PPQ:Puzzle Gameplay

Puyo Puyo!! Quest features a basic puzzle gameplay that is significantly different from the classic Puyo Puyo franchise.

Puzzle Gameplay

Field

An example for a field layout

The puzzle gameplay happens on the field (フィールド) at the bottom half of the gameplay screen. The field consists of 48 puyos (or special pieces) in 8 columns by 6 rows, plus one Next Puyo (ネクストぷよ) for each column which forecasts the first puyo that drops.

Normal Chaining

For each turn, the player can trace-remove (なぞり消す) at most 5 puyos (adjacently- or diagonally-linked) from the field, and puyos above the created space will fall. Groups of 4+ adjacently-linked puyos of the same color will pop and amass attack power for cards of that color. A chain (れんさ／連鎖) is formed when further groups of 4+ same-color puyos link and pops.

When puyos on the field cannot form groups to pop but there are still open spaces on the field, new puyos will fall from above to fill in the spaces, with the possibility of forming more groups of puyos to pop and continuing the chain. The chain is considered finished when there are no groups to pop and no open spaces on the field.

Large Chain Chance

A example of a Large Chain Chance

When a chance puyo (チャンスぷよ) is cleared within normal chaining, Large Chain Chance (だいれんさチャンス) will be initiated. A preset chain is presented in a separate field stopped by at most 5 excess puyos, with the number of excess puyos (and the color of the puyos in some certain easier quests) shown above. The size of the preset chain given in the Large Chain Chance S_c is given by

S_c = 3 + S_n + n

where

S_n = chain size of normal chain

n = number of chance puyos cleared

The player is then given 10 seconds to trace-remove the correct excess puyos to initiate the full chain, gaining additional attack power and HP recovery (if All Clear is achieved).

One chance puyo will drop if the player achieves a 6-chain (also applies in some active skills) or clears 16+ puyos at the same time (does not apply during active skills). Chance puyos can also be created by active skills.

See PPQ:Large Chain Chance Gallery for a gallery of know Large Chain Chance patterns and respective answers.

HP Recovery

Players can recover lost HP of all cards by clearing heart boxes (ハートBOX), which is done by popping puyos adjacent to it. Heart boxes may be trace-removed but in that case it will not recover any HP.

Players can also recover lost HP when achieving an All Clear (全消し), no matter in normal chaining, Large Chain Chance or skill activation.

Heart boxes may drop among cascading puyos from time to time as the player chains (except under certain stage effects that specify otherwise).

Prism Balls

Certain skills can create prism balls (プリズムボール) on the field. Popping puyos adjacent to a prism ball amasses attack power for all colors at 3× Attack. Attack power from prism balls does not enjoy chaining or same-time clear bonuses.

Plus-state Puyos

Certain skills can grant Plus State (プラス状態) to color puyos on the field. Puyos in Plus State counts as 2 puyos in terms of generating attack power and (in normal turns) reducing Puyo Left to Skill Activation.

Garbage and Hard Puyos

Certain enemy skills can create garbage puyos (おじゃまぷよ) and hard puyos (かたぷよ) on the field. Garbage and hard puyos cannot be trace-removed. Garbage puyos can only be removed by popping other puyos adjacent to them, and hard puyos will turn into garbage puyos when other puyos are popped adjacent to them. Unlike in classical Puyo Puyo rules, hard puyos cannot be completely removed by popping adjacent puyos on multiple sides.

Example

Before	→	After
	→
	→

Chaining Power

Attack Chaining Power

The attack power A of a certain card from each step of chain is given by

where

A₀ = Basic attack power of that card, inclusive of bonuses from Leader Skills and Active Skills, Combination Bonus, Tower Bonus, etc.

n = number of Puyos cleared

p = number of Prism Balls cleared

C = Chaining Multiplier

S = Same-time Coefficient

g = Group Separation Bonus

Chaining coefficient

Chaining Coefficient (連鎖係数), also known explicitly as "Attack Power Increment by Chain Number" (連鎖数に応じた攻撃力増幅効果) in certain skills, is the increment of attack power due to popping puyos in higher chain steps. Puyos popped in a higher step of a chain produces a higher attack power. Note that chain steps in the normal chain and Large Chain Chance chain are counted separately.

In certain skills,

Chain Step	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Chaining coefficient (C)	0.0	0.4	0.7	1.0	1.2	1.4	1.6	1.8	2.0	2.2
Chaining multiplier (1+C)	1.0×	1.4×	1.7×	2.0×	2.2×	2.4×	2.6×	2.8×	3.0×	3.2×

Example

Deck	Attack Power	Field
A0 = 1000	1000 × 1.0 = 1000
A0 = 1000	1000 × 1.4 = 1400
A0 = 1000	1000 × 1.7 = 1700

Same-time Coefficient

For every additional Puyo popped at the same time over the minimum requirement to pop (4 in normal rules), the attack power increases with a Same-time Coefficient (同時消し係数) S = 0.15. Unlike in original Puyo Puyo, Puyos popped in previous steps of the chain do not contribute to the power of later steps.

Certain skills feature increased Same-time Coefficient during its activation including Fairy Tale Series. Puyo-transforming skills like Original Puyo Puyo Series also has 2× Same-time Coefficient during Puyo clears immediately following the transformation.

Example

Deck	Attack Power	Field
A0 = 1000	1000 × (1 + 8×0.15) = 1000 × 2.2 = 2200
A0 = 1000	1000 × (1 + 8×0.15) = 1000 × 2.2 = 2200
A0 = 1000	1000 × (1 + 8×0.15) = 1000 × 2.2 = 2200

Group Separation Bonus

When multiple, separate groups of the same color Puyos pop at the same time, in addition to increments from Same-time Coefficient, the attack power also multiplies by a Group Separation Bonus factor g equal to the number of separate, same-color groups.

Example

Fields	A0 = 1000
	1000 × (1 + 8×0.15) = 1000 × 2.2 = 2200
	1000 × (1 + 8×0.15) × 3 = 1000 × 2.2 × 3 = 6600

Recovery Chaining Power

The recovery amount R for each card from a whole chain is given by

where

R₀ = Total basic recovery power of all cards at the front, inclusive of bonuses from Leader Skills and Active Skills, Combination Bonus, Tower Bonus, etc.

m = number of cards at the front

n = number of Heart Boxes cleared

c = size of chain, total of both the normal chain and the Large Chain Chance chain

k = number of All Clears

Autoplay

Autoplay (オートプレイ), or simply Auto (オート), is the functionality where the CPU takes over in-quest control and completes the quest for the player.

The Auto function can be toggled on/off at the quest preparation screen (choice carries into subsequent quests). It can be turned on/off during the quest by tapping the Auto button. Tapping any card on the player deck also turns off Autoplay.

Notable characteristics of the Autoplay gameplay include:

• Does not guarantee quest clear; cards in the player deck can still be knocked out
• Does not use active skills
• Could trace-remove Chance Puyos and lose the Large Chain Chance effect
• Does not trace-remove Prism Balls
  • Autoplay may get stuck if there are too many Prism Balls in the field
• Does not guarantee a clear in Large Chain Chance

Gallery of Field Pieces

For other usable Puyo Designs in Puyo Puyo!! Quest, see PPQ:Puyo Design.

• 
  Red Puyo
• 
  Blue Puyo
• 
  Green Puyo
• 
  Yellow Puyo
• 
  Purple Puyo
• 
  Red Chance Puyo
• 
  Blue Chance Puyo
• 
  Green Chance Puyo
• 
  Yellow Chance Puyo
• 
  Purple Chance Puyo
• 
  Heart Box
• 
  Garbage Puyo
• 
  Hard Puyo
• 
  Prism Ball