Nazo Puyo

About

Nazo Puyo is a puzzle game that flips the usual formula by making efficiency the key to success. Instead of clearing lines, you solve challenges by placing the fewest possible puyo to meet specific goals. Each level starts with a partially filled grid that might already contain tricky clusters or mid-air puyo, forcing you to plan carefully. If you mess up, the game locks you into a random puyo sequence that guarantees failure, pushing you to restart or accept defeat. The controls mirror Puyo Puyo’s basics but add layers of strategy, like timing your moves to trigger chain reactions before pieces settle. What sets it apart is the robust puzzle editor, letting players design custom challenges across six detailed menus. Adjust starting layouts, color constraints, and falling puyo sequences to craft nearly endless variations. Released as a Japan-exclusive Game Gear bundle in 1993, it’s a niche title with cult appeal, spawning sequels and later influencing Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. Its blend of tight puzzle design and creative tools still impresses, though its obscurity means most players will approach it as fresh newcomers.

Storyline

In Quest Mode, you are given a challenge and then a field that may or may not already have puyo in it. You must complete the challenge in the minimum number of puyo necessary. If you fail to, the game will generate a random string of puyo which will never allow you to complete the mission again, requiring you to either fill the screen or give up. Otherwise, controls are the same as Puyo Puyo. If a field has puyo in it that are not all on the ground, or four or more puyo of the same color connected, you will be able to position one pair of puyo before they all fall down/are removed. This will be essential to completing such missions. The puzzle creator allows you to make your own Nazo Puyo puzzles. Making puzzles requires navigating several screens through a menu. The first screen lets you lay out the initial board; 1 places a puyo, holding 2 and moving the D-pad selects a puyo to place from the right. The second screen chooses a puzzle: Up and Down change the puzzle, Left and Right increase the number/changes the color, and 1/2 make a selection. The third screen chooses which colors of puyo will show up; 1/2 toggle. The fourth screen chooses the pairs of puyo that fall — controls are the same as those of the first screen, and after the eight one, the game will give two random colors. The fifth screen is the actual puzzle; the sixth returns to the main menu.