Kittens Match3

Kittens Match3 is honest enough to admit there are no kittens in it. The pieces are round-eyed, jelly-like creatures, and you gather them into horizontal and vertical rows.

A move is a click and a short drag: pick a creature and pull it into the next cell, and it swaps places with whatever was there. If that makes a row of three identical creatures, they disappear and you earn bonus points.

The clock is what shapes the game. There is a time reserve, but good moves top it up again, so as long as you keep finding effective swaps you can play almost indefinitely. The developer also makes a point of saying there is no help when you get stuck, which means no hint system: spotting the next row is entirely up to you.

The frame is unusually wide, 1928 by 720, a long strip rather than a square board. It works with a mouse or a touch screen.

Click a creature, or touch it, and drag it into the cell next to it so the two swap. The goal is a horizontal or vertical row of three identical creatures, which vanishes and scores bonus points. Keep an eye on the time reserve: effective moves restore it, so steady matching keeps the game going. There are no hints, so look carefully.

Since good moves refill the time reserve, pace matters more than perfection: a quick, simple row keeps you going, while a long search for a better one costs time. With no hint function to fall back on, scan the board in a fixed order, row by row, so an obvious swap does not slip past.

A swap match-3 with jelly-like creatures, despite the name, in a very wide landscape frame (1928 by 720). Mouse or touch. Matches refill a time reserve, so play can go on almost indefinitely. There is no hint feature.

Sea Match also puts you against the clock, with stars for finishing quickly, and Crystal Diamond uses a similar press and drag to swap pieces.