The Best Free Online Puzzle Computer Games

Gamers who like to think might occasionally be frustrated with the current crop of shoot 'em ups and sports games that tend to be the top selling console titles. However, there's plenty of free online puzzle games available for those who knows how to look. Whether you like classic brick clearing Tetris like games, or logic puzzles there's plenty of options available to those who like to have their brain challenged.

Here are a few of the top online games for fans of the genre. All of these titles are completely free to play, so go wild!

Online puzzle games can take many shapes and sizes.   Some are reminiscent of classic online games such as Tetris.  Others require players to balance blocks, solve tricky puzzles, or use spacial awareness to solve puzzles.  These are all free video games available via web either through flash based browsers or for download.

SHIFT 3

Shift 3 is an action-puzzle game with an emphasis on the puzzle.  What starts out as a normal case of "walk to the door and escape" quickly becomes a difficult brain teaser when you discover that the game is really a mind blowing puzzle game.  Press shift to turn the entire map upside down and wander either the white or black side of the room.

Taking place in a giant maze, players will back track to open gates and collect keys while constantly thinking about how best to reach the next area.  This unique free online video game is perfect for anyone who likes mind-bending puzzles mixed with just a little bit of platforming.

Cargo Bridge

A personal favorite, Cargo Bridge is like civil engineering for laypeople.  In this one-of-a-kind free online puzzle game, players take the role of a bridge builders looking to connect various land masses.  Players will have to carefully construct bridges using regular and connecting pieces.  More difficult than it might seem, this free video game will challenge gamers to rethink how they see the world as they attempt to build bridges across oddly shaped land masses.

A word to the wise: the strongest shape in nature is the triangle, so try and base your bridge around this natural support structure.

The Impossible Quiz

A bit of an absurdity, The Impossible Quiz is part puzzle game and part random humor. Consisting mainly of twisted logic puzzles, this free online video game should be enough to trick anyone into wasting an hour or two trying to make it to the end. Unapologetic about its difficulty, The Impossible Quiz will almost certainly be sending most players back to the start time and again. But as you learn the methods to this game's madness, you'll begin to think just like this crazy game - for good or ill.

Portal: The Flash Version

What happens when you take one of the all time great game, Portal and make it 2D and free online? The answer Portal: The Flash Version . Just like in the regular portal, players can create portals that allow them to travel across space instantly but don't change the characters momentum.

This unique physics puzzle game takes the top selling PC and Console game and makes it a free online video game. Run around, solve puzzles, and probably die a few times. It isn't as great as the 3D game its based on, but for a free puzzle game this good, there should be no complaints.

Achievement Unlocked

Outwardly a critique on the influx of useless and pointless achievements in video games that serve no purpose other than to give players a false sense of accomplishment, Achievement Unlocked has a very deep puzzle game hidden beneath the surface.  The game tests how far one room can really take a video game.  Explore all the nooks and crannies and test every possibility to earn all of the achievements and use your noodle to figure out exactly what some of the more obtuse achievements require of you.

Hit the comments and let everyone know what the best free online puzzle games you've found are. Next up: Free Online Zombie Games