Puzzle Quest

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=75377


I must say I've been playing this for a while now, and it just gets etterer and betterer. Wrapping an RPG around a sophisticated "bejewelled puzzler" has really got me hooked. Its got all the things ou want in an RPG, levelling, items, quests, taverns and crafting(!), lus its got an RTS-lite style city building aspect. Its quick enough to play on short journeys and involved enough over time to still be of interest, and not just a novelty. I suppose your mileage will depend if you like the "bejewelled match 3 or more style play". The cunning thing is, the four coloured orbs are mana, and you have certain skills/spells you can cast only if you have collected the correct mana to fuel it. Also you only do damage to the enemy you're fighting against, if you match up the skulls, and do your best to prevent setting up your enemy for skull matches. Each opponent seems to have specials of their own, which adds a lot to the change in strategy you have to adopt, making each matching session slightly different. Along with bonus quests where its more like a traditional puzzle, and you have to find the correct solution to clear the map, there are also crafting puzzles where the objective is to take out hammers and anvils, to boost your chances to create a special item. For a surprisingly simple match 3 formula, they've managed to weave a lot of
variations into the mix, and theme it with a good dose of fantasy RPG.

Zenerchi

If you like the match 3 sort of games, and want something a little different, then this is a blast.

http://www.reflexive.com/Zenerchi.html

Its based on spinning wheels, to  match the 3 or more coloured tiles, and then dump them out through a central reserve for points. There are blocking tiles, and holding tiles, and energy balls that link two wheels together. If you match 5 you get a powertile, which can be saved for extra points at the tally up, or you can double click it to take out its surrounding tiles. Useful for ridding yourself of troublesome blockers.

It has a fairly slow intro tutorial to get you into the swing of it, and it runs two modes a timed mission/level based one, and a zen mode which just lets you continue until you attain the victory condition. It seems overly simple to begin with and you wonder whether its almost too simple and perhaps dull.. but when you start to understand the tricks and lining up strategies it soon becomes addictive and you'll find your 60 minutes of trial time sucked away..

Hanafuda Game

My homespun Hanafuda game is still alive and kicking, although terribly dated now, with only 800x600 resolution supported, and XP will no doubt have trouble playing the music files. Still, it is a solid AI behind it, that I had help with designing, and the game itself is fun if a little simplistic and too prone to luck. If you have nothing better to do with your life, check it out.. the cards are still lovely to behold..

Hanafuda @ Underdogs