I've recently been playing
Puzzle Quest 2. I downloaded from X-Box Live for $15, although it's also available on Nintendo DS. I'd been looking forward to this one for some time after playing the hell out of the first
Puzzle Quest.
If you've never heard of these games, they're basically
Bejeweled on drugs. You're still presented with a board of various gems and trying to make rows of three or greater, but it's in the context of a fantasy RPG. Each character class, including Barbarian, Sorcerer, Templar, and Assassin, has various spells they can cast to manipulate the board and damage their opponent. It ends up playing like a cross between the aforementioned
Bejeweled and
Magic (the card game), and throw in a basic loot system, where you can pick up different weapons and armor. It might sound weird, bit it all works together really well.
Anyway, the sequel is kind of a mixed bag. Some of the basic board mechanics that have been tweaked were good ideas: gold and experience have been removed as gems, and the new system of action points and weapons really adds an interesting element. But you're also more limited in your spells (you can carry five at a time now instead of seven, and there are much fewer spells to learn from enemies). In general,
Puzzle Quest 2 feels more polished than its original, but also somewhat dumbed-down. Which is not to say it's bad. Either game is a smart download for $15.
While I'm at it, I should also mentioned that I've only just now discovered
Galactic Civilizations 2. It's pretty much what it sounds like: a
Civ game, but in a sci-fi setting. Really solid stuff. And to my (pleasant) surprise, the overall tone of the game is comedy and self-mockery. For instance, there's a way to beat the game with a technological victory, in which all the clocks in your civilization begin flashing the number "42." Yes, you heard me right. There are even some multiple-choice decisions for random events that use memorable movie quotes, like one in which you have to decide what to do with a native species of dangerous animals on a planet you're about to colonize -- the third ("evil") option is: "Dust off, and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."