Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 18 of 45 puzzle games by recommenders
Free, ad-free collection of classic logic puzzles that people play on many devices; critics say it is not as good as hand-crafted puzzles.
Free, ad-free collection of classic logic puzzles that people play on many devices; critics say it is not as good as hand-crafted puzzles.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Varied logic puzzles people enjoy
“I've always loved Simon Tatham's puzzle collection — especially Bridges, Slitherlink, and Signpost.”
Comment from 27 Feb 2026 on Hacker News “Yeah, this collection is _awesome_. I'm currently enjoying the Towers”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Got sick of ads, so I made my own logic puzzle site” “This is how most of Simon Tatham's puzzles work, and that works well.”
Comment from 27 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Reverse Minesweeper” Long-time fans recommend it
“the main iOS app is a little wonky in places”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Got sick of ads, so I made my own logic puzzle site” “Huge fan of this collection”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Pell Puzzles Review” Available on many devices
“It is part of Simon Tatham's puzzle collection, it also has an app on F-Droid”
Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Pegma, an open-source version of the classic Peg solitaire” “I install Simon's collection on every device of mine”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Got sick of ads, so I made my own logic puzzle site” Pure logic, guaranteed solvable
“mines.exe is guaranteed to be solvable every time”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Triple-A Minesweeper” “100% pure logic goodness that they are”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “10 years: Stephen's Sausage Roll still one of the most influential puzzle games”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Not as good as hand-crafted puzzles
“I love that Simon Tatham's Puzzles exists, but nothing beats hand-crafted puzzles made by good designers.”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “10 years: Stephen's Sausage Roll still one of the most influential puzzle games” “it really just isn't quite as good”
Comment from 1 Feb 2026 in “Nonograms: A practical guide with interactive examples”
Other puzzle games people recommend
The four most recommended other puzzle games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outer Wilds | 65 | 7 | 90% | 9 | — | Approved |
| enclose.horse | 64 | 10 | 86% | 4 | — | Approved |
| The Witness | 60 | 19 | 76% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Braid | 36 | 5 | 88% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle CollectionThis page | 14 | 2 | 88% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
14 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Huge fan of this collection”
“mines.exe is guaranteed to be solvable every time”
“This is how most of Simon Tatham's puzzles work, and that works well.”
“Yeah, this collection is _awesome_. I'm currently enjoying the Towers”
“I install Simon's collection on every device of mine”
“Strong +1 to Simon Tatham's puzzle collection.”
“the main iOS app is a little wonky in places”
“Playing the Hard mode is teaching me new patterns.”
“I love that Simon Tatham's Puzzles exists, but nothing beats hand-crafted puzzles made by good designers.”
“100% pure logic goodness that they are”
“I've always loved Simon Tatham's puzzle collection — especially Bridges, Slitherlink, and Signpost.”
“it really just isn't quite as good”
“like my app it is also free, has no ads, etc”
“It is part of Simon Tatham's puzzle collection, it also has an app on F-Droid”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.