This week, puzzle games get no love. See why. Read more...

I'm sorry to write in today's Diary that "Puzzle Quest" has a most unexpected flaw: loading times. Read more...

Yesterday, I got to play the new "Puzzle Quest" title "Galactrix" at demo in a New York City hotel.

I wasn't doing too badly, but in the end the AI bested me in the "Hexic"-like role-playing/puzzle hybrid. Maybe I was having an off morning... or maybe the AI was cheating. That was a claim many people made about the first "Puzzle Quest" game "Challenge of the Warlords."

Here's what "Puzzle Quest: Galactrix" producer Marcus Savino told me about the AI system. Read more...

What platforms is the new "Puzzle Quest" game coming out on?

Earlier this week, I wrote that "Puzzle Quest: Galactrix," the sequel to "Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords," would be released on PC, DS, Xbox Live Arcade as well as the PSP and "possibly Apple Mac," all according to the official website. However, when I checked the next day, on Tuesday, February 26, the PSP and "possibly Apple Mac" versions were removed.

I put in a request to D3 Publisher of America to ask them why. Would there be a PSP version on the way, since "Challenge of the Warlords" on PSP was one of the first platforms released alongside the DS? And would we ever see an Apple Mac version? (Last year, we also learned that the ESRB rated the PS3 and Mac versions of "Challenge of the Warlords," but we have yet to see them.)

Here's the response I got from D3 Publisher of America:

"The Infinite Interactive site is maintained by the developer, separate from D3 Publisher. They were likely updating game details (posted intermittently since March 2007) to align with details announced during the first look last week. At present, 'Puzzle Quest: Galactrix' is confirmed by D3PA and Infinite Interactive for DS systems, PC and XBLA. There is the possibility that more SKUs will be announced. We'll keep you updated as new details about the game are revealed."

What other platforms would you like to see "Puzzle Quest: Galactrix" made for?

San Francisco -- Who knew a "Bejeweled"-style puzzle game with RPG elements would become the year's sleeper hit?

Infinite Interactive's Steve Fawkner didn't.

At one of the final sessions during the Game Developers Conference last week, the CEO and Lead Designer of the Australian-based studio talked about how they created "Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords," which was released on multiple platforms last year.

According to Fawkner, the idea for "Puzzle Quest" came about pretty easily. "I really like 'Bejeweled,' and I really like RPGs," he said. The game was originally called "Warlords Champions," but after some focus testing done by D3 Publisher, it was changed to be more appealing to both hardcore and casual gamers as well as more androgynous to lure to both genders (although no one liked the name at first). Focus testing also led to a change in the game's graphical style; it was originally more in the vein of the medieval-style "Warlords" but was altered to something "more Eastern-oriented" and "heavily anime."

One of the biggest lessons learned was that there were too many words in "Puzzle Quest." The game had over 100,000 words, which caused painstaking localization issues for French, Italian, German, Spanish and Japanese. "You should not construct sentences as a designer," Fawkner warned. To boot, he found that players were often skipping the lengthy conversations within the game anyway.

However, Fawkner promised that the new science-fiction-themed "Puzzle Quest" called "Galactrix" will be different. Read more...