Offline puzzle games on Android

Key Takeaways

Puzzle games make perfect offline companions for commutes or trips due to their bite-sized nature.
Some Android puzzle games lock you out without internet; download these intriguing, challenging, and offline options instead.
Try Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, Baba is You, or Hitman GO for some offline brain-teasing fun on Android.

If there’s one genre of gaming that is almost universally appealing, it’s puzzle games. Everyone from young kids to grandparents can enjoy a nice puzzle game, whether it be a digital recreation of one they already know and enjoy, or something completely new. Android is the perfect home for these types of games which tend to be more bite-sized in nature and thus perfect for whipping out while commuting or stuck in line somewhere. Of course, the time you will want these distractions to most to keep your brain stimulated is when there’s no internet around.

Most puzzle games have no excuse for requiring you to be online, and yet a surprising amount secretly lock you out from playing if you can’t check in via the internet. Unfortunately, it is not easy to tell at a glance which Android games can or cannot be played offline from the store page. That isn’t a fun puzzle to solve, so I did the legwork for you so you can focus on the puzzles you actually want to solve. Before you head on your next trip, give these awesome puzzle games a download.

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1 Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

Netflix exclusive Tetris-like

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

Genre(s): Puzzle
Developer: Vine, Yacht Club Games
ESRB

I was very surprised when we got a Shovel Knight spinoff that was a puzzle game of all genres. The original game was a pure 2D platformer that was all about action, small upgrades, and fighting through levels and bosses. Pocket Dungeon has the same amazing look of Shovel Knight, but switches up battles in a sort of Tetris meets match-3-style game. Just like the original, it take inspiration from a lot of great puzzle games and blends it into something familiar yet fresh. There are over 10 characters that all play differently, dozens of power-ups, and different modes to try out as you look for more challenges.

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2 Baba Is You

Break the rules

Baba Is You

Developer(s): Hempuli
Genre(s): Puzzle
ESRB

Most puzzle games establish a hard set of rules and present situations where you need to keep them all in mind to reach one specific solution. Baba Is You nearly does the opposite. The game presents the rules of a puzzle on the screen, but the solution always involves changing those rules by physically moving the words around. If the game says “Baba is you” and you move the word “Rock” where “Baba” is, then all of a sudden your character is the rock. It requires a type of thinking no other puzzle game asks, and can be incredibly hard to wrap your brain around, but each puzzle solved will make you feel like a genius.

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3 Hitman GO

Go Hitman, go Hitman, go

Hitman Go

Developer(s): Square Enix Montreal
Genre(s): Puzzle , Strategy
ESRB

Hitman already could be classified as a puzzle game of sorts. Yes, you will fight, shoot, and bludgeon targets to death all the time, but the most skilled assassins use everything to their advantage to eliminate their target without anyone being the wiser. Hitman GO forces you to play with this strategic mindset by planning out your turn based on what the enemy is doing to take them out at the right time and place so no one else notices. It has a clean, board-game presentation that will make it fun even for those who aren’t into the whole killing thing.

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4 Linelight

Light the path

The goal of Linelight is always to guide your light from one end of a maze to the next without colliding with any others. That’s easy to understand, but the game tests your planning and reflexes as the game gets more and more difficult across more than 200 levels. The simple graphics and chill music might make this feel like a more relaxing game, but it all moves in real time so you can’t sit back and plan your perfect path. Levels are short, though, so you don’t need to be fully locked-in for a ton of time if you don’t want to be.

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5 Hocus.

Break the illusion

What if an M. C. Escher painting was a puzzle game level? That’s probably the best way to describe what Hocus. is. Each of the 120 levels presents you with some shape that isn’t realistically possible to exist with a cube on it. You need to think outside the box to guide that cube to the end. There’s no time limit or stress, so you can vibe out to the calm music and slowly wrap your brain around the odd shapes you need to navigate. And, if you’re feeling extra creative and inspired, the game also includes a mode where you can create and even share your own levels.