PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient

If you ask me, PQ2 is simply one of the best puzzle games on PSP, and possibly beyond. But it's not for the faint of heart; while scrambling to complete 100 puzzles in the five-hour time limit, you may end up feeling like a complete idiot. Do not be alarmed; this is normal. PQ2's nefarious puzzles of logic and spatial reasoning are like visual riddles, designed specifically to make you feel stupid until you finally "get it," at which point you'll feel stupid for not getting it sooner. It is, after all, just moving blocks around (some with special abilities) to find a path to the exit. How hard can it be? Plenty hard. What's more, a constant stream of user-created levels traded online guarantees the inferiority complex should persist indefinitely. If you like a cerebral challenge, you won't find anything much better. But if you look to games to turn off your brain, you'll hate this one with a passion.

I guess I must be turning off my brain when I play games, because I'm not nearly as enamored with PQ2 as Joe up there. The game is a decent puzzler, but not Earth-shattering. I do really dig the puzzle-creation aspect, though. The interface is a tiny bit confusing at first--what with having to pop up a whole new menu before switching out different pieces and all--but once you get past the initial stumbling blocks, it's quite easy and rewarding. And being able to share your creations with the rest of... well, creation? That's just the icing on the cake. It gives PQ2 unlimited replay value, assuming a decent community springs up around the game.

Greg "The Brainiac" Sewart has never been mistaken for someone with his neocortex turned on, so it's no surprise this one didn't wake his synapses. I'm 2,000 percent with Joe here. PQ2 kicked my ass--and brain--in a million different directions, but I loved how it made me feel idiotic one second, then Einsteinian the next. The puzzles are inventive, brain-bending, and unique (and about 87 out of 100 are very challenging). Brain Age is the type of game that makes you react; this is a game that makes you think--and even punishes trial and error (which I found out the hard way).