Puzzle Guzzle

Puzzle Guzzle is another rule-breaking puzzler. Three modes of play are available, one of which features the block-dropping gameplay the genre is known for. But these blocks do not vary in shape and size; each one is square. Their differences lays in the brown patterns painted on top. Your only control is a Tetris Attack-style cursor that can be moved to any part of the puzzle. Once highlighted, the piece may be rotated four ways in either direction.

The puzzle shapes are anything but ordinary. As you can tell from the screenshots, there are squares with small triangular markings (where the point faces inward and the flat bottom faces out), large triangles (that cover half the square), double triangles (both triangle points face inward and are adjoined), reverse triangles (the whole square is brown except for a small triangular piece), solid brown squares (no flipping), and gray squares (indirect elimination only).

Puzzle Guzzle is played on a 10x6 grid, the sides of which are zigzagged for triangular connections. On my first stage, the game didn’t make much sense. I quickly figured out that I was supposed to connect the shapes (ex: link the open sides of two small triangles to form a square) but didn’t understand the overall concept of the game. When any two shapes touch, white lines appear along the shapes’ edges. Only when those edges are completely sealed up (ex: four large triangles connected to form a four-piece square) will the pieces disappear. Hence the importance of the zigzagged wall, which greatly expands on your sealing (elimination) possibilities.

The objective is easier said than done. I struggled with this game for days before the visualization of it all made sense. It was as if my eyes weren’t able to fully digest what they were seeing. Hours later the silly name finally had relevance: once it clicks, this won’t be a game you’ll sip slowly – this is one you’ll want to guzzle.

Puzzle a la Mode

Puzzle Guzzle offers game sharing and ad hoc multiplayer, but the main goods are found in the single-player menu. Drop, Stuffit, and Quiz are the three modes offered, each of which offers a different take on the aforementioned concept. Drop is the usual mode where the pieces fall from above. In Stuffit, players must eliminate as many of the pieces as possible within the given time limit. Both of these modes can be played solo, in multiplayer, or with 100 different AI opponents.

Quiz mode offers 200 puzzles (100 base and 100 bonus) where you must line up and eliminate all of the pieces within the allotted number of moves. It’s similar to the Tetris Attack puzzle mode but with fewer restrictions. You can move and backtrack as much as you like so long as none of the pieces are eliminated. Once a group gets eliminated, they must all be eliminated. The exception is when you’re required to create a chain effect. In that circumstance, the first elimination must cause the second (and third, fourth, etc.) elimination by dropping the remaining pieces into the appropriate place. This is by no means a new idea for puzzle games, but the execution of it here is pretty unique.

If you’re feeling creative, Quiz Puzzle Edit allows you to make your own puzzles using all of the pieces that are featured in the game. If you’ve ever wondered the status of your career, finances and love life, or curious to know what the day’s lucky color is, check the Fortune mode. And if you’re like me and couldn’t care less about that randomized gobbledygook, try to forget it exists.

As an overall package, Puzzle Guzzle is great. But it should be noted that the loading times are a tad crazy. They’re short but frequent. The retry feature re-loads puzzles quickly, but if you wish to quit that puzzle and try another, you’ll have to go all the way back to the main menu, re-select the mode you were playing, and select a puzzle. Consequently, you’ll have to endure more load screens than should have been required. The game could have avoided this problem by including a Return to Mode X feature from the pause menu. Most games, not just puzzlers, have offered this option since the days of the SNES. Somewhere along the lines of development, Puzzle Guzzle must have been led to believe it was being made for the Atari 2600.

Big Gulp

Puzzle Guzzle is a hefty game of endurance. The journey is one of addiction and satisfaction, and at $20, the price shouldn’t intimidate anyone. The only thing that should is the difficulty – but if that turns you off, this definitely isn’t the puzzle game for you.