Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
PlayStation Portable Europe box art.
Developer(s)	Engine Software 1st Playable Productions
Publisher(s)	D3 Publisher
Release date(s)	EU: 2007-03-16 NA: 2007-03-20
Genre(s)	Puzzle RPG
Mode(s)	single player, multiplayer
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable
Media	Nintendo DS Game Card, Universal Media Disc

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable game developed by Engine Software & 1st Playable Productions for the DS and Vicious Cycle for the PSP based on a design by Infinite Interactive and published by D3 Publisher. The game combines RPG with strategy and puzzle elements. A personal computer version is still being developed^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Gameplay

Puzzle Quest has a persistent, original story presented as a fantasy role-playing game, which is uncommon for a puzzle game. The player selects one of four professions at the start of the game which determines which spells they will learn as they gain levels. The player takes on quests as both part of the main story as well as side quests in order to gain experience and gold. Gold can be used to buy equipment to help in battle or to build up a citadel that unlocks additional content and customization for the character.

The fighting is all done by turn based puzzle action similar to Bejeweled or Zoo Keeper. The player and the computer-controlled opponent take turns to swap the position of two horizontally or vertically adjacent tiles on a grid to make a row or column of 3 like tiles; these tiles are removed with various effects as listed below, and all tiles above them drop to fill the spaces, with new tiles created at the top of the board. If, by this action, a new row or column of three is formed, this is also removed and the chain can continue indefinitely. An extremely long chain can earn the player additional bonuses.

Titles have 4 basic forms:

Colored tiles (red, yellow, green, blue) represent mana; for each tile removed, the character gains one mana of that color. There are also wildcard mana tiles with a multiplier, that will clear any of these colors with the amount of mana received increased by that multiplier.
Experience tiles (purple) grant the player additional experience after the battle is completed.
Gold tiles earn money for the player
Skull tiles will directly damage the other player. At times, some skulls will glow, and will cause more damage as well as taking out all the tiles around it.

Should a player get a row or column of 4 or more tiles, they will get an extra turn; a row or column of 5 will also make a wildcard tile appear.

As the player gains mana, they can opt to cast a spell that they have enough power for instead of swapping a tile. Spell affects include direct offensive damage to the other player, defensive spells, ones that affect certain tiles on the board, ones that make the other player skip a turn, and many more. Some spells will have more power with more mana that is collected. As the player gains levels and distributes skill points, they can alter the benefits of tiles clearing, such as getting additional mana when a certain color tile is cleared. Similar effects are provided by the armor, weapons, and accessories the player can purchase or gain prior to battle.

A player that makes an illegal move get self-inflicted damage and the turn cedes to the other player. Should no legal move be possible, the board is cleared and each player losses all their mana.

Once either the player or computer opponent runs out of life, the battle is over. For battles that are part of the main quest, the player may lose out on a beneficial items as the quest is gone forever, while side quest battles can be reattempted.