Alan Hazelden's Thinky Third Thursday — March 2026 · Thinky Games Welcome to Thinky Third Thursday, curated by Alan Hazelden of Draknek & Friends – a monthly roundup of thinky puzzle games that have caught my eye.

Check out all the thinky highlights from April!

The Archives of Trevosa by jamwitch Translate terms to deduce the history of a strange kingdom

For #LDJam, @rosekeller.bsky.social and I teamed up with Marcus and @flatfootsandfools.bsky.social to put together an ambitious narrative deduction game!

Decode foreign words, untangle relationships, and solve a complex family tree.

jamwitch.itch.io/trevosa
#gamedev #ld59 #ludumdare

Save 20% on Gentoo Rescue on Steam A puzzler about sliding penguins and walruses. Pick up items to push, pull, bounce, swap, stop, steal, or explode. Uncover surprising twists hidden in a world of puzzles inside puzzles inside puzzles.

If you missed out on one of 2025's top puzzle games, Gentoo Rescue is on sale for 20% off this week!

store.steampowered.com/app/2830480/...

Solve a variety of cryptic word puzzles to catch jewel thieves in the globe-trotting new release Puzzle Spy International · Thinky Games Puzzle Spy International came out this week, a game of being an international puzzle spy. That's only part of the picture though: the gameplay consists of myriad illustrated word problems that will test your deduction as well as your vocabulary.

Solve word puzzles, catch jewel thieves, and chat (or flirt) with spies in this recent release!

When I tell you I was BLOWN AWAY by all this #SugarplumCafe fanart from tomatoteddy on Tumblr!

I'm such a sucker for group fanart and the Ladies look so stinkin cute in these poses and this chibi style 🥹 I literally can't pick a favorite!

Finally had the time to watch you play this, and it was rewarding and entertaining. Very glad you liked the gang name puns and the "error tuba" sound from the grid puzzle! And I think you figured out the card order on the first puzzle faster that anyone we've ever seen solve that one... Jazzed it! 😁

Thinky Third Thursday - April 2026 Monthly game recommendations from the puzzle experts at Draknek & Friends

Here's the April edition of Thinky Third Thursday, the monthly roundup of thinky puzzle games that have caught our eye:
thinkythirdthursday.com/april-2026

An illustrated scene from Puzzle Spy International showing Antwerp's Diamantkwartier, a modern (by 1960s standards) city block with jewelry stores. One sign says "Juewelen" ("jewels" in Dutch) while another says "Crystal Gems." Added to the image is an image of the inspiration for the latter store name: Garnet Amethyst, Pearl and Steven - collectively known as The Crystal Gems - from the show Steven Universe.

Have you spotted any of the several easter eggs and anachronistic nods to other media in Puzzle Spy International? Here's one of my faves from the Antwerp Diamantkwartier, a RL district of gemstone merchants. 😁💎✨

#indieGame #indieGames #easterEgg #easterEggs #crystalGems #StevenUniverse #SU

That's good to know. I will confess to avoiding some video playthroughs for fear of watching less-experienced puzzlers stumble on the challenging parts of the puzzles, but I have a feeling you'll do fine at these!

Sadly I just did a time-zone conversion and I probably won't be able to watch it live due to an appointment happening at the exact same time, but hope it goes well! 👍

An illustrated scene from Puzzle Spy International showing Antwerp's Diamantkwartier, a modern (by 1960s standards) city block with jewelry stores. One sign says "Juewelen" ("jewels" in Dutch) while another says "Crystal Gems." Added to the image is an image of the inspiration for the latter store name: Garnet Amethyst, Pearl and Steven - collectively known as The Crystal Gems - from the show Steven Universe.

Have you spotted any of the several easter eggs and anachronistic nods to other media in Puzzle Spy International? Here's one of my faves from the Antwerp Diamantkwartier, a RL district of gemstone merchants. 😁💎✨

#indieGame #indieGames #easterEgg #easterEggs #crystalGems #StevenUniverse #SU

Super-excited to see Daniel tackle PSI as I know he has a long history with Puzzled Pints ( @puzzledpint.bsky.social ) which is basically what PSI was modeled after! 😄🍺

Making up new words to solve riddles in @agentepsilon.bsky.social

A poster showing Agent Epsilon cheering, some environments from the game, and a yellow background. The text reads: "Reviews for Puzzle Spy International: Puzzle Spy International deserves to be played by way more people... You travel around the world, chatting with an excellent mix of characters... with the option of some flirting, and then solving a tricksy puzzle. And boy, they’re really good puzzles! - John Walker, Kotaku Right away, I was drawn into the story. I like Agent Epsilon, as she's sassy and intelligent (a perfect female main character, I think.) - The Introverted Gamer It's a perfect short-but-sweet puzzle game with an amazing hint system that ensures you never get frustrated! Everything about this game is delightful. The artwork is super cute, the writing is incredibly charming... the music is great, and of course the puzzles! If you're a fan of Puzzled Pint, The Game, the MIT Mystery Hunt, Shinteki, etc. you'll absolutely looooove this game. - Smijin Part of the puzzle is figuring out how to solve it... This is the type of game that you sit with for a while before you reach that satisfying "aha!" moment (or better yet, solve the puzzles together with some friends!) You can tell these puzzles are crafted with care. Along each step of the way, it would blow my mind how the pieces would come together to reveal not just one, but so many layers of puzzles. - AHedgeHug The puzzles have the right amount of difficulty and a new mechanic added to the mix: Hints that don't punish you. It's also not the same puzzle over and over: Each puzzle is a new experience, keeping you engaged and looking for what the next puzzle will bring. - notyourboddhisatva Scratches an itch which needs to be scratched again. The game is short, yes, but the puzzles are genius. Give me more of this please! - ROofdier"

Here are some reviews for Puzzle Spy International. The Launch Sale is still going on for 2 more days so grab it for 15% off while you can!

#puzzleGame #thinkyGame #indieGame #indieGames #sale #launchSale

Visual Novel Vault #1: pretty art Because we always eat good food with our eyes first.

🔒 VISUAL NOVEL VAULT 1: UNLOCKED 🗝️

We have a tremendous love for VNs here at the Big Top Indies circus, so we've dedicated a column just for our favourites!

Tantalizing artwork, tear-jerking storylines, fantastical characters (and foes!) - we love them all!

Here's our first batch of games. Enjoy!

Thanks, Tully! 🐸✨

A poster showing Agent Epsilon cheering, some environments from the game, and a yellow background. The text reads: "Reviews for Puzzle Spy International: Puzzle Spy International deserves to be played by way more people... You travel around the world, chatting with an excellent mix of characters... with the option of some flirting, and then solving a tricksy puzzle. And boy, they’re really good puzzles! - John Walker, Kotaku Right away, I was drawn into the story. I like Agent Epsilon, as she's sassy and intelligent (a perfect female main character, I think.) - The Introverted Gamer It's a perfect short-but-sweet puzzle game with an amazing hint system that ensures you never get frustrated! Everything about this game is delightful. The artwork is super cute, the writing is incredibly charming... the music is great, and of course the puzzles! If you're a fan of Puzzled Pint, The Game, the MIT Mystery Hunt, Shinteki, etc. you'll absolutely looooove this game. - Smijin Part of the puzzle is figuring out how to solve it... This is the type of game that you sit with for a while before you reach that satisfying "aha!" moment (or better yet, solve the puzzles together with some friends!) You can tell these puzzles are crafted with care. Along each step of the way, it would blow my mind how the pieces would come together to reveal not just one, but so many layers of puzzles. - AHedgeHug The puzzles have the right amount of difficulty and a new mechanic added to the mix: Hints that don't punish you. It's also not the same puzzle over and over: Each puzzle is a new experience, keeping you engaged and looking for what the next puzzle will bring. - notyourboddhisatva Scratches an itch which needs to be scratched again. The game is short, yes, but the puzzles are genius. Give me more of this please! - ROofdier"

Here are some reviews for Puzzle Spy International. The Launch Sale is still going on for 2 more days so grab it for 15% off while you can!

#puzzleGame #thinkyGame #indieGame #indieGames #sale #launchSale

Deductopia Trailer YouTube video by Nightwell Games

Deductopia has a trailer! Get the first glimpse of the fun new puzzles you'll get to play when the full game is out!

youtu.be/P3GY9aH3N0E

We would love to be included in this, were we to be deemed worthy. 😁

A time-lapse of my inking the Double Base in Procreate. I leaned heavily on 1950s retro-futuristic architecture - aka “Googie” architecture- for the base design (as did The Jetsons, fyi!)

#gameArt #indieGame #VN #indieGames

@agentepsilon.bsky.social I plan on streaming Puzzle Spy International next Wed. Stream 8pm UK time (UTC+1) - though I'm finishing the last chapter of Paper Trail first, so it'll start about half an hour in. Hoping to do it all in one stream, may split it across two. Really looking forward to it!

A time-lapse of my inking the Double Base in Procreate. I leaned heavily on 1950s retro-futuristic architecture - aka “Googie” architecture- for the base design (as did The Jetsons, fyi!)

#gameArt #indieGame #VN #indieGames

Our cozy record store game launches on May 5th! (That's like... under a month away 😱)

#WishlistWednesday #IndieGame #Records #Vinyls #Narrative

Puzzle Spy International - Release Trailer YouTube video by Michael Dashow

Here's our release trailer, which was released just over a week ago (which also means that the game is still doing its launch sale for the rest of this week!)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLXt...

#indieGame #indieGames #puzzleGame #thinkyGame #trailer

First recap of GLITCHED Women in Game Dev live showcase with these amazing games made by talented women developers.

Let's kick off our first recap of our live showcase with these amazing games made by talented women developers RECAP POST(1/5)

From running a restaurant with roguelike deck building to rhythm adventure to decoding puzzles as an international spy, we have lots of games to share! #gamedev #indiedev

🕵️‍♀️ Puzzle Spy International - Detective adventure following Agent Epsilon chatting up suspicious contacts, decoding cryptograms, and solving wordplay & logic puzzles across the globe! @agentepsilon.bsky.social #puzzlegame #steam

Agent Epsilon - in a mod dress - speaks to Fatima - in an Algerian "haik", white robes that cover all but her eyes and hands. Epsilon asks "It wouldn't be Puzzle Spy International without the puzzles, would it?" They are standing in a city street showing northern African Arabian-influenced architecture.

It's been a week since we launched Puzzle Spy International, and we want to thank everyone who has purchased it, played it, reviewed it, or in any other way supported us and our little game. 😄
(And if you haven't, it's still on sale for another week!)

#indieGame #indieGames #puzzleGame #thinkyGame

A gentle reminder to water your potted humans, especially if you're a forgetful cactus. And to wishlist Prickles on steam store.steampowered.com/app/4038920/... #indiegame #indiegames #indiedev #gamedev #plantcare

Image for: Puzzle Spy International Deserves To Be Played By Way More People

🎮 **Puzzle Spy International Deserves To Be Played By Way More People**

This super-smart collection of puzzles is short but very sweet

📰 Source: Kotaku
🔗 Link: kotaku.com/puzzle-spy-international...

Tangle Tower is $4.19 on GOG buff.ly/uVF8222 #ad