Backlog 365: Day 16 - Puzzle Kingdoms

For Backlog 365 I plan on playing one game on my backlog everyday this year and write about it. For each game I will decide if I want to put it on my "Shelved" list (games that I plan to come back to and play in depth) or put it on the "Retired" list (games that I will delete or sell and move on with my life).

• January 16
• PC
• Time Played: 42 minutes

There are so many of these Puzzle Quest style games these days. Each one has some kind of gimmick, but they are all basically the same thing. Every time I see one of these games I get suckered in, and I never end up liking them. (There are at least a couple more of these games on my backlog.) I feel like I'm chasing the Puzzle Quest dragon, I loved that game so much and I'm just trying to get that high one more time. So will Puzzle Kingdoms do it? Will it finally be the battle match-3 game that I'm looking for?

Nope.

Puzzle Kingdoms' gimmick is that each row and column can be slid one spot. On the border, you see what kind of tile is next. Finally, any adjacent 3 titles will match, so you can match in an L pattern. In theory the game works. The changes to the match game really makes you feel like you have more control over that board - it's easy to plan ahead and it feels like there is less random screw jobs. But, that mechanic is not enough to make Puzzle Kingdoms stand out. I was bored within 30 minutes.

Judgement: Retired