Thinky Third Thursday

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Thinky Third Thursday
August 2025

Welcome to the August 2025 edition of Thinky Third Thursday - a roundup of games that the puzzle experts from Draknek & Friends think are worth your time.

We've been around for a long time - this month marks 12 years since the initial release of our first game Sokobond. We'll be kicking off the celebrations next week and will have more to share then!

The Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant is back!

Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant

Before we get into the game recommendations, we have some really exciting news: the Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant is back, and applications for the 2025-26 cohort are now open!

This year we're offering grants of $15,000 USD each and a year's mentorship to several thinky puzzle game developers from underrepresented groups all around the world. If that could be you, then I wholeheartedly encourage you to apply here.

Recent thinky highlights


Strange Jigsaws, by FLEB
Strange Jigsaws defies categorisation. It's a sort of a jigsaw game, but it's sort of also every other puzzle genre at the same time. Those familiar with FLEB's earlier free game, 20 Small Mazes, will recognise the puzzle style immediately. It's more of the same quirkiness, add in a dash of thinking outside the box, and throw in some unexpected puzzle types, and all through the medium of jigsaw pieces. It's an enjoyable puzzler that takes the player to some delightful places.


Lost Twins 2, by Playdew
One of the games supported by the Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant released this month! Lost Twins 2 is a colourful puzzle platformer about two twins working together through a series of magical levels of their imagination. The puzzle difficulty ramps up gently, uses layouts and environmental cues well, and new mechanics and obstacles are introduced gradually.


Öoo, by NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, and Tsuyomi
From the creator of ElecHead, Öoo is a short and elegant metroidbrania-style game that frequently made me go "Ooooo". With deceptively simple graphics and controls, you play a little caterpillar (who looks exactly as the title suggests) and you can place bombs. That's it! And yet the level design of the game is so elegant and tight, you can't help but be impressed. Even after the credits roll you'll discover there's still hours of content to play. Ooooo indeed.


0PLAYER, by caveadventure
When you download this, you might expect to find a .exe file to run to play this game, but instead you'll find what appears to be a static screenshot. That's the whole game, and you're left to piece together how it would behave if it were interactive. While that may seem like a strange design decision, it allows the game to reveal its mechanics more slowly than a videogame could, and gives the solving experience a unique texture. The end result is something slightly alienating but nonetheless very satisfying to solve.


Is This Seat Taken?, by Poti Poti Studio and Wholesome Games Presents
Poti Poti studio has graced us with 5-6 hours of gentle puzzles with low stakes, set against the backdrop of an odd but charming story about fitting in. In each level you have a number of seats to fill and each would-be sitter has their own requirements such as "I don't like strong smells" or "I want to chat to someone" or bizarrely "I hate bubbles" (seriously, who hates bubbles?!). With the exception of one or two levels, Is This Seat Taken is a breeze since most levels can be solved in multiple ways.

Thinky releases from the past month

Free games:

Paid games:

New demos:

Upcoming games to watch for


The Detective's Apprentice, by darqwerful
Another of the games supported by last year's Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant has just today unveiled their Steam page. The Detective's Apprentice is a "fill-in-the-blanks" detective puzzler in the style of games like The Case of the Golden Idol and The Roottrees are Dead. Players are invited to step into the shoes of detectives Cleo and Maya as they solve their way through a series of interconnected crimes across a beautifully hand-illustrated city. For fans of the detective genre this game is one to watch, and based on some early prototypes we've played this is sure to challenge the deduction skills of even the most seasoned puzzle players.


Rhell: Warped Worlds & Troubled Times, by SlugGlove and Yogscast Games
Rhell is a brightly coloured, top-down RPG about magic. Delightfully, it is as chaotic as a game that lets you cast whatever magic you like on any object should be. With each rune you learn you learn a new ability, and up to 4 runes can be combined at once to create and do some very unique actions. What happens when you combine "Goo" then "Push" then "Pull" then "Twist"? Probably nothing, until you reach the right puzzle. With just a demo playable for now, it's a little early to judge how deep the gameplay will become in the full game, but the puzzle solving possibilities are intriguing, making Rhell one to watch.


Spooky Express, by Draknek & Friends
In case you missed it, this month we announced the official launch date of Spooky Express on PC and mobile as October 21st! This announcement comes with an update to the demo with some quality of life changes and a new comic strip introduction, although if you've already completed all the puzzles then those are the same.

We're extremely excited about our next game and will have more to share in the coming weeks and months. Help us stay on track for launch by wishlisting, pre-ordering, or sharing the news!

That's it!

Did you particularly enjoy any of the games above, or do you have a recommendation for a game I should check out? Please get in touch!

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