Puzzle Quest returns after a ten-year absence. Puzzle Quest 3 will once again combine match 3 and RPG with original designer Steve Fawkner at the helm, but this time it will be – possibly uh-oh – free-to-play.
There’s not much to do based on that trailer or press release, which vaguely promises “a twist on the traditional puzzle game” and “an intense 1-on-1 combat system made in a 3D gaming world.”
Match-3 gets a bad rap, but is a little more satisfying in games than matching a pile of stones of the same color. In Puzzle Quest, different types of matches gave the hero different resources that he could then spend on attacks against various fantasy monsters. There was a quickly identified pattern for matching the pattern, but it was more extreme.
I would have been unequivocally delighted with the Puzzle Quest 3 ad if it weren’t for the free game. There are a lot of great examples of F2P games nowadays, but I haven’t seen a model for match-3 games that doesn’t hurt the gaming experience. I play match-3 games to relax, but it’s hard to relax when there’s a limited life or a dwindling energy resource that will either end my game session or ask me to cough up coins to continue.
John wrote a Puzzle Quest 2 review for us in 2010, finding himself forced to continue playing, despite the fact that it is repetitive.
It’s ridiculous that after playing it for days, repeating the same actions over and over again, I know that as soon as I’m done writing, I’ll come back and play a few more. I’m sure what he offers can’t justify my interest in playing it. But I won’t stop. I don’t want to stop. I want to repeat that action. And repeat the action. And repeat the action. And I’m almost disinterested if the context changes.
Puzzle Quest 2 does not appear to be available for purchase anywhere on the PC, being removed from Steam by its publisher, but the original Puzzle Quest is still available. Puzzle Quest 3 has an official website where you can sign up for updates.