How to play Tile Match
A puzzle played alone with a heap of picture tiles: take them one at a time into a tray of seven, and three of a picture clear.
- Players
- 1
- What you need
- Picture tiles, 45 to 99 of them
- How long
- Two to eight minutes a deal
What Tile Match is
Tile Match is a puzzle for one. Picture tiles lie in a heap of layers, and the aim is to clear them all. You take one free tile at a time and it goes down into a tray at the foot of the table.
Three tiles of the same picture in the tray clear. The tray holds seven, so the skill is in choosing which tile to take next: a tray full of odd pictures is the end.
Playing it here
- Tap a free tile. It flies into the tray, next to any tiles of the same picture already there.
- When three of a picture meet in the tray, they clear and leave room.
- Keep going until the heap and the tray are both empty.
A tap on a tile that is held does nothing but shake it, so you can see why. The clock in the corner runs while you play and stops while the page is hidden.
Which tiles are free
A tile is free when nothing on a higher layer lies over any part of it, even a corner. The tiles beside it on its own layer do not matter.
Held tiles are drawn darker, so the free ones stand out. You can still see what most of them are, and planning with them is half the game.
The tray
A tile goes into the tray beside the others of its picture, so a pair always sits together and you can count it at a glance. A picture with nothing in the tray goes to the end.
Three of a picture clear at once, and the tiles after them move along to close the gap.
The pictures
There are sixteen pictures: the sun and moon of the flag, a pipal leaf, a Dashain kite, the mountains, a rhododendron, a diyo, a cup of tea, then a bell, a drop of water, a marigold, a star, a chilli, a madal, an umbrella and a fish. Each has its own shape, so you never have to tell two apart by colour. An easy deal uses the first eight, medium fourteen and hard all sixteen.
A full tray
If the seventh tile goes in and does not make three, the tray is full and nothing more can be taken. The table asks whether to undo the last tile or end the deal. You can fold the question away first to look at the heap.
When the tray has six in it the status line warns you. At that point only a tile that makes three is safe.
Undo, hint and shuffle
Undo takes back the last tile, as far back as the deal, including a three that cleared. Start again puts every tile back where it was dealt, and can itself be undone.
Hint lights a tile worth taking. The game searches ahead for a way to clear the heap, and if there is none from here it says so, which means an undo or a shuffle.
Shuffle deals the tiles left in the heap again, onto the places left, so that they can be cleared with the tray as it stands. A win with any undo, hint or shuffle does not count as a best time.
How a deal ends
You win when the heap and the tray are both empty. Every deal is built from a way through, so every deal can be won.
A deal is lost only when you give it up, or end it with a full tray.
The deal of the day
Each level has a deal of the day, the same tiles for everybody in Nepal, and a new one at midnight Nepal time.
Once you have won it, the page opens on a new deal instead. Your fastest win at each level and today's time are kept as your records.
A few tips
- Look for a picture with three free tiles and take all three in a row. They clear at once and cost the tray nothing.
- Before you start a new picture, check that the other two of it are free or nearly free.
- Take tiles off the top of the heap early. A tile with two or three lying under it frees them all.
- Treat five in the tray as a warning. With six, take only a tile that makes three.
Settings
The only setting is the level. Today's deal or a new one is picked on the game page.
| Setting | Standard | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Level | Easy, 45 tiles | Medium is 72 tiles in four layers with fourteen pictures. Hard is 99 tiles in five layers with sixteen. |
Words
- Free
- A tile with nothing on a higher layer over any part of it. Only a free tile can be taken.
- Held
- A tile with another lying over part of it. Drawn darker.
- Tray
- The seven places under the heap where taken tiles wait for their picture's three.
- Three alike
- Three tiles of one picture in the tray, which clear.
- Shuffle
- The heap dealt again onto its places, so it can still be cleared.
Every rule on this page is the one the app plays by. Change any of them on the game's own page before you start.