That's precisely why Tidalis doesn't start you out in Custom Games. In fact, when you first boot up the game, the menu consists of "Tutorial" and "Skip Tutorial". Even beyond this, the default menu is called "Guided Tour" and it won't let you easily duck into custom games until you tell it to "Go Away!". The Guided Tour recommends the adventure mode, some brainteasers, or a pre-selected action mode. For all its complexity and depth, Tidalis has done everything it can to not be threatening. It might not be as idiot-proof as a Popcap game. I guarantee that you'll be bewildered if you make a beeline for one of the custom games. But as far as easing new players into the experience, it's every bit as careful as anything Popcap makes.

The adventure mode is the best place to start. You might not want a story in your puzzle game, and you're not really going to get one here. You are going to get a series of challenges that gracefully walk you into the increasingly complex facets of Tidalis. And between challenges, some really cute, um, aliens and animals and a blob carry on with one another about the island where you've been shipwrecked. Did I mention that Tidalis is about you being shipwrecked on a strange island? Well, no matter. It's not important. Suffice to say the interludes between puzzles are populated with cute things saying funny stuff. If you're a big fat meanie, you can just click the "skip cutscene" button.

The brainteaser puzzles work wonders to get you to see the basic game mechanics in a new light. This actually has less to do with the puzzles themselves and more to do with the depth and flexibility of this basic puzzle system. It's like the adventure mode, but minus training wheels. There's even – get this! – multiplayer. Good lord, it's almost too much.

As far as production values, it's colorful and gorgeous and a delight to hear. The background art is way nicer than it needs to be and the sound design complements the gameplay wonderfully. Each color has its own musical instrument, and as you rack up matching blocks, the instrument plays an increasingly complex chord. You won't notice this as first. But eventually, who needs points? I'm in it for the sweet, sweet musical tones. You'll want to turn off the background music – Why does TIdalis even have background music? – to enjoy this to its fullest.

The bottom line is that Tidalis is a flexible, smart, refreshingly unique puzzle design, and it's situated neatly into a large generous package. It's far better than any mere puzzle game should be.

Tom Chick, aside from being a regular contributor to GameShark , runs the SyFy channel's Fidgit blog , and owns and operates the popular website Quarter to Three.com