I was building out these genre hub pages and I noticed there were two massive, glaring oversights given the kinds of games that I like and play most often. One such oversight was missing a page for puzzle games, mystery games, and escape room games. I play tons of these, and it’s one of my favorite gaming genres. These can include cooperative games where you’re up against a time limit, games where there’s a central mystery to be solved by the group, or even deduction games where you have to use your smarts to solve a complicated puzzle from the game itself. This genre has exploded in the last couple years with incredible titles, and it’s one of the most exciting genres to talk about with friends and anyone who will listen to me yap about board games.

One thing worth noting: unless explicitly stated that there will be spoilers, my reviews of any escape room games or mystery games endeavor to be spoiler-free by default. I don’t want to ruin the surprise for you. Most EXIT game reviews have been titled appropriately, but there are a few I am pretty sure I forgot to tag. Should still be spoiler-free.

Let’s go through a few of my favorites here.