Puzzle
Falling blocks, match three, and others of similar ilk make up one of the medium’s oldest categories, which is now primarily seen in the form of digital downloads and handheld iterations. The term may predate the “casual” qualifier, but it’s now almost completely consumed into the category thanks to the work of new genre greats like PopCap.




1. Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
X360/PC/DS/PSP
D3 Publisher/Infinite Interactive
October
Puzzle Quest, with its strange mix of hardcore RPG stats and casual Bejeweled gameplay, could have appealed to nobody. Instead it appealed to everybody across demographics, doing so well that D3 applied the branding to Infinite’s next game, Gaalctrix. It might not be as compelling an argument as the original. The sci-fi premise is a little more opaque than Challenge of the Warlord’s fantasy setting, the hardcore elements are a little more hardcore, and the hexagonal pieces don’t read as nicely in screenshots as the original’s clear Bejeweled lineage. And yet, everyone underestimated the first one.




2. Peggle
NDS
PopCap/Q Entertainment
Holiday 2008
Peggle has been a dominant force in the casual PC space for quite a while now. It’s a perfect fit for the DS as well, the simple point and pray game mechanics being seemingly made for touch screen controls. The only disadvantage this product might have in the face of competition is that it’s priced comparatively high and has already seen saturation on other platforms (that and people might be scared to have this super-addictive time sink always in their pocket). This should not keep Peggle from dominating the space during the holidays, however. PopCap’s first foray into the DS should see strong six-digit returns on the outside.




3. World of Goo
Wii/PC
2D Boy
TBA
When a wholly independent project is considered one of the best things WiiWare has in the pipe, you know you’ve got something special. World of Goo has already racked up many awards along the indie circuit. Its premise—building towers and bridges out of goo in a realistic physics engine—is a perfect fit for the Wii, both in hardware terms and market friendliness. Still, WiiWare games don’t really do the same kinds of numbers as retail product. If this one comes in at $10, it could hopefully do 30,000 in its first few weeks on sale.