Alternatives to Puzzle Quest

October 2, 2009 1:08 PM

What are some similar games to Puzzle Quest and Galactrix?

My 67-year-old Dad is fanatical about Puzzle Quest and its successor Galactrix. Having played both several times through, I'm wondering if I can provide him with something similar but I have no idea which one(s). His reflexes are pretty slow now, so only point and click games, where you can be very patient, are really suitable and he likes the puzzle challenges and the fantasy/role play aspects. Apart from the obvious Bejewelled, does anyone in the Metafilter community have any suggestions for similar alternatives? Thanks in advance.

posted by Tarn to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (9 answers total)

Professor Layton's Diabolical Box is nothing but puzzles and is very point and click. I personally found it a little on the cheap side because some things that could have had manipulatey objects were just straight up pictures. It essentially felt like an interactive puzzle book, but it is all about point and click and patience. The variety of puzzles is nice. This is sort of a leap, but maybe getting him in to old point and click 2d adventure games or new ones? The Polar Express is supposed to be pretty landmark in terms of narrative storytelling, but I am unsure of how its puzzles operate.
posted by edbles at 1:19 PM on October 2, 2009

Have you heard about the upcoming Gyromancer?

In addition, I met an iPhone game that seemed to be a Puzzlequest clone -- puzzle gameplay linked to tasks in fantasy RPG setting. I believe it's called Aurora Feint. No idea about availability on other platforms.
posted by grobstein at 1:21 PM on October 2, 2009

Scribblenauts?
posted by edbles at 1:23 PM on October 2, 2009

The new Square Enix/Popcap game Gyromancer looks almost identical to Puzzle Quest, but with more RPG elements (a la Square Enix). I couldn't put Puzzle Quest down either and I'm worried that Gyromancer is going to be a really huge time sink.
posted by meowzilla at 1:26 PM on October 2, 2009

While some of Popcap's games can be a little twitchy (Zuma and Plants vs Zombies come to mind), a lot of their puzzle games are turn-based. Peggle is a lot of fun puzzle-wise, but has no RPG elements. Some levels of Peggle depend a little bit on timing, but it's mostly angles and, in my case, luck. Bookworm Adventures is a great choice as long as your Dad enjoys word games.

The best part about Popcap games is that time- or function-limited trials are available for free download. I've bought about five or six of their games after playing the demos, and passed on about the same number.
posted by flipper at 1:34 PM on October 2, 2009

Puzzle Kingdoms, from the creators of Puzzle Quest.
posted by Monster_Zero at 2:18 PM on October 2, 2009

Cradle of Rome.
posted by arabelladragon at 3:46 PM on October 2, 2009

Response by poster: Jackpot! Thank you so much, fellow Mefites. I'll pursue all avenues :)
posted by Tarn at 4:02 PM on October 2, 2009

Your dad has good taste! I strongly recommend the MMO Puzzle Pirates. It's wonderful, and can be played without ever paying anything. Because it runs in the browser, it works with Windows, Mac or Linux.
posted by Matt Arnold at 4:55 PM on October 2, 2009