the puzzle lovers steam curator has been around since august 2016, with a few curated games around the beginning, but we've put a lot of time and effort into it since may 2019, and while we're still relatively unknown and small, currently there are more than 1300 puzzle games and games with puzzles to browse, with more added each week as we complete them and provide detailed reviews (unless it's something we have on a different platform or played a long time ago and can't go into too much detail, but these are few and far between these days).

games are organized into dozens of lists based on subgenres and themes, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find what you're looking for, be it short or endless, something for christmas or halloween, a point & click adventure or 1st-person puzzler, minimalist, fantasy or sci-fi, programming-related, physics-based, jigsaw, card game, hidden object, matching, dlc or whatever else, including the puzzle lovers top 10 (2019), the puzzle lovers top 20 (2020) and the puzzle lovers top 10 (2021).

we also have a list of group member recommendations because there are way too many games and we can't possibly cover everything, and even if we had the time, there are subgenres we aren't very comfortable or familiar with. if somebody feels that based on their experience (be it positive or negative) a certain game has a place on the curator, they can provide a mini-review and we'll add it.

the point of the curator is not to make money or get free games, we're just trying to spread the word about puzzle games. they're not always positive words, but a detailed negative review can be as useful as a positive one. in fact, we never ask developers for review copies, but always appreciate and thank the offers even if we can't get to their games immediately or at all, and we only claim games we intend to play and review, and also provide detailed feedback, in case they're willing and able to fix or change this and that for a better overall experience, whether it's something minor or game-breaking.

puzzle games is a niche genre, even if we're more inclusive and have adventure games and such in our catalog too, so it's tricky to find new audiences, but we're currently at more than 4700 followers (was around 25 in may 2019), and we hope the number will keep increasing and more and more people will find puzzly games they can enjoy.

if you're interested in puzzle games, please consider following puzzle lovers, and of course any and all feedback is welcome here or on our forums.

thanks for reading!

3 years ago*

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Congrats on reaching 800+ followers in a year. I've also started a curator page months ago, for a even smaller subgenre, and while it's growing steadily, I share the pain of being a curator for a narrower audience (although I enjoy it :). If it's not a secret, what promotions did you do to reach the 800 followers?

Also, have a follow. I like playing puzzle games once in a whole, especially when it's a mix of a puzzle and a tactical game (like Into the Breach).

3 years ago
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thanks! we're now at 880+ and just reached 1500 group members earlier today. don't have a secret, if I knew one, we'd be at 500 million followers :) I constantly play and review puzzle games and try to be active in puzzly places on steam and reddit, plus there's the weekly giveaway here, and I very rarely make a steam guide, but there's no guarantee either way. sometimes a review brings in a bunch of people, other times 10 mentions here and there don't result in a single new person.

for tactical stuff, check out monstro: battle tactics, drod rpg (and the entire drod series, though they play differently from rpg, which isn't an rpg either), and coin commander.

3 years ago
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Yeah, I had the same experience. Posting on SG forum really helped bring attention to my curator page about card games and I do plan on being more involved on Reddit. Thanks for sharing this and info about games. Some of them I had on my WL but some I missed and are added now :)

3 years ago
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As a devoted follower of the group, I can say the "secret" is being a good source of news for puzzle games: what's coming up, what's good, and what's not that great. The newsletter Dohi puts together every week is an amazing resource, and I've found quite a few of my new favorite games there, or in the reviews he and volunteers from the group publish.

3 years ago
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Yeah, newsletter definitely seems like something that I'm considering in the long run. Thanks for sharing your exp!

3 years ago
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Puzzle lovers should hold a puzzle event on steamgifts. IMO.

3 years ago
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what do you mean by puzzle event? there's a weekly giveaway, at least one game, often two (open and group-only), and occasionally a bigger giveaway, like during major sales or last october, which was a month-long, one-game-every-day thing.

3 years ago
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An event with puzzles, such as this one

3 years ago
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the link didn't work, found it though.

it looks interesting, but way too time-consuming, both to create and to take part in. I tried a group event on steam last summer with 600 members, it didn't work. all people had to do was post a random comment in a forum thread to potentially win games and barely anyone did it.
steamgifts might be a better choice for more involved things, but the weekly newsletter, writing reviews, etc. is already eating up a lot of my time and I wouldn't even know how to create puzzles and stuff for such an event. the weekly giveaways get a ton of entries as is, though 80% of them might be bots and not many entries turn into group members or followers, but every bit helps.

3 years ago
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looks like we hit 900+ followers.

3 years ago
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excuse the bump, but we've hit 1000 followers, which is pretty amazing.

3 years ago
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and before the end of the sale we also surpassed 1100 followers.

3 years ago
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new milestone: 1200 followers.

3 years ago
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milestone for september: 1300 followers.

3 years ago
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milestone for november, right on the first day: 1400 followers.

3 years ago
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milestone for december: 1500 followers.

3 years ago
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first 2021 milestone: 1600 followers.

3 years ago
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another milesetone: 700 curated titles (some of it is dlc), mostly with full reviews.

3 years ago
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finally put together the list of the 20 best puzzle games from 2020. most of them are discounted, some at new historical lows, during the lunar sale.

3 years ago
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and a february milestone: 1700 followers.

3 years ago
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march milestone: 750 curated titles (some of it is dlc).

3 years ago
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april milestone: 1800 followers.

2 years ago
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--hh4y jue6 3wnnw wy i log4 you5 fu5w64r ywm4 lie6, y54w6 6o tinr ym4e--
Hey i just wanna say i love your curated games list, really great resource to have

2 years ago
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thanks, glad you find it useful.

2 years ago
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june milestone: 800 curated titles (some of it is dlc).

2 years ago
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fun fact: just noticed that the lists page on a curator only shows 50 lists (including the one higlighted on top), and puzzle lovers has more because I like to organize things and there's a 100-item limit on lists as well.

so for the time being I had to re-arrange them and 5 shorter/more obscure lists are not visible (audio-based, text adventures, sport-themed, quiz/trivia and christmas/winter - this last one is longer but didn't want to hide mahjongs even if there aren't that many curated yet).

2 years ago
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another june milestone: 1900 curator followers.

2 years ago
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july milestone: 2000 curator followers.

2 years ago
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another july milestone: 2100 curator followers.

2 years ago
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august milestone: 850 curated titles, most with full reviews (some are dlc).

2 years ago
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another august milestone: 2200 curator followers.

2 years ago
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september milestone: 2300 curator followers.

2 years ago
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october milestone: 2400 curator followers.

2 years ago
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