''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' is a

puzzle video game Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, Sequence, sequence solving, Spatial ability, spatial recognition, ...

developed by

Demiurge Studios Demiurge Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded in 2002 by Albert Reed, Chris Linder, and Tom Lin. History The studio was originally founded in a residential house in Pittsburgh befo ...

and published by D3 Go! in 2013. The fourth installment in the '' Puzzle Quest'' series, it is a free-to-play,

match-three A tile-matching video game is a type of puzzle video game where the player manipulates tiles in order to make them disappear according to a matching criterion. In many tile-matching games, that criterion is to place a given number of tiles of the ...

battle game set in the

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

universe. There are 358 playable characters. ''Puzzle Quest'' was released for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

, and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

(via

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

)."Marvel Puzzle Quest Celebrates One-Year Anniversary in Style,"

Marvel.com Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and Marvel Enterprises, Inc.) was an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, formed by the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group and Toy Biz. ...

, October 2, 2014. A port by

WayForward Technologies WayForward Technologies, Inc. is an American independent video game developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Valencia, California. Founded in March 1990 by technology entrepreneur Voldi Way, WayForward started by developing games ...

was released for

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

, and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

in 2015, and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

in 2016. An

Amazon Kindle Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, Audible audiobooks, and other digital media via wireless networking ...

version was released in 2016.

Gameplay

Players assemble a team of three Marvel characters, controlling the team against a team of up to three other superheroes or supervillains in match-three, turn-based battles.Megan Farokhmanesh
"Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign launches for iOS, Android Oct. 3,"

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

, October 2, 2013. Each color-coded match does damage to the player's opponent, while creating action points which can obtain special skills. Gems disappear and are replenished from above as they are matched.Joseph Leray
"’Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign’ Review – Match-3 RPG in the Marvel Universe,"
Touch Arcade, October 12, 2013. When they are matched, the six colors of gems on the board grant energy that can be used to execute special moves.Rowan Kaiser
"Avengers, Assemble Your Gems!"

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

, October 11, 2013. Players trade hits back and forth until one of them is downed. When all enemies are downed the fight is over revealing a reward for the winner: one of the in-game currencies, special boosts or a new character. This character can be added to the player's roster. If it is a duplicate, it becomes a level-up cover. Players earn points by winning battles, and then apply the points to unlock new attacks and level up.Brad Gallaway
"Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign Review,"
Game Critics, January 28, 2014. The board is highly tactical, with up to half a dozen potential considerations beyond the best match at any given point. There are two main modes: story and multiplayer, where the players can fight against other teams controlled by

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

. The game is free, with opportunities to purchase level-ups or new characters. New characters, a bundle of Iso-8, hero coins and other items can also be obtained by replaying old levels. As a player's roster expands, the possibilities for team composition and skill selection also expand. A player collects in-game comic book covers to unlock new characters and improve existing ones.Nathan Meunier
"Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign Review,"
''

MacLife ''MacLife'' (stylized as ''Mac, Life'') is an American monthly magazine published by Future US. It focuses on products produced by Apple, including the Macintosh personal computer, iPad, and iPhone. It was sold as a print product on newsstands, b ...

'', October 8, 2013. Each character has a set of real comic book covers associated with them, which represent the character's abilities and allow the player to improve the character's abilities or level them up."Marvel Puzzle Quest Developer Diary,"
Marvel.com, October 29, 2013. In July 2014, Team-Ups were introduced, allowing a player to battle with single-use abilities from characters that aren't part of the player's teams.Aldrin Calimlim
"Marvel Puzzle Quest drops ‘Dark Reign’ subtitle, welcomes Deadpool and Team-Ups,"
appadvice.com, July 29, 2014. Characters are ranked in different tiers using stars. They range from one star characters which are the weakest to five star characters which are the strongest and most powerful.

Plot

The story involves a powerful new substance called Iso-8 and

Norman Osborn Norman Virgil Osborn is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, he first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July 1964) as the first and best-known incarnation of th ...

's attempts to supplant

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism government agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this agency first appeared in ''Strange Tal ...

There are five missions to stop Osborn on his worldwide terror spree. The original story is based on the " Dark Reign" storyline and was written by Frank Tieri and

Alex Irvine Alexander Christian Irvine (born March 22, 1969) is an American fantasy and science fiction author. Education and early life Irvine has a B.A. from the University of Michigan (1991), an M.A. from the University of Maine (1996), and a Ph.D. fro ...

. Irvine also wrote other

player versus environment Player versus environment (PvE, also known as player versus monster (PvM) and commonly misinterpreted as player versus entity) is a term used for both single player and online games, particularly MMORPGs, CORPGs, MUDs, other online role-playing ...

events of the game, such as “Webbed Wonder,” where

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

teams up with

Howard the Duck Howard the Duck is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber, based very loosely on his college friend Howard Tockman, and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck firs ...

to find out

Aunt May Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...

's whereabouts.

Characters

The game features an array of classic Marvel heroes and villains, including

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

, Black Widow,

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

, and

Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

, along with lesser-known characters like Moonstone. In commemoration of the game's first anniversary, Thor: Goddess of Thunder, the female version of Thor, was added on October 17, 2014, making ''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' the first video game to feature the character.

Devil Dinosaur Devil Dinosaur is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Devil Dinosaur'' #1 (April 1978). Devil Dinosaur is depicted as resembling an enormous, crimson '' ...

was also added as a playable character for the anniversary, via an anniversary pack and as a daily reward for those who had been playing for over a year. Other characters that have been added since the game's inception include

Blade A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...

in October 2014 and

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''Th ...

in February 2015.

Kamala Khan Kamala Khan is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, writer G. Willow Wilson, and artists Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie, Kamala is Marvel's first ...

, who was announced as a new Marvel character in November 2013 and is the first

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

superhero to lead a comic book series, was featured in the game.Victoria McNally
"Exclusive: Marvel Superhero Kamala Khan Is Making Her Video Game Debut,"

MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...

, March 26, 2015. The game has steadily received two new characters per month. As of December 2024, there are 358 characters in the game including 8 one-star, 20 two-star, 74 three-star, 154 four-star and 102 five-star characters. Nine variants of existing characters were created specially for the game: a

Peggy Carter Margaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as a supporting character in books featuring Captain America. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist ...

who became Captain America, and eventually got both a comics version as part of the

Exiles Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

, and an animated version in the show '' What If...?''; two more empowered Carters, an " Iron Carter" wearing a version of Iron Man's armor, and another who wielded Mjolnir and thus received all the powers of

; Wolverine (Samurai

Daken Akihiro is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Akihiro was created by writer Daniel Way and artist Steve Dillon and first appeared in ''Wolverine: Origins'' #5 (August 2006). Akihiro is the Mutant ...

), where Wolverine's son takes on his father's codename as an atonement for killing him;

Deadpool Deadpool is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (December 1990). In his comic book appearances, Deadpool is ...

(Spirit of Vengeance), a Deadpool who became a

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple superheroes or antiheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

; Devpool, a Deadpool that was an

eSports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

star in his universe only be transported to another world to work as a developer on ''Marvel Puzzle Quest'';

Hit-Monkey Hit-Monkey is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Daniel Way and Dalibor Talajić, the character first appeared in ''Hit-Monkey'' #1 (April 2010). Publication history Hit-Monkey debuted in the di ...

(E.D.I. Suit), wearing a suit mimicking

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

's powers from a dead mercenary;

Omega Red Omega Red (Arkady Rossovich) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. In 2009, Omega Red was ranked as IGN's 95th-greatest comic book villain of all time. ...

(Horseman of Pestilence), who was recruited by

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

to join his Horsemen; and

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

(

Armor Wars "Armor Wars" is a seven-issue Iron Man story arc written by David Michelinie and Bob Layton with art by Mark D. Bright, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Layton, and published by Marvel Comics. The arc first appeared in ''Iron Man'' #225–232. Public ...

), wearing an armor built by

Justin Hammer Justin Hammer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a villainous entrepreneur, head of Hammer Industries and a frequent adversary of the superhero Iron Man. He is the ...

from reverse-engineered Stark tech.

Development

The first ''Puzzle Quest'' game, '' Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords'', was conceived and designed by Australian game designer

Steve Fawkner Steve Fawkner is an Australian video game designer, programmer, and composer. He created the ''Warlords'' game series, first released in 1989, and the '' Puzzle Quest'' series which began in 2007. Career In 2003, after a long alliance with S ...

, the original designer of the ''

Warlords Warlords are individuals who exercise military, economic, and political control over a region, often one without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over local armed forces. Warlords have existed throug ...

'' computer game series, which he created in 1989. In creating ''Puzzle Quest'', Fawkner was inspired by his love of the tile-matching puzzle video game ''

Bejeweled Bejeweled may refer to: * ''Bejeweled'' (series), a series of tile-matching puzzle video games ** ''Bejeweled'' (video game), the first game in the series, released in 2000 * "Bejeweled" (song), a 2022 song by Taylor Swift {{disambiguation ...

''.Richard Moss
"From Warlords to Puzzle Quest: The Journey of a Video Game Pioneer,"
Polygon, November 6, 2013. ''Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords'' was picked up by

D3 Publisher is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher founded on February 5, 1992. The company is known for the ''Simple (video game series), Simple'' series of budget-priced video games. Their games have been released for the G ...

and released on March 20, 2007, for the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

and

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

. It was an instant success, winning a 2008

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...

award for Downloadable Game of the Year. It was also nominated for Handheld Game of the Year. Versions for

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

and mobile followed later that year. It was released for

and

in late 2008. ''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' was launched worldwide by

and

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and Marvel Enterprises, Inc.) was an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, formed by the merger of #Marvel Entertainment Group, Marvel Ente ...

on October 3, 2013. It was the second game developed internally by

.Samit Sarkar
"Sega acquires Demiurge Studios, but not its best-known game, Marvel Puzzle Quest,"
Polygon, February 19, 2015. The game was originally titled ''Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign'', before the subtitle "Dark Reign" was dropped following a July 2014 update. D3 Publisher stated that the revised title signified the beginning of the game's expansion beyond the "Dark Reign" storyline. On February 18, 2015, Sega Networks acquired Demiurge Studios, but the acquisition did not include the rights to ''Marvel Puzzle Quest''. In early June 2022, it was announced that live operations of ''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' had been passed over to Broken Circle Studios, who had at that point been working on the game for several months. Soon after,

505 Games 505 Games S.p.A. is an Italian video game publisher based in Milan. It was founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Milan-based Digital Bros. History 505 Games was founded in 2006 in Milan as a subsidiary of Digital Bros. The company found its earl ...

would acquire D3 Go!.

Reception

rated the game a 9.1 out of 10, writing, "''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' has taken the idea of a puzzle game with a strategic/role-playing element overlay, and turned it into an intricately crafted, remarkably deep experience". IGN added that the game is "compelling at each level" with "constant challenges and goals to work toward". Touch Arcade awarded it four out of five stars, calling it "compulsively, sickeningly playable" and writing that, in comparison to other ''Puzzle Quest'' games, ''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' is more calculated and strategic, with a focus on team fighting rather than individual combat. The game has received a rating of 74 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. ''

'' said it "does a good job of spicing up the match-three genre for comic fans". ''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' is a 2014 Tabby Award Best Android Apps and Games winner in the Game: Puzzle, Cards & Family category. Peter Rubin, Contributing Editor at Wired Magazine, wrote a feature length article about the game 7 years after release
Marvel Puzzle Quest Might Just Be My Forever Game
ref>

References

External links

* {{Marvel Video Game Crossovers 2013 video games Android (operating system) games D3 Publisher games Demiurge Studios games IOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Network games Puzzle Quest Role-playing video games Science fantasy video games Tile-matching video games Video games based on Marvel Comics Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Rod Abernethy WayForward games Windows games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Xbox One games

Gameplay

Plot

Characters

Development

Reception

See also

References

External links