Match 3
Play Match 3 free in your browser. Swap gems to line up three or more, set off cascades, and hit the target score before your moves run out.
How to Play Match 3
- Click a gem, then click a gem next to it to swap the two. A swap is only allowed if it lines up three or more matching gems.
- Matched gems flare and pop away, the gems above drop into the gaps, and fresh gems fall in from the top — each round plays out on screen, and the board ignores clicks until the cascade finishes.
- Anything the falling gems line up clears too — a cascade, worth double on the second round, triple on the third, and so on.
- Score 2000 points before your 20 moves run out. Hint shows the swap the AI rates best, and Undo takes back your last move.
- Hit the target and the board sweeps itself clear — a Level Complete card offers Continue, which deals a fresh board for the next level with a higher target.
- Switch to Auto (AI) to watch the rule-based engine play the board out, or change the difficulty to deal 5, 6, or 7 gem types.
- The Move History panel names what each swap did — match four, cascade, big cascade — next to the points it scored, so you can see which swaps are actually carrying your score.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How is scoring calculated?
- Every gem in a cleared line is worth 10 points, plus 20 more for each gem beyond the third — so three in a line scores 30, four scores 60, and five scores 90. Cascades multiply the whole round: ×2 on the second clearing round, ×3 on the third, and upward from there.
- What happens when I reach the target score?
- The gems sweep off the board and a Level Complete card appears. Continue deals a fresh board for the next level, with the target raised by a quarter and rounded to a whole hundred: 2000 on level 1, then 2500, 3100, 3900. The move allowance stays at 20, so every level asks for more points out of the same number of swaps.
- What happens if the board runs out of matching swaps?
- The board reshuffles itself automatically, keeping the same gems in a new arrangement, and your remaining moves are untouched. A game allows up to five reshuffles.
- What is the difference between moves left and swaps available?
- Moves left is your allowance for the game — 20 of them. Swaps available counts the matching swaps currently sitting on the board. The game ends when your moves run out even if matches remain, so the panel can read 0 moves and 5 swaps at the same time.
- Does the difficulty setting change the target score?
- No — the level does that, not the difficulty. Whichever difficulty you pick, level 1 plays for 2000 points. Difficulty changes how many gem types are dealt: 5 on Easy, 6 on Normal, 7 on Hard. More gem types mean fewer accidental matches and shorter cascades, so the same target gets harder to reach. Changing difficulty starts a new run at level 1.
- What CPU strategies are available?
- Smart follows the rule-based AI priority order and picks randomly among swaps with similar scores — strong but varied. Best always takes the highest-scored swap for the top-priority rule. Random picks any legal swap with no rules or scoring.
- How does the rule-based AI choose a swap?
- It previews every legal swap — clearing matches and letting gems fall, but without guessing which gems will drop in — then runs a rule list ordered by points, not by the shape of the match: reach the target, huge score, big score, good score, fair score, and below that whichever safe swap leaves the board with the most follow-ups. Because a cascading three-in-a-row often pays far more than a flat five-in-a-row, ranking by payoff scores about 10% more per game than ranking by run length.
- Why does the move log say "good score" next to a huge number of points?
- The AI grades a swap before the new gems drop in, because it cannot know what is coming. The grade describes what it could see; the points include everything the incoming gems then set off. A swap graded good score landing 450 points means the refill cascaded in your favour.
- What is the best strategy for a high score?
- Look for swaps that drop gems into a loaded column rather than the longest line you can find. A five-in-a-row pays a flat 90, while a plain three that touches off a two- or three-deep cascade can pay several hundred, because every extra clearing round multiplies the whole round. Working from the bottom of the board upward gives cascades the most room to run.
- Does the Hint button show the best possible swap?
- It shows the swap the AI rates highest on its refill-free preview — the strongest move it can be sure of. A different swap can still end up scoring more once the incoming gems land, since neither you nor the AI can see those in advance.