on sale during the Steam summer sale.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/622650/Bendy_and_the_Ink_Machine/

The best part? Its a native Linux game available on Steam.

You can also download the demo in itch.io as well
https://joeydrewstudios.itch.io/batim-demo

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Timeout is a brilliant point-n-click 2D 3D action adventure mystery. Everyone live by time. If your time runs out, you die. So of course the world has commercialized buying & selling time to stay alive. Investigate a case where fake time is killing people because they are deceived into purchasing a clever deal on time.


Timeout demo ran perfectly in Linux. I was able to play and control my character without any graphical issues or performance issues on my GeForce GTX 1060.

https://christopherlee.itch.io/timeout