When the galaxy teeters on the brink of ruin, missiles, lasers, and bombs can't do a thing to save it--only the click of a mouse can. Yes, all that stands between the destruction of mankind and its salvation are a few puzzles. Puzzle Quest: Galactrix extends the surprise runaway hit series to the star-riddled expanse of space, role-playing puzzle-solving in tow. Shown for the first time running on PC during Game Developers Conference, it’s shaping up to be a worthy successor to the Puzzle Quest name.

Concerned less about story than it's addictive brand of puzzle gameplay, Galactrix does possess a narrative shell that has you taking on the nefarious ambitions of an intergalactic corporation. Four corporate entities have managed to explore the far reaches of the galaxy, cementing humanity's roll as the dominant race. Unfortunately, one of those companies has given into avarice and is seeking to seize power over humankind and the varied alien races spread across the expanse of space. Your job is to save the galaxy, stopping the maniacal machinations of this intergalactic conglomerate by solving puzzles.

The game borrows the formula established by Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords in combining the character development aspects of a role-playing game and combat system of a puzzle game. It's an unusual combination to be certain, but it works marvelously. As a rookie space pilot, you navigate the stars in search of battles that occur on circular puzzle board filled with hexagonal tokens of various colors. Just like the battles in Challenge of the Warlords, damage is dealt by matching three damage tokens in a row on the puzzle board; in Galactrix, these are represented by black tokens. Each token carries a numerical value that contributes to the base damage dealt to your enemy. As your progress through the game, you can acquire blueprints to build better ships able to withstand more attacks or even resistance to specific types of damage.

Along with black for damaging your opponents, there are white, purple, blue, green, yellow, and red tokens. Replenishing depleted shield energy, for instance, can be done by clearing blue tokens from the board. Accumulating red, yellow, and green tokens enables you to trigger special abilities in a manner similar to casting spells in Challenge of the Warlords. For example, the disruptor ability enables you to halt shield regeneration on your opponent's ship. Purple and white tokens serve an entirely different function independent from battle. Collecting purple tokens boosts your psi energy used to manipulate situations outside of battle. White tokens, on the other hand, influence your ability to gather intelligence and scout out rumors. We're not entirely sure how this works since we were only told of their functions in the game and didn't experience them first-hand since all of our time with Galactrix was spent in battle.

Clearing tokens from the puzzle board triggers new tokens to fill the empty spaces. Battle in the zero-gravity of deep space and those new tokens will stream in from whatever side from which you instigated the move. When orbiting a planet or other body, gravity causes the pieces to fall down. This throws an element of surprise into battle because you constantly need to pay attention to how tokens are falling onto the board. Four- and five-token combinations are possible, which opens up the possibility for strings of tokens to be taken from the board. Paying attention to how new tokens stream in can aid you in landing those combos.

A diplomacy system gauges your standing among the galaxy's various factions, which naturally fluctuates as you engage in battle and travel about. Good standing with one faction leads to a friendly reception when traveling through their space; however, move through a hostile system and you may find yourself drawn into battle. Full star maps enable you to chart paths through known space, with new areas opening up as you delve deeper into the game. Disappointingly, none of these elements were shown thanks to D3's insistence on focusing purely on the mechanics of battle.

Joining the single player campaign will be a quick match mode for jumping right into a puzzle battle, as well as head-to-head multiplayer. On Xbox 360 and PC, multiplayer matches are done online. A Nintendo DS version has been announced, although support for Nintendo WiFi Connection multiplayer matches is unconfirmed. Regardless of what platforms Galactrix hits, it'll likely be a blast. The ways in which the game promises to build upon the success of the first Puzzle Quest with new tokens, ship blueprints, and a full diplomacy system appear quite promising.

Expect more on Galactrix as its autumn release draws closer.