Match 3 Games - What are they

Match 3 Games - What are they????

If you are not in the gaming industry or an avid gamer, there is a possibility you might have not heard of this name. However, you should have heard names like Candy Crush, Bubble Shooter. 

If not a player you might have heard about this game from your spamming Facebook feed from your friends requesting you. They are arguably the best “Match 3” games reigning supreme even now.

Let’s know about them…..  

Introduction to the world of Match 3 games:

“Match 3 Games” also known as “Tile-matching Games” are puzzle-based casual games with simple functions and mechanics that is “Bright and refreshing” as opposed to other graphic-intensive games.

In most of the popular “Match 3 games” the objective is to move game objects based on color or shapes and match them horizontally or vertically forming patterns that help the player acquire points and move to the next level.

With modern games even diagonal works I mean why not it just makes it more fun for the player. Matching a minimum of three helps the player to advance, hence the naming “Match 3”.

Origins Explained:

So where did this start, would you believe me if I said it started way back in the 80s and if you want to know about Match 3 you should know about “Eugene Alemzhin”. 

Although everyone in the gaming industry knows Alexey Pajitnov the Russian game designer who is the creator of Tetris in 1984 started the trend. Eugene was another Russian Software engineer who created “Shariki” arguably the first “Match 3” game to be produced, not even like a small way it was developed as the game for MS-DOS when it came out in 1994.

Shariki proved to be a very influential game and eventually many games that closely matched its mechanics arose.

Collectively known as match-three games, these all revolve around the mechanic of creating a three-in-a-row line of identical pieces. They include:

• Bejeweled (2001) by PopCap Games
• Jewel Quest (2004) created and published by iWin
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (2007) developed by Infinite Interactive and published by D3 Publisher
• Aurora Feint (2008) game for the iPhone and iPod Touch
• Candy Crush Saga (2012)
• Pokémon Shuffle (2015) game for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console

There is a saying that any video game is easy to play but hard to master. 

Well we might want to give match 3 games an exception here, you see the reason games like Candy Crush and "Bubble Shooter" is crazy hits are not because of anything outrageous.

It is popular because it is easy and light to the brain it has led to the development of Hyper Casual games which in itself is a full discussion. One prime example is “Color Switch” by Crazy Games.

Game Play and Monetization in Match 3 Games:

As discussed earlier the concept of the game is pretty basic. You match the tiles in terms of shapes or Colours and obtain the target points to advance to the next level. Pretty simple yeah, but if this was the game then what was the catch.

Every Match 3 game had 2 major features in the game they are:

• Time
• Score

Time:

Most of the Match 3 games are timed, it may be based on the gameplay time of the particular level or it may be for how many times the tile is to be moved.

Score:

Based on the movement and matching the score will be increased gradually this may be to acquire a set target within a specific time to advance to the new level.

Monetization:

Monetization can be of various ways the most common ways are either to have additional moves after timed exceeds or having special effects on a particular tile.

It may not be as flashy and eye-catching as some of those graphic intensive games out there but still a game besides those big games that we turn in to have a peace of mind.

iXie Gaming and Match 3 Games:

It would be an understatement if I said iXie Gaming simply has been providing testing services for Match 3 type games.

Ever since iXie Gaming was started 9 years ago. Match 3 games have been an integral part of our growth as a testing service provider.

With clients globally it has been such a learning curve and an opportunity for us to harness the potential of the global gaming industry.

In 9 years we have over 250 titles tested, with 300+ career game testers in house and 800+ physical devices to take care of the compatibility we are on a roll and not looking to slow down any time soon.

If you are a Match 3 Puzzle type game developer and looking for a testing partner with years of experience. Here is a case study for your review.

https://www.ixiegaming.com/casestudies/Game-Functional-Compatibility-Puzzle-Based-Game.pdf

If you are following up to this point I hope you find this read useful and informative.

For more information contact me on LinkedIn or mail me at ramprasath.s@ixiegaming.com.

Stay Home, Stay Safe.

Ram Prasath