Emerald Crush

The feed for this one says three words: match 3 game. This page will not turn three words into a feature list, so what follows is what the format itself guarantees and nothing more.

You swap two neighbouring stones, three or more of a kind clear, and the board falls into the gap. Emeralds give it a narrow green-toned palette, which is unusual in a genre that normally throws five loud colours at you — a quieter board to look at, and a slightly harder one to read quickly for the same reason.

Whether there are levels, a timer or a score chase behind it is not something the feed states, and finding out is a matter of opening it rather than reading about it. What is certain is the mechanic, and the mechanic is the oldest reliable one in casual gaming.

Free to play here, in the browser, with nothing to install — that part we can promise.

1. Swap two adjacent stones to line up three or more of a kind.
2. Let the board settle and look for the follow-up match.
3. Work the lower rows where two options look equal.
4. Keep clearing for as long as the board offers moves.

On a narrow palette, read by shade rather than by colour. Emerald boards give you less contrast to work with than a mixed-gem grid, so the lighter and darker stones are the fastest thing your eye can separate.