Ahead of the Game – Disney Magic Match 3D is a chill match-3 puzzler with a hidden-object twist

• Tap three items of a kind to clear a cluttered board
• Lovely 3D visuals with iconic Disney items
• Chill lofi beats in the background

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.

It’s bad enough that Cinderella’s glass slipper has gone missing – now she’s got to find her missing dress and pumpkin coach too? It seems all isn’t well in the magical world of Disney within this match-3 puzzler – thankfully, they’ve got you to help sort out all the items in disarray to restore order to the land.

Now, before you dismiss this as another run-of-the-mill match-3 puzzle, Disney Magic Match 3D switches things up by having you tap to clear items in threes – only this time, your so-called “grid” is so unbelievably chaotic that you’ll need to have a keen eye for details (and no fat-finger problems) to tap the right item. 

Herein lies the delicious challenge of the puzzler – you’ll need to tap the right piece to clear them, but given they’re buried under other similarly coloured and bulkier items, it can be pretty tricky to find what you’re looking for. And you can’t just tap away with reckless abandon, either, as you have a limited number of slots in your tray where all the tapped items go.

It’s an interesting twist to a tired genre, and when you splash a Disney-themed coat of paint over everything, then it becomes even more magical.

You’ve got lots of buffs to unlock too – you can shuffle the board to uncover hidden objects, attract three items of a kind with your trusty magnet, or even freeze time to give you a bit of a breather when push comes to shove.

Honestly, though, it’s already a treat just scouring the pile of junk for recognisable items across every themed stage, whether it’s unearthing a takeout box from Pizza Planet or finding King Triton’s trident under a mass of coloured gemstones. There’s an incredibly chill lofi soundtrack in the background too to keep any rage-quitting at bay.

So, how do you play Disney Magic Match 3D?

It’s currently in soft launch in the Philippines, with more regions rolling out soon ahead of its official launch later this year. I’ll be working on a more in-depth preview in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that if you’d like to find out more about this chill match-3 twist!