Puzzle your buddies in Matching With Friends on iPhone, iPad now

Only one game that Zynga ... unleashed (see what we did there?) onto the masses during its recent press event is available right now: Matching With Friends. As of this writing, players interested in the next big thing to come of Zynga's mega-popular With Friends franchise can check it out for free.

Matching With Friends looks like an interesting blend of match-three (i.e. Bejeweled Blitz) and the developer's very own Words With Friends. Players place colored blocks on a game board in the same fashion they would in a turn-based game of the super popular word game, only the goal in this case is to match three or more like-colored blocks rather than form words.

All the staples--like chat, Facebook Connect and more--are present in Matching With Friends, though players can earn and purchase bomb power-ups to clear small areas of the game board to make room for new matches. Upon a first, elitist glance, this is a distilled version of Words With Friends for people that don't like making words. But we'll have far more in-depth,and hopefully nicer, impressions of Matching With Friends in due time.

Click here to download Matching With Friends for Free on iOS Now >

Are you excited about or intrigued by Matching With Friends? What do you think of the With Friends franchise in general? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.