Disney Interactive’s new release Maleficent Free All is a free to play title that is sure to bring devotees of the publisher’s successful app Frozen Free All. The puzzle game contains a rather simple goal – match three gemstones of the same color and rid the screen of darkness. Upon every color match, each tile will be lit, and you’ll have a number of moves to turn your puzzle board into a sunny, treasure filled spectacle.
Since it’s a freemium title, there are the requisite in-app purchases, with the most important premium centering on purchasing more lives to continue playing the puzzles. The good news is that your lives eventually refresh, and if you don’t want to pay a dime to purchase more lives, just put your mobile device or tablet down and return to the game within a half hour. Maleficent Free All gives you five lives to play with, so even if you screw up your puzzles, there’s enough game time to be had in one sitting.
I played the first 15 levels of Maleficent Free Fall without a hitch (young Maleficent is pictured in each of the levels), but puzzle solving took a more difficult turn with the second stage. This time out, Maleficent (who’s played in the film by Angelina Jolie), is an adult, so even though the three puzzle match dynamic is still employed, getting the right combination of gems, as well as making the right moves, gets a bit trickier.
Since certain gemstones are trapped in wire, they’re immobile until they’re matched up with two gemstones of the same color. As the puzzles get more difficult, there may be certain matches which are more immediate to the eye but may have absolutely no impact on solving the puzzle. The challenge of Maleficent Free Fall is to be economical with your choices, since every decision can lead to a beneficial or disastrous chain of events.
Fans of Candy Crush Saga and Frozen Free For All won’t be disappointed with Maleficent Free Fall. I downloaded the app in preparation for the upcoming Disney film and was pleasantly surprised. The graphics are spot on and the gameplay, especially if you love slide and match puzzlers, doesn’t disappoint. For a free to play title, Maleficent Free Fall is a more than worthy download, and it’s definitely an app that I’ll keep on my iPad for the weeks to come.
Grade: B +
Maleficent Free Fall Details (iOS): Version 1.0. / Size: 93.9 MB / Free / Rated: 4+
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