Gem Swap in Games by Zaweba: cascades, line gems and bombs

Gem Swap is the bright, busy corner of the Puzzles shelf in Games by Zaweba. The board is full of sparkling gems in different colours, and your job is to swap them around to make lines of the same colour. When a line forms, the gems vanish and new ones fall in from above. It is a match-three game, made entirely in code for this app, with no adverts and nothing to buy.

The basic swap

Swap two neighbouring gems to make a line of three or more of the same colour. You can click one gem and then a neighbour, or drag a gem towards the neighbour you want to swap it with. The matched gems vanish and the gems above fall into the gap.

That fall is where the fun starts. Sometimes the gems that drop make a new line on their own, which clears too, and then the next drop makes another. These cascades are worth more than ordinary matches, and a single good swap near the bottom of the board can set off several.

Line gems and colour bombs

Make a line of four and you create a line gem. When it is cleared, it clears its whole row or column. Make a line of five and you create a colour bomb. Swap the bomb with any gem and every gem of that colour on the board disappears.

These special gems are where the big scores come from. A line of three is your bread and butter, but it is worth pausing to look for a four or a five before taking the first match you see.

Reaching the target

Each game sets you a target score. You need to reach it before the time or the moves run out, so there is a little pressure behind every swap. The difference matters for how you play. When moves are limited, a slower look at the board for a bigger match pays off. When time is short, steady matches keep the score climbing.

If you are stuck and cannot see any swap at all, press H for a hint.

Playing it well

Work from the bottom of the board when you can. Matches low down disturb everything above them, which gives cascades their chance. Matches near the top leave the rest of the board unchanged.

Look for shapes rather than single lines. A colour that has two pairs close together can often be turned into a four or five with the right swap. Hold on to a colour bomb until it can do real work: swapping it with the most common colour on the board clears the most gems, and the gems falling in afterwards may set off more lines.

Do not chase special gems at any cost, though. A slow search for the perfect move eats the clock in a timed game.

Gem Swap among the puzzles

Gem Swap is the liveliest of the clearing games in Games by Zaweba. Block Clear is its calm cousin, where you remove groups with no clock and plan for big groups at your own pace, and Tile Pairs is calmer still. Merge Tiles combines rather than clears. Your best score is kept for each game and mode, so there is always a number to beat. Star Gem Swap if you find yourself coming back for a quick round, and press Esc whenever you need to stop.