The unique combination of gem matching and fantasy role-playing continues with Galactrix, the newest installment in the Puzzle Quest series. The move from fantasy to sci-fi has replaced Challenge of the Warlords’ classes, villages, and dungeons with space cadets, planets, and space stations. If you don’t get the appeal I can’t say I blame you. A game whose central gameplay mechanic is gem matching might not be for everyone but Galactrix does it and does it well.

The biggest feature is definitely the puzzle-matching mini-game, which you’ll come across often. The puzzle mechanic is used when mining asteroids, hacking warp-gates, battling enemies, and bargaining at shops. When fighting an enemy the goal is to destroy the enemy’s ship before they destroy yours and to do this you’ll need to match mines, which damage the enemy. Hacking warp-gates is almost the same thing but you have to match different gems and there’s a time limit. When mining an asteroid the goal is to match gems to meet your quota of items you have to mine, and when bargaining you have to match all of the gems on the board, which determines your discount at the store. These activities fail to provide enough variety in the gameplay but they’re still surprisingly addictive.

The visuals are polished but aren’t stunning, the characters don’t move, they’re basically cardboard cutouts. The new game board is a big change from Challenge of the Warlords’ 8x8 grid, which has been replaced by hexes and a new system that means you can swap gems in one of six directions and the board shifts depending on the direction the gem was swapped. The score is great and mirrors the epic space battles well. The sound effects are also very good, but the constant text boxes that pop up when characters talk gets annoying.
 
The ability to buy and upgrade your ships, acquire new weapons and special abilities, as well as recruit new crew members not only makes the game highly replayable, but extends the life of the game as well. There’s a myriad of items, ships, and abilities to purchase, and the game is truly expansive as it extends across dozens of solar systems including many planets, warp gates, space stations, and moons. If anything, the game definitely feels epic.

The multiplayer is made up of Quick Battles where players take their pilots from the single-player campaign to fight with other players locally or online. The Xbox Live version has more multiplayer features then its Nintendo DS and PC counterpart. Included in these new features are leaderboards, voice chat, and matchmaking. The multiplayer features are great and make Galactrix more replayable, but the single-player remains as the game’s biggest selling point.

Galactrix is the type of game that is simple enough in its gameplay to be accessible to the casual gamer while at the same time having enough depth to keep the hardcore gamer interested. The abundance of puzzle solving and fantasy RPG gameplay makes this game unique enough for it to stand apart from the plethora of other puzzle games out there. In the end Galactrix provides many hours of gameplay and whether you’re looking for a game to just pick up and play or if you want to spend several hours with a high-quality RPG game, at its rather steep price of 1600 Microsoft Space Bucks, the game is definitely worth it. 

Gameplay: 8.0
Little variety in the puzzles, but the gem-matching formula still works extremely well.  This is the type of game you’ll turn on to play for a few minutes only to discover you’ve been playing it for hours. 

Graphics: 7.5
Good for an arcade game, but the characters and ships are derivative and uninspired. 

Sound: 9.0
The score is epic and makes for a great backdrop to a war torn galaxy. 

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Once you get the hang of the gem-matching mini-games and develop a strategy the game becomes much more enjoyable. 

Concept: 8.0
Galactrix takes what War of the Warlords did and takes it to the next level, many things have been changed and mostly for the good. 

Multiplayer: 8.0
More than just an afterthought, the ability to play with other players online using your pilot from the campaign is a lot of fun. 

Overall: 8.0
This game is a lot of fun, there’s a lot to do, and Galactrix is a highly addictive arcade game that many players will enjoy.