Kemono Friends Puzzle Puzzle Gokko

Kemono Friends Puzzle
けものフレンズ：ぱずるごっこ
Mobile Game
Romaji Title		Kemono Furenzu: Pazuru Gokko
Developer		Funple Stream
Genre		Match-3 Puzzle
Platform		iOS and Android
Release Date		February 21st, 2018

Kemono Friends Puzzle Puzzle Gokko, known as Kemono Friends - The Puzzle internationally, is a free-to-play mobile game developed by Funple Stream, released worldwide on 21st February 2018 for iOS and Android. It is notable for being the first game in the Kemono Friends franchise to be released internationally and with translations.

Gameplay

A screenshot of some of the game's advertising material, posted on the twitter handle '@waseda_kemono'.

The game is a match-3 puzzle game similar to titles such as Bejeweled. There are 1000 levels in total, each with different layouts and win conditions. There are 6 basic coloured gems, although some levels only use 4 or 5 at a time. On top of each level having differently sized or shaped layouts, some levels change gravity (i.e. the gems fall left-to-right instead of top-to-bottom), split the board into independent sections, or both.

Players have a set number of moves with which to complete a level, a 'move' being any swap made by the player that results in a match. Players also gain points for every gem cleared, with additional bonuses for clearing more than 3 gems at a time, triggering special gems and getting multiple matches with a single move.

At the end of a level, all remaining special gems on the board are triggered (as if they were matched), and a number of gems on the board equal to the player's remaining moves are turned into Striped Special Gems, which are then also triggered; all points earned during this phase will count towards the player's score. The player is then awarded a 1, 2 or 3-star rating depending on their final score (although it is not necessary to 3-star any level).

Special gems

Getting certain types of matches will create special gems on the board, which produce special effects when triggered. They are as follows:

• Striped Special Gems - Created upon matching 4 gems in a line. When used in a match, they destroy all gems in either a vertical or horizontal line. A vertical 4-gem match will produce a horizontal striped gem, and vice-versa.
• Explosive Special Gems - Created upon matching 5 gems in a T or L-shape. When used in a match, they destroy all gems in a 3x3 area twice; once upon activation, and a second time after falling down the board.
• Prism Special Gems - Created upon matching 5 gems in a line. When swapped with a gem (regardless of whether or not a match is made), all gems of that colour on the board are destroyed.
  

Swapping two special gems with each-other, with or without a match, will also produce special effects depending on the gems used.

• Two Striped gems - Destroys all gems in a vertical and horizontal line.
• Striped + Explosive - Creates a huge Striped gem that destroys three columns and three rows from its centre.
• Striped + Prism - Turns every gem of the Striped gem's colour on the board into Striped gems of random orientation and activates them.
• Two Explosive gems - Destroys all gems in a 6x6 area twice.
• Explosive + Prism - Turns every gem of the Explosive gem's colour on the board into Explosive gems and activates them.
• Two Prism gems - Destroys every gem on the board.

Types of levels

Each level requires one of several objectives to be completed to advance. They are as follows:

• Points - Score a certain number of points to clear the level.
• Stone Tile - A number of tiles on the board are designated as Stone Tiles; matching gems on these areas will destroy the tiles, and all Stone Tiles must be destroyed to clear the level. Some tiles require multiple hits to destroy depending on their appearance. The tiles do not obstruct the gems in any way, so this is typically the easiest of the 'destruction' objectives.
• Move the Blue Cellien - A number of Celliens appear on the board, along with 'hole' tiles that typically span the entire bottom of the board. The player must match gems so that all Celliens fall into the hole tiles and are removed. The Celliens themselves can be moved, but cannot be destroyed through matching.
• Collect Gems - The player must destroy a set number of gems in specific colours, usually 2. A sub-variety of this level exists where the player must make and activate certain Special gems of any colour.
• Star Tile - A number of tiles on the board are designated as bright-blue Star Tiles; making a match with gems that are on Star Tiles turns every normal tile on that match into a Star Tile. The objective is to turn every tile on the board into a Star Tile.
• Cellien Pieces - A number of tiles on the board are turned into Cellien Pieces; they cannot be moved, are unaffected by gravity and gems cannot pass through them. On top of this, they also 'spread'; every time the player makes a move that doesn't destroy a Piece, a new Piece is made next to a random existing one on the board, removing a gem to make room. They can be destroyed by matching gems next to them, and all Pieces must be destroyed to clear the level.
• Lucky Beast - A number of tiles on the board are made into Treasure Chests, which must be 'hit' a certain number of times by matching gems next to them in order to destroy them. Hidden in these chests are a small number of Lucky Beasts; the player must destroy all chests containing them to clear the level.
• Black Cellien - A number of tiles on the board are made into Black Celliens. They function like a combination of Stone Tiles and Cellien Pieces; gems can be moved over them and must have gems matched over them to be destroyed like Stone Tiles, but they also 'spread' in the same manner as Cellien Pieces. All Black Celliens must be destroyed to clear the level.

Items

During any stage, the player can use any number of three types of Items to assist in completion. They can be replenished by buying them with Japari Coins during a level, and daily bonuses will sometimes give the player a single item of any type. They are as follows:

• Bear-Paw Hammer - Destroys any one gem.
• Cross Hammer - Destroys five gems in a plus-shape.
• Prism Hammer - Destroys every gem of the selected colour on the board.

Japari Coins

Japari Coins are the in-game currency. They currently have two functions:

• Buying items during a level.
• Buying 5 more moves, in the instance that a player runs out of moves without completing a level's objective (700 coins).

Coins can be acquired through daily bonuses, completing levels (10 coins), watching advertisements from the level select menu (200 coins), or microtransactions in the Shop.

Kaban and Serval, in their anime incarnations (at least visually), appear in the game, as well as Hippopotamus, Crested Ibis, Suri Alpaca and several other Friends from the anime.

Release

First announcements of a new game in the Kemono Friends franchise were made on January 31st, and gameplay was first showcased on the Kemono Friends Game Gallery livestream held on February 2nd, where the release date of "late February" was also revealed. A launch trailer was uploaded to the FUNPLE STREAM YouTube channel on February 21st.
The game was made available on the Apple Store for iOS and Google Play store on February 22nd.