Match three games are judged on one thing, and it is not the artwork. It is whether the board rewards you for looking further than the move in front of you.
Jewel Shuffle does. Swap two neighbouring gems, clear a line of three, and the gems above drop into the space. If they land in a line of their own, that clears too, and the chain keeps paying. A player who takes the first match they see and a player who spends two seconds looking for the one that sets off a cascade will finish the same level with wildly different scores.
Everything below is about telling those two moves apart.
How to play Arkadium's Jewel Shuffle
A grid of coloured gems fills the board. You rearrange it two gems at a time.
- Click or tap a gem, then the one beside it, to swap them. Dragging works too.
- The swap is only legal if it creates a line of three or more of one colour.
- Matched gems disappear and everything above drops down.
- New gems fall in from the top, and any new lines they form clear as well.
- Matching four or five, or bending the match into an L or a T, creates a gem that clears far more than three.
Each board sets a target. Reach it before the moves run out.
The cascade
The drop is where the game actually happens. Clearing three gems is worth three gems. Clearing three gems that cause two more matches on the way down is worth several times that, for the same single move.
You cannot always see a cascade coming, but you can improve the odds enormously, and that is what separates a modest score from a large one.
Tips and strategy
Match low, always
A clear near the bottom of the board pulls the entire column above it downward. Every gem above the gap lands somewhere new, and each of those landings is a chance at another match.
A clear at the top of the board removes three gems and refills three gems. Nothing else moves, because there is nothing above it to move.
When two matches look equally good, take the lower one. It is not close, and it is the single most valuable habit in any game of this kind.
One extra swap
Before you take a three, look at whether moving one gem first would make it a four.
It usually would, it usually costs one move, and the special gem it produces clears an entire line. That trade is almost always worth it, and most players never make it because the three was right there.
Combining specials
Two special gems swapped into each other produce the largest effects available in the game. On later boards this is not a bonus, it is the intended solution.
Which means a level finished with two unused specials sitting on the board was a level played badly, even if you passed it.
Watch the counter, then change gear
The move counter is the only thing you can run out of.
With plenty left, it is worth spending one or two moves setting up a cascade or building a special. With four or five left, it is not, because the setup will still be unfinished when you hit zero.
Compare what the target still needs against what an ordinary match delivers. If the arithmetic does not work, stop playing safe and go looking for the big clear.
Where the moves go
- Taking the first match your eye lands on, every time.
- Breaking up a cluster of four of one colour to grab an easy three somewhere else.
- Ignoring the corners. Most players read the middle of the board and never scan the top left or bottom right.
- Playing quickly on a board limited by moves rather than by a clock. Speed buys you nothing there, and thinking costs nothing.
Read what the level is asking
Boards in this genre do not all want the same thing, and playing them all the same way is how people stall in the middle of a long run.
A score target rewards cascades anywhere on the board. A target that counts one colour makes every match ignoring that colour close to a wasted move. A board that asks you to clear specific squares wants you working those squares even when better looking matches sit elsewhere.
Read the target before the first move. It takes a second and it changes which move is correct.
More in this shape
Butterfly Kyodai Deluxe swaps matching for connecting, Crystal Connect and Wild West Match are the closest cousins, and Fancy Diver is the older, plainer version of the same idea. All of them sit in match 3 and puzzle.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I create a special gem?
Match more than three at once. A straight line of four clears a row or column, and five or a bent match produces something stronger still.
Why should I match at the bottom of the board?
Because everything above a clear falls into the gap and can form new matches on its own. A match at the top moves nothing.
What is the strongest move in the game?
Swapping two special gems into each other. On the harder boards that combination is what the level is designed around.
Do I lose a move on an illegal swap?
No. A swap that creates no match simply snaps back and costs nothing.
Should I play fast?
Only if the level is timed. When the limit is moves, thinking is free and speed gains you nothing.
Is Jewel Shuffle free?
Yes, free in the browser with no download and no account.