Games
Puzzles that don't fight for your attention
No countdown timers. No "one more life in 3 hours." Most ask once for a rating after a win, then leave it alone for weeks. Pick one up for two minutes or two hours — your call.
Want a fast round: Blockmatic or Minesweeper. Want no clock at all: Arrows' Zen mode, or Midnight Mahjong.
All 11 apps in this category
Every card lists what the app costs and whether it shows ads, before you install anything.
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Alchemy Combine
Combine elements in a cauldron. Automate the discoveries.
Mix Fire, Water, Earth and Air in a cauldron to discover more than 1,000 recipes, then unlock instruments — a second Cauldron, a Distiller, a Reactor — that keep brewing while you're away. Free to play, no account, fully offline.
- Works offline
- Optional ads
- No account
- Free
Not on the stores yet
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Arrows
A logic puzzle with a beat, and a calm Zen mode.
A minimalist logic puzzle with a beat — tap arrows on the beat to clear the grid and earn ArrowCoins, or unwind in a calm offline Zen mode. 2000 hand-tuned levels, a daily puzzle, one-time purchases, no subscriptions.
- Works offline
- Shows ads
- No account
- Free
- One-time unlock
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Blockmatic
Clear rows, then climb Ascent — defuse, collect, rise.
A free, offline block puzzle. Drag blocks onto an 8×8 grid and blast full rows and columns — then take on Ascent, a weekly ladder where bombs, gems, and frost change what clearing a line means. Light ads; a one-time unlock removes them.
- Works offline
- Shows ads
- No account
- Free
- One-time unlock
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Playbreak
Nine classic games, no internet, no account.
Durak, Sea Battle, Backgammon, Checkers, Dominoes, Reversi, Gomoku, Four in a Row and Tic-Tac-Toe. Play against a bot, pass one phone around, or connect nearby over Bluetooth — no internet, no account. Four games are free forever; the rest unlock with one purchase.
- Works offline
- No ads
- No account
- Free
- One-time unlock
Not on the stores yet
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Connect Dots
Link every pair of dots without crossing a line.
A cozy connect-the-dots flow puzzle — link each colour's pair of dots with a non-crossing path until the whole board is filled. 500 levels, a Daily Challenge with streaks, and an endless Zen mode. Plays offline; a one-time purchase removes the ads.
- Works offline
- Shows ads
- No account
- Free
- One-time unlock
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Creaky Hinge
A foldable iPhone that creaks like an old door.
For foldable iPhones: open or close the phone slowly and an old wooden door on screen creaks along with it. On any other iPhone, drag the door with a finger. Free, no ads, no account, fully offline.
- Works offline
- No ads
- No account
- Free
Not on the stores yet
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Ludo Online
Ludo against friends, the AI, or the person next to you.
The classic Ludo dice board game — quick matches online with friends, a calm round against the AI, or pass-and-play offline. No sign-in.
- Mostly offline
- Shows ads
- No account
- Free
- One-time unlock
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Midnight Mahjong
Moonlit tiles, no timer, every deal solvable.
A calm mahjong solitaire for the end of the day — no forced timers, no lives to run out, just moonlit tiles and a board to clear at your own pace. Every deal is solvable. Offline; a one-time unlock removes the ads for good.
- Works offline
- Shows ads
- No account
- Free
- One-time unlock
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Merge 2048
Swipe, merge, reach 2048 — with a daily board everyone shares.
The 2048 number puzzle on four board sizes, with a daily challenge every player shares, a trophy shelf and a summary of how you play. Fully offline, no sign-in, and a one-time Premium that removes the ads.
- Works offline
- Shows ads
- No account
- Free
- One-time unlock
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Minesweeper
The original, with a leaderboard and no cooldown timer.
Classic Minesweeper for iOS and Android — three difficulties, a per-difficulty top-5 leaderboard, fully offline. Tap to reveal, long-press to flag. Free, with nothing to buy.
- Works offline
- Shows ads
- No account
- Free
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Words Attraction
Four word games. Three refresh daily, one never ends.
Four calm word games in one app — Daily Word, Hive, and Chain Letters refresh every morning, plus Seek, an endless offline word search. No sign-in, no forced streaks; optional one-time unlocks, no subscription.
- Mostly offline
- Optional ads
- No account
- Free
- One-time unlock
From the blog
All posts in this category-
Games
Why won't a word game accept my word? Four reasons
A word game refuses a real word when it is missing from the list or breaks the puzzle's rules. Find out which check caught yours, with four examples.
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Games
What makes a puzzle game relaxing? Six things to check
Not the artwork — the absence of pressure, and six mechanisms decide it. Here is the trace each one leaves, and a checklist for spotting them.
Read the article
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Games
How to win at minesweeper, and when you must guess
You win minesweeper by opening every safe cell, not by flagging mines. Two counting rules clear most of a board, and here is what to do when neither fits.
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