About Triples

A heap of tiles in layers, each showing a picture — an apple, a bell, a fish. Tap a tile and it drops into the tray below the heap; get three of the same picture in the tray and they vanish. Clear every tile and the board is done. The tray holds seven, and if it fills up without making three, the game is over.

Only a tile with nothing resting on it can be taken. The tiles underneath stay visible, dimmed, so the heap can be read before you touch it: the question is never just what matches now, but what you will uncover by taking it and whether the tray will have room when you do. Taking a tile that makes a pair is often right; taking three odd singles because they were on top is how trays fill up.

Every board is dealt so that it can be cleared — the deal follows one way of taking the tiles that never needs more than six slots — and the hint finds a sure way from wherever you are, or tells you honestly when there is none. The daily challenge is the same 66-tile board for everyone, ranked on time. Easy has 36 tiles in two layers; hard has 90 in four, with twelve pictures to keep track of.

Tips to win

• Look at the dimmed tiles before you tap: a tile that uncovers the third of a pair already in the tray is worth two moves
• Try to keep no more than two different pictures waiting in the tray
• Take the tall stacks down early; the bottom layer is where the last tiles of every picture hide
• If the tray is getting crowded, stop and find a pair before taking anything new