Pokemon Shuffle Mobile, a version of the popular 3DS game for smart devices, is to be released to iPhones and Android later this year, industry news sources quoted Nintendo and its affiliate, The Pokemon Company, as saying.

According to Gaming Bolt, the move will make the game, released for Nintendo 3DS only last January, the first of its kind to be made accessible to mobile platforms and the first to be made available to a non-Nintendo platform in more than 10 years.

According to PC Magazine, the game, similar to Bejewelled Blitz and Candy Crush, challenges players to line up at least three of the same Pokemon vertically or horizontally to clear them from the puzzle area. Once it is launched, the game will be free in the App Store and Google Play.

Each Pokemon has its own strengths and weaknesses based on its type, explained Nintendo News, adding that players could catch Pokemon, trade and buy items and Mega-Evolve certain kinds of Pokemon.

The original version of the game has been downloaded more than 4.5 million times on the Nintendo Shop in the past five months, the magazine added.

 Nintendo, the world's largest video game company by revenue, announced last March its plan to partner with mobile portal and e-commerce website provider DeNA to make more titles accessible to mobile devices.

According to iDigitalTimes, a beta version of the game will be made available to Android in Japan, and the first 10,000 users can gain access to the title before the full launch later this year. Meantime, iPhone users will have to wait for the actual launching.

The Pokemon Company, which handles the marketing and licensing of the Pokemon franchise and manages the Pokemon TV show and collectible card game, has released a trailer showing how the game is played. The company already has several titles on mobile platforms, including Pokemon TCG Online, Pokemon TV, Pokemon Jukebox, the Pokedex for iOS and Camp Pokemon.