And no. I don’t mean I improved my marriage with Nicholas by way of Puzzle Quest. Our relationship is fine as wine and dandy as candy. I am saying that Puzzle Quest and I have rekindled that gaming flame. Nick is in no way involved, except for waking me-up, prying the controller out of my sleepy hands, and sending me to bed when I pass-out while playing.

Adorable and deadly…yup. That’s me!

Puzzle Quest is basically a love child of Bejeweled and an old-school RPG. It has traditional story elements that resemble Dungeons and Dragons more than your modern RPG video game. No Tidus or cheesy plot or party here. Hell no. Instead, you pick a profession and save the the world pretty much highhandedly.  My character is a knight named Printess, and she’s a bad ass.

Because this game is more focused on battle than plot, I get a little detached from the story. Normally, I would think this is a bad thing, but not with Puzzle Quest. I actually love this about the game. With many RPGs, if you get busy and don’t play for a while, it can be impossible to jump-back-in from where you left off. You’ll be like “Shit. I have no idea what’s going on! What’s going on!?!?!”

Puzzle Quest keeps it real and keeps it simple. I am on a journey to save my people, and low and behold, I have to help lots of other lazy or helpless jerks to get to that end boss, who no surprise here, wants to take over the whole world (not just my peeps). After months of not playing, I can start slaying orcs and zombies and griffons and not miss a beat. When I get back into Puzzle Quest, I go all the way, playing for hours at a time, zoned-out and completely unaware of time and space, and when I stop I  see the gems and skulls on the board when I close my eyes for the next few hours. It’s awesome.

What I Like About This Game

• The battle system is easy-to-learn and addictive
• You can jump into this game even if you haven’t played in months.
• I can capture creatures like pokemon and ride them and use their spells!
• There are variations to the puzzle game to keep it fresh (Researching spells, forging items, battles and capturing enemies)
• The replay-ability is high, and there are tons of extra quests
• You can battle friends, and it’s hella fun!

What I Don’t Like About This Game

• The battles take a long time, so don’t expect to play this game for just a minute or two.
• The music track isn’t annoying, but it is short and therefore repeated A LOT.
• All the names of places and people are weird, and I don’t remember them.
• Researching spells is agonizing.
• I wish the sequel was more like the original

So, now I’m off to sit in that amazing, over-sized, pillow chair that my roommate brought into my house, and I’m going to play Puzzle Quest until I either win or fall asleep, whichever comes first! I lie. I’m actually playing D&D with my crew tonight, but tomorrow night it is on!