Winding down with a quiet puzzle game before sleep

SOLO GAMES / RELAXING

Relaxing games to play in bed

No clock, no fail state, no notification chasing you. Two games built for the last twenty minutes of the day, and they work in airplane mode.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

7

solo games

4

new puzzles daily

Free

to play

Block Party endless block puzzle in Gameyard
The Unpinned title screen in Gameyard, its wordmark on pinned letter tiles

What makes a game restful rather than just easy

Two things ruin a wind-down game: a timer, and a loss state that punishes you for stopping. Block Party has neither. It is endless block placement — three pieces at a time, no clock, no pressure — one long run you can abandon at any moment without losing anything. It was built as the 1 a.m. game rather than the peak-of-the-night one, and it plays like it.

Unpinned is the other kind of calm: a corkboard of layered, pinned-up clutter that comes apart in the right order. There is a puzzle in it, but no rush, and the palette is warm rather than neon. Mixer, from The Dailies, is the third option if you want a small finish line before you put the phone down.

THE BEDSIDE SETUP

Airplane mode on, brightness down. Every one of these runs on the device, so nothing loads, nothing buffers and nothing pings you mid-run.

How to wind down with it

1

Airplane mode on — none of these need a connection, so nothing can interrupt.

2

Open Block Party for an endless run with no clock and nothing to lose by stopping.

3

Or Unpinned, if you’d rather have a board that finishes.

4

One last small win? Mixer, from the day’s four puzzles, then put it down.

Quiet on a screen

The Unpinned corkboard mid-unpin, Mixer’s warm bar shelf, and a conga line drawn slowly across the floor.

The Unpinned corkboard puzzle in GameyardMixer balanced-grid puzzle in GameyardConga path-tracing puzzle in Gameyard

Something calm before the light goes off.

All seven solo games are free. iOS and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Fair questions.

What are good relaxing games to play in bed?

Ones with no timer and no punishing loss state. Block Party is endless block placement with no clock at all, and Unpinned is a warm, layered corkboard puzzle you take apart at your own pace. Both are free, single-player and work offline.

Are there games with no timer?

Block Party has no clock and no fail-pressure — it is one long run chasing a high score, and stopping costs you nothing. Unpinned and the four daily puzzles are untimed too; only Candy Rush plays against the belt.

What can I play with no internet before sleep?

All seven Gameyard solo games run entirely on the device. Put the phone in airplane mode and everything still works, including the day’s four puzzles, which are generated locally from your own date.

Are these games free?

Yes — all seven solo games are free to play and never behind the paywall. The subscription covers ad removal and the Daily Yard’s puzzle archive, never access to a game.

More ways to play alone

Offline & no WiFi→All seven games with the radio off: planes, subways, dead zones.Daily puzzles→The Dailies, puzzle by puzzle: Yard, VIP, Conga, Mixer.When you’re bored→Time-killers that respect the wait: Candy Rush, Block Party.THE FULL LINEUPSolo games →All seven single-player games, plus the four daily puzzles.

Not on your own tonight? Party games for the room, or couples games for exactly two.