I’ll start off by confessing that I’ve been playing this game off and on for nearly a year.  It’s just one of those games that’s great to pick up and play for a little while, set it down, and come back to it later.  It’s also one of my all-time favorite games for the DS (it’s also available on nearly every other platform), even though it’s far from perfect.  But a game doesn’t have to be “perfect” to be fun, does it?  Even though I’ve finished the story mode, I know I’ll keep playing whenever the “match 3″ bug strikes me, and I’m very eagerly awaiting the true sequel, which promises to do nothing but improve over the first game.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the game, let me enlighten you.  Basically, Puzzle Quest is what happens when a fantasy RPG and a match-3 puzzle (think Bejeweled) have a love child.  From an RPG, you have such staples such as classes/character selection (you pick your character and their class at the beginning of the game), leveling (although leveling is capped at 50), skills, spells, and equipment of all sorts, plus quests and party members, not to mention a story.  The actual gameplay, however, is all match-3 puzzles, although there is variety (not to mention various difficulty levels) to keep things interesting and addictive.

Basically, you travel the map, taking on quests and fighting battles.  Thus, most of the game you will find yourself in a turn-based match-3 game against various opponents.  But it actually is more complex than it may sound.  For example, you have 7 different types of icons in the game grid.  Four are elemental gems (blue/water, red/earth, yellow/air, green/earth), which you collect to power various spells you learn by leveling up or from captured enemies.  The others are coins (which give you money), skulls (which damage your opponent) and purple stars (that do nothing).  As a result, you must strategize, as your opponent will only take damage when you match skulls or cast certain spells.  Also, if you match four or five gems (instead of the usual three), you earn an extra turn and other bonuses.   There’s more to it, but that’s the gist.  Basically, your object is to reduce your enemy’s HP to zero before he does the same to you.  If you do, you win (and get rewarded), if you don’t— well, there’s really no penalty.  Just try again.

To keep things fresh, you can also attempt to capture an enemy (after you’ve defeated that enemy type a certain number of times) by playing a special match game.  You start out (Dr. Mario style) with a certain grouping of gems, stars, and skulls, and you must clear the board in order to successfully capture that enemy.  I personally found these segments some of the most challenging (yet also most satisfying) aspects of the game.  Once you capture an enemy, you have the chance to try to learn a spell or two from him that you can then equip for battle.  It’s a great way to learn some important spells.  Some of these enemies you can use as a mount, which not only speed your travel over the map, but also lend you special defensive abilities and a unique spell you can’t acquire otherwise.  You can “battle” your mount in order to train it and increase its level, which will increase the defensive bonuses you derive from it.

Another aspect of the gameplay is your citadel: your home city, where you can use coins to build various buildings.  You need to build a special building in order to capture prisoners, learn spells from them, forge items, and train mounts.  You can also do battle against cities in order to capture them, which means you’ll have access to all your home town amenities, plus you’ll earn gold for them.  This comes in handy later in the game, especially.

The game has its flaws: the graphics aren’t stellar, it can be a bit buggy, enemies can sometimes seem a little cheap, and the story doesn’t measure up to the depth of most traditional RPGs.  But what Puzzle Quest does is craft an incredibly fun gaming experience that I’m actually surprised hasn’t been done before.  The various characters you meet (including your own protagonist) have surprisingly well-crafted (if cliched) personalities that will have you chuckling every now and then.  I know I’ve said it already, but this game is just fun to play, and there’s so much to do (whether it be the various types of gameplay in the story mode, multiplayer, or puzzle mode), that you will certainly get your value here.

Although I honestly can’t say how long this game is, as I played it over such an extended period of time, but you definitely get a great value.  The puzzle aspect is addictive, and you’ll constantly have yourself saying “just one more” until you look up at the clock and see hours have past.  There’s also much more to the game than I’ve hinted at here, but if you are at all a fan of RPG-lites and especially match-3 games, look no further.  The fact that it constantly auto-saves makes it the perfect game to play for a few minutes while you’re waiting for the bus, or if you just want something light and fun. I know I’m counting down the days until the sequel is released!

Editor’s Note: I played the DS version of the game, although it is also available on PC, Mac, PSP, PS2, 360, Wii, and PS3 (some as digital downloads) – even on iPhone and other cell phones, meaning everyone can enjoy it.  However, I personally do recommend the DS version, as the stylus really comes naturally to sliding the gems around and navigating your character on the map.  I do recommend a screen protector, though, since you’ll have plenty of repeated sliding that could scratch your screen!

Title: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords Publisher: D3 Publisher Developer: 1st Playable Productions / Infinite Interactive Platform(s): DS, PC, Mac, PSP, PS2, PS3, 360, Wii, iPhone, Mobile Release Date: March 20, 2007

Tags: Challenge of Warlords, DS, favorites, Puzzle, Puzzle Quest, RPG

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