Rovio has given its latest game, Sugar Blast, a global launch today for Android and iOS.
Sugar Blast is a puzzle game. More specifically, it is a “tap-to-match” puzzle game, meaning you tap on groups of connected orbs of the same color to make them disappear. It is a free-to-play title with in-app purchases. It had been in early release in some markets since January, making $200,000 and earning 150,000 installs since then according to mobile market analyst Sensor Tower.
Rovio is best known for the Angry Birds franchise, which started in 2009 on mobile. It soon spawned sequels, spinoffs, and even animated movies. Rovio has made non-Angry Birds mobile games before, but none of them have matched the prominence of Angry Birds. That franchise has helped Rovio become a company that was worth $1 billion in 2017.
In fact, Sugar Blast’s tap-to-match gameplay was already done by Rovio earlier this year with Angry Birds: Dream Blast.
“The mission with Sugar Blast was to create a compelling visual theme that introduces our proven gameplay to an even wider audience,” says Alex Pelletier-Normand, Rovio head of games, in a press release sent to GamesBeat. “As a result, the team has done a fantastic job creating a cute and vibrant world that fits perfectly with the game’s satisfying and stress-free feel. I’m pleased to say we now have two games in our portfolio which, while leveraging the same novel core gameplay, co-exist happily through their appeal to different audiences.”
Of course, the whole candy-themed puzzle game is ground well-covered by another popular mobile franchise, Candy Crush. But at least Sugar Blast isn’t also a match-3 puzzle game.
