Monster Color Match

Monster Color Match states its rule and sticks to it: swap one monster with a neighbour to form a horizontal or vertical chain of three or more of the same colour. There is no move counter to manage, no mission text to parse, and no obstacle that behaves differently from the tiles around it.

Stripped back like this, the game becomes a reading exercise. The interesting boards are the ones where two chains are available and only one leaves a workable arrangement behind — a distinction that heavier games bury under boosters and goals. Here it is the entire game, which makes it a surprisingly good place to practise seeing one move ahead.

The monsters themselves are drawn friendly rather than frightening, so despite the name it plays as a light casual board rather than anything with an edge to it.

1. Find two monsters of the same colour with a third nearby but out of line.
2. Swap one monster with an adjacent one to bring all three into a horizontal or vertical chain.
3. Look at what falls in afterwards before choosing the next swap.
4. Keep chains going where the board allows; longer runs of clears build the score fastest.

When two swaps both make a chain of three, take the one that leaves more colours mixed in the middle of the board. A board that separates into colour blocks looks tidy and quietly runs out of moves.