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Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
(2009, Video Games - Action/Adventure, Rated E10+, Play it on: Nintendo DS)
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Is it age appropriate?
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Not age appropriate for kids under 8, age appropriate for kids over 10; suggested age 10. -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Clever role-playing/puzzle hybrid set in outer space.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 10 and Up
The good stuff
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Educational value:
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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What Parents Need to Know
This review of Puzzle Quest: Galactrix was written by Alex Porter
Parents need to know that while the fundamental gameplay consists of lining up three colored hexagons in a row, there is considerable depth here. The story unfolds across a huge galaxy with the protagonist going on varied missions and interacting with a broad spectrum of other characters, both good and evil. There are also challenging logic, strategy, and resource management elements at play. Some of the story alludes to violent events such as the use of nuclear weapons, holy wars, and death threats.
Families Can Talk About
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Families can talk about the different challenges your character faces. He or she is a novice pilot who gains skill and experience through trade, scientific skill, and battle. The character is also caught within a realm where warring factions vie for resources and power. Are there real-world situations that mirror this setup? Why are you compelled to keep playing? Is it fighting priates? Selling cargo for ship upgrades? Hacking portals into new star systems where unknown missions await? Or, is it the basic pleasures of the puzzles themselves that drive you to continue the game?
More on Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
What’s the Story?
A sequel to last year's Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, PUZZLE QUEST: GALATRIX maintains the series' signature puzzles-meet-role-playing style. This time, instead of a medieval fantasy context, the game is set in space. Players assume the role of a rookie pilot who must traverse the galaxy negotiating colonial and corporate strife. In the process, you'll mine for riches, battle hostile ships, unlock portals to new territories, and grow in skill and power. And whether battling enemy vessels, haggling for new gear, mining for valuable minerals, or hacking a gateway into a new realm, you'll use a puzzle board to accomplish your goal. Similar to popular Online and mobile game, Bewjeweled, the player moves adjacent colored hexagons to form three in a row.
Players chose a male or female character and set off on adventures, moving across a huge galaxy, fighting against other ships, accepting missions (and side-missions), and mining for precious minerals. Completion of missions and tasks earns the player experience and cargo, redeemable for ship upgrades. Each mission is played out in the puzzle space; in battles, you strategically weaken an opponents defenses while maintaining your own.
CloseIs It Any Good?
It's difficult to do justice in words to just how absorbing this game is. The puzzles are very satisfying, and build in sophistication as the story progresses. Because the hexagonal shapes can be aligned from several angles, they also replenish from multiple directions, a point that factors into strategy. What's more, the type of hexagons matched represent uniquely different point values, so playing involves scanning quickly for patterns.
To add to the experience, leveling up your skills, upgrading your ships, and bartering for deals is all lots of fun. Finally, the story, told in dialogue with talk balloons and still graphics, has far more depth than you'd expect. In fact, a simple image and a bit of text sometimes offers a more compelling narrative than sophisticated computer graphics because the player must imagine the details.These characters and situations evoke Star Wars memories in terms of variety and moral spectrum.
ClosePublisher’s Details
Released on 2/24/2009, price $29.99, not online enabled
ESRB rating: E10+ (for Violent references, Alcohol references)
ESRB rating: E10+ (for Violent references, Alcohol references)
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