PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2

Developer: Now Production
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Release Date: June 16, 2007
System: PSP
Official Web site

In a nutshell: The instructions ask: "Ever wonder if you might be the world's greatest genius?" If you're playing this game, you probably have.

0:01 The name entry screen doesn't let me enter my standard name "Ace." Why do names have to be four characters or more? Also, why do they care about my blood type?
0:03 The controls are a lot smoother than the first game. It's nice not having to wait for animations to finish before making my next move.
0:07 The police aren't the mindless automatons they once were. Eep!
0:09 My first non-tutorial test... completed in ten seconds flat. 95% score, an estimated PQ of 100. Yeah, I rock.
0:10 Not as hot on the second puzzle... 20 whole seconds this time. 73.8%... I'm getting dumber.
0:11 I get a 52% on the third puzzle. But then I retry and get in the mid-90s. Who knew repeating the exact same puzzle made you smarter?
0:15 I score 103.1% after retrying a level? I may not be a genius, but I know that is mathematically impossible.
0:17 I bounce back and forth between retrying each stage to get a better score or blasting through to complete as many as possible. The ever-present five-hour countdown in the corner doesn't help my anxiety.
0:18 These new smoother controls have a downside... I keep accidentally walking into lasers. Only a minor annoyance so far.
0:20 I actually get completely stuck on a puzzle for the first time. It takes a bit of brain bending to figure out that I have to put a bigger block on top of a smaller one. I can almost feel my neurons re-wiring themselves.
0:28. The last eight minutes have been spent on one ridiculously tough laser puzzle. Of course, once I figure it out it seems so simple. Either you get it or you don't, I guess.
0:31 Despite my pathetic initial performance, a couple of retries get me 100% on the same laser puzzle that gave me so much trouble.The ever-present master time limit continues to worry me, though. Maybe I'll come back later.
0:34 The puzzles are getting clever incredibly quickly. This one with extending blocks was interesting but not too tough.
0:38 There seems to be a continuing theme of using items in ways other than you might initially think to. "Outside the box" thinking, if you will.I like it.
0:52 It's way too easy, and tempting, to cheat the timer by pausing and contemplating the slightly greyed out puzzle in the background. Stop tempting me... black out the puzzle when I pause.
0:56 Another insanely tough level... they seem to come up every ten. I spend a good ten frustrating minutes just fiddling with this one. It's so satisfying when I finally figure it out, though.
0:57 After 20 levels my approx. PQ is 105. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. And I do.
0:58 Finally quitting out of the 100-puzzle test, I find there are a bunch of other options. Who knew?
1:00 I stare at a "one move" puzzle for a full two minutes before I figure out the one piece I need to jigger to get a clear path. 110% score! Whoot!

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes
Why? Excellent interface and ingenious puzzle design so far. I can't wait to see what's next.

This review is based on a retail version of the game rented from GameFly.