What this is
Pairs of coloured blobs fall from the top. Whenever four or more of one colour connect orthogonally, they pop.
Whatever sat above drops into the gap, and if that forms another four, you get a chain. Chains are the whole game: popping four is worth a little, building a three-chain is worth an order of magnitude more.
The run ends when a new pair has nowhere to enter.
Controls
| Touch | Keyboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Move | Swipe left / right | ← → or A D |
| Rotate | Short tap or swipe up | ↑ or W |
| Down one | — | ↓ or S |
| Drop | Swipe down | Space |
Rotation works against the wall too — if it is blocked, the piece is nudged one column and rotated, so it never silently refuses.
Building chains
Resist popping
Popping the moment you have four ends the chain at one. The basic move is to stop at three and add the fourth later. Patience is the score.
Stack a staircase
The easiest shape to learn is a staircase: two colours alternating, offset by one.
. . 2
. 2 1
2 1 1 ← drop one 2 here and
1 1 . the 1s pop → the 2s fall in → chainOnce you can build it, you can fill half the board with it and bring the whole thing down with a single piece.
Keep a trigger
A stacked chain needs one piece to set it off. If that colour never arrives you are stuck holding it. Prepare more than one possible trigger, or shape the stack so that whatever comes next can start it.
Keep the middle low
New pairs enter in the middle column. If that column fills, the run ends there. Build up the outside and keep the centre low, and leave one column as a dumping ground for pieces you cannot place.
Only four colours
More colours would make chains almost impossible. With four, the same colour comes around often enough that the shape you planned actually gets finished. Scores come from design, not luck.
Scoring
Popped count × 10 × chain². Four blobs in a single pop is 40 points; the same eight split into a two-chain is over 400. Extending the chain by one step beats popping four more.
Daily challenge
A new board opens every midnight (KST), and that day even the order the pieces arrive in is the same for everyone. Same pieces, and the contest is who designs the deeper chain.