I heard about Poker Smash a few months ago on either 1Up Yours or EGM Live. Poker meets Planet Puzzle League? Sure, sounds weird. Then I proceeded to forget about it until it showed up on XBLA last Wednesday. After an intense Call of Duty 4 session, I grabbed the trial. By the end of my first game, I was hooked.

Over the summer, due to the repeated recommendations of Shane Bettenhausen, I picked up Planet Puzzle League (friend code: 197672773904). I know that this type of puzzle game has existed for a long time (Tetris Attack, Pokemon Puzzle League, Dr. Mario & Puzzle League) but this was my first venture into it. It’s a great, simple puzzle mechanic that allows you to play slow and methodically or fast and furious. Poker Smash takes this and runs with it, replacing the colored blocks with cards from 10 to ace, adding a whole new level of strategy into the game.

Considering there were no puzzle league type games on XBLA, they could have put out a pretty lame version. But they went the extra mile. There are 55 puzzle boards, a bunch of skins and gamerpics you can unlock with in game currency, timed and practice modes etc. They packed a lot of content into a $10 game.

The game is very smooth and pretty. The control scheme is really well done. Somehow they made it more fluid than using the DS stylus. The addition of slow motion and bombs makes the game easier in the sense that you won’t top out often, but it adds a lot more complexity for creating chains. You can watch the top 100 high scores in the games theater, and holy crap. People are amazing at this game. So far I’ve been able to hold my own in multiplayer. I’ve only done 1v1 matches but apparently it goes up to 5 people. This is a great way to waste $10 if you have it. It is a solid puzzle game and one of the best ones on XBLA if you ask me.

Speaking of good ways to waste a little cash, it was just announced that Audio-Surf is coming to Steam on Friday. The $10 game is a dollar off if you preorder it now, which I recommend you do. This game is one of the best ways to experience your music. We’ve all seen the colorful trippy things on 360 or Windows Media Player that pulses to your mp3’s. This blows that shit out of the water. It is a puzzle, racing, rhythm game where you use your own music to create the tracks you drive on. There a coop mode, and many different single player modes. It’s going to use the new Steamworks program so there are achievements in it and it’s all done through Steam. And if that wasn’t enough, it comes with the Orange Box soundtrack! No one can resist “Still Alive.” Go preorder this now, and I will look forward to fighting you via songs we both enjoy. (Steam name is SuicideFLip)