Beloved mind-bending puzzle game Superliminal is dirt cheap right now

What makes an incredible puzzle game? To me, it needs to teach you its ideas through gameplay, and ramp up the challenge in a way that makes you forget you’re even learning anything. Portal is the perfect example, but Superliminal expertly continues that approach to design, and it’s one of my favorite experiences the genre has to offer. It’s good that you can grab it for less than $7 right now, then – just don’t wait around.

Superliminal has a simple, but still mind-bending, premise. You make your way through pristine hotel hallways, bathhouses, and dingy rooms, solving forced perspective puzzles and optical illusions. You change the size of chess pieces, look at wall art from a specific angle to create objects, and work with perception in surprising ways to progress. I played it back at launch, and it’s truly a puzzle game that needs to be seen to be believed. With over 22,000 Steam reviews at 94% positive, plenty of other players think you need to play it too.

Classics like The Witness, Portal, and Return of the Obra Dinn all masterfully rewire your brain until their initially obtuse mechanics become second nature, and Superliminal is no different. Your adventure starts with you clumsily changing the size of yellow chess pieces and ends with some of the most visually entrancing game design I’ve ever seen. Developer Pillow Castle pushes the notion of forced perspective and visual trickery to its absolute limit, and this makes Superliminal essential.

Beyond all that, Superliminal is just unlike anything else I’ve ever played. The first time you play Portal there’s this sense of ingenuity that comes over you, and Superliminal does the exact same thing.

Since its launch Pillow Castle has also added free multiplayer, a level editor, and PC-specific features like a challenge mode and developer commentary.

Pillow Castle is selling Suerpliminal at 66% off on Steam until Sunday September 15, so expect to pay $6.79 / £5.26 until then. You can find the game right here.

There are plenty more incredible single-player games for you to try right now, alongside some of the best indie games as well.

You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.