Play Puzznic Online

Alright, so Puzznic on the NES is one of those puzzle games that seems simple at first—until you realize you've been staring at the same screen for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to clear those last two blocks. You control a little crosshair that slides blocks left or right, and if there's nothing underneath them, they'll drop. The goal? Match blocks of the same design to make them vanish. Sounds easy, right? Nope.

Things get messy fast. Some levels have moving platforms that force you to time your moves perfectly, or you'll trap yourself. Others throw odd-numbered block groups at you—took me forever to realize you can sometimes set up a chain reaction by leaving a gap between two blocks so a third one bridges them all. And don't even get me started on the floating platforms or gaps where you need to build makeshift staircases just to reach a block. It's the kind of game where you'll accidentally corner yourself and groan, "Well, that's a life gone."

What's cool, though, is how the levels branch. After every four screens, you pick one of two paths, so the game sprawls out into this weird grid—220 levels total. The timer's always ticking, and you only get three lives, so no pressure or anything. Just expect to retry a lot. (Worth it when you finally nail that one stubborn level, though.)