"Triple Match: A Fresh Take on Puzzles"

Reviewing games for a living can seem like a pretty sweet deal, but it comes with unacknowledged hazards. For example, what if the game you're playing is so moreish that the writing process is continually interrupted by cravings? What if you can only work effectively while you're waiting for the timer to give you more lives? It's tough.

Triple Match is not the first casual match-three mobile game to place us in this predicament, and it certainly won't be the last – but it's a pretty serious offender all the same. Developed by Boombox Games, purveyor of a small library of polished casual puzzlers, Triple Match is both entirely familiar and entirely novel. While you've experienced its core free-to-play loop a thousand times, you've never played a matching game quite like it.

Invented a Sub-genre

It could even be considered the first entry in a whole new sub-genre, and according to SensorTower, it has already racked up 20 million downloads across iOS and Android since launching in April 2022. It's even inspired a number of similar titles such as Peak's Match Factory, released 18 months after Triple Match.

Let's start with the familiar stuff. Triple Match sees you completing puzzle stages against the clock, using power-ups and boosts to improve your odds whenever you're up against it. Completing stages earns you coins, which you can spend on boosts, power-ups, extra attempts, and even on gifts for your teammates. Triple Match has an unobtrusive multiplayer mechanic that lets you ask for lives and make donations.

As you progress through the campaign, you'll be able to work towards a number of different goals, such as building your Kyoto Zen Oasis, creating an entire village, unlocking features, and simply competing in tournaments. So far, so casual match-three puzzler. But where Triple Match mixes things up is in the actual nuts and bolts of the gameplay.

How Do I Play?

You're probably used to matching objects that are lined up in grid formation, by sliding them neatly together. Triple Match takes a different tack. It simply leaves its matchable objects in a big pile and tasks you with clearing them up by tapping three in succession.

Kind of. Filling the screen is a vast array of things – pianos, notebooks, umbrellas, letters, clouds, cakes, etc. – while along the bottom of the playing area there's a bar containing seven spaces. Whenever you tap on an object, it gets transferred to this bar, and whenever three identical objects appear in the bar, they vanish. If, however, you fill the bar up completely (or run out of time), you lose.

At first, this is pretty straightforward. After all, you only need to tap on things that look the same. The problem is, as you work your way up through the levels, these objects can start to look a bit TOO MUCH the same for comfort. Is that a red and yellow rocket, or a red and yellow pair of binoculars? Is that an apple or a tomato? Plus, everything appears in a 3D jumble, meaning that a 7 can look like an I, or a – or any number of other shapes.

As a result, you're forced to make split-second decisions based on the best information at your disposal against both the clock and the bar. What began as a simple pointing exercise quickly becomes a real test of nerves, accuracy, and eyesight.

Nestled among each jumble are various boosts to help you out, such as a lightning strike that clears a trio of items, a clock that gives you more time, and a range of bonus items. Power-ups, meanwhile, allow you to shuffle the playing area, eject objects from your bar, freeze the clock, and instantly match three things.

In Conclusion…

The pithiest way to describe Triple Match is "Mahjong meets Fruit Ninja". It's an addictive, colorful, and novel addition to the match-three genre that punishes hasty play, blurry eyes, and clumsy fingers, but rewards cooperation. A range of themed events – such as ones for Earth Week or Saving the Reindeer on Christmas – make sure the game feels fresh throughout the year too.

It's available on Google Play (and the App Store), with the game's official site here.

A Must For Puzzle Game Fans

If you're a fan of casual free-to-play puzzlers on mobile, Triple Match is a pretty easy recommendation.

8.1 Graphics: 8 Gameplay: 8.3 Controls: 8