Special pieces, and which combinations are worth setting up
Special pieces · published · checked · 7 min read
Every board in this genre hands out a small set of special pieces for matching more than the minimum. Players learn what each one does within an hour. What takes far longer to notice is that placing two of them together produces a third behaviour, and that a few of those pairings are worth building a whole level around.
The four shapes that appear almost everywhere
- Line clearers. Made by matching four in a row. They empty one row or one column, in the direction the match was made.
- Area clearers. Made by matching in an L or T shape. They remove a small block around themselves.
- Colour clearers. Made by matching five in a line. They take every piece of one colour off the board.
- Fish, rockets, balloons and other themed variants. Cosmetically different, functionally one of the three above, usually with a seeking behaviour that sends them towards the level goal.
Why a pair is not two singles
Trigger a line clearer on its own and you lose one row. Swap it into a second line clearer and most boards give you a cross: the full row and the full column at once. Combine a line clearer with an area clearer and the usual result is a thick band, three rows tall, sweeping the board. Two colour clearers together generally take the whole screen.
The pattern behind all of these is the same: the game treats the pair as a new effect rather than running the two effects one after the other. This is why holding a special piece for one extra move is often stronger than firing it immediately, and it is the single habit that separates a player who clears a hard level from one who does not.
Worth knowing: a colour clearer swapped onto a special piece usually converts every piece of that colour into copies of the special, then sets them all off. On a full board that is the largest single effect available without spending anything.
When holding is the wrong call
Waiting has a cost. Every move you spend arranging a combination is a move not spent on the level goal, and boards with a low move budget punish this. Three situations where firing immediately is correct:
- The level goal is nearly met and the special sits on top of what you still need.
- The board is running out of matches and the piece may become stranded.
- The special is already adjacent to the obstacle it is best against, and moving it means losing that position.
Where the games differ
Titles from different studios do not share a combination table. Royal Match and Royal Kingdom, both from Dream Games, behave consistently with each other; the King titles have their own set; Homescapes and Fishdom from Playrix have another. Assuming a combination from one game works in another is the most common source of a wasted move, which is one reason our rule comparison exists.
Short version
- Learn the three base effects, then learn the pairs.
- Hold a special one move longer when the move budget allows it.
- Fire immediately when the goal is close or the piece risks being stranded.
- Do not carry a combination table from one game into another.
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