Mystic Sea Treasures

How to play Mystic Sea Treasures

• Swap two neighbouring pieces to line up three or more of a kind.
• Matched pieces clear and the ones above drop into the gap.
• The swap must create a match or the pieces snap back.
• Every level shows its goal and its limit before you start.
• Reach the goal within the limit to move on.

The goal line

Read it before the first move. A level asking for forty shells is a different game from a level asking for a score, and the same board should be played two different ways.

Special pieces

Matching four in a straight line, or five, or bending the match into an L or a T, produces a piece that clears more than the tiles it sits on. Two of those swapped into each other clear a great deal more than either alone, and on the hard levels that combination is usually the intended solution.

Tips and strategy

Play low

Matches near the bottom of the grid pull the whole board down and give you cascades for free. Matches at the top clear three pieces and refill three pieces, and nothing else happens.

Build before you spend

• If a swap turns a match of three into a match of four, take the longer one. The extra move costs less than the special piece is worth.
• Leave clusters of one colour intact. They are the raw material for the combination you will need later.
• Look at where the falling pieces will land, not at the pieces you removed.

Targeted levels

• Identify the piece the level is counting.
• Ignore matches that do not involve it unless they set one up.
• Work the column where that piece is most concentrated.
• Save your special pieces for when the target is stacked, not for when you are stuck.

Where levels are lost

• Spending the first ten moves on whatever is easiest to see.
• Chasing score on a level that counts pieces.
• Reaching the last three moves with two unused special pieces on the board.