Strategy: remove the right pairs
In brief
Not all playable pairs are equally useful: removing a tile that another stack needed can leave you stuck much later in the game. Free up tall stacks and long rows first, confidently remove tiles when all their remaining copies are free, and use Undo to reverse a poor choice.
Pair order matters
Every deal in the app can be won, but not in just any order. We played 200 deals in the Turtle layout generated by the app’s engine, without assistance, in two ways:
| Playing method | Games won | Games stuck |
|---|---|---|
| Always take the first playable pair found, without thinking | 18 | 182 |
| Always take the playable pair highest in the stacks | 36 | 164 |
Playing from the top first wins more often, but no rule this simple is enough: you need to look at what each pair frees up. Even when following the app’s sequence, with at least half the tiles still in place, the game used in the examples drops to 5 playable pairs after 35 pairs have been removed.
Free up tall stacks and long rows
A tile on top of a stack blocks several tiles beneath it; a tile in the middle of a long row must wait for one whole end to be cleared. Pairs that open up a stack or shorten a long row give you more choices later than pairs taken from an edge that is already free.
Count the copies
There are four copies of each ordinary tile. Removing a tile never blocks another tile: it can only free tiles up. This gives us two safe rules:
- if all four copies of a tile are free, remove them in two pairs: this will not prevent any winning sequence;
- if the last two copies are free, remove those too; the same applies to flowers and seasons.
The tricky case is when three copies are free, or two are free while the other two are still underneath. Choose the pair that frees up the most tiles, and watch out for a copy sitting on top of its own match: you will need to remove it before you can reach the one beneath.
Hint and Undo
The Hint button first suggests the next pair in the app’s winning sequence: by playing only the pairs it suggests, the game used in the examples is won in 72 pairs. If you have played differently, the hint may suggest another playable pair, with no guarantee of winning. Undo restores pairs one at a time, even after the “No more moves” message.