History VideoGame / PuzzleQuest

* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: One of your {{optional party member}}s is a young dragon named Flicker.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: There's a big drop between this game and PQ.

* MultipleEndings: A choice in one of the first-chapter quests can unlock the availability of a [[AGodAmI different]] ending.

* There is also a spinoff called ''VideoGame/MarvelPuzzleQuest'' that combines slightly altered mechanics with a storyline and characters based on the ''VideoGame/MarvelAvengersAlliance'' universe.[[note]]Though it appears Dark Reign is a PQ game InNameOnly - the game play and leveling system are direct lifts from VideoGame/PuzzleAndDragons. Infinite Interactive was a consultant on Dark Reign's design, though, and it was published by the same publisher that handles the other PQ games.[[/note]]

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering Puzzle Quest'' is another spinoff (also by the same developers) that blends the gameplay of ''Puzzle Quest'' and, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin well]], ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''.

* BoringButPractical: Several starter spells and weapons which players will use throughout the game
* {{Cap}}: Level 50 (60 in the Switch remaster) in ''PQ,'' ''Galactrix'', and ''[=PQ2=]''; 20 in ''Kingdoms'' - though you have up to 12 Heroes to level up there. The original ''Puzzle Quest'' allows you to increase your stats for gold, though, and ''those'' aren't capped, until the Switch remaster which gives a limit of your current level times two.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: The series is very polarizing on the TheComputerIsACheatingBastard / ArtisticLicenseStatistics scale. There's a strong belief in the fandom that the computer either predicts or outright changes the falling gems in its favor, but nothing short of looking at the underlying code will settle the arguments over whether that's actually true or just the players' selective memory.

** ''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' has swerved unabashedly into this territory with the addition of {{Assist Character}}s. You get to choose one from amongst your tokens before the match begins, and any of the up-to-six characters who are actually ''fighting'' in the match are off-limits. The opponent suffers no such limitations.
** The Magic the Gathering version has the Epic Challenges where the computer starts with supports on the board before your first turn.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Leaning too heavily on one type of mana/energy can leave you at the mercy of a more well rounded enemy, doubly so in ''Warlords'' if the enemy in question has resistance to your favored mana type.

** In the original PQ, you can invade and take over entire cities as tyrannical overlord, and nobody bats an eye in the main plotline (or cares that you're the tyrant of their city when they send you on quests).

** Another for ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'': In the film of ''The Two Towers'', Aragorn tells Éowyn that it's hard to tell male dwarves from female dwarves because of their beards, and she laughs. In the game, the player character meets a female dwarf named Khrona... who has a beard.

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: You only get two female {{Optional Party Member}}s, and one's a princess.

[[folder: Tropes present throughout the series]]

* {{Cap}}: Level 50 in ''PQ,'' ''Galactrix'', and ''[=PQ2=]''; 20 in ''Kingdoms'' - though you have up to 12 Heroes to level up there.
** The original ''Puzzle Quest'' allows you to increase your stats for gold, though, and ''those'' aren't capped.

[[folder: Challenge Of The Warlords]]

[[folder: Galactrix]]

[[folder: Puzzle Chronicles]]

[[folder: Puzzle Kingdoms]]

[[folder: Puzzle Quest 2]]

** The UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch remaster gives foes which are about level 5 or higher absurd amounts of HP, with foes often having 1200 or more HP, effectively making them unbeatable (grinding doesn't help, as they gain 300 more HP with each level), with no way to fix it. People usually find the glitch when fighting the Skeleton or the Giant Rat, though lower level foes are rarely affected.

* '''Puzzle Quest 2''' is a true sequel to the original. Styled more on {{MMORPG}}s, including a town hub and [=NPCs=] with exclamation points over their heads who give you quests, it was released on June 22, 2010 for DS, Windows, [[{{iOSGames}} iPhone and iPad]], and the Xbox Live Arcade. This is a considerably simplified and easier version, though possibly with more balanced pvp.

* BeyondTheImpossible: A troper decided to take the ultimate challenge: no weapons, no mounts, no spells, no armor, no nothing except the Temple and the skulls you attack with. He succeeded. Not even Lord Bane could survive the fists of the troper.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PQ_DS_01.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Enton is '''not''' the one getting an extra turn.]]

* GenreSavvy: Your hero, occasionally.

* '''Puzzle Quest 2''' is a true sequel to the original. Styled more on {{MMORPG}}s, including a town hub and [=NPCs=] with exclamation points over their heads who give you quests, it was released on June 22, 2010 for DS, Windows, [[{{iOSGames}} iPhone and iPad]], and the XBox Live Arcade. This is a considerably simplified and easier version, though possibly with more balanced pvp.

* '''Puzzle Kingdoms''' was released in May 2009. It takes place in a remixed version of ''Warlord's'' world of Etheria and adds {{RTS}}-style troop and resource management to the mix. You play as the heir to your small kingdom's leadership. You take it upon yourself to find the source of the sudden famine that has stricken your land, only to stumble across a plot by the god of famine. It features a puzzle style similar to ''{{Pokemon}} Trozei''.

* '''Puzzle Quest: Challenge Of The Warlords''': The first and most popular game in the series, based on the award-winning ''Warlords'' series of RealTimeStrategy games.\\

* XMeetsY:
** Challenge of the Warlords: ''Warlords'' meets ''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}''.
** Galactrix: ''Hexic'' meets ''VideoGame/EVEOnline''.
** Kingdoms: PQ meets ''VideoGame/FireEmblem''.
** [=PQ2=]: PQ meets ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.
** [[FullContactMagic Full contact]] ''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}''.

* LostForever: If you follow a certain sub-mission just before you enter Lord Bane's keep, you will lose one of your good-aligned companions[[note]]Darkhunter, Khalkus, Serephine, Flicker, Winter, and Elistara[[/note]] with every step forward.

** Khalkus the dwarf looks remarkably like [[LordOfTheRings Gimli]] from the movies.
** Another for the ''LordOfTheRings'': In the film of ''The Two Towers'', Aragorn tells Éowyn that it's hard to tell male dwarves from female dwarves because of their beards, and she laughs. In the game, the player character meets a female dwarf named Khrona... who has a beard.
** The elves are ruled by [[AMidsummerNightsDream King Oberon and Queen Titania]]. (You only meet her, but one of the rumors you can learn in a tavern identifies the king.)

VideoGame/PuzzleQuest is a series of games from Infinite Interactive. At their base, they are {{Match Three Game}}s with RPGElements. In each game, battles are fought by matching up various gems and other symbols on a grid. Depending on what the player matches up, the gems will turn into one of various types of mana or energy to use for spells/attacks, damage to the enemy, or bonus experience or money. The player can expand their power through the use of various mini-games, which represent ItemCrafting, learning new spells, or leveling up.

** Galactrix: ''Hexic'' meets ''{{EVEOnline}}''.

* TheObiWan: Sunspear in ''Warlords'', Sable in ''Galactrix'', Gideon in ''Kingdoms''.

* AlledgedlyFreeGame: The mobile version is free, [[BaitAndSwitch but if you want to leave the first town you have to pay to unlock the game.]]