505 Games has revealed the Puzzle Quest 3 release date. The third game in the long-running puzzle franchise will land on Steam and mobile devices next month, and it'll use a free-to-play model, although we don't yet know what the monetization in the game will look like.
What do we know about Puzzle Quest 3?
As you might expect, Puzzle Quest 3 is the long-awaited sequel to the second Puzzle Quest game and will follow on directly from 2010's Puzzle Quest 2. Naturally, this game will feature similar gameplay to the first two Puzzle Quest games, but 505 and developer Infinity Plus Two say the new game will feature plenty of twists on classic Puzzle Quest gameplay, including new classes, "deep RPG mechanics", and more.
Puzzle Quest 3 will feature full 3D for the first time in the series' history, so you'll be able to watch your battles play out in higher fidelity. It'll still offer the classic 1v1 battle system the series has always been based around, but there are some new mechanics to grapple with, including timed 8-direction gem matching so you can cast devastating spells on your enemies. Of course, there's a story, too; the third Puzzle Quest game takes place five hundred years after the first, revolving around a new enemy that appears to threaten dragons throughout the realm of Etheria.
When is the Puzzle Quest 3 release date?
You'll be able to play Puzzle Quest 3 on Steam, iOS, and Android when it launches on March 1st. There's no word yet on a console release, but there is precedent for one; a remake of the first Puzzle Quest game came to the Switch back in 2019, and the first two games launched for seventh-generation consoles, too, so hopefully console gamers will be able to play this new one eventually as well. Puzzle Quest 3 marks another in an increasing number of games coming to both PC and mobile platforms; free-to-play titles like Genshin Impact have been performing pretty well (although that came to PlayStation consoles eventually as well), so 505 and Infinity Plus Two's decision makes sense in that light.
Puzzle Quest 3 may have its work cut out for it in a gaming world that could be moving away from free-to-play models in favor of pay-to-earn (P2E) systems. Although companies like Team17 have backed away from NFT models after widespread fan backlash, the P2E system is still one in which many major gaming companies are interested. Recently, Take-Two bought mobile gaming giant Zynga for $12.1 billion (which was the largest gaming deal to date until Microsoft bought up Activision Blizzard). Zynga is actively looking into the P2E and metaverse spaces, so classic free-to-play experiences could be on the ropes, although it's too early to call yet, of course. We'll have more for you on this as soon as we get it. Until then, you can wishlist Puzzle Quest 3 on Steam right now.
Are you looking forward to checking out Puzzle Quest 3? Let us know in the comments below!