Tired of candy, jewels, and cute animals in your puzzle games? Need something a little more exciting? Something like, I don't know, football? Part Time Evil hears your cries for more hard-hitting action in your puzzle games, but the indie studio isn't just stopping there. Its crowdfunded project Puzzle Football: Quest of the Gridiron takes things to another level by mixing in a heavy dose of RPG goodness too.

Inspired by classic RPGs like the Final Fantasy series, old school football games like Tecmo Bowl, and even card-battle games, Puzzle Football has one of those "so crazy it just might work" types of high concepts. The idea is to build a team of players, complete with equipment that complements the style of play you have in mind.

Out on the gridiron is where the puzzle element enters the equation. Below the playing field is a board full of tiles similar to the ones seen in puzzle games too numerous to mention. The difference here is that you'll be lining them up to enable your team to run short passes, long passes, or running plays, any of which can be boosted by power cards that can turn the tide when used judiciously. According to Matt Udvari, Lead Designer for Part Time Evil, a lot of thought went into how this intriguing mix of elements would work when combined together.

"The most challenging part of the puzzle aspect is making that affect your football plays in a very clear way," he said. "The player should know that the thing they do on the puzzle board makes things happen on the football field. From the beginning, I personally made it my goal to avoid moments of 'why did that just happen,' which I see a lot when I play puzzle games for fun. That's why we do a 'play breakdown' after each play that says why the play happened the way it did."