Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords review

We challenge thee to a fight to the death! With coloured balls!

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Nice music

  • +

    VERY addictive gameplay

  • +

    Innovative idea

Cons

  • -

    Boring graphics

  • -

    Not playing the DS version

  • -

    Reading tiny text

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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.

More info

GenrePuzzle
DescriptionHead to head puzzles and single player rewards systems head your way in this portable genre mash-up.
Platform"PSP","DS","PC","PS2","Wii"
US censor rating"Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+"
UK censor rating"","","","",""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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