Dungeons and Puzzles Has a Simple Name, But Isn’t a Simple Game

If you thought, from the name alone, that Dungeons and Puzzles is about solving puzzles in dungeons, you’d be half right. While you do solve puzzles whilst in a dungeon, the dungeon itself is a puzzle. Each room of the dungeon presents the player with enemies, obstacles, and weapons. It’s up to the player to figure out how to leave the dungeon in as few moves as possible. It’s similar to a sliding block puzzle, only this time you’re killing things to figure out how to leave.

The premise of the game is very simple. The only way for the exit door to open is to kill every enemy. However, for whatever reason, you can’t stop moving until you hit an object. So as you sort out which order you must kill all the monsters, you also have to take into consideration how to line up with the exit door when it opens.

In addition, you don’t take any of the weapons you found in that room with you. Each time you appear in a room, new weapons are also available to pick up. Since these weapons are often scattered throughout, especially if a room has more than one, this is another thing the player will have to take into consideration when planning moves.

Each item has a different ability as well, which will also affect how you move about the room. The sword kills any enemy next to you, whereas the bow and arrow can kill a monster from a distance. However, you only have one arrow to shoot, so if the bow is the only item in a room, you’ll have to chase after the arrow. The shield offers protection from traps, but it also can be used to push obstacles and monsters in the room. The glove allows players to pull obstacles and enemies around the room. As you can see, this is how Dungeons and Puzzles goes from a simple premise to complex solutions.

And it’s addictive.

Fortunately, players do not have to solve the dungeon puzzles within the set number of actions. If you go over, that’s okay. You can still leave. However, if you want to come back later to try to that magic number, you’re free to do so at any time.

One thing I really loved about playing Dungeons and Puzzles on the Switch versus on PC is that I can bring these dungeon puzzles on the go. It’s great for just picking up and playing a few dungeon rooms whenever the urge strikes. It’s so perfect for that very thing, it would not surprise me if it popped up on mobile devices.

Switch-owning puzzle fans, definitely put this one on your radars.

Dungeons and Puzzles is available for the Nintendo Switch and PC.