A while back, Poppy, in her attempts to find a fun puzzle video game she could play, purchased for herself Puzzle Quest for the DS, with the understanding that it was essentially Bejeweled, a game wherein one must match horizontal or vertical lines of three or more of the same-colored objects by swapping adjacent objects on a large grid. Upon starting up Puzzle Quest, however, and discovering that in involved wizards and fighting and leveling up, Poppy quickly realized it wasn't the game for her. So, it fell into my hands. And now, I am addicted.
Because, you see, I'd been interested in this game myself since Peccable first told me about it. I find Bejeweled by itself to be an addictive enough game, but Puzzle Quest is also a fantasy RPG, another genre I'm addicted to. And in this RPG, combat, along with practically every other task (acquiring experience, acquiring money, capturing a monster, learning a new spell) is performed by playing an item-matching game. Certain items, when matched, get you more money, others get you more experience, while most net you more mana of a particular type, which you can then make use of to cast spells that have various affects on you, your enemy, or on the board.
The game, even at normal difficulty, is pretty challenging, but not so much so that it leaves you frustrated or annoyed. On the contrary, it definitely keeps you coming back for more. In fact, it seeps into your brain. I find myself now, any time my brain is idle, randomly imagining swapping colored items into matching lines of three or more. What is it about puzzle games that do that to you? I find if I play Tetris a lot, I start trying to fit block shapes into each other in my head.
Of course, maybe I'm just crazy.
Oh, also, I just read that Puzzle Quest: Challenge of theWarlords is going to come out for the Wii, too, now. I am very excited, but also a little afraid.
Anyway, I think I'll go play some more Puzzle Quest now... |
by Fëanor
