Animal Connection

Animal Connection is mahjong-style matching stripped down to the one rule that actually matters: two tiles can only be removed if a line between them bends twice or less. That sounds generous until the board fills up and every open tile has three others in the way, at which point the puzzle becomes less about spotting matching pictures and more about spotting a legal route between them.

The early boards are close to open ground, so almost any match you see is legal. Later layouts stack tiles into corridors and dead ends, and the skill shifts entirely to reading the grid for the pair whose path is still clear rather than the pair that simply looks closest together.

How to play

Click two tiles showing the same animal to remove them, but only if a straight or bent line with two corners or fewer can connect them without crossing another tile. Scan the edges of the board first - tiles with fewer neighbours are far more likely to have an open path than ones buried in the middle. If nothing seems to connect, look for a longer route through empty space rather than assuming there is no match.

Controls

Use the mouse to click two matching tiles on desktop. On touchscreens, tap each tile with a finger the same way.