The Talos Principle
Hacker ApprovedRanked 22 of 45 puzzle games by recommenders
Puzzle game people praise for strong physics-based puzzles, immersive world and good sense of achievement; the UE5 re-release performs poorly for some, and a few find it contrived.
Puzzle game people praise for strong physics-based puzzles, immersive world and good sense of achievement; the UE5 re-release performs poorly for some, and a few find it contrived.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 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
Strong physics-based puzzles
“a lot more immersive and have an actual point and have better physics based puzzles and an actual story”
Comment from 19 Dec 2025 in “Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles” “I find those superior in puzzle mechanics, sense of achievement and playing dynamics.”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles” “for me Talos Principle (both 1 and 2) is peak puzzle genre.”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles” Beautiful environments
“Compared to generic Serious Sam like maps of TP1”
Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “Making Video Games in 2025 (without an engine)” “Talos Principle (UE5) looks dramatically better than SS”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Making Video Games in 2025 (without an engine)” Favourite unusual budget puzzle game
“more unusual games out there with reasonable budgets, like ... The Talos Principle”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “Rainbow Six Siege Hacked as Players Get Billions of Credits and Random Bans” “for me Talos Principle (both 1 and 2) is peak puzzle genre.”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles” “the Talos Principle games are some of my favourites”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “In a genre where spoilers are devastating, how do we talk about puzzle games?”
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 |
| The Talos PrincipleThis page | 12 | 4 | 75% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
13 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I found beautiful environments of TP2 really added another level of appreciation to the game”
“Compared to generic Serious Sam like maps of TP1”
“So much needless vast (pretty) landscape you had to circumnavigate just to get to the next puzzle arena.”
“Was kind of underwhelmed by the graphics too.”
“re-released it with UE5, and now it performs like doggy doodoo”
“Talos Principle (UE5) looks dramatically better than SS”
“the Talos Principle games are some of my favourites”
“more unusual games out there with reasonable budgets, like ... The Talos Principle”
“Talos Principle is good but a bit contrived.”
“a lot more immersive and have an actual point and have better physics based puzzles and an actual story”
“for me Talos Principle (both 1 and 2) is peak puzzle genre.”
“I find those superior in puzzle mechanics, sense of achievement and playing dynamics.”
“It's actually really sweet and cute.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.