Play Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure Online

Summary

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure is a quirky Nintendo DS hybrid that fuses fast‑paced platforming on the top screen with a match‑three puzzle on the touch screen. The two‑in‑one design lets you slash enemies above while their defeated forms cascade down as colored blocks that you must line up to clear.

When three or more blocks of the same hue touch, they disappear, feeding a Super Meter that can boost Hatsworth’s health or trigger the over‑the‑top "Tea Time" mode, where a mecha‑like Robot Suit roams the battlefield invincible until the meter empties. Power‑up blocks can heal, while others hinder you, making each puzzle wave a strategic decision.

The visual style mixes wood‑grain textures with paper‑cut silhouettes, a look championed by art director Jay Epperson, and the original soundtrack by Gene Rozenberg was once offered as a free download from EA’s site.

The concept began as a Flash prototype called "Monkey Business" and was shepherded into a full DS title by Kyle Gray’s seven‑person team at EA Tiburon, with Gray having co‑founded the Experimental Gameplay Project.

Critics praised the seamless blend of platforming and puzzle action, noting the tight controls, vibrant environments, and nostalgic design, though they warned of a steep difficulty curve and occasional technical hiccups. The game earned a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design at the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.

Storyline

In Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure, the dapper hero Henry Hatsworth sets out to recover the lost pieces of the Gentleman's Suit, a magical armor that lets its wearer open a rift to the parallel Puzzle Realm and claim its hidden riches. The first piece he finds is a golden bowler hat, which creates the portal and grants him control over the puzzling world.

The quest takes him through a variety of locales: the swamp‑filled jungle of Mysteria, the floating islands and airships of Skysland, the volcanic oceans of Atlantia, the old‑London‑style streets of Tealand, and finally the treasure‑laden Puzzle Realm itself. Each suit fragment bestows a new technique, but only the master piece can seal the realm and stop its monsters from spilling over.

Hatsworth’s rival, the robot Weasleby, snatches the master piece and declares himself a god, only to be defeated by Henry. It is later revealed that Cole, Hatsworth’s assistant, built Weasleby out of jealousy and sent his ultimate creation, The Machine, against Henry. After overcoming The Machine, Hatsworth claims the master piece, seals the Puzzle Realm, and the credits reveal the fates of the main characters.