Puyo

Puyo refers to the color-coded puzzle game pieces used in the Puyo Puyo series, a franchise of tile-matching puzzle games originally developed by Compile in 1991. The games center on stacking and clearing blobs on a vertical grid, with players controlling falling Puyos that come in several colors.

Gameplay revolves around forming clusters of four or more adjacent Puyos of the same color. When such a group is created, it pops and disappears, causing any Puyos above to fall due to gravity. This can trigger chain reactions as new matches are formed, producing higher scores and longer combinations. In many modes, especially two-player versus play, clearing Puyos can send garbage blocks to an opponent, adding a strategic element as players try to force favorable chains while defending their own screen.

Development and release history: the original game was created by Compile and released in Japan in 1991. Sega later localized the series for international audiences under the name Puyo Pop, helping to popularize the franchise outside Japan. Over the years, numerous installments appeared on arcade machines, consoles, and handhelds, often introducing new modes, characters, and crossovers. Notably, the series has expanded into collaborations such as Puyo Puyo Tetris, which blends Puyo Puyo gameplay with Tetris mechanics.

In popular culture, Puyos are both the individual game pieces and the central concept of the series, which remains recognized for its emphasis on rapid planning, timing, and chain-building. The term Puyo can thus denote either the blobs themselves or the broader puzzle franchise.