Puzzles & Conquest is an online game which asks you to perform a variety of tasks in order to raise your Might, and thereby rise in importance in relation to the other players.
Getting Started
When you join the game, you are automatically allocated to a “kingdom”, denoted by a kingdom number (eg. K72). Although there are many kingdoms, you will only be competing against the other players within your allocated kingdom. The underlying premise of the game is that your kingdom is overrun by Monsters which must be fought and killed. You are also encouraged to battle the other players in your kingdom.
You are lead through the early stage of the game by a charming Hero named Garnet (originally Lisandro). This is the tutorial stage in which you will be allowed time to familiarize yourself with your new surroundings and the game mechanics. You are simply known as “Lord”, and given a generated “name” and the standard avatar of a bearded young man with a crown. The generated name consists of your kingdom number followed by a dash and a series of 10 alphanumeric characters (eg. K72-4a5862b90).
You have the ability to change both your name and your avatar to more suitable options. This is covered in the New Starter Guide.
Navigation Tips
The landscape of the kingdom is arranged into several views:
- Home view
- World view
- Campaign view
Each view is bordered by a frame with information regarding your standing as a player, and other items such as communication channels.
Home View
Your home is a representation of your personal “territory”. It includes your castle and other important buildings enclosed within a wall.
You will perform tasks within your Home view including:
- Building
- Researching
- Training
As well as this, there are many opportunities to garner gifts and purchase useful items from a variety of shops.
World View
The World view is a representation of the kingdom. You will perform tasks within your World view including:
- Hunting
- Gathering
- Plundering
Here you will see your territory in relation to other players’ territories. Additionally, you may wander about the kingdom and observe the other players performing their tasks, locate monsters of differing ferocity, and resource spots with varying amounts of gatherable resources.
From the World view, you can also swap to a “birds eye” view of the entire kingdom on the map. The map shows that the kingdom is in fact arranged in concentric rectangles known as “ranges”, the outermost range having the least resources and the innermost range having the most resources. In the centre lies Dragonia where the leader of the kingdom (if any) resides.
You can also view other kingdoms using the “world” icon in the bottom left of the map window.
Campaign View
The Campaign view shows the land divided into chapters which are like individual counties or sectors. Each chapter contains a number of challenges which constitute the “puzzle” part of Puzzles and Conquest. Each challenge is a match-3 style battle against a group of monsters of varying rank. You will pit your most appropriate heroes against the monsters to defeat them all. When you have completed each of the challenges in the chapter, the next chapter is unlocked. Each successive chapter offers monsters of increasing rank for your heroes to battle.
Joining an Alliance
The tutorial encourages you to join an alliance or clan. Being part of an alliance has many advantages including:
- Help
- Re-inforcement
- Rallying
There are several tasks in the game which are not possible to achieve without joining an alliance. However, it is important to choose an alliance with active members willing to interact on a daily basis. One of your tasks is to help others in your alliance, which is not possible if they do not ask for help. Another task is to join with other alliance members to attack, which again is not possible if the other members choose not to participate. This is not catastrophic since there are many other tasks that you can achieve alone, however it is considered an important aspect of the game.
Having joined an alliance, you will likely want to relocate your territory to be near the other members’ territories on the World view. This is so that you can be on hand to re-inforce them in the event of attack from someone else.
What Happens Later
As the game progresses, you will naturally rise in rank and might, gradually outstripping your competitors in the kingdom.
Generally, play consists of performing your daily quests and other tasks required for your character to rise in the game. These include events which change regularly, and upgrading your castle.
As you progress, new options become available within the game. These include:
- the acquisition of your dragon
- better troops
- higher level heroes
- the pit
- the blacksmith
There are many other surprises waiting for you in the later stages. So listen to your tutor Garnet, follow her directions, and you will soon be on your way to challenging for the kingdom leadership of Dragonia.
