puzzle posts(Subscribe to this feed)

Infinite Interactive and D3 Publisher would like to remind you that they have claimed your free time this spring. Puzzle Quest 2 is on the way, bringing back the diabolical alchemy of match-three puzzles and fantasy role-playing that turned us all into gem-hoarding monsters the first time.

As the trailer above shows, Puzzle Quest 2 features an entirely new storyline, so we'll get to meet new characters just as memorable as whoever it was we were playing as between rounds of the puzzle game last time.

Capcom has announced the Japanese release date for Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi's supernatural puzzle adventure game, Ghost Trick. Japan will be able to put Sissel's spirit into a bicycle on June 24. Capcom has yet to offer a date for North American or European releases beyond simply 2010, but if the game is in a complete state by June, that bodes well for localization sometime in the fall.

However, if you can't wait that long, and you don't mind clicking through a bunch of Japanese text, you can play the TGS demo right now! Capcom posted a flash demo to the Ghost Trick site.

[Via Andriasang]

If you're reading this and you're in charge of business development for a game publisher, and if you're at GDC -- as unlikely as all that is -- please go talk to LukPlus. According to Siliconera, the publisher has a meeting room at the convention, and is actively working to find a North American publisher for its cute DS puzzle game Coropata.

We sampled Coropata at TGS and found it charming, and we'd appreciate the opportunity to do things like buy it in a store and read all the text. We admit that a cutesy, anime-style puzzle game similar to The Incredible Machine may be somewhat of a niche interest, though.

If, for some reason, you didn't purchase and love Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes on DS -- or even if you did -- you'll have the opportunity to buy the puzzle RPG on two new systems this year, in glorious hand-drawn HD. Capybara Games has revealed a new PSN/XBLA version of Clash of Heroes, with totally redrawn graphics that eschew the 16-bit look of the DS original for more realistic proportions and a generally sharper look.

In addition, new equippable artifacts are being added, and the existing ones tweaked, to improve balance in multiplayer. Even better, you'll now be able to go back and replay segments of the game after completing them. Capy expects to release Clash of Heroes in late summer.

[Via GameSetWatch]

First Star Software and Dutch developer Catnip Games recently announced their upcoming collaboration on an Xbox Live Arcade remake of the classic gem-collecting puzzler, Boulder Dash. That's not to be confused with the classic dishonesty-based board game Balderdash. Or the exclamation popularized by mustachioed, portly gentlemen from the 1920s who found themselves upset by a piece of nonsensical information.

Very little pertinent info was revealed by the developers' joint press release announcement, though we do know the game will include "sparkling diamonds," "hordes of enemies," "numerous traps," and "falling boulders." The release doesn't mention dashing, but we assume it will also play a pivotal role.

Ever since Portal was updated on Steam two days ago, fans have been busy finding the hidden Morse code messages added to the game, and deciphering them to unravel what appears to be some kind of ARG.

Early messages -- in plain Morse code as well as meta-Morse code that translated to written Morse code "beeps", revealed little but what seemed like jokes and internal bootup sequences from GlaDOS. Others were revealed as SSTV-coded images, low-res pictures of random items, all bearing the Aperture Science logo. Within those, fans quickly found a numeric code that turned out to lead to a BBS (remember those?) containing a series of Aperture-related ASCII images of GlaDOS, as well as a series of messages from fictional Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson, who apparently hates both witchcraft and safety.

Steam forum users are feverishly working through all the information to solve the overarching puzzle of what this all means. At this point, being a mere sequel tease, or connecting the Portal and Half-Life universes, would be a disappointment. We already knew there was a Portal 2 on the way, and we already knew that the storylines were loosely connected. Valve hiding a complex series of clues inside an old game is far more interesting than either of those things.

Source: Boing Boing
Source: Shacknews
Source: Steam forums

The official site for Jonathan Blow's "philosophical, and quiet" next project, The Witness, recently underwent a massive update. While the archaic poetry certainly got our conjecture wheels a-spinning, the renovated site promises more concrete info through continuous updates while the game is developed.

The blog's first post reveals a cadre of concept art for the game, as crafted by designer Eric Urquhart. It looks appropriately pretty and mysterious -- what's behind the door? What's with that force field? Who is the sculptor? Is it all just one big allegory for the atomic bomb? (Whoa, sorry -- we got our J. Blow games mixed up.)

It's rare that we'll post about a work-in-progress iPhone project being developed by a single person -- however, it's also rare that we'll be as intrigued by an iPhone game as we are by Mimeo and the Kleptopus King. The game, which is being crafted by indie developer Shawn Inman, is a puzzle-platformer with a brilliant gameplay mechanic -- by collecting cartridges, you change the game's visuals between 2-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit and 16-bit graphics, each of which have a different effect on your enemies and the terrain you're attempting to navigate.

Click past the jump to see a video demo of Mimeo in action. The current launch window for the title is holiday 2010, which is a ways off -- but we're willing to give Inman as much time as he needs, seeing as how he has to develop four games in one.

If you've been looking for a way to tease your brain into an overloaded, catatonic state while on the go, Nintendo and HAL Laboratory will soon deliver an application that should aid in your endeavor. Picross 3D, the DS puzzle game that hit Japanese retail last March, will be released on May 3 in North America.

The announcement came during today's Nintendo Media Summit and added that the game would receive DLC in the form of extra puzzles, à la Professor Layton. With continued support like that, Picross 3D could be capable of frying our brains for the foreseeable future. We can't wait.

The innovative time-bending puzzler Echoshift is coming to PSP this Thursday, February 25th, for $14.99. If you haven't tried the downloadable demo, there's still time to fix your mistake. Our very own JC Fletcher called it "one of the most engrossing games at Tokyo Game Show" -- and he has arguably the best taste on all of Joystiq.

The full echoshift experience will feature 56 levels and "three different game modes" for each level. Noticeably absent in this release is a level editor, akin to the one found in Echochrome. We're going to complain to Sony, but in the meantime, you can watch a new trailer after the break.

If the Xbox-less among you have been jonesing to try Binary Tweed's independent platform-puzzler Clover, you'll get your chance to play a PC port of the game in the coming weeks. A press release from the studio has revealed the game will be released "via a range of download services" on March 3. No price point for the game was specified, though the 360 version of the game sells for 400, so we're guessing it'll be within spitting distance of five bucks -- just to be safe, we've contacted the developer to find out.

As we've mentioned before, the PC version of the game has seen significant improvements over its Indie Games iteration, including tighter controls, English, French and Spanish dialogue tracks, an expanded soundtrack, and in-game text that doesn't make you want to claw out your own eyes. Sounds like this one's the version to get!

Update: The game's developer just sent over the game's various international prices -- we're looking at a $9.99 price tag, while other territories will have to shell out £5.99 and €6.99.

USD 9.99

Big John Games has announced a new 2D puzzler coming to WiiWare: Mouse House; a single-screen maze game in which an adorably spheroid mouse navigates mazes full of obstacles and other mice in order to feast on delicious cheese. Though the presentation is totally "Flash game," the gameplay reminds us of Adventures of Lolo, Kickle Cubicle and other character-based NES puzzle games. (Not that we're suggesting Mouse House is that caliber of game.)

We'll find out soon enough how good it is. Mouse House's release is set for Monday, February 22.

We got to check out Rotor'scope: The Secret of the Endless Energy at PAX last year, and it nearly broke our minds. Of course, our minds were quite fragile at that point, weakened by long nights of tireless writing and frequent coffee binges -- still, the fact remains that Rotor'scope was one of the most original concepts for a puzzle game we'd played in a good long time. Fortunately, we now have the chance to give the game another go -- it was recently added to the Xbox Live Indie Games platform for 400 ($5).

Check out the Rotor'scope trailer after the jump to see the game's cog-flipping puzzle mechanics in action and to get a sense of the title's overarching story. With create-a-level modes, hand-drawn graphics and even some Facebook integration, it looks like you'll be getting a lot of bang for your buck. Or five bucks, as the case may be.

Shortcut: Add Rotor'scope (trial / full game) to your Xbox 360 download queue [via Xbox.com]

Prope and publisher Bandai Namco sent out the first screens and footage (after the break) of the new Wii and DS versions of the once-Windows Mobile exclusive Ivy the Kiwi?, thus forcing us to fill another post with question marks? Okay, we didn't need that one.

The presentation on the console versions of the game is identical to the original, with the unusual sepia-tone color scheme and hand-drawn backgrounds. Both new versions double the number of levels, bringing the game up to a total of 100. And both new versions have multiplayer: local download play on DS and splitscreen on Wii. And, of course, the DS has a map screen. Why not?

In November, Yuji Naka's studio, Prope, revealed a new original IP, Ivy the Kiwi? ... for Windows Mobile. The latest Famitsu reveals that the developer is porting the game to some game consoles! Namely, DS and Wii. Namco Bandai will release Ivy the Kiwi in Japan on April 22 -- it's the first Prope game to be published by someone other than Sega or (in the case of the Windows Mobile version) Prope itself.

However, despite its origins as a mobile game, and its simple pick-up-and-play gameplay (which involves stretching and bouncing drawn lines to move a bird through a maze), Ivy the Kiwi is destined for retail on consoles, at a price of ¥3,990 ($43).