A surprisingly successful merger of two dissimilar genres.

RPGs and puzzle games. Both the genres and their respective fans sound about as compatible as peanut butter and onions. Somebody at D3 Publisher thought differently however, and that person deserves a very large raise. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for the DS may be the most bizarre genre hybrid since Sigma Star Saga; a game that combined an RPG with 2D shooting on the Game Boy Advance back in 2005. Although creating a puzzle game with RPG elements sounds like a train wreck on paper, the result couldn't be more the opposite.

Upon beginning a new slot in Puzzle Quest, you must choose among various types of Druids, Knights, Warriors and Wizards as your character. Each class has varying abilities and will develop different stats and spell sets as they level up. Once you've chosen your man (or woman), you can either rush straight into a monster fight or dive into the game's story mode. The latter is obviously encouraged, seeing as how you'll be able to see Puzzle Quest's plot unfold as well gain access to a plethora of other options.

If you choose to take the story route, your character will be placed on a world map. The first thing you'll want to do is get quests, which range from simple fetch chores to escort and rescue missions. Some quests are vital to the plot while others are merely optional. Battles unfold through extra tense rounds of Bejeweled. For those who might be unfamiliar with this oft-copied puzzle game, Bejeweled's formula is switching adjacent jewels in an attempt to line up three or more in a row. Do this, and more jewels fall from the sky. Rinse and repeat.

In Puzzle Quest's version of Bejeweled, you and your enemy take turns lining up three or more jewels on the same field. Lining up three or more skulls inflicts damage on your enemy and lining up three or more stars or gold pieces lands experience and money. The bottom screen shows the field while the top screen displays character and enemy information. Using the DS stylus to line up different colored jewels fills up different colored "mana" meters. There are four colors in all (red, yellow, blue and green) with each color representing a different element (fire, wind, water and earth respectively).