#7: Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure

Half the games on this list are giant releases that are trying to give you a little bit of everything. Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is a bite-sized gem that repeatedly riffs on the same core concept, and doesn’t stick around long enough to trip over itself. Thinking back on developer Furniture & Mattress’ sublime puzzle-driven adventure, I think it’s been long enough now since my first playthrough that I no longer remember all the solutions to its environmental puzzles and complex boss fights, and it was so magical the first time through that I’m seriously contemplating a revisit.

Arranger is the type of game that can be described with words but is best understood in motion. There’s something intuitive about how its grid-like paths shuffle around as you move through them. So many of its puzzles can be solved just by feeling your way through its world as it shifts beneath your feet. By the time you’ve spent just a few minutes with Arranger, you come to understand how to navigate its terrain and manipulate it to your needs. One sign of good puzzle design is that you don’t need a giant text bubble to explain it, and Arranger is at its best when it just lets you exist in its ever-moving space and figure it out. Doing so remains one of the most satisfying experiences in the genre, and if the clever puzzles weren’t enough, the heartfelt writing woven into every challenge keeps the world fresh beyond its moving floors. — Kenneth Shepard