Back in June we told you about GungHo Online Entertainment’s Puzzle & Dragons collaboration with Finnish publisher Supercell, promoting the latter’s Clash of Clans game. That tie-up involved a CoC themed dungeon and collectable monsters as well. It wasn’t the first collaboration of this kind, and – as we can see today – it’s not the last. Yesterday GungHo announced a similar collaboration with Warner Bros’ Batman: Arkham Origins, with a themed dungeon available from October 30 to November 12, in both English and Japanese versions of the game. The announcement says that villains, such as the Joker, will be available to collect [1]. Batman, Robin, and Catwoman will be available through a special egg machine (the game’s gacha mechanism). There will be three unique Batman characters available, and the folks over on the Puzzle & Dragons subreddit look to have an early scoop on what they will look like, so be sure to check that out. The Clash of Clans dungeon just wrapped up a second run in Puzzle & Dragons, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see this Batman event recur in the future. The results were fruitful for Supercell, and I expect the outcome will be very…
Back in June we told you about GungHo Online Entertainment’s Puzzle & Dragons collaboration with Finnish publisher Supercell, promoting the latter’s Clash of Clans game. That tie-up involved a CoC themed dungeon and collectable monsters as well. It wasn’t the first collaboration of this kind, and – as we can see today – it’s not the last.
Yesterday GungHo announced a similar collaboration with Warner Bros’ Batman: Arkham Origins, with a themed dungeon available from October 30 to November 12, in both English and Japanese versions of the game. The announcement says that villains, such as the Joker, will be available to collect [1]. Batman, Robin, and Catwoman will be available through a special egg machine (the game’s gacha mechanism).
There will be three unique Batman characters available, and the folks over on the Puzzle & Dragons subreddit look to have an early scoop on what they will look like, so be sure to check that out.
The Clash of Clans dungeon just wrapped up a second run in Puzzle & Dragons, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see this Batman event recur in the future. The results were fruitful for Supercell, and I expect the outcome will be very positive for Warner Bros.
Supercell subsequently sold a 51% stake to Softbank and Gungho for $1.5 billion.
Hopefully this means a wide variety of villains, and not just the Joker. ↩
Last week game developers Kabam and Gumi launched their Puzzle Trooper game for a number of markets worldwide, on iOS and Android. The game is clearly very much influenced by the wildly successful Puzzle & Dragons, but it takes advantages of one key area where P&D could have done better: localization. For Western users who play Puzzle & Dragons, including myself, it may take a while to grasp many of the game’s core concepts. I think that in the English version of the game, some things (like combo multipliers, orb manipulation, and knowing which elements are most effective against other elements) are not adequately explained to beginners. Check out my video below for a more visual comparison. This is the best game ever from the Southeast Asia region Developed by Gumi’s Singapore team, I think that Puzzle Trooper is very deliberately trying to do what Puzzle & Dragons overlooked in its localization, presenting that proven puzzle-RPG game model to global audiences in a manner which they can understand [1]. There are countless similarities with P&D, but the characters are completely different (and very much not in a Japanese style), presented as army troops that can be collected, enhanced, and evolved….
Last week game developers Kabam and Gumi launched their Puzzle Trooper game for a number of markets worldwide, on iOS and Android. The game is clearly very much influenced by the wildly successful Puzzle & Dragons, but it takes advantages of one key area where P&D could have done better: localization.
For Western users who play Puzzle & Dragons, including myself, it may take a while to grasp many of the game’s core concepts. I think that in the English version of the game, some things (like combo multipliers, orb manipulation, and knowing which elements are most effective against other elements) are not adequately explained to beginners. Check out my video below for a more visual comparison.
This is the best game ever from the Southeast Asia region
Developed by Gumi’s Singapore team, I think that Puzzle Trooper is very deliberately trying to do what Puzzle & Dragons overlooked in its localization, presenting that proven puzzle-RPG game model to global audiences in a manner which they can understand [1].
There are countless similarities with P&D, but the characters are completely different (and very much not in a Japanese style), presented as army troops that can be collected, enhanced, and evolved. I’ve been playing the game for a few days, and so far I really like it a lot. There is an interesting player-vs-player option where you can game with friends over Bluetooth, which looks fun. And the in-game text is pretty humorous, as are the fun character names.
So far the game has been made available to markets outside Japan, and it is currently number one in the role-playing category in Thailand, Malaysia, Spain, Russia, Brunei, and the Dominican Republic. I look forward to seeing how far this game can go now that Kabam is on board with Gumi. The company’s CEO Hironao Kunimitsu is pretty enthusiastic about the title, telling me that his Singapore team did a great job, adding “This is the best game ever from the Southeast Asia region.”
If you’d like to give it a try, you can get it for free over on the App Store.
It should be noted that Puzzle Trooper has not launched in the Japanese market. So if anyone is wondering why GungHo is (apparently) not upset about a game that borrows so heavily from its hit game Puzzle & Dragons, perhaps that’s one of the main reasons. In any case, as much as I like Puzzle & Dragons, I think it’s good that Gumi can build a game like this one. ↩
Last month we told you about GungHo Entertainment’s successful collaboration with Finnish game developer Supercell, an effort to cross-promote their respective games, Puzzle & Dragons and Clash of Clans. And now today GungHo has just launched another crossover event with Taito corporation’s Groove Coaster Zero [1]. Like the Supercell promotion, this collaboration features special limited time dungeons within Puzzle & Dragons, including special Groove Coaster backgrounds and music, as well as special Space Invaders monsters like Octopus, Crab, Squid, and UFO. For those who have yet to try Groove Coaster Zero, it’s a rhythm game that features lots of popular music (such songs from Lady Gaga or Gwen Stefani), where the player has to tap out the beat when given visual cues. I was going to give you a video demo, but I’m absolutely terrible at it… On Taito’s side of the cross promotion, there’s be a free-to-play remix of the Puzzle & Dragon theme music, with the top 1000 ranked players eligible for a special in-game gift. There will also be a P&D themed music pack available for Groove Coaster Zero as well. Many people have wondered whether or not Puzzle & Dragons can succeed beyond Japan. Personally I…
Last month we told you about GungHo Entertainment’s successful collaboration with Finnish game developer Supercell, an effort to cross-promote their respective games, Puzzle & Dragons and Clash of Clans. And now today GungHo has just launched another crossover event with Taito corporation’s Groove Coaster Zero[1].
Like the Supercell promotion, this collaboration features special limited time dungeons within Puzzle & Dragons, including special Groove Coaster backgrounds and music, as well as special Space Invaders monsters like Octopus, Crab, Squid, and UFO.
For those who have yet to try Groove Coaster Zero, it’s a rhythm game that features lots of popular music (such songs from Lady Gaga or Gwen Stefani), where the player has to tap out the beat when given visual cues. I was going to give you a video demo, but I’m absolutely terrible at it…
On Taito’s side of the cross promotion, there’s be a free-to-play remix of the Puzzle & Dragon theme music, with the top 1000 ranked players eligible for a special in-game gift. There will also be a P&D themed music pack available for Groove Coaster Zero as well.
Many people have wondered whether or not Puzzle & Dragons can succeed beyond Japan. Personally I think if it can continue to execute smart in-game collaborations like this one, then its eventual success is virtually assured [2]. It’s a very clever promotional tactic.
This cross promotion was originally scheduled for July, but was postponed due to some technical difficulties. ↩
It could be argued that P&D has already succeeded in the US. Not because it has surpassed a million downloads, but because it has ranked relatively well on the top grossing charts – the most important metric for every game developer. ↩
GungHo Entertainment’s hit game Puzzle & Dragons is probably the most successful mobile game in history, at least in terms of revenue. In the last quarter, the game was making almost $5 million per day. The game has 17 million users in its home market of Japan, but up until just recently we haven’t had many metrics on how it has been doing in North America [1]. Now the game has now reached the 1 million downloads mark in that region, which is still not very much – but it’s a good start. P&D peaked number 7 on the top grossing charts, and it will be interesting to see if it can making good money in that market. Most people outside Japan likely still relatively new to the game. And speaking as a fan of the game myself, I admit it can be a little tricky to understand at first. I’ve given a little bit of an introduction and how-to video for Puzzle & Dragons here if you’d like to check it out. But one of the reasons that I’m optimistic about P&D is the fact that we’ve seen various peripheral fan content and utilities springing up around it. There…
GungHo Entertainment’s hit game Puzzle & Dragons is probably the most successful mobile game in history, at least in terms of revenue. In the last quarter, the game was making almost $5 million per day.
The game has 17 million users in its home market of Japan, but up until just recently we haven’t had many metrics on how it has been doing in North America [1]. Now the game has now reached the 1 million downloads mark in that region, which is still not very much – but it’s a good start. P&D peaked number 7 on the top grossing charts, and it will be interesting to see if it can making good money in that market.
The Korea-made PadGuide
Most people outside Japan likely still relatively new to the game. And speaking as a fan of the game myself, I admit it can be a little tricky to understand at first. I’ve given a little bit of an introduction and how-to video for Puzzle & Dragons here if you’d like to check it out. But one of the reasons that I’m optimistic about P&D is the fact that we’ve seen various peripheral fan content and utilities springing up around it. There is the Puzzle & Dragon Database, the Puzzle & Dragon Forum, and an active sub-Reddit. In addition, their Facebook page now has over 42,000 fans.
And recently there is also the app PadGuide which is a really big help for newcomers to the game. In P&D, there are lots of events that suddenly occur which offer an opportunity to collect rare monsters – but the problem is that you don’t really know when they are going to happen. What PadGuide offers is a calendar of upcoming events so that you can be a little more opportunistic about when you play – you can even set alarms for specific events.
The app also has a library of the games monsters and dungeons, which is handy if you need to check what monsters you’ll meet so that you can prepare your team accordingly.
The app comes from Korean developer D&Tech Consulting, and is available for free with some ads displayed. Surprisingly this app recently broke into the top ten in South Korea’s iOS Utilities category. That’s not too bad for a simple game-tips app of this sort.
On a related note, Puzzle & Dragons also recently surpassed 1 million users in Korea. So GungHo’s strategy is clearly to focus on mature mobile markets where consumers are known to spend money.
It will be interesting to see if they make a move to go after the relatively mature markets of Taiwan and Hong Kong too, perhaps as a testing ground before later hitting the larger but less lucrative mainland China market [2].
Mostly we have just had app store rankings to rely on, which shot up significantly in the past month due to a collaboration with Supercell. ↩
There are lots of fans in China too, even though the game is not officially there yet (not to my knowledge, anyhow). It is available on various app stores in the country, such as Wandoujia. ↩
If you’ve played Japan’s most popular mobile game, Puzzle & Dragons, for any real length of time, you may find that occasionally you might forget the color of the orb beneath your finger as you move it. (Or perhaps its just me and my own fat fingers?) Despite my own aversion to using a stylus, this is a game that could likely be greatly improved by using one. And now one Japanese company, MetaMoJi, through a collaboration with AppBank has created a P&D branded version of its Su-Pen stylus that will go on sale in a few weeks. This is actually a colorful version of MetaMoJi’s Su-Pen, with multi-colored Puzzle & Dragons orbs decorating the pen’s body. AppBank is the operator of the official Pazudora-ya store, which is where the new pen will go on sale on August 9th. It will retail for 1980 yen (or about $20). MetaMoji is best known for its 7notes and Note Anytime apps handwriting recognition apps, which also make use of the company’s Su-Pen stylus for a better writing experience. On a related note, the aforementioned AppBank has also recently assisted a prominent overseas company improve their reach here in Japan, lending their services…
If you’ve played Japan’s most popular mobile game, Puzzle & Dragons, for any real length of time, you may find that occasionally you might forget the color of the orb beneath your finger as you move it. (Or perhaps its just me and my own fat fingers?)
Despite my own aversion to using a stylus, this is a game that could likely be greatly improved by using one. And now one Japanese company, MetaMoJi, through a collaboration with AppBank has created a P&D branded version of its Su-Pen stylus that will go on sale in a few weeks.
This is actually a colorful version of MetaMoJi’s Su-Pen, with multi-colored Puzzle & Dragons orbs decorating the pen’s body. AppBank is the operator of the official Pazudora-ya store, which is where the new pen will go on sale on August 9th. It will retail for 1980 yen (or about $20).
MetaMoji is best known for its 7notes and Note Anytime apps handwriting recognition apps, which also make use of the company’s Su-Pen stylus for a better writing experience.
On a related note, the aforementioned AppBank has also recently assisted a prominent overseas company improve their reach here in Japan, lending their services to Finnish developer Supercell, creating Japanese tutorials for its Clash of Clans game and promoting it on the AppBank site.
Supercell’s other partner in promoting the game was GungHo, creating a cross promotion with special Clash of Clans characters within the Puzzle & Dragons game.
We previously told you about how Finnish game developer Supercell teamed up with Japanese game developer GungHo Entertainment for cross promotion of their most popular mobile games, Clash of Clans and Puzzle and Dragons. The collaboration has been especially effective for Supercell’s Clash of Clans, as promotion in Japan’s most popular mobile game , Puzzle & Dragons, has helped it reach the top of Japan’s free iOS app rankings [1]. Just this past week it rose to as high as third on the top grossing app charts as well, which is no small feat, especially in a market as lucrative as Japan. A representative at Supercell explained to us that their team is delighted with the results so far, describing the collaboration as a tremendous one so far. “We have the deepest respect for GungHo” he added. Supercell also worked closely with Japanese media site AppBank to promote its game (see video below), describing that partnership as follows: We have been similarly impressed with their success. They have provided an invaluable service to our Japanese players with detailed tutorials and support. They are simply amazing. It is still early and we have a lot to learn, but both GungHo and…
Clash of Clans characters featured in Puzzle & Dragons
We previously told you about how Finnish game developer Supercell teamed up with Japanese game developer GungHo Entertainment for cross promotion of their most popular mobile games, Clash of Clans and Puzzle and Dragons. The collaboration has been especially effective for Supercell’s Clash of Clans, as promotion in Japan’s most popular mobile game , Puzzle & Dragons, has helped it reach the top of Japan’s free iOS app rankings [1]. Just this past week it rose to as high as third on the top grossing app charts as well, which is no small feat, especially in a market as lucrative as Japan.
A representative at Supercell explained to us that their team is delighted with the results so far, describing the collaboration as a tremendous one so far. “We have the deepest respect for GungHo” he added.
Supercell also worked closely with Japanese media site AppBank to promote its game (see video below), describing that partnership as follows:
We have been similarly impressed with their success. They have provided an invaluable service to our Japanese players with detailed tutorials and support. They are simply amazing. It is still early and we have a lot to learn, but both GungHo and AppBank are helping us to better understand the market in Japan.
Both partnerships are somewhat unconventional for a Western game developer looking to break into the Japanese market. But it will be interesting to see if more companies take a similar approach moving forward. From GungHo’s point of view, the power to promote a Western game inside P&D represents a pretty big bargaining chip as it looks to expand into Western markets itself.
And indeed P&Dhas benefited from promotion in Supercell’s Clash of Clans and Hey Day too, briefly breaking into the US top 20 apps overall for a few days in June, and peaking at sixth spot on the top grossing charts on July 14th.
It held the top position in Japan from June 24 to June 26th. ↩
Earlier in the week we wrote that the cross-promotional collaboration between Clash of Clans and Puzzle & Dragons had proven fruitful for Finnish developer Supercell, as their CoC game became the top ranked free app in Japan on Monday. Since then the app has remained in the top spot, and it will be interesting to see how long it can stay there. But has the cross-promotion helped Puzzle & Dragons in its effort to win over the US market? P&D also saw a big jump on Monday, and since then it has been hovering in the top 20 overall apps in the US app store. Of course, the more important metric is how it places in the top grossing charts, and that’s gradually on the rise as well (see chart below). Thanks primarily to its huge fan base in its home market in Japan, GungHo’s Puzzle & Dragons already has over 15 million downloads under its belt. But its position at or near the top of Japan’s top grossing charts (since February 2012 for iOS, and since October 2012 on Google Play [1]) makes it the most successful mobile game of all time — not just in Japan, but anywhere….
Earlier in the week we wrote that the cross-promotional collaboration between Clash of Clans and Puzzle & Dragons had proven fruitful for Finnish developer Supercell, as their CoC game became the top ranked free app in Japan on Monday. Since then the app has remained in the top spot, and it will be interesting to see how long it can stay there.
But has the cross-promotion helped Puzzle & Dragons in its effort to win over the US market? P&D also saw a big jump on Monday, and since then it has been hovering in the top 20 overall apps in the US app store. Of course, the more important metric is how it places in the top grossing charts, and that’s gradually on the rise as well (see chart below).
Thanks primarily to its huge fan base in its home market in Japan, GungHo’s Puzzle & Dragons already has over 15 million downloads under its belt. But its position at or near the top of Japan’s top grossing charts (since February 2012 for iOS, and since October 2012 on Google Play [1]) makes it the most successful mobile game of all time — not just in Japan, but anywhere.
Puzzle & Dragons moving up in top grossing ranks in US (App Annie)
And as I explained before, I’m still pretty hooked on the game myself. If you haven’t tried Puzzle & Dragons, check out our demo video that shows the basics of gameplay.
The app was released in mid-September 2012 on Google Play, and sharply rose to the top of the grossing rankings by October 10. ↩
Back on June 7th we wrote that Japan’s smash hit Puzzle & Dragons would be engaging in a collaborative promotion with Supercell’s Clash of Clans. The tie-up, which sees Clash of Clans characters like appear as special enemy monsters and playable cards, began yesterday with the new CoC dungeon going live in the game. It didn’t take long for this partnership to yield fruit, as Clash of Clans became the top free iOS app in the Japan app store at about 7pm last night [1]. Check out the chart above to see it’s recent progress. In the top grossing ranks, CoC is currently ranked 21st overall. I’ve collected a couple of CoC cards already in Puzzle & Dragons, and it’s going to be interesting to see if GungHo conducts similar promotions with Western gaming companies looking to break into the lucrative Japan mobile gaming market. Of course, Puzzle & Dragons has dominated the Japanese market like no other game, recently surpassing 15 million downloads back on June 8th. Update: Serkan Toto has more on this in a great post late last night. Clash of Clans is now also a featured staff pic in the Japanese app store, and that has…
Via App Annie: Clash of Clans’ rise in the Japan market over past 24 hours
Back on June 7th we wrote that Japan’s smash hit Puzzle & Dragons would be engaging in a collaborative promotion with Supercell’s Clash of Clans. The tie-up, which sees Clash of Clans characters like appear as special enemy monsters and playable cards, began yesterday with the new CoC dungeon going live in the game.
It didn’t take long for this partnership to yield fruit, as Clash of Clans became the top free iOS app in the Japan app store at about 7pm last night [1]. Check out the chart above to see it’s recent progress. In the top grossing ranks, CoC is currently ranked 21st overall.
I’ve collected a couple of CoC cards already in Puzzle & Dragons, and it’s going to be interesting to see if GungHo conducts similar promotions with Western gaming companies looking to break into the lucrative Japan mobile gaming market.
Of course, Puzzle & Dragons has dominated the Japanese market like no other game, recently surpassing 15 million downloads back on June 8th.
Update: Serkan Toto has more on this in a great post late last night.
Clash of Clans is now also a featured staff pic in the Japanese app store, and that has likely been a huge help for the app too. ↩
I started playing Puzzle & Dragons a few months back. Or at least, that was my first serious look at it [1]. Prior to that, I had picked it up for a few plays only to put it down just as fast. It’s a game that takes a little bit of time to get into, and in the English version the help menu isn’t really an adequate primer for what the game has in store. And while I’ve come to really love the game, I think it can be tricky for newcomers. What follows is a short explanation of what I’ve learned about the game so far, as well as what I wish I knew when I first picked it up. The mechanics of the puzzle is not immediately apparent to start. If you haven’t tried the game yet, I’ve included a short video explainer above to help you get the gist of how to recognize basic orb patterns that can quickly be solved, and once you master those, you can move on to more advanced techniques [2]. Looking ahead to possible combinations makes the game feel somewhat chess-like sometimes, in that you need to plan ahead to execute your…
I started playing Puzzle & Dragons a few months back. Or at least, that was my first serious look at it [1]. Prior to that, I had picked it up for a few plays only to put it down just as fast. It’s a game that takes a little bit of time to get into, and in the English version the help menu isn’t really an adequate primer for what the game has in store. And while I’ve come to really love the game, I think it can be tricky for newcomers. What follows is a short explanation of what I’ve learned about the game so far, as well as what I wish I knew when I first picked it up.
The mechanics of the puzzle is not immediately apparent to start. If you haven’t tried the game yet, I’ve included a short video explainer above to help you get the gist of how to recognize basic orb patterns that can quickly be solved, and once you master those, you can move on to more advanced techniques [2]. Looking ahead to possible combinations makes the game feel somewhat chess-like sometimes, in that you need to plan ahead to execute your moves within the limited time you have. I used to be a chess fanatic, and perhaps that’s why this game appeals to me so much.
It’s also not at all obvious for a beginner how to best power up and evolve your monsters. While it’s important to save magic stones to try to get rare eggs from the machine, you’ll find in later levels that in order to acquire evolution material for specific cards, you need to find out in which dungeons you can acquire it. You could keep playing until you stumble across it, or you could check one of online databases for the game that are out there.
I still don’t fully understand evolving monsters and building teams, and there are lots of other resources out there that you might want to check out to learn more about that. But I do like that the depth of the game and the fact that I’ve been casually playing for months and there’s still so much more to learn.
Everybody must get stones
Spend a magic stone to continue?
Why Puzzle & Dragons has been such a money-maker for GungHo Entertainment? It’s all about the magic stones, the games currency. You’re occasionally awarded a stone, or simply given one as a gift upon login – but no matter how you get them, you probably ought to save them to either expand your monster box (in early stages especially) or to take a shot at the rare egg machine.
But the game draws on the same money-making principle of video game arcades back in the 70s and 80s: insert coin to continue. And sometimes after you’ve played a long round only to lose to a tough boss, you’ll be tempted to spend a magic stone to continue. Or, if you have no magic stones, you’ll be very tempted to buy one.
As a personal rule, I try not to spend any money on any virtual goods in games [3], and I’m really glad that the game isn’t crippled as a result. Game play isn’t really hampered at all, in fact. I don’t think I’m a hardcore fan of the game, but I do pick up the game daily, which is more frequent than any other mobile game.
What day is it, anyway?
Puzzle & Dragons has special dungeons available on certain days of the week. On the weekend for example, you earn more coins than usual, which can then be used to pay for power ups later on. Thursday is a fun day for me as it awards wood monsters, and I’m working on building a wood team. But this pattern of recurring in-game events is a pretty brilliant strategy from GungHo. Gamers look forward to the weekend when they can rack up lots of coins, or to special events during the week when there might be an increased chance of finding a rare monster. There are events on special occasions too, like a recent easter event, or the current spring event which just started.
No doubt gamers who take Puzzles & Dragons more seriously may find the information above somewhat trivial or obvious. But I think since the English version of the game still hasn’t come close to being popular on the US app charts, I thought I’d pass on a little information about why I like it so much. Besides the fun of the puzzles alone, there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had in collecting rare monsters and building a team. I enjoy the card battle genre, and P&D has all the right elements of that, I think.
Anyway, if you’d like to learn more about the game, I’ve included some more resources below. Some of them are deeper than you’ll need starting out, but keep them on hand for when you start to get hooked. If you have any advice to give I’d be delighted to hear it, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.
Note that I’m referring to the US/English version of Puzzle & Dragons, as opposed to the Japanese version. ↩
Some of the tutorials that exist on the net seem to indicate tactics that are far more complex than my simple video demo. I look forward to diving deeper and learning more. ↩
The money I spend in the Apple Store is usually on text editors or, more recently, on the very expensive Dragon Dictate, which I used to write this post. ↩
Japanese game developer and publisher GungHo Entertainment announced today that its insanely popular Puzzle & Dragons game has finally surpassed the 10 million downloads mark (as of March 9th). It took just over a year to reach the mark, after its initial release in February of 2012. And while the games download count is not by itself a standout accomplishment, its longevity at or near the top of the Apple and Google Play top grossing app charts is incredible. Most of the game’s downloads are from its home market of Japan, where the game has been helped by television commercials. Described as a combination of a Bejeweled-ish puzzle game and an RPG, Puzzle & Dragons has yet to really catch on outside of Japan, after launching English versions late last year. I’m not certain why this is, but speaking from my own experience with the game [1], my initial encounter didn’t get me hooked. At first I didn’t quite realize how the jewels (called ‘Orbs’ in the game) could be maneuvered. But eventually I figured out you could move an orb wherever you wished – you can even move them diagonally. There are still a lot of things that I…
Japanese game developer and publisher GungHo Entertainment announced today that its insanely popular Puzzle & Dragons game has finally surpassed the 10 million downloads mark (as of March 9th). It took just over a year to reach the mark, after its initial release in February of 2012. And while the games download count is not by itself a standout accomplishment, its longevity at or near the top of the Apple and Google Play top grossing app charts is incredible.
Most of the game’s downloads are from its home market of Japan, where the game has been helped by television commercials. Described as a combination of a Bejeweled-ish puzzle game and an RPG, Puzzle & Dragons has yet to really catch on outside of Japan, after launching English versions late last year. I’m not certain why this is, but speaking from my own experience with the game [1], my initial encounter didn’t get me hooked.
At first I didn’t quite realize how the jewels (called ‘Orbs’ in the game) could be maneuvered. But eventually I figured out you could move an orb wherever you wished – you can even move them diagonally. There are still a lot of things that I have yet to learn about the game, like which monsters in your collection are best used to evolve other monsters, or strategies relating to the various types of monsters when attacking.
But nevertheless I enjoy the game immensely, and part of the reason is because of the game’s depth. There’s still a lot that I have yet to figure out. If you’re new to the game, I recommend you check out some of the many video demos on YouTube (including my own demo, which you can see above). There’s also a subreddit dedicated to the game, which you might want to watch as well.
If you have any tips for how to excel in the game, I’d love to hear, so don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments below. [Via Gamebiz.jp]
Puzzle & Dragons 
Rick Martin
