Pufflings: Journey Through a Fantasy World is an upcoming merge puzzler for mobile

• Pufflings: Journey Through a Fantasy World is an upcoming Suika-style puzzler
• It's set to arrive from the same developer as Yo-Kai Watch: Wibble Wobble
• For the moment, it appears to be Japan-only, however

One topic we often like to keep our eye on is that of Japanese and region-exclusive releases. Aside from giving us a view of what we may be able to play in the coming years, it's also fun just to see what kind of trends are making waves across the world! Such as today's subject, Pufflings: Journey Through a Fantasy World!

Revealed as part of the recent Level5 Vision showcase, Pufflings sees you helping to free the titular creatures who've been captured by an evil witch. To do so, you need to help them out via merge gameplay in classic Suika fashion.

The gameplay is part Suika and part puzzler, as you aim to keep merging the Pufflings without causing the water in the jar that they're in to overflow. You'll also need to deal with Crystalliums, which won't merge with the Pufflings, but which can be broken if you manage to get a high enough score.

Puffed up

The objective of the game is therefore to not only keep the Pufflings in play, but also to unlock more of the Crystalliums, which will grant your Pufflings the energy needed to tunnel out of the witch's lair and attain their freedom.

It's a resolutely adorable little puzzler, even with its rather dark twist. And while it seems to be Japan-only at the moment, the recent Level5 showcase did also air with English subtitles. And since the developer's previous efforts include Yo-Kai Watch: Wibble Wobble, which did eventually see an international release, it may be that you'll be helping out the Pufflings sooner than you'd expect.

If you need a more traditional puzzler in order to tide you over, why not check out some of our top picks on our list of the best puzzle games on Android to see what we think are worth playing?