Ignoring the fundamental silliness of paying $20 or more for a game that can be played with a fifty cent box of matches, we're actually quite looking forward to Matchstick Puzzles by DS. Which is a good thing, really, as publisher Mercury Games has just confirmed that its puzzler is on its way to Europe next February, for a wallet-pleasing budget price of £19.99 / €24.99.No news on a U.S. version just yet, though a European release bodes well for those who bought a DS to rearrange little pieces of virtual wood. There's a video of the game in action past the jump, and the first English language screens in the gallery below.
Gallery: Matchstick Puzzles by DS
Do you ever catch yourself thinking, "Gee, the only thing missing on the DS is matchstick puzzles! Wouldn't it be nice if I didn't have to carry around all these matchsticks?" No? Well, if you were that guy (or girl), then this could be the best day ever. But even if the idea of shifting matchsticks (without using any actual matches) doesn't thrill you to the core, odds are that you'll find this at least oddly interesting. While we wonder just how many matchstick puzzles there are -- and we're sure they all fit within this one DS game -- this could certainly be worth checking out as a rental at least. If nothing else, simple puzzles are pretty good for pick-up-and-play, and matchstick puzzles always seem to go well with alcoholic beverages.
RPG developer Level 5 is working on an intriguing new title that will hit Japan in February -- Professor Layton and Mysterious Town, a puzzle game. Puzzle game on the DS, you say? That's nothing new. Well, perhaps not, but what's different here (besides the style) is that they game is being co-developed by Akira Tago, the Chiba University professor behind a series of logic puzzle books. It'll be interesting to see what sort of impact that has not only on the puzzles themselves, but on the story. We're obviously big fans of game developers in general (it kinda goes with the fanboy-ism), but it's always nice to see other creative minds working in conjunction with game devs.
