Garden Tales
Garden Tales
Hundreds of levels of flowers, fruit and mushrooms, arranged into boards that get steadily more particular about what they want from you. Garden Tales is a long game, and it changes character somewhere in the middle.
Early levels are a warm bath. Later ones set goals that cannot be reached by playing well in general, only by playing for the specific thing being counted, and the shift catches most people around the point where they had stopped paying attention.
How to play Garden Tales
- Swap two pieces that sit next to each other.
- A line of three or more of the same kind clears.
- Pieces above the gap fall down and new ones enter from the top.
- Each level shows its goal and its move limit before you begin.
- Meet the goal within the limit to progress.
Goals
- Score levels want cascades, anywhere on the board.
- Collection levels count one kind of piece, and every other match is close to wasted.
- Clearing levels ask you to remove a covering from certain squares, which means working those squares specifically.
- Drop levels want something brought to the bottom row, and only the columns beneath it matter.
Tips and strategy
Gravity is the engine
Everything interesting in a match three happens after the clear, when pieces fall. A match at the bottom of the board rearranges the whole column above it. A match at the top rearranges nothing.
When two moves look equally good, the lower one is better, and it is not close.
Making the board work for you
- Turn a three into a four whenever one extra swap allows it. The special piece is worth more than the move it cost.
- Two special pieces swapped into each other clear more than the two of them used separately, often by a wide margin.
- Do not break up a cluster of four of a colour to take a convenient three somewhere else.
Collection levels
- Name the piece the level is counting.
- Find the column where it is most concentrated.
- Work that column, even if better looking matches exist elsewhere.
- Hold specials until several targets are stacked together.
Drop levels
Only the columns under the falling object matter. Clearing pieces on the far side of the board looks productive and does nothing at all.
The habit that costs the most
Playing the first match you see. It is the difference between finishing a level with four moves to spare and finishing it two pieces short, and over a few hundred levels it is the whole game.
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Frequently asked questions
How many levels does Garden Tales have?
Hundreds, running from very forgiving early boards to ones that require you to play for the specific goal rather than for score.
What is the most useful habit in a match 3 game?
Matching low. Clears near the bottom of the board drop everything above them and produce cascades, while clears at the top move almost nothing.
How do special pieces work?
Matching four or more at once creates one. Straight lines of four clear a row or column, and larger or bent matches clear more. Combining two specials is stronger than using each alone.
Do all levels want the same thing?
No. Some count score, some count a particular piece, some ask you to clear squares or bring an object to the bottom. The goal is shown before the level starts.
Is Garden Tales free?
Yes, free in the browser with no download and no account.