Puzzle (Challenge): Difference between revisions

The Puzzle University from Pokémon Puzzle League and the Puzzle (Japanese: パズル Puzzle) mode from Pokémon Puzzle Challenge contain various predefined puzzles.

The object of each puzzle The player solves the puzzles by clearing all the blocks under a certain number of moves.

Overview

Number of puzzles

In Pokémon Puzzle League, there are 260 predefined puzzles, distributed this way:

• the class I with 30 basic puzzles
• the class II with 30 basic puzzles, 10 action puzzles, and 10 3D puzzles
• the class III with 30 basic puzzles, 10 3D puzzles, and 10 action puzzles
• the class special I with 30 basic puzzles
• the class special II with 40 basic puzzles and 10 action puzzles
• the class special III 30 basic puzzles, 10 3D puzzles, and 10 3D puzzles

In Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, there are 126 predefined puzzles, distributed this way:

• 6 normal rounds with 10 puzzles each
• a 7th normal round with 3 puzzles
• 6 star rounds with 10 puzzles each
• a 7th star round with 3 puzzles

Additionally, there are 15 available slots for custom puzzles, only in Pokémon Puzzle League.

Entering the Puzzle mode

In Pokémon Puzzle League, the Puzzle University is found at the northwestern corner of the Puzzle Village map, which serves as the main menu at the start of the game.

In Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, the Puzzle mode is one of various options in the "1 Player" menu, accessible at the start of the game.

Save slots

In Pokémon Puzzle League, there are 7 save slots with the names of each player, plus an additional "Guest" slot where no data is saved. An unused save slot is displayed as "(New)". These slots are used not only in the Puzzle University, but in other modes as well (such as Stadium, Marathon, and Spa Service). The player may choose any slot and press A to play, or press Z+A to completely delete that save slot. If the player chooses a slot with saved Puzzle data, there are "Continue" and "New game" options.

In Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, there are 3 save slots, displaying the progress of the player, for instance "Rnd 4-3". An unused save slot is displayed as "New Game". Unlike the previous game, these are specifically Puzzle save slots and don't affect other game modes. The player's progress at the list of save slots is formatted as "Rnd <X>-<Y>", where X is the highest currently available round and Y is the lowest puzzle within that round that was not solved yet. There is also the option to erase any saved game.

Progress screen

In both games, the progress screen contains a list of solved and unsolved puzzles. When a round is available, the player is able to choose any puzzle from that round

In Pokémon Puzzle League, (add how many puzzles to unlock next stage)

In Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, Professor Oak talks to the player at the progress screen. The player is able to unlock each next stage by solving at least 8 puzzles from each of the 10-puzzle rounds.

Solving a puzzle

In Pokémon Puzzle League, there is no countdown before each puzzle starts, so the player is able start playing immediately. In Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, when a puzzle starts, there is a 3-second countdown while the player is able to see the current puzzle and move the cursor, but is not able to move the blocks until the countdown ends.

In both games, the player is required to clear all the blocks from the playing field. However, they are only allowed to move the blocks a certain number of times, which is displayed at the right side of the screen. In Pokémon Puzzle League, the recurring Jigglypuff from the anime tells the number of remaining moves. In Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, this number is labelled "Count". The player may press B at any time to return the blocks to the previous state, except they don't have the chance to do this after the last move has been used, which ends the current puzzle immediately.

When the player successfully solves a puzzle, there is a fireworks animation. Usually, the next puzzle appears automatically. However, in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, the player automatically returns to the progress screen after 8 out of 10 puzzles have been cleared from the current round, because this unlocks the next round.

Hints

There are hints only in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, which starts with 3 available hints. The player may spend a hint by pressing Select, which causes the cursor to move by itself to the correct place. Each puzzle has exactly one available hint, which is the first movement. If the player moves any blocks and then attempts to use a hint, the current puzzle will restart in order to display the hint.

A small star is shown when the player has used their hint for the current stage at any point in the current save slot. The player is free to press Select multiple times in the same puzzle to see the same hint again, without decreasing the number of available hints anymore, even if the player has closed the puzzle or restarted the game. Whenever the player finishes all 10 puzzles of a given round for the first time, they receive an additional hint.

Timer

In both games, the timer displays the total amount of time the player has taken in all puzzles from that save slot, regardless of whether the player has solved or failed the previous puzzles. However, if the player shuts down the game system during an ongoing puzzle, the time taken in the current puzzle will not be added to the timer.

Pause menu

The player may press Start to pause either game, which opens a menu with the options below.

In Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, if the player pauses during the 3-second countdown at the beginning, only the options "Continue" and "Quit" appear.

Saving

In both games, whenever the player solves a puzzle, the current progress is automatically saved.

Additionally, Pokémon Puzzle Challenge has the feature to interrupt an ongoing puzzle in order to shut down the game and resume playing later, by selecting the "Save" option at the pause menu. When the player saves an ongoing puzzle, they have the option to press Start and continue playing anyway or shutting down the game. If the player resumes playing without shutting down the game, the saved ongoing puzzle will be deleted. If the player saves the ongoing puzzle and restarts the game, they will have two options:

If the player goes back to the main menu and then enters the "1 Player" or "Training" options, the saved ongoing puzzle will be deleted. This is explained by the game in this situation. The "2 Players" option remains available and will not delete the saved ongoing puzzle. If the player accesses the main menu and still wishes to resume the saved ongoing puzzle, they will have to reset the game again, since they are unable to access that puzzle via the "1 Player" option.

List of puzzles and solutions

• List of puzzles (PPL)
• List of puzzles (PPC)

In other languages

Pokémon Puzzle League

Language Title English Puzzle University French Universite Puzzle German Puzzle Universität

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge

Language Title Japanese パズル Puzzle English Puzzle French Puzzle German Puzzle Italian Rompicapo Spanish Puzzle

This article is part of Project Sidegames, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Sidegames.