Ahead of the Game - Hello Kitty Friends Match is an adorable match-3 puzzler with wholesome Sanrio fun
Wholesome fun with Hello Kitty and friends
- Restore a rundown land to its former glory
- Clear the board with the help of Sanrio powers
- Collect costumes as you go along
Hello and welcome to Ahead of the Game, a series where we tell you all about an upcoming game that, despite not being out yet, is available for you to play at the time of publishing. Through this series, you can grab a chance to play games well ahead of their release date, be that through Soft Launch, Open Beta, Demos, or more.
Isekai adventures are a dime a dozen, but who am I kidding? I can't resist an intriguing story that takes me to another world altogether - and when you throw a lovable little kitty with a bright bow into the mix, I know I just can't resist.
Hello Kitty Friends Match is exactly that and more, as the titular cat is transported into a magical world on a quest to restore the rundown land to its former glory.
The best part of it all is that other Sanrio pals are also right there along with you, spreading love and positivity and magic and friendship everywhere they go.
That alone is already enough to lure me in, but with the relaxing match-3 mechanics across each new stage, it just makes for a cosy time, especially at the end of a long and tiring day.
Essentially, all you really have to do is match blocks across a grid to clear specific items, but as you progress through each level, you'll unlock different Sanrio friends in adorable little costumes. Each one offers its own skillset that can help you on the board, whether that's sending rainbow rockets to help you clear persistent blocks or creating special clearing effects to sweep rows in one go.
There's definitely some strategy involved here too, of course - I initially thought I could just clear blocks willy-nilly, but there's actually a move counter here to add a bit of a challenge (nothing too frustrating, though).
Now, Dreamland itself is lovely - each stage you clear will help you restore a specific part of the land, and there's always a whole exchange between the Sanrio characters to move the story along.
Really, it's nothing too complicated, but it's this kind of simplicity that makes it so compelling to me. Here's hoping there will be more characters and costumes to collect in the future - and with my personal preference, a particularly egg-themed one, to be exact.
So, how do you play Hello Kitty Friends Match?
It's currently on soft-launch in the Philippines and Canada, but given the level of polish I'm seeing at the moment, I don't think we're going to have to wait too long until the official global release!
