Beginning Strategy and Theory

uzzle Fighting can be likened to an art. The patterns and colors that you create will be unique every single game, just like every painting or sculpture. A skilled puzzle fighter can create beautiful gems of magestic stature. Like a painter, every single puzzle fighter will have a different style. Although there are different styles of play, there are general strategies that are fundamental to success in the game. For now, because the topic is for beginners, the different styles of play will not be discussed here but will be discussed in the advanced strategy section.

One must keep in mind that the goal of Puzzle Fighter is to fill your opponent's side with blocks. However, one can also loose if he/she fills the center column and the next block is not able to come into play. Thus, a basic strategy for survival is to keep the center columns clear of both the blocks you put down and your opponent's counter blocks. It is advisable to tend to focus the building of blocks towards the sides, but if it is necessary to build in the middle of the screen, you should not let the blocks in the middle go unbroken for a great length of time. By keeping the middle clear, you can prolong your life.

A question that is difficult for even advanced players to answer is: Which is more important, speed or accuracy in planning? My answer is perhaps a "cop-out." I believe that one should reach a reasonable speed where you can lay blocks faster or approximately the same speed of your opponent without compromising the accuracy. This isn't really strategy, but a skill that requires practice. There are times in which speed is more important than accuracy and vice versa, but this is confusing and will only be discussed in the advanced section.

Increasing the attack power is very important. It is common sense that both players, if going at the same speed, will have the same amount of blocks on thier respective sides if they do not attack. Blocks have the potential of becoming an attack, and it is important to know how to get more attack power out of your blocks. This is crucial because blocks are like currency. Wouldn't it be nice if you were able to get two copies of Puzzle Fighter for 50 dollars while your opponent was only able to get just one copy of Puzzle Fighter with the same amount of money? Blocks are the devices of attack, and without them, you can't attack. Therefore, the effectiveness of every block broken must be optimized. There are two ways to do this. The first way is to create large gems. Large gems, when broken are more powerful than breaking up each of its components seperately. In addition, chaining attacks is also very important because for every additional chain, the attack power is increased by a factor equal to the number of chains. For example, if you had three blocks of attack power 8, 10, and 12, and you broke them seperately, that would be an attack of 30 blocks (8+10+12=30). If you were able to chain these blocks however, the first block would be an attack of 8, the second block would be an attack of 20, and the third block would be an attack of 36. Thus, the total attack power, if you were to chain the three blocks would be 64 instead of 30 (8x1+10x2+12x3). Therefore, using chain attacks and creating larger gems will benefit you.

Crystal gems are usually a godsend for people who are losing. The crystal gem can completely change the momentum of the game. The crystal gem is capable of sparking chain attacks and creating large gems if you choose the correct color to use it on. The correct color is usually the color that you could care less about. You should choose the color that seems to be "getting in your way." If you still have trouble deciding, you should look at the overall picture and dissolve the color that is the most scattered. One common mistake that beginners have is using the crystal gem on the biggest gem. This is absolutely incorrect because you just lost approximately half of your attack power in that manner. The crystal gem only attacks at half the strength of a regular crash gem. Thus, the crystal gem should not be used as a weapon of attack, but rather as an aide that can eliminate annoying scattered colors. In extreme cases, which are few and rare, the crystal can and should be used on your biggest gem. Using a crystal on your largest gem is appropriate if you are just about to be killed and need to create as much space as possible to defend against an oncoming attack. The only other plausible situation is if you have a large gem and a near death opponent. You may want to use the crystal on the biggest gem if you feel that even at half the attack power, the gem is big enough to finish off your opponent.

Counter blocks should be dealt with differently than the other blocks. The fore mentioned strategy has been dealing with general strategy at a macro-level. The strategy above is universal and should be applied to every character, in every game. However, the pattern of each individual character is important micro-level strategy. Every pattern has a weakness, although some weaknesses are harder to take advantages of than others. You should memorize everyone's patterns, and build colored blocks in places that correspond to the pattern. Thus, you will be able to use your opponent's attacks to your advantage.

The fundamentals of Puzzle Fighter are the ability to survive and to mount an attack. A mediocre puzzle fighter lacks these skills. However, the fundamentals just won't cut it against advanced players. To be a truly refined puzzle fighter, one must master when to attack, defend, and counter. Hence, timing is extremely important in Puzzle Fighter...perhaps the defining difference between beginners and advanced players. If you feel you have attained the fundamentals, please continue to the advanced section.