About Make Ten

A five-by-five board of numbered tiles. Tap a tile that touches another of the same number — up, down, left or right — and the whole group lights up. Tap it again and the group merges into that tile, which goes up by one: three 4s become a single 5, right where you tapped. The rest of the group vanishes, the tiles above drop into the gaps, and new tiles fall in from the top.

The aim is to build a 10. That takes two 9s side by side, which takes 8s beside each other, and so on down — so the art is in where you merge. Land the new tile next to its equal and you can merge again straight away; merge somewhere useless and it sits stranded. The game ends when no two equal numbers touch anywhere on the board, and a 10 is not the end: keep going as long as the board lets you.

Every merge scores the number times the size of the group, so big groups of high numbers pay best. New tiles run from 1 up to your best tile so far, but never past 8, so a 10 is always made and never dealt. The daily board is the same for everyone, and the same merges bring the same new tiles; free play deals a fresh board and offers a hint when you're stuck.

Tips to win

• Merge where the new number will touch its equal — chains of merges climb fast
• Merge low on the board: more tiles fall, and more new pairs appear
• Don't spend every small pair at once; they are what keep the board alive
• Keep your biggest numbers together in one corner, the way you would in 2048