Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a multiplatform computer game released in 2007 on various consoles and also on PC. The developer is the Australian studio Infinite Interactive, and the global publisher is D3 Publisher. The publisher in Russia: "Nовый Диск". Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords combines genres such as RPG, TBS, and puzzle.
The world of the game is recreated based on the famous game universe of Warlords. At first glance, Challenge of the Warlords seems like a typical turn-based strategy with role-playing elements, albeit not very visually impressive. There is a world map where the selected character must move while eliminating various opponents and capturing enemy castles. There is a leveling system. There are equipment slots. Quests and dialogues with various NPCs are included. However, when it comes to battles, it becomes clear why the game is primarily called Puzzle Quest and not something else.
Battles in Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords are executed in the style of famous puzzles like Zoo Keeper and Bejeweled. There is a grid-based field scattered with colored tokens. Each token serves its purpose. Skulls attack the enemy, tokens of green, red, blue, and yellow colors replenish the mana reserves of a particular element, purple tokens give the character experience points, and gold icons, accordingly, add a certain amount of money to the player's treasury. The mechanics of battles are quite simple. For example, to inflict primary damage to the opponent, you need to collect three skulls together in a horizontal or vertical plane. To replenish mana and gold reserves and to gain experience, you need to perform a similar operation with other icons.
The battle lasts until either the player or their opponent runs out of life points. To achieve victory, various abilities and combat techniques that the heroes possess should be deployed. In Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, you can find four classes of heroes: wizard, druid, knight, and warrior. Each has a different tactic and fighting style. Before activating any spell, it is essential to ensure that there is enough charge in the respective elemental bar to carry out the attack. Spells can be either offensive or defensive.
What else can be noted? Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a linear game, although the global map gives a misleading impression of an open game world. To get from one point to another, you must defeat all enemies blocking your path. In Challenge of the Warlords, you need to capture castles and cities that will pay taxes in the form of gold coins. Additionally, the game allows you to capture enemies (various mythical creatures) and turn them into mounts. A specific hero can be leveled up by distributing points obtained from reaching a new level among seven attributes. Different items and useful artifacts are sold in shops. Various items are also obtained in battles or given to the player after completing side quests. The game features a simple crafting system, but creating anything special requires specific runes.