Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords review

Jan 8, 2008

If you missed it on DS, Puzzle Quest is a puzzle game and an RPG. You engage in takey-turney battles, casting spells, buying weapons and leveling up your mage or warrior or whatever, just like in a traditional RPG. But the ‘battles’ are competitive rounds of ball-matching puzzling in the vein of Bejeweled and Zoo Keeper.

It is, clearly, a very silly idea. And there’s something about the po-faced medieval trappings of Puzzle Quest that really gives us the giggles. But- honestly- it works. The puzzling’s great: you deal damage by linking up rows of skulls, and the balance of skill and luck- along with the massive combos you can rack up as the grid refills- makes it feel like a proper hard-fought scrap. More than that, the depth is astonishing. Linking up coloured balls builds power for spells; matching coins earns cash for ability-enhancing items; you can ‘fight’ to conquer cities then build workshops to research new items… there’s so much going on.