Sort by Matryoshka Shelves!

Sort by Matryoshka Shelves takes the sorting puzzle and slows it right down. Dolls arrive one at a time, you decide which shelf each one lands on, and any three identical dolls sitting together join into something new. The pace is yours, and the mood is closer to tidying a shelf than to beating a level.

The catch is shelf space. Every doll you set down without a plan is a doll taking up room a matching one might need later, and because the levels never stop coming, the question is always how far you can keep going before the shelves clog. Grouping by size early costs you nothing; sorting it out afterwards costs you the run.

How to play

Take the doll that is waiting, choose a shelf and put it down, aiming to gather three of the same kind side by side so they merge. Think about what has not arrived yet: a shelf packed with singles leaves nowhere for the next doll to go. Keep like with like, clear a merge as soon as one is available, and the shelves stay open long enough to see how far the levels go.

Controls

Press and hold the mouse button to take control of the doll, move it to the shelf you want, then release to set it down. A finger does the same: hold, position it over the shelf, and lift to drop the doll in place.