Planning big groups in Block Clear, Games by Zaweba

Block Clear looks like a game about clicking colours, and for the first few goes that is how most people play it. Then you notice the score, and it becomes a game about patience. In this puzzle from Games by Zaweba, the board is packed with coloured blocks, and you remove them in groups. How big each group is matters far more than how many you take.

The rules in brief

Click a group of two or more touching blocks of the same colour and it disappears. Blocks above fall down to fill the gap, and if a whole column empties, the columns to its right close up to the left. The game ends when there are no groups of two or more left anywhere on the board.

Point at a group before you click and the game shows you what it is worth. Press Z to undo the last move if a click did not turn out the way you expected.

Why big groups matter

A group of n blocks scores (n minus 2) squared. Work that out for a few sizes and the shape of the game becomes obvious. A pair scores nothing at all. A group of three scores 1. A group of four scores 4, a group of six scores 16, and a group of twelve scores 100. One big group can be worth more than dozens of small ones put together.

On top of that, clear every block from the board and you earn a 1000 point bonus. That is often the biggest single number in a game, and it is worth bending your whole plan towards.

How to build big groups

The trick is to remove blocks of other colours so that same coloured blocks fall or slide together. Pick one colour to grow, often whichever has the most blocks or is spread across the board in a way that could join up. Then clear small groups of other colours that sit between its pieces. Each time something below is removed, the blocks above drop, and two separate patches of your chosen colour may meet.

Columns closing up to the left work the same way sideways. Emptying a narrow column can push two halves of the board together.

Hovering is your best tool here. Point at a group before clicking and you can see its value, which helps you judge whether it is ready to take or whether it could grow larger. When it cannot get any bigger without a lot of work, take it.

Avoiding a stuck ending

Most lost bonuses come from a handful of single blocks left at the end, each a different colour and none touching another of its kind. To avoid that, keep an eye on the colours with only a few blocks left. If a colour is down to two or three, make sure they will meet before you clear the blocks around them. Single blocks can never be removed, so a stray one at the bottom of the board means no bonus.

Undo is there for exactly these moments. If a click leaves a lonely block behind, press Z and look for another order.

Block Clear in Games by Zaweba

Block Clear is on the Puzzles shelf with Gem Swap, Merge Tiles and Tile Pairs, the other games where you clear or combine pieces. It is quieter than Gem Swap, with no clock and no cascades, so you can think as long as you like. Games by Zaweba keeps your best score, so each board is a chance to beat it.