Gamezebo Rating:

Playing Puzzle Knights is much like buying a pack of cheap hot dogs. At first, you look at the packaging, notice how many hot dogs come to a pack, and you think, "This is a really good idea." As you take them home and start to make them, you slowly start to think that you may have made a mistake. By the time it's sitting in a bun, ready to be eaten, you realize that no amount of ketchup can save you now.

Like cheap hot dogs, Puzzle Knights isn't necessarily a bad idea. Its gameplay is split into two portions: a match-three puzzle game and a rock-paper-scissors type of battle. For the most part, the match-three gameplay is standard fare. You'll swap the positions of two adjacent gems, making lines of three or more like-colored ones. Clearing four or more gems in one move will occasionally form a power gem, allowing you to clear large amounts of gems quickly. The only slight sense of uniqueness is the turn limit. Each puzzle has a set number of turns to score a set number of points which will influence the other phase of the game.

When you're done with the puzzle, you'll enter the combat phase. Combat is the weaker point of Puzzle Knights, due to its lack of hands-on gameplay and a general feeling of pointlessness. When you complete the puzzle, you'll earn stamina. At the pre-fight screen, you'll use that stamina to plan your attack. Each slot of stamina can be filled with one of three options: Attack, Defend, or Counterattack. You'll simply set the order you wish to perform each action and your knight will do that in battle.