Purl

Purl is a free match 3 puzzle game where you make horizontal or vertical lines of three or more matching gems, collect the gems you need and complete each level before your moves run out.

The board is filled with pearls, pink flowers, green leaves and other colored gems. Every gem you remove makes room for another one that falls from above, so the puzzle keeps changing as you play. One lucky tap can trigger a chain reaction with several matches in a row.

How to play Purl

Each level gives you collection goals and a limited number of moves. Check the goals above the board before choosing your first gem.

• Tap or click a gem to remove it. Each tap uses one move.
• The gems above it fall down within the same column. A new gem enters from the top.
• Three or more gems of the same color disappear when they form a horizontal or vertical line. Diagonal lines do not count.
• Complete every goal to reach the next level.

The gem you tap counts toward your collection goals too, even if the move does not create a match. An “Any color” goal counts gems of every color. Other goals ask for particular colors or types of tiles to be cleared.

You do not need to empty the board. New gems will always keep arriving and the level is complete when its goals are met.

Bonus tiles

Bigger matches create bonuses that help to remove bigger parts of the board:

• Ribbon: appears when you make a straight line of four or more matching gems. A ribbon from a horizontal match clears its row, and a ribbon from a vertical match clears its column.
• Flower: appears when you make matching lines that cross at a shared gem. The flower clears a three-by-three area around itself.

To activate a bonus tile, tap it or use it in another match three or bonus burst.

How to break ice

Ice appears as you progress through the gardens. A frozen gem cannot be removed with a direct tap/click. Instead, include the gem inside the ice in a match three or hit it with a bonus - this will damage the ice. The first hit cracks the ice. Clear the gem inside that same square again to break the ice completely.

A useful first strategy

In classic match-3 games, you swap two tiles to create three matching tiles in a row or in a column. Because in Purl you remove a tile, it requires a little bit different thinking strategy. Look above the gem you want to remove and imagine where those gems will land. Then look across the neighboring columns for a possible match. The small gem above each column shows what will fall down next, which can help you to plan the best move.

Keep the level goals in mind. A smaller match of gems that you still need can be more useful than a large match of any other gems that are not required to win.

Use Hint when you are stuck and need to see the next move, or Undo to take back your last move. If you run out of moves, you can undo, restart the level from the beginning, or choose to get extra moves to continue.

There is no countdown timer, so taking longer to think will not cost you anything. Progress saves in the browser you are using when local storage is available. You can also adjust the gem sounds and background sound, turn automatic hints off or choose less animation in Settings.

Play Purl in your browser for free. There is no download or account needed. We wrote a bit more about how it plays in this post. If you have a question or want to tell us about the game, join our Discord server.