The Games of my Life

For the last few days, the only cartridge inside my Nintendo DS has been this game: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, by Infinite Interactive, authors of the Warlords and Warlords Battlecry series.

From everything I’ve seen, this game has had very little promotion, and has been relatively hard to find. But most reviews have been quite good (either 8/10 or 9/10), and most people online speak highly of the game as well.

If I was to concisely explain to someone what the game is like, I’d say the following:

• 50% Bejeweled (the basic “match 3″ game);
• 30% Warlords Battlecry 3 (the setting, the RPG elements);
• 20% Magic: the Gathering (the accumulating of several colors of mana to cast spells, the damage system).

The game is basically an RPG, with classes, character progression, a fantasy world, monsters to fight, skills, hit points, experience, money, weapons and other items, NPC companions, trainable mounts, and a story. However, the battles are basically competitive Bejeweled-like matches. The main difference is, of course, the fact that you are battling an opponent, but sharing a board, so, while you want to play a good move, you have to avoid setting up good moves for your opponent, since you both take turns. And it’s a little more complex than Bejeweled, since, while you still have to match 3 pieces, they have several effects:

• colored jewels give you mana of that color;
• coins give you money (used outside combat, to buy equipment and improve your citadel);
• stars give you experience points;
• skulls damage your opponent.

Instead of switching two pieces, you can also cast a spell, provided you have the required mana. Each class has its own spells, and you can also learn additional ones from monsters.

The story is standard fantasy fare, neither very good nor very bad. The world, however, is quite detailed, since it has been used for several Warlords / Battlecry games so far.

The game is out for the DS (the version I have) and the PSP. Incidentally, there is a PC demo, but the game hasn’t been announced for the PC yet (though it probably will, in the future).

I recommend this game if you like either genre (RPG or “match three”). It has a huge “just one more battle / quest / level” factor, and it’s one you’ll probably play for a long while, even after you beat the main quest (both because there are other classes to try, and because instant battles are always fun).