'Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest': The Match-3 Game For Hardcore Players

Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest is a "casual" game for hardcore gamers
Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest is a "casual" game for hardcore gamers Wizards of the Coast

Match-3 games, made famous by Bejeweled! and plastered everywhere thanks to Candy Crush Saga, are typically seen as casual. They're something mindless you can do while sitting at your desk instead of real work, and can be enjoyed in a short time-span, like a bus ride. When developer Hibernum found out it was making a new Match-3 game using Magic: The Gathering as a theme, it knew it would have to break the mold.

iDigitalTimes talked with Senior Game Designer at Hibernum, Benjamin Paquette, about what it was like creating Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest, and how Hibernum plans on setting its game apart.

One thing Paquette was so proud of was the depth to the gameplay found in Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest. This depth allowed the team at Hibernum to make something for gamers who wanted a game with more meat to it.

"We never intended or tried to make this game for 'a casual market'. It’s 2016. Everyone plays," said Paquette. "I think we have too much respect for gamers to try and make a “casual” game with MTG and Puzzle Quest in it."

That's not to say starting to play MTG - Puzzle Quest is a lesson in getting pummeled. Even if you are a veteran MTG card player, there are still a few unique things you'll have to learn about MTG - Puzzle Quest. That means there is a ramp-up to the madness.

"It’s uncompromising in the amount of layers you can find, and yet it’s super accessible from the start," Paquette said. "The game just grows with you!"

Just like the Magic: The Gathering card game, MTG - Puzzle Quest will also grow and add new sets of cards to it.

"We’re preparing Battle for Zendikar [the current set of cards in the physical game] as we speak, and it’s looking so promising already," Paquette said.

Because the card game and the Match-3 game don't have a 1:1 ratio of content, Hibernum has had to tweak card abilities to better work with a Match-3 game.

"We’ve learned so much doing Origins. We’re getting tons of player feedback for it, it’s super useful." said Paquette. "Unlike [card maker Wizards of the Coast] that has over 20 years of experience creating cards, we still have a lot to learn. Which means that every set, we improve ourselves and our game by leaps and bounds with new mechanics, new encounters and new ways to play!"

As for how long Hibernum plan on supporting new card sets, Paquette said he hopes to never stop.

"Soon, Magic will have been around for 25 years, so why not dream?" he said. "We have this extraordinary opportunity (probably once in a lifetime, really) to work from this crafted-to-perfection content from [Wizards of the Coast] every three months - and we have no intentions to spoil it! See you in 2025!"

Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest is a free download, and is available on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

So what do you think? Are you interested in downloading and playing Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest? What other mobile games do you like playing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below?

Join the Discussion
Top Stories