Christmas Matching

Christmas Matching is a match-three board with a clock attached, and the clock is what turns it into a game rather than a pastime. Three identical decorations touching will burst, but three is only the minimum, and settling for the minimum is how you run out of time.

Four or more gives you seconds back, so the board is really a bargain you keep striking with the timer. Four in a straight line leaves a bomb behind, and five in a line leaves an item that wipes every copy of one decoration off the board and pays you time for each one. Hunting those long lines is slower than clearing easy threes, and far more rewarding when it works.

How to play

Swap neighbouring items to bring three or more of the same decoration together and clear them. Take the four-item match over the three whenever you can see one, because the extra pieces hand you time as well as points. Four in a row or column leaves a bomb; five leaves a piece that destroys every matching decoration on the board. Watch the timer, and spend the seconds a big match gives you looking for the next one.

Controls

The mouse is all you need. Click an item and click the one next to it to swap the pair, or press and drag a piece in the direction you want it to move. On a touchscreen the same swipe between two neighbouring items does the job.