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Puzzles and Monsters is an iPhone game developed by iFree Studio Limited. In this interesting mash-up, players get the best of virtual pet collecting games, fantasy games, dungeon crawlers, and match 3 titles.
Players can choose one of three brave warriors to aid them in their battles. Along the way, you’ll also acquire various “pets” which can be evolved and used to fight in battles. The game is a mesh of RPG, pet collecting, and matching games, and it all works bizarrely well together.
Rather than seemingly like a jumbled mess, these genre-melding game has a graceful kind of synergy. The overall gameplay is quite similar to Angel Salvation for the iPhone, but with one key difference: Puzzles and Monsters actually has a story that you can follow along with.
There are plenty of dungeons to explore, and enemies to defeat. I do wish there wasn’t such a long pause between each set of enemies: it kind of disrupts the flow of the match 3 portion of the game. One thing that is nice is the unlimited time you are given to select the ideal match 3 move. That places an emphasis on strategy, rather than speed.
The only thing I dislike about Puzzles and Monsters is how easy the “match 3” portions of the game are. Unlike other match 3 games, Puzzles and Monsters gives you 5 seconds to move any orb to any location on the board. This ultimately makes the boss battles WAY too easy! Most other match 3 games don’t let you have nearly as much flexibility.
All that being said, fantasy fans and match 3 addicts ought to seek out Puzzles and Monsters. It has great graphics, a simple UI, and an intriguing blend of game elements that keep things feeling fresh.
Puzzles and Monsters is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.