Mystery Tower

About

Mystery Tower is a puzzle platformer built around rearranging L-shaped blocks to create paths through 64 stacked floors. Each level requires shifting and balancing these blocks to form stairs leading to an exit. Some floors lock until you gather crystal balls, while others hide collectibles for extra points. Sparse enemy encounters add tension, but the focus stays on spatial reasoning. Controls are tight and responsive, letting you rotate and move pieces with precision. The game lived as a Japan-only title for decades before arriving on Nintendo Switch Online in 2023. Originally released in 1986, it’s a relic of early puzzle design with a modern cult following, user forums rate it 4.5/5 for its clever, incremental difficulty curve. While the graphics feel dated, the core mechanics remain sharp and addictive. Short levels encourage quick retries, making it easy to tackle in short bursts. Simple rules, deep challenges, and a cryptic archaeologist protagonist waiting at the top keep it fresh.

Storyline

In the beginning, an archaeologist and explorer known as Indiana Borgnine is in search of the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon. After reading some lost scriptures, he determines that the only way to see them is to travel to the very top of the 64-story Tower of Babel. Upon reaching the Tower, he discovers that the only way to access the floors above him are to solve some challenging puzzles involving loose L-shaped blocks that he finds throughout the Tower. To his great surprise, the blocks are capable of balancing very well on top of one another, in order to form staircases.