[Game: Puzzle Link 2, Yumekobo, 2000]
Integrated Game Goals:

On Yumekobo’s Puzzle Link 2, and the Potential Simplicity of Good Game Design

 

Introduction:

Puzzle Link 2 North American box art - Yumekobo, SNK - tile-matching puzzle game cardsYumekobo’s Puzzle Link titles are not well-known games in America (or maybe anywhere). Besides Puzzle Link having a Japan-only release for the original Neo-Geo Pocket, Puzzle Link and Puzzle Link 2 were released exclusively on a little-known handheld console called the Neo-Geo Pocket Color, which was made by SNK. In fact, the North American release of Puzzle Link 2 preceded the console’s discontinuation in America by a mere two months. For today’s article, I’ll be discussing and recommending the sequel—because it is similar to the original, but with a few very important improvements (some of which I’ll detail below).

Although Puzzle Link 2—like its predecessor and like many other Neo-Geo games—was well-received by critics at the time, the combination of its timing and the Neo-Geo Pocket Color’s tiny little share of the North American handheld console market means that the vast majority of gamers in my country have never heard of it, let alone played it.

But I was part of that minority share of the market, and I played it quite a bit when I was younger. And I think more people should know about it, because upon reflecting I figured out what made the gameplay such fun. So I decided to write this article on how Puzzle Link 2 builds compelling puzzle gameplay simply by establishing three complementary, concurrent player goals.

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[Game: Puzzle Link 2, Yumekobo, 2000]
Integrated Game Goals:

On Yumekobo’s Puzzle Link 2, and the Potential Simplicity of Good Game Design

was last modified: February 26th, 2021 by Daniel Podgorski