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What are the best puzzle websites?

This question is subjective, but I'd like to know what other people think. There are lots of puzzle websites, some great, some not so great. I know about (and like) XKCD Puzzles, and, of course, Puzzling.SE.

Name 1 or 2 or 3 that you like to use or that you use often. I want to read through lots of data of people's opinions on this to widen my puzzle base. Feel free to add explanations or anything you have found. Or if there are great sources for puzzles that are not online, mention those as well.

Finally, would this question be better on the actual Puzzling.SE website, rather than the meta site, since technically, the meta site is for talking about the actual site, and not so much for general questions?

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    $\begingroup$ This question is off-topic for meta because it is not about puzzling.SE. It could work on puzzling.SE, but it might be too broad in its current form. $\endgroup$
    – Julian Rosen
    Commented Apr 25, 2015 at 17:48
  • $\begingroup$ @JulianRosen So, there is no forum for this question? It cannot be accommodated? I didn't post it on Puzzling.SE because I thought it would be both downvoted and closed, although it is perfectly relevant. "Too broad" is a dumb reason because the questioner WANTS a broad range of answers. $\endgroup$
    – JLee
    Commented Apr 25, 2015 at 21:39
  • $\begingroup$ If you are worried about the response this might get on puzzling.SE, you could post a question on meta asking if it is on-topic. I found this meta discussion about community reference questions, but it is pretty old. $\endgroup$
    – Julian Rosen
    Commented Apr 25, 2015 at 23:47
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    $\begingroup$ @JulianRosen Isn't that what I did already, in the last sentence of my post above? $\endgroup$
    – JLee
    Commented Apr 26, 2015 at 0:01
  • $\begingroup$ I think Stack Exchange discourages opinion-based questions and requests for lists of resources. Some communities decide to support resource collection questions, but I don't know whether this community has. If I were you, I'd try starting a conversation on chat. $\endgroup$
    – Don Kirkby
    Commented May 6, 2022 at 19:24

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This is my kind of question! Here are a few I've been to in the past:

Challenge Sites:

  • Brainquest - Very good but puzzle quality can vary (the site is primarily Slovak, but has an English translation. However some of the English translations are poor. If that bothers you, then don't use this site!).
  • Gekko - Ten nice puzzles.
  • Notpron - Takes a while before it gets interesting, but good nonetheless.
  • mathChall - Unfortunately it is mostly very easy, but still could be fun, I guess.
  • TheBlacksheep - Heavy computer-puzzle bias, but amazing site if you like that stuff.
  • Rankk - Has a bias towards computer-puzzle type questions, but overall very high quality.
  • OddPawn - This is the only one on the list which I haven't extensively been on, but I've played a bit and it's quite nice.

Archived Puzzle Collections:

  • MIT Mystery Hunt - Has quite a variety of good puzzles. Some are very creative, but you may have to dig a bit to unearth the gems.
  • SUMS Puzzle Hunt - Nice puzzles. Not much else to say.
  • Perplex City - An old ARG (which is no longer running) which is basically puzzles that used to be sold on cards, now available in an archive on the internet. Some very nice puzzles, but some of the harder puzzles can tend to be stretching the lateral-thinking bit too far.

This is just a small sample of what's out there, but these are some of my favorite puzzle places to go. :)

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    $\begingroup$ I think turning this answer into a community-wiki is an excellent idea. +1 for ...ah... everybody? $\endgroup$
    – BmyGuest
    Commented May 3, 2015 at 18:52
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Here are some more sites, most of them primarily focused on riddles.

  • The Riddler's Den - A newish site with classic-style poetic riddles, but not actual classics that everyone already knows. At any time there's one unsolved riddle and other earlier ones complete with fully explained solutions; a new riddle is released every Friday. Discussion on Twitter and Reddit is available.

  • Tolkien Trail Riddles - Starts off with the famous Bilbo-and-Gollum riddles from Tolkien's Hobbit, with a section below for riddles submitted and sent in by people who visit this page. Part of a RPG-type site set in Middle-Earth.

  • 50 Riddles Quiz - A list of 50 riddles, mainly classics (old chestnuts), with a challenge to solve them all within 20 minutes.

  • The Temple of Quetzalcoatl - An RPG-type site (OK, I'm stretching the definition of RPG here!) where you need to solve one puzzle in order to proceed to the next. The puzzles here are a variety, including riddles but also logic puzzles, number puzzles, word puzzles, and others. The site is run by one of Puzzling.SE's top users.

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  • $\begingroup$ "Maintained" is a bit of a stretch. I haven't added a new puzzle in like 8 months. $\endgroup$
    – user88
    Commented Apr 27, 2015 at 6:08
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    $\begingroup$ @JoeZ. Well, you maintain its presence on the internet at least! :-) I've edited now for the sake of the pedants. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Apr 27, 2015 at 7:40
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    $\begingroup$ Could you edit in disclosure for your affiliation with Riddlers' Den, if you're involved? $\endgroup$
    – user20
    Commented Apr 28, 2015 at 2:45
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Here are some excellent collections that mostly feature mathematical puzzles:

  • The Puzzle Toad - By far the most charming collection of puzzles, with cute stories, often with an algorithmic flavor. Averages puzzle is hard, and includes carefully written solutions.

  • Wu::Riddles - A very large collection of puzzles of varying difficulty. There is also an associated forum, where almost every puzzle has its own discussion page.

  • Delightful Puzzles - Another good site, containing most of the classics, as well as solutions.

  • CSE Blog - Very large collection, each puzzle has a comment thread with user's solutions. Downside is that it is hard to browse, upside is that he continues to post new puzzles every so often.

  • Gazette of the Australian Mathematical Society - Not strictly a puzzle website, but the online archive of a math magazine, where Volumes 34 and later feature a Puzzle Corner. There are five or six questions per issue, and solutions two issues later. Very difficult, very rewarding!

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