About Gem Swap

Swap two neighbouring gems to line up three or more of the same colour. Matched gems vanish, the ones above drop into the gap, and new gems fall in from the top — which is where the real points are, because a match that sets off another as the board settles scores more for every link in the chain. Every colour has its own shape as well, so the board reads clearly even if red and green look alike to you.

Bigger matches leave something behind. Four in a line makes a striped gem that clears its whole row or column when it goes. An L or T shape makes a bomb that takes out the square around it. Five in a line makes a prism, and swapping a prism into any gem clears every gem of that colour on the board. Swap two specials into each other and they combine: two stripes clear a cross, a stripe and a bomb clear three rows and three columns, two bombs clear a five-by-five square.

The daily challenge gives everyone the same board and the same thirty moves, with a leaderboard for the day's best score. The gems that fall in are decided by the day too, so the board plays out identically for anyone who makes the same moves. Classic mode deals a fresh thirty-move board whenever you like, and Zen mode has no move limit at all.

Tips to win

• Work near the bottom of the board: every clear there drops the gems above and can start a chain on its own
• Before taking a plain match of three, look for a four or an L nearby — a special is worth far more than the move
• Save stripes and bombs until they can be swapped into each other, since the combination clears far more than either alone
• A prism is best spent on the colour there is most of on the board