The Top 8 Wii Puzzle Games

Like to Solve Puzzles? Here Are Your Best Bets.

Sure, we like shooting things, and we like jumping on stuff, but more than anything we like solving puzzles; there is something tremendously satisfying in working our mind through some intricate conundrum. Here are some puzzle games for the Wii that will challenge your mind more than your reflexes, although some do a bit of both.

01
of 08

World of Goo

World of Goo
2D Boy

Beautifully presented and full of clever, challenging puzzles, this inventive, physics-based WiiWare game asks players to build elaborate bridges out of malleable creatures. We were hoping the developer, 2D Boy, would eventually come out with a sequel, but instead, 2D Boy folded and the game's developers formed Tomorrow Corporation and made and Human Resource Corporation. But we're still hoping for a Goo 2 someday.

02
of 08

Marble Sage: Kororinpa

Marble Saga: Kororinpa
Hudson Entertainment

This ingenious game has players rolling a marble through an elaborate maze. While the somewhat similar Super Monkey Ball just asks players to roll their marble along a twisty track, Kororinpa has tracks that move in all directions, and players must twist and turn the remote to twist and turn the mazes. The game even has a few balance board puzzles, in which you tilt your whole body to rotate the maze. Few games have done as good a job of using the Wii’s unusual controllers.

03
of 08

And Yet It Moves

And Yet It Moves
Broken Rules

We're not sure if I’d call And Yet It Moves a puzzle game with platforming elements or a platforming game with a focus on puzzle solving, but we would call it one of our favorite WiiWare titles. An ingenious 2D Wiiware game in which you guide your avatar through a world that you can rotate at will, AYIM is all about figuring out when walking on the ceiling is better than walking on the floor. The game is also notable for its unique paper collage visuals. A perfect Wii game that surprisingly began life as a PC game.

04
of 08

Create

Create
Electronic Arts

An Incredible Machine-style game in which you create a Rube Goldbergian device to get some object from point A to point B. While the interface can be frustrating, the puzzles are challenging and engaging. The game also has a rather gimmicky feature where you can redecorate the puzzle areas, which is why it was called “Create” even though a more apt title would have been “Figuring Stuff Out.” 

05
of 08

Fluidity

Fluidity
Rotating the remote makes this little pool of water wander up and down ramps, among other things. Nintendo

This clever WiiWare puzzle platformer has players guiding a pool of water through a complex labyrinth. Puzzles involving getting the water past fire and other hazards. Often you must change the water to steam or ice blocks to get it where you want it to go. This is the most physically exhausting of the puzzle games in this list, because you flick the remote to make the water jump, but if you’ve got the energy, it is a very fun game.

06
of 08

Max and the Magic Marker

Max and the Magic Marker
Big Blue Bubble

This WiiWare puzzle-platformer shows off both the strengths and weaknesses of the Wii. The central game mechanism is that you can draw stairs and platforms to travel through a level. It’s a great idea, but unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to draw a straight line with the Wii remote, and players will spend way too much time drawing and redrawing until they get it right. Still, clever puzzles and unique gameplay make this game a lot of fun.

07
of 08

A Boy and His Blob

A Boy and His Blob
Among other things, you can turn the blob into a parachute. Majesco

This re-imagining of an old NES game gives players an amorphous companion who can be transformed into a ladder, a parachute or many other things. While it’s a bit too easy for the first third and a bit too frustrating in the last, overall this is a fun and unusual game.

08
of 08

Lit

LIT
Players need light sources to avoid the creepy crawlies in the dark. WayForward Technologies

This clever, atmospheric WiiWare game puts players in darkened rooms full of supernatural evil and asks them to create lines and pools of light by throwing rocks at windows and turning on lamps. We never wrote a review of Lit, mainly because we didn’t play the game until it had been out for over a year but also partially because we got mad when Lit started demanding that players combine their puzzle-solving skills with razor-sharp reflexes. We got stuck about ¾ of the way through the game and after dying many, many times we gave up, feeling extremely aggravated. But until the game turned surly, it was absolutely amazing.

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