# Puzzle Strike > Deckbuilding puzzle game with fantasy characters, gem management, and strategic chip purchasing. (iPhone/iPad app by Sirlin Games.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/puzzle-strike/id996491151 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Sirlin Games](https://appshunter.io/developer/594630028) - Category: Games, Card, Strategy - Price: $3.99 with in-app purchases - Rating: 3.30/5 from 16 App Store ratings · 24 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 12.0 · 377 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2016-02-03 - Data updated: 2026-08-28 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/puzzle-strike/id996491151/reviews.md ## What is Puzzle Strike? Puzzle Strike is a deckbuilding puzzle game played amongst Fantasy Strike characters. It's inspired by puzzle games such as Puzzle Fighter. Gems fall into each player's gem pile every turn, and whoever's gem pile fills up first loses. Improve your deck (of chips!) by purchasing new chips as the game unfolds. Will you go heavy on economy, offense, or build an intricate engine? In any case, make sure to adapt to your opponents because Puzzle Strike has a lot more interactivity than most other deckbuilders. And like the other games in the Fantasy Strike universe, Puzzle Strike is designed to hold up to thousands of games at the expert level, and we fully embrace the philosophy of even-playfield competition. The new iOS version of Puzzle Strike has these new features: - Cross-platform play with players on iOS, Steam or the web version on FantasyStrike.com - Chips have 4x the resolution as the web version - Climb the leaderboards in Quick Match and check out replays of top players to improve your game! - New Puzzle Challenge mode: learn advanced character tactics and think outside the bag! Beat these advanced challenges to become a real Puzzle Striker! - Complete your Daily Quests to earn Jewels, then spend them to play "Puzzle Smash", a high-powered version of Puzzle Strike - Contains all 48 Puzzle chips from both Puzzle Strike Third Edition and Puzzle Strike: Shadows, as well as the promo chips, Combinatorics, Dashing Strike and Custom Combo - Practice offline against AI Puzzlebots for the first time! - English, French and Japanese language support, with German localization on the way - The base game comes with the first four characters (Grave, Jaina, Midori, and Setsuki), with fourteen additional characters available in-app ## Key features - Deckbuilding mechanics - Gem pile management - Cross-platform play - Leaderboards and replays - Puzzle Challenge mode - Offline AI practice - Daily Quests ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: $3.99. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Character Value Bundle | $5.99 | one-time | | Shadows Character Bundle | $9.99 | one-time | | Unlock ALL characters | $11.99 | one-time | | Unlock Rook | $1.99 | one-time | | Unlock Menelker | $1.99 | one-time | | Unlock Persephone | $1.99 | one-time | | Unlock Gloria | $1.99 | one-time | | Unlock Gwen | $1.99 | one-time | | Unlock Vendetta | $1.99 | one-time | | Unlock Zane | $1.99 | one-time | | Unlock Bal-Bas-Beta | $1.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (10 of 24) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/puzzle-strike/id996491151/reviews.md ### 1/5 — Great game left to collect dust *2020-06-06* Sirlin has a disappointing habit of creating great games like puzzle strike and codex and then not putting in the effort to maintain them. ### 2/5 — Too expensive *2019-01-10* 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. ### 5/5 — Great Implementation *2016-06-23* 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. ### 1/5 — Broken *2016-06-23* Messages that display programmer info (like an empty object showing as "{0}")' no Undo for many actions, and a Custom game mode that doesn't let you choose your bank or start the game. This feels like a Single Player beta. It is in no way finished and doesn't merit the $4 price tag. Keep your money until Sirlin gets their act together. ### 1/5 — Not ready for prime time. *2016-05-28* As mentioned by others, the create account system just doesn't work. And there's no way to contact the developers to alert them to the problem. Which means I won't be spending the $12(!!!!) to unlock the rest of he game. Which, by the way, feels a bit exorbitant for an app that doesn't support pass and play, and since I can't log in, means I can't play with my friends at all. See, if you do the math, $12 * 4 means that you and your friends will pay $48 to play the full game against each other. That's more than the cost of the actual board game. ### 2/5 — No pass and play? *2016-05-22* Seems like a good implementation, but no pass and play, an option almost every board game app has, ruins it for me. If I had known this common feature was missing I would not have bought it. Game is great, I own the physical copy. ### 4/5 — Nice Implementation of a Great Game *2016-04-20* This is a fantastic game and the iOS implementation is top notch. Good AI and puzzle mode. Online player vs player. Unfortunately, your purchase only gives you 4 characters. The other characters are an additional (hefty) cost. I already own a physical copy of the game. Paying for these characters again is too much to ask at the price requested. ### 3/5 — Great game, no users *2016-04-14* 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. ### 3/5 — Good try, needs fixing *2016-02-27* 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. ### 2/5 — 日本語対応ありがとうございます。 *2016-02-22* 日本語に対応してありがとうございます。 しかし、キャラクター購入でバグがあります。 一括購入が出来ません。 ゲーム自体は面白いです。 ## Frequently asked questions about Puzzle Strike ### What is Puzzle Strike's core gameplay? Puzzle Strike is a deckbuilding puzzle game where players manage a gem pile. Gems fall into your pile each turn, and the first player whose pile fills up loses. You improve your deck by purchasing new chips as the game progresses. ### Can I play Puzzle Strike with friends on different devices? Yes, Puzzle Strike offers cross-platform play. You can compete with players on iOS, Steam, or the web version on FantasyStrike.com. ### Does Puzzle Strike have an offline mode? Yes, for the first time, Puzzle Strike allows you to practice offline against AI Puzzlebots. This is great for learning the game or honing your skills without an internet connection. ### How does Puzzle Strike compare to other deckbuilders? Puzzle Strike is designed for high interactivity, unlike many other deckbuilders. It embraces the philosophy of even-playfield competition, aiming to hold up to thousands of games at the expert level. ### What is the Puzzle Challenge mode in Puzzle Strike? The Puzzle Challenge mode helps you learn advanced character tactics and think strategically. Beating these challenges is designed to help you become a true Puzzle Striker. ### How much does Puzzle Strike cost? Puzzle Strike is a paid app, priced at $3.99. The base game includes the first four characters, with fourteen additional characters available for in-app purchase. ### What is the age rating for Puzzle Strike? Puzzle Strike has an age rating of 4+. This indicates it is suitable for young children and generally contains content that is universally suitable. ### How often is Puzzle Strike updated? The latest version of Puzzle Strike is 1.02, last updated on September 10, 2024. This suggests a relatively active development cycle for the game. ## Version history (last 3 releases) ### 1.02 — 2024-09-10 Updated Puzzle Strike to work on the newest iOS versions. ### 1.01 — 2016-02-17 This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon. - New language added for Puzzle Strike: Japanese! - Fixed the QM bug where non-webplayer hosts of Quick Matches would not have their chat lines sent - 5-gems are now untrashable (mainly to prevent Pilebunker from being too strong in Puzzle Smash) - Removed the cost circle from 5-gems, since they are now impossible to buy or trash - Fixed Big Rocks and Risky Move giving 5-gems outside of Puzzle Smash - Fixed some in-game text that didn't render correctly - Fixed an information leak on chips drawn through blue-shield reactions when Mistress's Command finishes - Mistress's Command doesn't control Hundred-Fist Frenzy-triggered crashes - Fixed some incorrect textfield max sizes (for usernames, passwords, room names, and chat lines) - Fixed "Declare Victory" button in Quick Match - Fixed preset bank buttons occasionally not setting their bank correctly, when Dashing Strike was in the previous bank - Fixed spurious warning and button text about buying Wounds during the buy phase, when no Wounds remain in the bank and you have not yet bought a chip - Quest notifications now popup from the top-right corner instead of from the top-left one ### 1.0 — 2016-02-03 No release notes. ## Apps similar to Puzzle Strike | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Clash of Decks](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clash-of-decks/id6448199124) | 3.4 (8) | Free | Games | | [Turing Machine Notepad](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/turing-machine-notepad/id6755933821) | 5.0 (2) | Free | Games | | [Dresden Files Co-op Card Game](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dresden-files-co-op-card-game/id1112435806) | 4.4 (46) | $6.99 | Games | | [Gather CCG](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gather-ccg/id6752483106) | 1.0 (1) | Free | Games | | [Union of Gnomes](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/union-of-gnomes/id6754284397) | 4.7 (9) | $4.99 | Games | | [二零将棋](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id6746777951) | — | Free | Games | ## More apps by Sirlin Games - [Yomi](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/yomi/id594630025) All apps by Sirlin Games: https://appshunter.io/developer/594630028 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-28.*