Unlike the subjects of my first two articles, Goals and the TARDIS, Puzzles have been a part of the Doctor Who CCG from the start, and have changed little, even though the design of the game has evolved over the months.

‘Puzzle’ is a keyword to describe a subset of Condition cards. Puzzles are there to make Reaching and Opposing Goals much more difficult as you must Overcome them before the Goal can be completed. This usually involves having some extra Traits and certain Quality totals that your characters must possess. Anyone who is familiar with the Star Trek CCG from Decipher will see some similarities between Puzzles and Star Trek’s dilemmas. However, Puzzle cards in the Doctor Who CCG are a lot less important than Trek’s dilemmas and, with one or two exceptions are stoppers, rather than killers.

The standard ‘stopper’ puzzle is the most common, with a few typical examples being “Logical Gate”, “Political Intrigue”, “Primitive Equipment”, “Hallucinations”, “Corridors”, “Heavy Decisions” and “Childish Stratagem”.

So which Puzzle to choose? Clearly, if you are playing a Puzzle to stop your opponent Reaching a Goal, the key is to choose Puzzles that add, rather than just duplicate, Traits needed on the Goal card that he has played. There’s not much point in playing “Logical Gate” on an opponent that is trying to Reach “Financial Domination” as he already will need 3 Computers anyway, and will surely have 30 Brains! But “Corridors” could be a better choice as BOSS and his minions tend not to have much Tracking or Running.

Similarly, “Primitive Equipment” would be fairly ineffective against an opponent trying to Reach “End of the World”, but could be a real problem if trying to Reach “Hijack Ship”. “Heavy Decisions” that requires History is always a good Puzzle to block your Opponent as few Enemies have it. “Political Intrigue” with its Charisma requirement can be similarly difficult for many brutish and unattractive alien races.

More dangerous Puzzles that can kill a character are “Electrified Door” and “Decadron Crucible”. Until recently, “Electrified Door” could only be Overcome using a Victim, but this proved difficult for many Enemies, so Minion was added. Now Daleks can throw their Troopers at the Door and get past with ease. “Decadron Crucible” is a little more cunning and without careful play, and with a bit of bad luck, your best Enemy can end up first trapped and then destroyed as your other, more stupid, Minions can’t figure out the Osirian riddle.

But Puzzles aren’t just for blocking your opponent. Some Goals like “Sutekh Returns” and “Cybermen Reborn” require a certain number of Puzzles be Overcome before the Goal can be Reached, or indeed Opposed. The strategy here is somewhat different as ideally you want to play puzzles that you can Overcome easily, but your opponent cannot. Puzzles like “Logical Gate” are easy for the logical Cybermen to Overcome, and they need the Computers for “Cybermen Reborn” anyway! Similarly, “Childish Stratagem” is, perhaps unsurprisingly, easy for Sutekh with a Minion or two, and a few nasty “Hallucinations” don’t bother the Osirian Destroyer at all!

So what if you don’t have the necessary Traits and Qualities to Overcome a Puzzle? Move on to the next Goal? Certainly not!

Alien races are ruthlessly determined and certainly won’t let a minor setback interfere with their evil plans. “Fiendish Strategy” is specifically designed so that Enemies can, if they have enough Brains, get past an annoying Puzzle even if they don’t have the necessary Traits. Not to be outdone, the Doctor has an equivalent card in “Lateral Thinking” to just throw that Puzzle into the discard pile. Other ways around a Puzzle could be “Sneaking Around” if you have a handy Thief, and a very useful card in overcoming Puzzles is “Serendipity” that allows you to pick that one annoying Trait that you just don’t have! The Cybermen even have their very own ‘Puzzle destroyer’ in “Cyber Engineer” and I expect the Daleks to get their Engineer shortly!

A clever card that turns a kidnapped character into a Puzzle is “No Time for Speeches.” This works especially well if the Doctor has kidnapped a strong Enemy with a high Brawn like a Cyberman or Ice Warrior, as the remaining Enemies now need at least 40 Brawn in addition to all the other requirements.

Another great card that stops Enemies in their tracks is “Foot in the Door”, and can be very useful in delaying a player gaining any points for a crucial turn. This is especially useful when trying to Oppose a Goal where a Puzzle has been played and just might give you enough time to steal those points from under your opponent’s nose.

So what of the future? Well, I’m sure I can spoil one card that very nearly made it into the Basic set, and was even, for a few hours at least, up on the website for all to see as part of the ‘Talons’ set. You missed it? Ah well, it’ll be back soon as part of ‘The Ribos Operation’ set:

“On Guard”. Condition Cost 3. Puzzle. Plays on your Monster card. It does not kill automatically at the start of your turn but Characters cannot attempt to Oppose your Goal or overcome your other Puzzle cards here unless they destroy this Monster card.

What else? I think too many giveaways would spoil the surprises of the next set, but rest assured that Rassilon’s Tomb in the Death Zone on Gallifrey is bound to hold a few surprises for players.

After all, to lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose!