Puzzle Strike is a brilliant digital adaptation of the tabletop deck-building game. It takes the 'match-3' or 'puzzle fighter' aesthetic and combines it with a deep, competitive card-game (or 'chip' game) engine. Each character feels genuinely unique, with specialized chips that completely change how you approach the match. One character might focus on 'thinning' their bag, while another tries to flood the opponent with junk.
The 'panic' of the stack getting higher is perfectly captured, and the turn-based nature allows for much more strategic planning than a real-time puzzle game. It's a game of 'engines'βfinding the right combination of chips to create a loop that clears your gems and buries your opponent. If you like Dominion or Slay the Spire but want a competitive, puzzle-themed twist, this is a gem.
Available on: iPhone, iPad, iPod
Version 1.02Tue Sep 10 2024
Updated Puzzle Strike to work on the newest iOS versions.
Puzzle Strike is a deckbuilding puzzle game played amongst Fantasy Strike characters. It's inspired by puzzle games such as Puzzle Fighter. Gems fall into each player's gem pile every turn, and whoever's gem pile fills up first loses. Improve your deck (of chips!) by purchasing new chips as the game unfolds.
Will you go heavy on economy, offense, or build an intricate engine? In any case, make sure to adapt to your opponents because Puzzle Strike has a lot more interactivity than most other deckbuilders. And like the other games in the Fantasy Strike universe, Puzzle Strike is designed to hold up to thousands of games at the expert level, and we fully embrace the philosophy of even-playfield competition.
The new iOS version of Puzzle Strike has these new features:
- Cross-platform play with players on iOS, Steam or the web version on FantasyStrike.com
- Chips have 4x the resolution as the web version
- Climb the leaderboards in Quick Match and check out replays of top players to improve your game!
- New Puzzle Challenge mode: learn advanced character tactics and think outside the bag! Beat these advanced challenges to become a real Puzzle Striker!
- Complete your Daily Quests to earn Jewels, then spend them to play "Puzzle Smash", a high-powered version of Puzzle Strike
- Contains all 48 Puzzle chips from both Puzzle Strike Third Edition and Puzzle Strike: Shadows, as well as the promo chips, Combinatorics, Dashing Strike and Custom Combo
- Practice offline against AI Puzzlebots for the first time!
- English, French and Japanese language support, with German localization on the way
- The base game comes with the first four characters (Grave, Jaina, Midori, and Setsuki), with fourteen additional characters available in-app
Requires iOSΒ 12.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPodΒ touch.Puzzle Strike is a deckbuilding puzzle game played amongst Fantasy Strike characters. It's inspired by puzzle games such as Puzzle Fighter. Gems fall into each player's gem pile every turn, and whoever's gem pile fills up first loses. Improve your deck (of chips!) by purchasing new chips as the game unfolds.
Will you go heavy on economy, offense, or build an intricate engine? In any case, make sure to adapt to your opponents because Puzzle Strike has a lot more interactivity than most other deckbuilders. And like the other games in the Fantasy Strike universe, Puzzle Strike is designed to hold up to thousands of games at the expert level, and we fully embrace the philosophy of even-playfield competition.
The new iOS version of Puzzle Strike has these new features:
- Cross-platform play with players on iOS, Steam or the web version on FantasyStrike.com
- Chips have 4x the resolution as the web version
- Climb the leaderboards in Quick Match and check out replays of top players to improve your game!
- New Puzzle Challenge mode: learn advanced character tactics and think outside the bag! Beat these advanced challenges to become a real Puzzle Striker!
- Complete your Daily Quests to earn Jewels, then spend them to play "Puzzle Smash", a high-powered version of Puzzle Strike
- Contains all 48 Puzzle chips from both Puzzle Strike Third Edition and Puzzle Strike: Shadows, as well as the promo chips, Combinatorics, Dashing Strike and Custom Combo
- Practice offline against AI Puzzlebots for the first time!
- English, French and Japanese language support, with German localization on the way
- The base game comes with the first four characters (Grave, Jaina, Midori, and Setsuki), with fourteen additional characters available in-app










Puzzle Strike is a deck-building game where you use chips instead of cards. Based on the acclaimed tabletop game by David Sirlin, you choose one of 10 characters, each with their own unique fighting style. Every turn, you buy new chips to add to your bag, allowing you to create powerful combos. The goal is to keep your 'gem pile' from overflowing while sending gems to your opponent. It's a game of balance: do you buy more economy chips to afford better moves later, or offensive chips to pressure your opponent right now? With online play and a challenging AI, it's a deep strategic experience.
10 unique characters with distinct playstyles
Deep 'bag-building' strategy mechanics
Cross-platform online multiplayer
Tutorial mode and 'Practice' AI
Beautifully illustrated 'Fantasy Strike' universe characters
Don't just buy every chip you see. A 'thin' bag with only a few powerful chips is often better than a large bag full of 'junk' chips. Focus on 'Combine' chips early on to merge your small gems into larger ones, which makes it easier to clear your pile in a single move later.
The iOS version of Sirlin Games' Puzzle Strike is a tricky game to review.
TouchArcade - Sat Sep 30 2017
Last year I reviewed a unique deck-building game, Puzzle Strike, which uses cardboard poker chips instead of cards.
WIRED - Mon Sep 30 2013
The higher your gem pile, the more powerful you becomeβbut if they get too high, you'll be overwhelmed!
GeekDad - Wed Aug 30 2023
While eyes are Street Fighter V, we're going to bring up one of Ryu and Ken's more divergent appearances. Puzzle Fighter HD, which featured...
Game Informer - Sun Jul 30 2017
Fantasy Strike has been available to play since 2017 in Steam Early Access, but we now know when it'll be making it's debut on consoles with...
EventHubs - Sat Jan 30 2021
Card game designer David Sirlin (Yomi, Puzzle Strike) has announced plans to release a new card game inspired by real-time-strategy computer...
ICv2 - Sat Sep 30 2017
Puzzle Strike is a very cool deck-building game that uses bags of chips instead of decks of cards. But what really sets it apart isn't so...
WIRED - Mon Jun 30 2014
Sirlin Games is known for its series of games set in the Fantasy Strike universe, in which many colorful characters take part in a Street...
GeekDad - Sat May 30 2015
Sirlin Games, the studio, or rather, the developer behind titles like Fantasy Strike and Puzzle Strike, is currently developing their...
Android Gram - Tue Sep 16 2025
Each character has three unique chips. For example, Grave focuses on defensive play and counter-attacking, while Jaina uses 'red' chips to play aggressively at the cost of her own safety. Learn which character fits your style to climb the ranks.
The gem pile represents your health. If it reaches 10 or more gems at the end of your turn, you lose. You must use your chips to send these gems to your opponent's pile instead!