Puzzle Strike is a phenomenal game for the right players. It's Deck building (like Dominion) with a high degree of counter-play that makes games between experienced players a joy. A good match of Puzzle Strike is more satisfying than Dominion or Hearthstone because the role of luck is secondary to strategic choices, and different characters mixed with the random stacks of chips allow for a high degree of variation. The game's competitive core isn't for everyone, so while I love the physical board game version, it doesn't get a lot of play in my circles. Some had hoped this version would solve the matchmaking problem and let me enjoy the game more often. Alas, there are not enough players to find a game in a reasonable amount of time, and certainly not enough players for organized ranked play, at least not on the timeframe steam and mobile gamers expect. I bought the game and unlocks all the options at launch, was pleased with the port and usability on my iPad mini. Unfortunately the number of online players was always single digit,and it looks worse now. I think Sirlin made a big mistake not offering the base set for free. A free base would make it hugely more likely that players can find an opponent. Free players increase the quality of the experience for paying players. I don't know if Sirlin made the choice on principal or because as a small dev his team wasn't ready for that many players, but the choice has all but killed this app. The sad reality is that this app has made me less interested in future work from a designer I hugely admire.

The game implementation is decent, but the "Create Account" feature doesn't work. Also, when I quit a match, there's some partial info up the right-hand side of the screen that looks like it might be a game log of some sort, but there isn't enough to read. That goes away after a few taps on other buttons.Also not happy that I have paid $4 for the basic game, but that any variety of chips seems to require that I spend more. There's no apparent way to unlock characters or other chips.

I've played Puzzel Strike off and on for a couple of years. I have the board game version, and I used to play the Free Web Version while I was on my walking treadmill.This iOS implementation is very polished. I was a little worried after readinng the negitive reviews, but I went forward with a buddy and we both bought a copy.It played smooth as single player (and the puzzle mode is nice), and today we tried it multiplayer. At first we could not get a custom game started (we'd pick the characters but could not start it or edit the bank), so I posted on the Forum on their website, and within 5 mins (9pm cst) there was a reply from the admin stating the Server was in a "bad state" for iOS and he'd reboot it. Well he did, and my friend and I did about 4 hours of stable play across the internet (while running Facetime).Super solid implementation - though with hiccups and growing pains.

This is a Free to play game that costs you $4 (thus not free at all). It comes only with four characters out of like 30ish and you can’t unlock them at all except through ANOTHER $12 in app purchase. Nothing to unlock them in game. The pricing is nothing near online with other games. The gameplay itself only merited the extra star I gave because the board game is fun. Until they give you all the characters for maybe a $5 purchase... just pass and spend your money on a better and complete game.