You are on a plane, in a waiting room, or somewhere with spotty WiFi. You want a puzzle game that works without an internet connection. The options are more limited than you would think — most browser games require a connection, and most mobile puzzle games are stuffed with ads that need one.

Best puzzle games that work offline

Sudoku apps

Every platform has a dozen Sudoku apps that work offline. The best ones generate puzzles on-device and grade difficulty accurately. Look for apps that teach advanced techniques (X-wings, swordfish) rather than just providing puzzles.

Crossword apps

The NYT Crossword app lets you download puzzles for offline play. A week's worth of puzzles can fill a long flight.

Logic grid apps

Apps like Logic Puzzles by Egghead Games work fully offline and generate puzzles of varying difficulty. Pure deduction, no knowledge required.

Online puzzle games worth your WiFi

If you do have internet access, the best puzzle games are browser-based and blow offline options out of the water in terms of depth and variety. Escape The Website has 28 escape rooms, 5 of them free, where each room is a fake website hiding puzzles in its content. A single Hard room gives you 40-60 minutes of focused problem-solving — more than a dozen Sudoku puzzles.

The best rooms to justify your data plan:

• Coco Donuts — 25 min of cipher decoding. Worth every kilobyte.
• GARMINN — 40 min of data interpretation and acrostic cracking.
• Hotaru no Yado — 90 min. An entire evening of puzzles in one room.

The honest answer

Offline puzzle games are fine for killing 10 minutes. But if you have WiFi, online escape rooms offer a fundamentally different experience — multi-layered puzzles, realistic environments, and the kind of “aha” moments that Sudoku cannot deliver. Try one room and see if you agree.