Match-3 puzzle games are the most financially successful genre in mobile gaming history. Candy Crush alone has generated over $20 billion in lifetime revenue. But the genre is far wider than its biggest hit, running from the original Bejeweled to indie takes.
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1. Candy Crush Saga
Developer: King (Activision Blizzard) | Released: 2012
Platforms: iOS, Android, Web
Difficulty: Easy to hard | Price: Free (IAP-driven)
Where to play: Website · App Store · Google Play
The most commercially successful mobile game of all time. Match three or more candies to clear them from the board, complete level objectives, and progress through thousands of levels. At its peak, Candy Crush had 93 million daily active players. It popularized the lives system, the map-based progression, and the social mechanics that define mobile free-to-play games today.
Pop culture: King's attempt to trademark the word "Candy" in 2014 made international headlines. The game has been referenced in everything from The Big Bang Theory to congressional hearings about screen time.
Screenshot: Candy Crush Saga, King.
2. Bejeweled
Developer: PopCap Games (now EA) | Released: 2001 (web); Bejeweled 2 (2004); Bejeweled 3 (2010)
Platforms: PC, iOS, Android, Web, Consoles
Difficulty: Easy to medium | Price: Various (Bejeweled Classic is free on mobile)
Where to play: Website · App Store · Google Play
The game that defined the modern match-3 genre. Swap adjacent gems to create lines of three or more matching gems. Bejeweled's cascading combos, where one match triggers chain reactions, created the satisfying feedback loop that every match-3 game has copied since.
PopCap sold over 50 million copies of Bejeweled across all platforms before being acquired by EA in 2011 for $1.3 billion.
Screenshot: Bejeweled, PopCap Games.
3. Gardenscapes
Developer: Playrix | Released: 2016
Platforms: iOS, Android
Difficulty: Easy to medium | Price: Free (IAP)
Where to play: Website · App Store · Google Play
Match-3 puzzles wrapped in a garden renovation story. Complete levels to earn stars, spend stars to restore a neglected garden. The "renovation + match-3" formula was pioneered by Gardenscapes and has since been copied by hundreds of games. Over 100 million downloads.
Playrix's misleading "pull the pin" ads became one of the most discussed things in mobile advertising. The ads showed gameplay that didn't exist in the actual game, and drew FTC attention.
Screenshot: Gardenscapes, Playrix.
4. Puzzle & Dragons
Developer: GungHo Online Entertainment | Released: 2012
Platforms: iOS, Android
Difficulty: Medium to hard | Price: Free (gacha + IAP)
Where to play: Website · App Store · Google Play
The game that fused match-3 with RPG combat and gacha collection. Move orbs freely across the board to create matches, with each color triggering attacks from your monster team. At its peak in Japan, Puzzle & Dragons generated over $1 billion annually and had more daily active users than Twitter in Japan.
Screenshot: Puzzle & Dragons, GungHo Online Entertainment.
5. Royal Match
Developer: Dream Games | Released: 2021
Platforms: iOS, Android
Difficulty: Easy to medium | Price: Free (IAP)
Where to play: Website · App Store · Google Play
The fastest-growing match-3 game of the 2020s. Royal Match combines polished puzzle mechanics with a castle decoration meta-game and heavy advertising (it's one of the most-advertised mobile games globally). Dream Games, a Turkish studio, reached a $2.75 billion valuation off this single title.
Screenshot: Royal Match, Dream Games.
6. Tetris
Developer: Alexey Pajitnov (original, 1985) | Various publishers
Platforms: Everything, every gaming platform there is
Difficulty: Easy to extremely hard | Price: Varies (Tetris Mobile is free; Tetris Effect is $39.99)
Where to play: Website · App Store · Google Play
Strictly speaking, Tetris is a falling-block puzzle, not a match-3. But it belongs on any casual puzzle list as the most important puzzle game ever made. Over 520 million copies sold across all versions, making it the best-selling video game of all time. Tetris Effect (2018), a version built around music and visuals, is widely considered one of the greatest games of the decade.
Screenshot: Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov.
7. Best Fiends
Developer: Seriously (Playtika) | Released: 2014
Platforms: iOS, Android
Difficulty: Easy to medium | Price: Free (IAP)
Where to play: Website · App Store · Google Play
A match-3 with a character-collection RPG layer. Connect (not swap) matching bugs to attack enemies and progress through a story. Best Fiends set itself apart from Candy Crush with its line-drawing mechanic and character design. Over 100 million downloads.
Screenshot: Best Fiends, Seriously.
8. Homescapes
Developer: Playrix | Released: 2017
Platforms: iOS, Android
Difficulty: Easy to medium | Price: Free (IAP)
Where to play: Website · App Store · Google Play
The Gardenscapes follow-up with the same formula: match-3 puzzles fund home renovation. Austin the butler guides you through restoring a family mansion. Same controversial advertising, same addictive loop, same massive player base.
Screenshot: Homescapes, Playrix.
9. Two Dots
Developer: Playdots (acquired by Take-Two in 2020) | Released: 2014
Platforms: iOS, Android
Difficulty: Easy to medium | Price: Free (IAP)
Where to play: App Store · Google Play
Connect dots of the same color to clear them. Making a square captures all dots of that color on the board. Two Dots stands out with its plain design, its level art, and the satisfying snap of a completed square. One of the best-looking casual puzzle games ever made.
Screenshot: Two Dots, Playdots.
10. Columns (Sega Classic)
Developer: Sega | Released: 1990
Platforms: Sega Genesis, Game Gear, various (available via retro collections)
Difficulty: Easy to hard | Price: Available in Sega retro bundles
The other original match-3, predating Bejeweled by over a decade. Stack falling columns of three colored gems and match three or more horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Columns was Sega's answer to Tetris and became one of the defining games of the Game Gear handheld. A real piece of puzzle game history.
Screenshot: Columns, Sega.
Quick Guide
| If you want... | Try... |
|---|---|
| The biggest, most levels | Candy Crush Saga |
| The original, best design | Bejeweled |
| Puzzle + home renovation | Gardenscapes or Homescapes |
| RPG + match-3 | Puzzle & Dragons or Best Fiends |
| Minimalist design | Two Dots |
| The greatest puzzle game ever | Tetris (especially Tetris Effect) |
Want a daily puzzle that tests logic over luck? Try Pairdle, pattern matching meets word games.
By Tim Nye, Logic Loft Games
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