Yummy Tales 2

Yummy Tales 2 has a clearer purpose than most boards in this genre. You are feeding and caring for farm animals, the matched pieces are fruit and vegetables, and a dog called Oscar works alongside you across more than 900 levels.

Framing the clear as feeding rather than destroying changes very little mechanically and quite a lot in tone. It also makes the piece set coherent: carrots, apples and the rest belong together in a way that assorted gems never quite do, and a board whose contents make sense is easier to read quickly.

Nine hundred levels is a middling list by current standards, which here works in the game’s favour — the boards vary more than a four-thousand-level catalogue can manage. Daily missions and challenges pay out coins and boosters for the harder ones later on.

1. Trade two neighbouring pieces to line up three or more of one crop.
2. Clear the produce the level asks for to feed the animals.
3. Take daily missions and challenges for coins and boosters.
4. Keep boosters for the late boards, which tighten considerably.

Coins and boosters come mainly from missions rather than from levels, so a few minutes on the mission list is worth more than a replay of a board you have already cleared.