Press kit

Writing about Matchimals? Everything on this page is free to use. Questions, interview requests, or promo needs: [email protected].

Boilerplate

Matchimals is a free animal matching puzzle card game for kids of all ages. 1–4 players take turns connecting cards so that every touching edge shows the same animal, scoring each animal's point value as they go. Inspired by the 1959 card game Busy Bee, Matchimals pairs pick-up-and-play simplicity with a surprising amount of strategy. It has no ads, no in-app purchases, works completely offline, and is open source. Matchimals is available for iPhone and iPad on the App Store and playable in any browser at matchimals.fun. It is made by Chris Heninger in North Carolina.

Fact sheet

Name	Matchimals (styled Matchimals.fun)
Developer	Chris Heninger, North Carolina
Created by	Chris Heninger and Hannah Heninger
Price	Free — no ads, no in-app purchases, no accounts, works offline
Platforms	iPhone & iPad (App Store; also runs on Apple silicon Macs and Apple Vision Pro), web browser (matchimals.fun)
Released	App Store since May 2019; version 2.1 (ground-up redesign) August 2026
Rating	4.8 stars on the App Store (August 2026)
Languages	English; Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese in progress
Players	1–4, pass-and-play on one device
Ages	All ages — no reading required
Genre	Puzzle / card / family
Inspiration	Busy Bee, a 1959 card game
Tech	Open source (MIT) — React Native, Expo, and boardgame.io. Source on GitHub