As a mobile player, I was never a big fan of M3 games. Yes, I tried a lot of them, but basically in all cases I played them as a part of my research of casual genres. And what special happened then? The answer is pretty easy – HP:P&S and me are a great match. Here are my four main reasons.
Gameplay
The first thing I started to notice was, where the gameplay of M3 grew in last few years. The core of gameplay is traditional block swapping, but you can see new mechanics every few levels. This mechanics aren’t just in form of new blocks and winning conditions. Puzzles connect swapping with “the environment”, which can affect puzzle grid, blocks and often your strategy in the current level. The experience from this puzzles is very dynamic and refreshing.
Meta game & Events
The game introduces to you progressing and collecting mechanics, which give you the reason why you should continue playing. The main progression is different from other games in this genre (HomeScape, Candy Crash) and works very well with the IP. They aren’t better. It’s not better. It’s different.
Community
We can see this trend in the whole casual segment. HP:P&S don’t bring anything new to this field, but what I can rate positively is that Clubs (name of guild mechanic) is available for you from the beginning of the game. Leagues or events – it’s more fun when you don’t play them solo.
IP
I enjoy watching any part of Harry Potter series, but I don’t consider myself a huge fan. But it’s not magic, that this game is very appealing to me. The familiar environment with familiar characters, catchy gameplay with mechanics skinned as elements or magic spells. This is the right approach, how to use some famous IP in casual mobile games.
