Item: Puzzle Strike
Rating: 91
Author: Dinsun

Dinsun Review

David Sirlin knows balance. Puzzle Strike is a brilliant adaptation of his physical game. It’s essentially a fighting game disguised as a deck-builder. The 'gem' system creates a natural catch-up mechanic that keeps every match tense until the very end.

It’s a bit 'mathy,' and the learning curve for high-level play is real, but it’s immensely rewarding. My only gripe is the UI—it’s a bit dated and feels like a direct port from a PC version. However, the mechanics are so rock-solid that I can overlook the lack of visual flair. This is a game for people who actually like to think.

Overall Stats

Pros & Cons

Incredible balance
Deep strategy
Unique bag-building hook

Dated UI
Small player base
Complex for beginners

Technical Report

Performance: Stable. The interface can be a bit cramped on smaller phones.

Accessibility:

Audience Fit

Buy if: You enjoy Dominion or Slay the Spire but want a competitive PvP edge.

Skip if: You want a relaxing, mindless match-3 game.

Similar Games:

Dominion
Star Realms

Reviewer Context

Reviewer: Dinsun
Hardware: iPad Air
Playtime: 50 hours
Status: Mastered 3 characters

The Game

Available on: iPhone, iPad, iPod

996491151

$3.99 4+★3.3 16 reviews

Author : Sirlin Games

Pubish Date : Wed Feb 03 2016

Last Update Date : Tue Sep 10 2024

Support Languages : English

Genres :

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 iOS 12.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod 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

Ratings & Reviews

3.3 out of 5 with 16 Counts

★★★★★

Age Rating 4+

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.

Features

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

Tips

Building Your Bag

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.

Promotion Videos

Puzzle Strike Trailer - YouTube

News on this game

'Puzzle Strike' Review – A Great Game With a Few Missed Opportunities – TouchArcade

The iOS version of Sirlin Games' Puzzle Strike is a tricky game to review.

TouchArcade - Sat Sep 30 2017

Board Game Review: Puzzle Strike Upgrade Pack

Last year I reviewed a unique deck-building game, Puzzle Strike, which uses cardboard poker chips instead of cards.

WIRED - Mon Sep 30 2013

Kickstarter Tabletop Alert: 'Puzzle Strike 2'

The higher your gem pile, the more powerful you become—but if they get too high, you'll be overwhelmed!

GeekDad - Wed Aug 30 2023

Puzzle Fighter Tabletop Successor Puzzle Strike Punches Onto Steam

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 leaving Early Access to launch on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC in July

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

RTS Meets CCG in 'Codex'

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 3rd Edition and Shadows Expansion

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

Gambling + Pandas = Pandante

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

Yomi 3 Release Date: When it will be available

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

Gameplays

Character Mastery

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.

Q&A

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!