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[Glic2000]

The only place I've ever heard Spacechem mentioned is in these forums. 

[C.A. Sinner]

There was a thread for spacechem when it came out and paul eres mentions it occasionally (like in this thread)

[J-Snake]

Also: Hana no Puzzle is the best puzzle game of the current century.

You are wrong because my puzzle-game will be released next year.

[moi]

Are you talking about Trap them? Because when I hear about Trap Them I'm PUMPED UP.
I can't wait, next year is too far away. I want this game to revolutionnize me RIGHT NOW

[Danmark]

Braid and Portal are easier than typical puzzle games, in part because they involve no trial-and-error gameplay (or is it the other way around?). They're also more visceral than puzzle games tend to be, because in both cases, the player controls a single character in a world with realis(h)tic physics.

They're not necessarily better games for those reasons, just more broadly appealing.

[J-Snake]

An easy puzzle-game is a bad puzzle-game.

- J-Snake

[stevesan]

Braid and Portal are easier than typical puzzle games, in part because they involve no trial-and-error gameplay (or is it the other way around?). They're also more visceral than puzzle games tend to be, because in both cases, the player controls a single character in a world with realis(h)tic physics.

They're not necessarily better games for those reasons, just more broadly appealing.

I think the physicality and visceral-ness is important. It gives their mechanics immediate context, and thus they are more mind blowing. They're part puzzle-game and part fantasy fulfillment.

[stevesan]

Braid and Portal are easier than typical puzzle games, in part because they involve no trial-and-error gameplay (or is it the other way around?). They're also more visceral than puzzle games tend to be, because in both cases, the player controls a single character in a world with realis(h)tic physics.

They're not necessarily better games for those reasons, just more broadly appealing.

I think the physicality and visceral-ness is important. It gives their mechanics immediate context, and thus they are more mind blowing. They're part puzzle-game and part fantasy fulfillment.

Now that I think about it some more, yeah, the fantasy fulfillment part really makes them stand-out. You control a character in a physical world, but that character has some amazing "Wouldn't it be cool.." ability. This is in contrast to a lot of puzzle games that either 1) take place in an abstracted space, such as a gridded board, or 2) do not actually give you an amazing ability - just some ability (like block-pushing games. Push blocks around..sounds super exciting, right?). Video games have a unique ability to provide these physically-realized fantasies.

[PompiPompi]

For one thing, they are "action puzzles". They are not pure puzzles, they have an element of interaction that "pure" puzzles don't have. I think that alone make them more approachable to people who usually arn't that interested in puzzle games.
There is also the great unique polish\style.

But what makes them so special is their "first use" of a certain mechanic in a puzzle game. Many games have new mechanics, but their mechanics and gameplay are so unique and "never have seen before" that they stand out.
They are so rare, because it's extremly difficult to think of a new untapped mechanic like this. The more time pass, the harder it is to find new mechanics and things that havn't been done before. That is why I think they are so succesful.

[st33d]

They both have a very clever and difficult to program mechanic.

It's no doubt very inspiring to work with those tools when you put your level designer hat on.

[stevesan]

They both have a very clever and difficult to program mechanic.

It's no doubt very inspiring to work with those tools when you put your level designer hat on.

This is true as well. They're almost magical when you first see them, and even more so when you first play with them. Far more magical than block pushing puzzles and the such.

[J-Snake]

It seems just to be the turn-back-time-feature in Braid. I am a magician, I can do this too.