Candy Match: how to play

Candy Match is one of our free match 3 games online: swap two candies side by side to line up three or more of a kind, then watch them pop and new candy tumble in. Gummy the jelly blob cheers you on through five levels, from the Pumpkin Patch to the Star Castle, each with its own goal and one new idea.

How to play

• Swipe a candy towards a neighbour to swap them, or tap one candy and then the one next to it. A swap only counts if it lines up three or more of a kind; otherwise the candies slide back and no move is used.
• With a keyboard, the arrow keys move the cursor, Space or Enter picks a candy up, and an arrow key swaps it that way. H shows a hint.
• Matched candies pop, the ones above fall down and new candy drops in from the top. A new match made by falling candy is a chain: every step of a chain scores more, up to ×10.
• Every candy has its own shape as well as its own colour: heart, drop, star, gumdrop, gem and wrapped sweet, so they are easy to tell apart.
• Each level has a goal and a number of moves. Reach the goal before the moves run out to clear the level. Run out and you lose one of your three hearts and play the level again on a fresh board.
• Stuck? After a few seconds Gummy makes two candies glow to show a move. If no move is left at all, the board shuffles itself for free.
• Three stars per level: clear it, clear it without losing a heart, and clear it with 5 or more moves to spare.

The five levels

1. Pumpkin Patch: score 2,200 points in 15 moves
2. Candy Lane: match on the pink jelly squares to clear them all
3. Owl Woods: four in a row makes a striped candy that clears a whole row or column: make four of them
4. Moon Hill: caramel blocks crack, then break, when you match next to them
5. Star Castle: five in a row makes a colour bomb; clear the jelly and the caramel

Clear Star Castle and the levels loop: lap 2 plays all five goals again with about 15% fewer moves, higher targets, caramel that always needs two hits, every special candy switched on and double points. You have three hearts for the whole run, and the game is the same for everyone each day, so you can compare scores. Press M to turn the sound off or on.

Tips

• Make matches near the bottom of the board: more candy falls, so chains happen more often.
• Save a striped candy until it lines up with the jelly or caramel you still need, then match it.
• Swap a colour bomb with any candy to clear every candy of that colour. Swap two striped candies together for a cross.
• On jelly and caramel levels, look at the goal card: work on the squares that are hardest to reach first.

Questions

Is it free?

Yes. Candy Match is one of our free match 3 games: it plays in your browser with no download and no sign-up.

Can I play Candy Match on my phone?

Yes. Swipe a candy to swap it, or tap two candies side by side. On an upright phone the board fills the width of the screen with the goal and Gummy above it. It works on phones, tablets and computers.

What do striped candies and colour bombs do?

Line up four in a row to make a striped candy: when it is matched it clears its whole row or column. Line up five for a colour bomb: swap it with any candy to clear every candy of that colour.

Is there a Halloween match 3 game?

Yes, this one. All through October Candy Match gets Halloween decorations: a big moon, smiling pumpkins and waving bats around the board. The rest of the year it has a sweet-shop night look, with the same five places and the same candy.