Disney Magic Match 3D soft launch preview - "Make match-3 magic to clear cute clutter"
- Instantly recognisable icons from the Disney franchise
- Tap-based twist to your average match-3 puzzler
- Chill lofi vibes, pressure-filled time limit
Genie lamps, fairy dust, and plenty of light and love - all these make Disney almost synonymous with the word "magic", which is why Disney Magic Match 3D is perfectly titled for what it is, and it's exactly as advertised.
The match-3 puzzler will have you matching magical thingamajigs that - if you're a fan of Disney's many, many IPs - will be very familiar to you. You'll be scouring piles and piles of sewing items for pins, needles, and dresses one moment, then looking through theme park icons for Mickey-themed snacks the next. It's mostly what you'd expect from the genre, really, but with an enchanted, Disney-fied coat of paint - and that alone makes it an enjoyable treat.
Down the rabbit hole to infinity and beyond
Essentially, all you really have to do is tap on items to clear them from a messy pile of stuff on each stage. There's a set number of specific things you'll need to tap to clear the stage, but while it might sound simple enough, the mess gets more and more chaotic as you go along.
In higher levels, you'll encounter "Hard" stages where things aren't always what they seem - you might think you're clearing a green paintbrush, but it's actually a shade lighter than what you're looking for, and each wrong tap will cost you valuable space on your tray.
Ah, yes - the tray. The bane of my existence. As you tap three items of a kind, you'll fill up your tray at the bottom of the screen, but the catch is that there's very limited real estate down there, so you can't just tap away with reckless abandon in hopes of clearing the board more quickly. Each item you tap that's not in threes will take up a slot in your tray, and when you run out of space, you can't continue.
- Ahead of the Game - Disney Magic Match 3D is a chill match-3 puzzler with a hidden-object twist
Thankfully, you can spend coins earned from each level to clear up space on your tray, but those can run out too, so you'll really need to keep your eyes peeled for the right items to match if you don't want to end up bankrupt.
While the totally chill lofi beats add to the relaxing vibes all around, to me, it's the tray space that adds to the pressure, not to mention the time limit that's ticking away the longer you take to spot what you're looking for. It should be a breeze for eagle-eyed players, but if, like me, you have trouble differentiating a gold trumpet from a gold harp - they look extremely similar, trust me - it's not going to be a walk in the (Disney) park.
Sharp eyes, precise taps
That's the whole point, of course, as puzzlers need to have a level of challenge for things to get interesting. There are boosters you can earn, like additional time or magnets that help you find items in the pile, as well as lovely magic items you can unlock to add to your Collection. These spice up the gameplay and add stakes to me - I mean, who wouldn't want to collect paraphernalia from all of Andy's toys?You can also try to beat levels in your very first try, and you'll be rewarded with free Boosters on the next level - a handy boon to have when all the wooden oars and palm trees from Moana's world are starting to look ridiculously similar.
Disney Magic Match 3D is currently on soft launch in select regions, now with access available in LATAM and slated for the UK, Germany and France toward the end of June. Based on the main UI, it seems like there's going to be a friends system (or something multiplayer, perhaps) coming soon, along with what looks to be a global leaderboards to compete in on the full launch.
But until then, I'm just going to be happily chugging along, helping Belle clean up the silverware in the castle. Now, if only I could Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo all the mess away…
