Christmas Crush

Christmas Crush is swipe-driven rather than click-driven, which changes the feel more than it sounds like it should: you push a piece into position rather than selecting two of them, and the board responds fast enough that a run of moves turns into one continuous motion.

Each level carries its own mission, and the mission — not the score — is what you are playing towards. That makes the first ten seconds of a level the most valuable: read what is being asked, find where on the board it can actually happen, and open there. Levels lost here are usually levels where the missions were read halfway through.

Boosters come in as you progress and they are generous, which tempts you to spend them on any board that resists. Holding one back for the level after next is nearly always the better call, since the difficulty steps up in bunches rather than smoothly.

1. Read the mission for the level before your first swipe.
2. Swipe a festive piece onto an adjacent one to line up three or more and clear them.
3. Open on the part of the board where the mission target actually sits, not where the biggest cluster is.
4. Keep boosters for the levels that have genuinely stopped you.

Swipe games reward rhythm, but the board does not reward hurry. When you feel yourself clearing on reflex, stop for one move and re-read the mission — that single pause is usually worth several moves of frantic swiping.