Game Deconstruction: Magic Sort by Grand Games

🎮 Game Deconstruction: Magic Sort by Grand Games

🚀 From Flow to Fatigue — A Player’s Journey

I recently discovered Magic Sort, and on the first day, I completed 60 levels. I was in flow — fully immersed, effortlessly progressing. But over time, I started to observe when and why that flow started to break. What engaged me? What pulled me out? And what was missing?

🔍 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥

The game offers early access to flow — intuitive mechanics, fast onboarding, clear rewards.
Events are introduced quite early: Broom Streak, Jetpack Race, Sky Jump — an attempt to diversify engagement and appeal to different player types.

⚖️ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

Flow is easily broken by spikes in level difficulty and a lack of balance between easy and hard levels. With an increasing number of “hard” and “super hard” levels, the challenge turns into frustration. There’s no incentive to strategize — just brute-force retries.
New mechanics are introduced too late, and they lack novelty.

💸 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Events require players to maintain a streak — finishing multiple levels without failure. But due to high difficulty, non-paying players can’t maintain streaks, leading to repeated losses and irritation.
Sky Jump was especially frustrating: I spent €7 on coins to continue my streak, only to win a prize worth less than one continuation. Would I repeat that experience? Definitely not.
Events currently cater only to competitive players, not those who play to relax or enjoy solo progression.

🧠 𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥

Gameplay feels more like the developer controls your progress rather than the player. Luck plays too large a role in level outcomes, especially compared to match-3 games where players feel more in control. This leads to a perception that the game forces you to pay rather than motivates you to pay — especially after repeated, unrewarding hard levels.

📉 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭

Flow → broken
Challenge → turns into fatigue
Events → frustrating for non-spenders

💡 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞:

✅ Introduce new mechanics earlier and more frequently
✅ Balance difficulty so players don’t burn out during long streaks of hard levels.
✅ Create a fair and rewarding event economy, so that winning feels worth the effort and money spent.
✅ Add alternative event types — time-based, creative pouring challenges — that give choice, not pressure.
✅ Add subscription options for the users who want to stay in the flow rather than compete and save the streak.

✨ In summary, Magic Sort has strong early retention and flow potential but may struggle with mid-game fatigue and event design focusing only on a specific type of player.