Disney’s newest mobile game Tsum Tsum, has begun its dominance of the freemium mobile gaming sector. Tsum Tsum has now hit 20 million downloads in less than a month.
The cute match-up title, sees the house of mouse returning to its original creations – albeit in cuddly toy form. Created in collaboration with Japanese messaging app Line – players wishing to build a profile must log in using the app – Tsum Tsum is less rigid than other match-up titles.
Whereas similar titles such as Candy Crush Saga and Bejeweled rely on a grid-like system of objects, which players then need to match up in order to gain points, Tsum Tsum is more fluid and actually quite messy.
That doesn’t mean it’s not addictive. Matching a large series of Tsums is satisfying not to mention worth a ton of points. Like most freemium games, however, there are time-based restrictions on play but not on progression.
With a round of the game lasting a quick 60 seconds, you’ll have a hard time reaching a huge score – thus far we’ve only managed 420,000 points. Scores are reset at the start of each week, with new missions created that can bag players more coins.
However, during each session you only get a maximum of five rounds. Once you’ve used them all up, you’ll probably want to play more, but that’s where the restrictions come in. At the end of your session you’ll be faced with a 15 minute wait before your hearts (one heart gives you access to one round of play) are replenished.
There are ‘Fever’ periods during each round, during which your points are increased. Additionally, players can buy more Tsums after initially starting out with Micky. Each Tsum has a special power. The Dale Tsum, for example, creates a vertical line of matching Tsums that can then be matched up for more points. The trick is to save all your power-ups for the Fever round in order to gain extra points.
At the end of each round, players are rewarded coins and XP. The former can be collected in order to buy Tsums. It costs 10,000 coins for a Tsum from the ‘Happy’ collection, which includes default characters such as Minnie and Winnie the Pooh. A Tsum from the ‘Premium’ collection, on the other hand, costs 30,000 coins and can bag you a range of Pixar characters. XP is rewarded to both your overall profile – each time you rank up you will receive a ruby, five rubies can be exchanged for an additional five hearts – and your Tsum. The higher a Tsum’s level, the more points it can get you.
The Tsum Tsum range from Disney is currently on sale in its stores and includes miniature toy versions of its most iconic characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and friends, Goofy and (our favourites) Chip and Dale.
Disney will no doubt be hoping that the success of the game will lead to more purchases of the toys in -store.
You can grab Disney Tsum Tsum for iOS and Android.
Check out a lengthy Tsum Tsum gameplay video below: