TOP 10 Windows Apps for Sudoku, Crossword & Puzzle Games

The Sudoku, Crossword, and Puzzle Games is where you'll find the best collection of brain teasers and puzzle games. This section features everything from Sudoku to Trivia.

Magic Lines

Magic Lines is one of those cute little games that will never let you be bored. It is a brilliant variation of the popular Lines game with 3D effects. You have the square game board where you should move multicolored balls to make lines of five or more balls that match in color. They explode and you score. Any ball being moved needs a clear shot to it's destination, or it won't move. Remember that each move there appear three new balls. So the quicker you clear board, the longer you survive. The objective of the game is to remove from the playing board as many balls as possible and gain a lot of points.

On the side of the window there is a small screen that shows what color the next 3 balls will be, and you can turn on hints, which shows you where they will be placed, by putting a small dot in the square they are heading to the turn before, or if you're really good-live dangerously and turn that feature off! Just to be cute, there is a lighting effect that gives textured balls a sleek 3D look, adding vivacity and elegance to the whole game. You can adjust the light intensity, or you can even make the lamp visible. Key features: Nice graphics and lighting effects; A built-in midi player.

Snood For Windows

Snood is a fun puzzle game that tests your intellect rather than your reflexes. The application has many new features and a new Armageddon level. There is also a play timer and a panic button (to keep others from knowing you're playing Snood). Your goal is to free all the trapped Snoods by launching other Snoods at them. If you connect three or more Snoods, they will disappear. If that leaves any Snoods not connected to the top of the playing field, they will fall to safety. Don't take too long, though - every Snood you launch increases the danger level.

Version 4.1 allows to personalize your account, compare your score with the world.

This connect-the-critters game is reminiscent of Bust-A-Move and will captivate players of all ages. Similar to other puzzle games, the rules of Snood are simple, and the only computer skill needed is the ability to use a mouse.

Connect three or more identical Snoods to make them disappear from the board. If you clear the board, you win. If the Snoods reach the bottom of the screen, you lose. Play is not time-limited. Add to that a nonviolent spirit and you will see why even little kids can play. The game comes with levels from Child to Evil and includes a journey through levels, plus an intriguing puzzle mode, which varies the gameplay nicely.

The ability to customize levels will retain your interest, and the registered version even offers a tournament mode, which lets you play against your friends. Any puzzle gamer would enjoy Snood.

Kyodai Mahjongg 2006

Kyodai Mahjongg is a great version of the famous Mahjongg Solitaire (or Shanghai) oriental game. It's been in development for 10 years. The purpose of the game is to remove all the tiles from a board. The tiles must be removed by pairs. The rules are simple and the game is extremely addictive. 2D and 3D mode, hall of fame, user-friendly interface, great and relaxing oriental and electronic music especially composed for the game, lots of mini-games, hundreds of backgrounds, tilesets, layouts and sound effects. Has replaced original Ancient tileset with a sharpened, crisper version which works quite well. Finally added Realistic Stones support for all mini-games. Now you can switch naturally between windowed and maximized modes by double-clicking on the caption or clicking on the Maximize icon, and you can hide the taskbar in maximized mode by unchecking Show Taskbar in the View menu.

Version 1.42: Improved startup sequence, tile texturing, tile borders, support for more skyboxes, No more moves sound effect, replayable hall of fame games, bug fixes.

HangARoo

Hangaroo a game that let guess the phrases by selecting letters to fill in the slots. If you make too many errors, you know what happens next: the cute kangaroo will be earning his wings. Luckily, even if you do send the hangaroo he outback in the sky, you won't feel too guilty. His quick wit and smart tongue will have you begging to kill him off. Version 2.052 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

Clear away the extra promotional icons and HangARoo makes a welcome desktop addition. The Flash version of hangman features a sass-talking kangaroo who, thank goodness, does not attempt an Australian accent. He stands on a scaffold with a noose around his neck, critiquing your letter choices until you either guess the word or phrase--or send him to heaven. You can pick four incorrect letters before you lose the game. To choose letters, you can click the letter buttons or use the keyboard. Some puzzles will pop up little bubbles with trivia about the subject. The audio works nicely, and you can adjust the volume on a slider. The interface shows an eFlash ticker at the bottom, and the program adds extra icons to your desktop and links to your Start menu folder. Uninstalling the game doesn't remove the promotional icons or links, which isn't polite. Still, hangman fans might find a few icons a small price to pay for a free game as fun as HangARoo.

Pure Sudoku

Pure Sudoku is a free, visually, and intellectually stimulating Sudoku puzzle game for your PC. It features easy-to-use controls, an attractive style, and four difficulty settings for players of all skill levels. A deluxe version also exists for the very best Sudoku experience.

Sudoku is a fun game, and thus Pure Sudoku has a lot going for it for that reason alone. The program itself, while serviceable, doesn't do much to impress.

The interface is simple and uncluttered, but is not particularly attractive. A vaguely Asian theme frames a changing background of photos ranging from the Great Wall to Stonehenge. To its credit, the program is very easy to navigate, allowing users to start playing in a matter of moments. Pure Sudoku offers four levels of difficulty, from "very easy" to "difficult." A variety of functions, including the ability to save games, get hints, and check one's work, are available only with the purchase of the deluxe version. The free version does offer some options; users can determine whether or not the game shows duplicate numbers and can turn the sound and random background images on and off. One particularly obnoxious feature of the program is the so-called full-screen mode; this is achieved by changing the monitor's resolution settings. No thanks.

The actual gameplay is fine; Sudoku is a simple game, and the program does not complicate it needlessly. Users can inelegantly make notes by clicking on a number from the left side of the screen, and then right-clicking to place it in a game square. Overall, Pure Sudoku is neither particularly impressive nor disappointing. Users who'd like to try it should be aware that uninstallation will leave a folder in their system's program files.

Rosetta Stone

Whether your are playing Greek number mode or Egyptian letter mode, the number one rule to keep in mind is keeping the scales balanced but its not that easy. As you try to gain points by completing equations or words, blocks drop down from above and throw off the weight of the scales. Thats right; the game is not on your side. Heavy blocks and dynamite blocks begin to complicate things as well, adding to the pandemonium; let either scale tip too soon, and your hopes at making the online high-scores will be history. But be sure to keep an eye out for the golden blocks; take advantage of them, and your name could be shining in the Top 10. This version is the first release on CNET Download.com.

Moraffs MahJongg XIV

Moraff's MahJongg is a stunning version of the popular mahjong tile game that features a beautiful, graphical display of tiles placed on a gorgeous background. This new version includes a Tileset Maker, new tilesets, backgrounds, cursors, layouts, the ability to configure the game for customized play and more! Statistics tracking has been entirely updated, new rewards and awards are given for excellent game play, and the game now supports multiple users. The tiles have 3D shading, letting you spot at a glance which tiles are available for play, popup effects which allow you to immediately see which are available to choose, and fading effects when the tiles are removed from the board. The objective is to eliminate all the tiles by selecting exact matches while relaxing, CD-quality music plays in the background. Options let you select different layouts, get hints, undo wrong moves, play timed games, and track statistics. Digital sound effects and soothing background music add to the fun. MahJongg is an addicting game that will please your senses as well as challenge your mind.

Beware, after playing just one game of Moraff's "MahJongg 2009," you'll find yourself eager to come back and play more. We just wish the trial period lasted longer.

The user interface is colorful, easy to navigate, and offers users a few extra features. Prominent menu buttons reside at the top of the window, and allow you to choose from different game designs, and apply game settings, such as the number of matches, and tile-set displays. There also are buttons to undo and redo moves. In terms of extras, you'll find a radio that plays soothing music to get you in the mood to play mah-jongg, and almost the entire user interface, down to the cursor, is customizable. The game tiles are bright and colorful without being too busy. If you're new to the game of mah-jongg, an extensive Help menu will have you up and playing in no time. We jumped right in, clicking the tiles to make matches, and we liked the score and ranking information that appeared after the game was over.

The one downside to the program is its 14-use trial, which is pretty stingy. But it's still plenty of time for experienced and novice users alike to become highly addicted to this well-designed version of mah-jongg.

MahJong Suite 2021

In MahJong Suite 2020, you play mah-jong-type solitaire and matching games with classical mah-jongg and beautiful and funny modern tile sets and millions of possible combinations.
You also can play matching-type games with funny tile sets. Create an unlimited number of players so you can challenge your family and friends to beat one another's high score, games-won, and score statistics. The built-in layout editor lets you change the layout of any game or create your own. You can customize the tile type, background, animation, sound, pointers, levels of undoing or redo, and the toolbar. You also can select from various predefined tile sets, dozens of backgrounds, themes and play on the touch screen.

Jigsaws Galore

Jigsaws Galore is the ultimate jigsaw puzzle game packed full of features, easy to use and suitable for all ages. Play the jigsaws included or create your own from your photos and e-mail them to your friends and family, a great way to share your photos. Jigsaws Galore plays just like a real jigsaw with traditional, beautifully rendered piece shapes. Puzzles can be customized from 4 to 64,000 pieces to suit the whole family's abilities. An easy-to-use preview screen displays thumbnails to help you find your favorite jigsaws.

Play the included jigsaws or design your own--with this capable game package, you can do both. We found Jigsaws Galore's 10 sample images merely adequate, but making your own puzzle is as easy as browsing to your favorite snapshot. Whichever image you choose, you can specify the number and style of the pieces, change their edge style, and customize the appearance of the background.

While playing, you can zoom in on pieces, use trays for sorting, and enable or disable a "ghost" background image of the finished puzzle. For a bigger challenge, set up the timer or try solving a puzzle in Mystery mode, without referring to the finished image. We weren't big fans of Jigsaws Galore's MIDI background music, and its memory use (25MB) seemed excessive. On the other hand, we like the thoughtful Gift feature, which bundles puzzles into executable files you can send your friends.

Bottom line, anyone looking for a simple, quick way to create custom jigsaw puzzles should consider this application a contender.

Dragons

Dragons mahjong solitaire features 360 layouts, 72 unique tile sets, 72 backdrops, 30 relaxing music tracks by a popular composer, and three unique mahjongg styles of gameplay, including Agility (race against the clock), Finesse (use helpful tools), and Wisdom (clear tiles by creating words). It includes a player-profile screen displaying 10 statistics along with a graph showing all ranks in all 360 layouts for each player. The program now has a history screen showing all the games played in three categories.

Layouts range from 72 tiles to 288 tiles. Other features include a detailed random layout menu, random or cycle tilesets and backgrounds, and 1024-by-768 resolution for sharper screens and mahjongg tiles. All original tilesets have been remastered and are slightly larger and very clear. The program includes the ability to undo, pair, peek, and shuffle features as well.

The ancient game of mahjong gets a colorful face-lift as Dragons provide a wonderful atmosphere for playing. Well-textured icons and 800-by-600 full-screen resolution add to the enhancement, and music is available in the full version to further spice things up. The game is rich in choices since it offers three styles of play with explanations, and dozens of tile selections as well as multiple backgrounds. A profiling option is available to help track player statistics for different tile-layout sets. Randomization of layout and tile selections is another nice feature. Though the game could stand a few more features in the trialware version, Dragons is a worthy consideration for those with the mahjong itch.