Thoughtful puzzle games

A quieter place to play.

We’re here for the sort of puzzle that makes you stop, think and have one more go. That might be a word game, a riddle or a clever bit of logic. Some we make ourselves. Others are simply too good not to share.

Word, number, riddle and logic puzzles for unhurried play.

Our philosophy

Games can ask for your attention without demanding it.

A puzzle should give you a reason to stay, not punish you for leaving. No ads barging in, no notifications pulling you back and no manufactured urgency.

  1. I

    Quiet by design

    The puzzle gets the stage. Everything else knows when to step back.

  2. II

    Made with care

    Words, sounds, transitions, the feel of a tap—we fuss over all of it.

  3. III

    Curiosity over competition

    The best moment isn’t beating someone else. It’s when the answer finally clicks.

Also in the Meadow

Another quiet puzzle, with words instead of numbers.

StillWords app icon

StillWords

The answer is in front of you. Twice.

Solve a literary riddle, then hunt down its answer in the letter grid. Some puzzles leave you with a haiku worth keeping. Play on iPhone, iPad or Mac.

A StillWords riddle above a tranquil landscape.

From the journal

In the Meadow

Old machines, clever clues and the occasional design rabbit hole. Stories about where puzzles came from and why we keep coming back to them.

Visit the meadow
Two newspaper workers examine a freshly printed proof beside a press in a London newspaper office in 1944

Puzzle history ·

The Crossword in Wartime

In 1944, D-Day codewords appeared in a newspaper crossword and brought MI5 to a schoolmaster's door. The true story is stranger—and less tidy—than the legend.

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Close-up of a partly completed printed Sudoku with handwritten numbers filling several cells

Puzzle design ·

Why Some Puzzles Feel Fair

A difficult puzzle can be merciless and still feel fair. The difference is not kindness. It is whether the puzzle keeps its promises.

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Matchsticks arranged on a pale surface to form the figures nine and six with a minus sign between them

Puzzle psychology ·

What Makes an “Aha” Moment?

Pine, crab, sauce. Sometimes a puzzle answer arrives whole and feels instantly right. Psychology has been studying that strange little jolt.

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The Meadow

More puzzle games will grow here—slowly, on purpose.

Each one needs a clear idea, a fair challenge and the good sense to get out of your way. No ads. No streaks. No invented emergencies. StillWords was the first. SUM has joined it. The meadow can keep growing at its own pace.

Why Puzzle Meadow exists