I hate RPG's. I hate games with overly complicated story-lines. I hate medieval, renaissance-fair, stuff. But, I love puzzle games.

I saw 'Puzzle Quest' on Xbox Live this weekend and reluctantly downloaded the trial... because it's free. I achingly plodded through the eighty gajillion text screens and twenty minutes later... I'm so hooked, it's not even funny! Thankfully you can buy the full version and not lose your progress from the trial.

I've been reading glowing reviews for 'PQ' for the last few months, but the "RPG" mentions kept me from tracking it down. Wow, was I misguided. This game is spectacular.

It's a simple puzzle game with a 'Bejeweled'-esque style of gameplay. The "twist" is that each color-match you make adds to the levels of your character's powers. You use your powers to cast spells and battle against an opponent that is taking turns on the same puzzle grid. You can add skills, weapons and accessories to you character too... that's the RPG part. Even better, the enemy can be the game's AI or a real person via the Live interface.

I'm probably not explaining it well, but to sum it up: it's a turn based PRG with puzzle battles. And it rocks.

'Puzzle Quest' quickly wiped out much of my weekend. If RPG's could be half as engaging as this, I would be such a dork... because I would never stop playing 'em. And, I might even go to a renaissance fair.