Kitty Jewel Quest

The presentation is entirely cats and the mechanic is entirely serious: three or more kittens in a row or column, against a clock that keeps running whatever you are doing.

That contrast is the appeal. The board looks like something you would hand to a child, and then the timer turns it into a game about recognition speed — which is exactly the sort of thing that keeps adults playing longer than they intended.

Kittens are drawn distinctly enough to tell apart in a glance, which the format needs. A timed board with pieces you have to study is a bad board; this one gets that right.

It is also a decent demonstration of how much a theme changes perceived difficulty. The same board dressed in gems would read as a score-attack puzzle; dressed in kittens it reads as something gentle, right up until the timer makes its point.

More match 3 games

• Christmas Match 3 Deluxe — filed under Christmas Games
• Cookie Crush 3 — filed under Candy & Sweets
• Crazy Cowboy Match 3 — filed under Match 3 Games
• EG Cartoon Candy — filed under Candy & Sweets

1. Swap two adjacent kittens to line up three or more in a row or column.
2. Keep moving — the clock does not pause while you look.
3. Take the match you can see rather than hunting a better one.
4. Play as long as the timer allows and go again.

Learn the kittens by their colour blocks rather than their faces. Faces are what your eye wants to read and the slowest way to do it — on a timed board, the fur colour is the signal that scales.