Following the sleeper-hit Nintendo DS game of the same title, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a puzzle-driven role-playing adventure set in the universe of the Warlords and Warlords Battlecry series of PC strategy games. Challenge of the Warlords is structured like an RPG, with character classes, experience points, and a swords-and-sorcery storyline. All battles against villains, beasts, and monsters are played out in a tile-matching action puzzle game. On a grid, players can swap any two adjacent items, horizontally or vertically, in order to create a row or column with three or more adjacent items of the same type. As players match colored gems, they power up different special abilities. Matching three or more of the other icons on the grid rewards players with experience, gold, or direct damage to their opponents. Although the tile-matching play mechanic is familiar to fans of Bejeweled (or Nintendo's Puzzle League games), the competitive nature of the puzzles adds a dimension; not only must players try to find the best gem-swap for their own purposes, but they must also try to avoid leaving their opponents with a good gem-swap on the next turn. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide