Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop: Modes, Characters, Story Mode Details, and Apple's Arcade Aims

SEGA in the mobile space has taken a significant shift over the past year. While the company once pushed for free to play, microtransaction-driven games, we're now seeing many SEGA franchises hitting Apple Arcade. The most recent game announcement, Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop, brings yet another SEGA (and often Sonic Team) franchise to Apple's subscription plan.

We discussed the ins and outs of this new title with a source who has worked with Apple Arcade and wishes to remain anonymous. While we will not be sharing any media of the upcoming game that has not already been published via official means, the source has presented screenshots and video showing many of the game's features.

Last year, Sonic Dream Team drew the ire of many Sonic fans for being exclusive to Apple Arcade. Yet both then and now, our source believes that Apple Arcade is itself the acting publisher of the games, and in turn, is funding the actual development. This comes with the caveat that the specifics of any agreement will differ from developer to developer, and neither they nor we know exactly how the money and rights work out.

Puzzle Pop leans quite faithfully towards other recent games in the series. If you've played Puyo Puyo Tetris and Puyo Puyo Champions, there are few surprises to be had. Beyond the previously revealed Puyo Puyo 2 and Puyo Puyo Fever rulesets, the Challenge Mode brings back Endless Puyo, Endless Fever, and Tiny Puyo. The cast available from the start is also full of familiar faces from Puyo Puyo Tetris, including Amitie, Arle, Ringo, Lemres, Suketoudara, Raffina, Klug, Feli, and Maguro. These only represents nine of the advertised 24 characters (with only Amitie, Arle, and Ringo unlocked from the start), so it's safe to say you'll be unpacking the rest across the span of the game.

Puyo Puyo Tetris character select; all currently known Puzzle Pop character also appear here

In contrast to Puyo Puyo Tetris, it appears that the story mode is separated into multiple character-specific episodes. The one most readily available to our source is "Amitie's Episode." The episode screen teases her portion of the story, stating "Amitie hears a mysterious voice in the dark... She may be in for an unforgettable adventure!" The screen also tracks the player's collected stars, with a maximum of 39. With each level grading on three stars, Amitie's episode would logically be at least 13 stages long.

Screen from the official trailer showing Ringo's Story Mode overworld map

Of special note is the game's control options. Because Apple Arcade games can run on so many platforms, there are a plethora of options available, supporting touch screen controls, gamepads, mouse and/or keyboard, and even the Apple TV's standard remote. Touch control configuration offers six customizable formats and layouts. Most use sliding to move the falling pieces and can map rotation to sliding, tapping, or flicking, but virtual buttons are optionally available as well.

The game's biggest departure from previous entries is an aesthetic choice: as both the trailer and screenshots make clear, the characters are now polygonal instead of following the series' long-standing 2D style. This is true in the story mode's overworld, the dialog scenes, and the Puyo battle animations. While the change will be jarring to longtime fans, the 3D models aren't without their own spin. They lean even harder into the game's already cutesy art style, and go full-on chibi.

Screen from the official trailer showing off 3D model during combo attack

Finally, we asked about Apple's overall relationship with SEGA and what might be fueling the ongoing partnership of exclusives. In our source's opinion, Apple is looking to become a larger player in the games space despite a shaky understanding of the broader industry and differences in opinion on how to gain that foothold. They speculate that bringing recognizable IP (like Sonic) to the platform is one strategy Apple is using to have Arcade be seen as a legitimate gaming platform.

Tracing Arcade's library from launch to today definitely gives that impression. There are a lot fewer games like Neo Cab and Assemble with Care, and far more established brands, series, and developers, many of which already have a strong presence in mobile and console gaming.

Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop marks SEGA's eighth title published by Apple Arcade, and rumors suggest there's significantly more on the way. Controversial among fans or not, it's clear SEGA is happy to maintain this reliable partnership in the turbulent mobile marketplace. For those with Arcade access, Puzzle Pop launches April 4.