Critter Swap: Free Online Match-3 Puzzle

Critter Swap is our own match-3 puzzle. Six kinds of critter fill an 8×8 board: frogs, chicks, piglets, bears, bunnies and penguins, each with its own colour and outline. Swap two neighbours to line up three or more of a kind and they clear; the critters above fall and new ones drop in from the top. A swap that lines up nothing bounces back and costs no move. Every step of a cascade scores more than the last.

Bigger matches make special critters. Four in a line makes a line critter that clears its whole row or column. An L, T or plus shape makes a bomb critter that clears the 3×3 around it. Five in a line makes a rainbow: swap it with any critter to clear every critter of that kind. Swap two specials together for a much bigger blast, from a row and column at once up to the whole board when two rainbows meet.

There are 60 hand-made levels in five areas of twelve: Meadow, Pond, Woods, Hills and Peaks. Each level sets one or more goals within a move limit: reach a score, collect a number of one critter, clear all the grass or break all the crates. Grass goes when the critter on it is cleared, and crates break when you match right next to them or blast them; darker grass and banded crates take two. Some boards have holes in them. When the goals are met, every special left fires and the moves you have left turn into bonus blasts. Your score sets the stars, from one to three. Move limits and star scores were tuned by playing every level many times with a simple bot, and each retry deals a fresh board.

If no move is left on the board, it reshuffles itself for free. Four helpers cost gems: +5 moves when a level runs out, a hammer that smashes one critter or crate, a shuffle that rearranges the board, and a hint that shows a good swap. None of them uses a move. The game plays the same without them, and progress, stars and best scores are saved in your browser.

The daily challenge is one board for everyone each UTC day: 20 moves, no goal, just the highest score you can make. Play it as often as you like, and your best run of the day counts on the leaderboard. Critter Swap is free to play in your browser with no download or sign-up, and its critters, sound effects and music are all made for the game.