Top 10 Hardest Puzzles in Video Games

WatchMojo

These puzzles were so hard, they kept players from seeing parts of the game! Welcome to Watchmojo and today we’re scratching our brains as we try to untangle these difficult video game puzzles.

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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're scratching our brains as we try to untangle these difficult

00:10 video game puzzles.

00:14 10.

00:17 The Ultimate Puzzle Challenge - The Witness

00:26 Admittedly, any puzzles past a certain point in Jonathan Blows the Witness could leave

00:31 players staring at the screen like it was their calculus homework.

00:34 But we're focusing specifically on what's been dubbed the Ultimate Puzzle Challenge.

00:40 Not only do players need to work their way through these 14 brain teasers just to complete

00:45 the challenge, there's also a time limit that begins as soon as the player starts.

00:55 Coupling this along with the fact that the puzzle automatically resets if the player

00:59 pauses the game, and that the puzzles are randomly generated, not even the internet

01:04 will be able to save you from this ultimate puzzle.

01:11 9.

01:17 The Piano - Silent Hill Long before the Silent Hill franchise wanted

01:21 players to earn an English degree with the third entry's Shakespearean puzzle, the

01:26 original wanted you to tap into your inner child prodigy.

01:30 This puzzle wants you to figure out how an original in-game poem ties directly to the

01:35 keys on a piano.

01:40 Thankfully, the game doesn't go as far as expecting the player to actually learn the

01:47 instrument.

01:48 But figuring out the order of the black and white birds within the poem, and how they

01:53 affect which order the piano keys need to be pressed is still a nightmare.

01:58 Honestly, this is scarier than anything the town had in store for us up to this point.

02:06 8.

02:09 The Hidden Ending - Braid Jonathan Blow strikes again with his first

02:21 indie game that exploded in the early days of the Xbox Live Arcade.

02:26 Even today, many still debate what the true meaning of the game's ending and its overall

02:31 themes actually mean.

02:33 But players who wanted to witness the true ending of this time-bending adventure are

02:37 going to be in for a headache-inducing time.

02:41 With no indicators or hint markers pointing even to their very existence, players will

02:46 need to find eight stars hidden throughout the game.

02:50 Some are hidden off-screen, and one even requires the player to wait in place for over an hour.

02:56 Given this level of difficulty, for an invisible challenge, we shouldn't be surprised Blow's

03:02 next game was absolutely nothing but brain teasers.

03:09 7.

03:13 The Goat - Broken Sword, The Shadow of the Templars

03:17 While the rubber duck from the longest journey easily could have made its way onto this list,

03:21 the goat from the very first Broken Sword game is the stuff of legend.

03:27 And for a good reason.

03:28 In the days before the internet, this was when a lot of players' journey with George

03:33 Staubert ended.

03:35 Unlike most of the other puzzles within the game, this is one of the only timing-based

03:39 challenges players need to contend with.

03:42 With seemingly no other way into the castle than past the goat, everything players tried

03:47 would get them booted by its horns.

03:50 As it turns out, this was exactly what was supposed to happen.

03:55 The player traps the goat by its leash, allowing them passage.

03:59 6.

04:00 Small Space, Big Solution, The Talos Principle

04:16 Akin to a mashup between The Witness and Portal, The Talos Principle has no shortage of puzzles

04:22 designed to stump the player.

04:24 But Small Space, Big Solution from the game's DLC remains the title's most difficult.

04:31 The Talos Principle makes use of numerous different mechanics throughout its puzzles.

04:35 And in this one, the puzzle doesn't even follow the base game's set of traditional

04:39 rules.

04:41 The player must connect both red and blue lasers to one connector, slowly making their

04:45 way through the puzzle room one connector at a time.

04:49 Thankfully, this is a secret area puzzle and not required for the game's completion.

04:58 5.

05:01 Return of the Secret Pond, Baba is You

05:04 Baba is You is a unique puzzle game in which the player, in most cases anyways, is able

05:10 to create their own solution to the game's various puzzles.

05:14 Like some of the other puzzles on our list, this is thankfully one not required for the

05:19 game's completion and is only for the most dedicated of players.

05:23 However, it will certainly make you work for it.

05:31 Return of the Secret Pond sees players return to a level from earlier in the game, but with

05:36 a significantly increased challenge.

05:38 The addition of the word "has" raises the level difficulty far more than players would

05:43 expect, and only those with a firm grasp on the game's mechanics should willingly accept

05:48 Baba's challenge.

05:53 4.

05:57 Learn Braille, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire

06:00 You would think that the hardest thing about a Pokemon game wouldn't amount to any more

06:04 than becoming the very best and catching them all.

06:08 But to complete their Pokedex this time, players need to catch three legendaries.

06:13 In order to do so, they'll need to learn Braille to decipher the clues inside some

06:18 caves.

06:19 What makes this additionally frustrating is that the game doesn't save the translation

06:24 guide to your inventory, forcing you to write down the entire alphabet to have on hand for

06:30 each puzzle.

06:31 Restrictions have also been placed on your Pokemon and what moves they're allowed to

06:35 use.

06:36 This led many players to be grateful this was an optional quest in their journey.

06:41 3.

06:42 The World's Most Difficult Trick, Lufia II, Rise of the Sinestrals

06:52 Sometimes a puzzle becomes so notorious it develops its own cult following as well as

06:58 an extensive Reddit page.

06:59 But then again, you don't earn a name like "The World's Most Difficult Trick" if

07:04 you can't back it up.

07:06 What initially seems like a simple sliding block puzzle quickly evolves into a brain-melting

07:12 experience.

07:13 We wouldn't be surprised if it drove many players to quit, giving up on this challenge's

07:17 treasure until the internet eventually showed them the solution.

07:21 With only two open slots to move the blocks in, the best possible scenario takes a ridiculous

07:27 116 steps to successfully complete the puzzle.

07:32 The developers at least had the foresight to make this optional puzzle extremely difficult

07:37 to find and not a part of the main game.

07:45 2.

07:49 The Marbles, Riven

07:56 The direct sequel to the granddaddy of puzzle games, Riven features a puzzle so ridiculously

08:02 confounding it remains a series legend even today.

08:06 Just like every puzzle within Riven, the clues to this one's solution are there.

08:11 But you need to have been taking very diligent notes or even know what you should be looking

08:16 for beforehand.

08:17 On a 25x25 grid, players need to place one of the colored marbles to correspond to the

08:23 domes on each of the islands.

08:25 However, if you weren't paying attention to the map device on each island, you're

08:30 going to be doing a lot of backtracking.

08:32 Even then, the game doesn't tell you exactly which marble color goes with which island,

08:38 leading to more research and more backtracking.

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09:05 Number 1, The Monolith, Fez As if the perspective-shifting puzzler Fez

09:10 wasn't already brain-breaking enough, the game was hiding one final challenge for players

09:16 who came back for a New Game Plus playthrough.

09:19 Now with first-person unlocked, players discovered new previously unseen puzzles in the environment,

09:25 but also unlocked the massive black monolith using a special button combination.

09:31 However, players were given little to no direction on how to unlock the final super-secret red

09:37 orb at its center.

09:39 With no idea how to find their way inside, the Fez community eventually managed to brute

09:44 force their way inside after roughly 60,000 different combinations.

09:50 But to date, they still have no real idea how the game wanted players to solve this

09:55 mystery correctly.

09:57 How many of these puzzles were you able to solve without any help?

10:01 Let us know which puzzles stumped you the most down in the comments.

10:12 Thanks for watching.

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