To make a great Match 3 game, you need three things: a good level of difficulty, a smart way to refill the board, and a speedy way to find matches. But it’s not always easy to accomplish this correctly because making puzzle game development is a complicated business. Well, hard, but doable!
Every seamless Match 3 game has smart and useful ways to move tiles, link combos, and keep the levels fair. The goal of game app developers is to make these algorithms so effective that players won’t want to stop playing.
What is the most significant coding advice for Match 3 that will keep people playing?
1. The logic behind core matching
Every good Match-3 game has the basic concept that you have to find lines or columns of three or more matching tiles. The rule may seem simple at first, but it has a lot of depth and exciting chain reactions that keep the player intrigued.
So, where does the intelligence come in?
- Swap Detection: The game must be able to tell right away if two tiles match when players switch them. The main goal of a Match-3 game is to shift a tile so that it is close to the next tile. The next thing your game needs to do is look for three or more lines that have recently moved.
- Match Verification: When a tile moves after the first one, other matches happen in other places on the game board. So, after every swap, the game’s logic has to look at the whole grid. Even if the boards have a lot of tiles, make sure to optimize your search approach so you can do things quickly. Any noticeable delay during this verification process could break the immersion of Match 3 players and make them angry.
- Concurrent and Cascading Matches: Sometimes, one exchange can set off a chain of actions. You know that a chain reaction is the best thing that can happen in a Match 3 game. You want more of this. But what do you do about this? It should happen after a move that removes a set of matched tiles and pushes the tiles above them into the vacant spots. This could make more matches. It can also happen after the first exchange, when there are many distinct matches happening at the same moment in various parts of the board. This means that the logic of your Match 3 game needs to be able to find and deal with all of these matches at the same time, as well as the matches that are about to happen, in a clear and logical manner.
- Special Tile Recognition: Your Match 3 game may have some tiles that are special, such color bombs, striped tiles, and wrapped tiles. Of course, the distinctive tiles and unique clearing talents will keep things interesting and add some depth. Still, the main matching algorithm has to do two things. First, it has to find the bigger matches, and then it has to find the specific formation that happened.
2. How tiles are made
Yes, you made some tiles go away after they matched. What do you do with the space that is empty? Of course, spawning!
- Adding more tiles to empty spots makes your game harder and modifies how it works. You need to keep up with the following approach to start a Match 3 game:
- You need to establish a balance between producing new tiles for a match-3 game that are random and ones that are planned. You’ll get bored if you know what’s going to happen. However, if the circumstances are excessively uncertain, the issue may remain unresolved by the board. So, let your thoughts roam as much as they want.
- Avoid impossible moves: No one likes to do hard things, so don’t. The goal of your algorithm should be to find board cases that are just challenging enough.
- It’s possible to make more encounters and chain reactions happen by carefully putting tiles and picking where they will show up. It will be more fun to play this way.
- There are steps to creating a cascade effect with tiles. The steps show how the tiles are made and whether they all look the same or have a cascade effect.
3. Strategy for making levels
Consistent delivery of fresh content is essential for maintaining player engagement. A significant number of top Match 3 games feature levels that incorporate various layouts, objectives, and challenges. The level generation algorithm is the primary component that addresses this complexity:
- The algorithm should be capable of generating levels featuring various board layouts and incorporating obstacles such as cages, bombs, and blockers. It also indicates the initial placement of the target items.
- Gradually increasing the difficulty is advisable, ensuring that new challenges are introduced thoughtfully and appropriately. The algorithm meticulously regulates the density of new obstacles, the number of moves, and the target scores to enhance the game’s difficulty.
It’s true that some luck makes things more fun, but successful level design should reward skill and strategic thinking more than letting players rely on luck to win.
A strong and balanced level generation algorithm makes sure that there is always new, intriguing content for players to enjoy, which keeps them coming back for more.
4. Oversight of RNG Techniques by Supervisors
Even though randomness does add some necessary variety, developers need to be very careful about biases that could make gameplay predictable or unfair. The system should look random, but it shouldn’t always look like it’s favoring the player.
During development, you can set the RNG to control how often certain types of tiles or events happen. This lets you control the odds. For example, you could make sure that special tiles don’t spawn faster or that cascades don’t clear the board right away.
A good RNG will actively work to keep the player from having long stretches of bad random outcomes, like not being able to find any matches for a long time. This makes the game more fun and fair for everyone, which makes players less frustrated.
5. Systems for processing data in both sound and graphic
The presentation algorithms don’t directly affect how the game works, but they do improve the game’s look, keep players coming back, and overall make the game more fun.
- Algorithms make it possible for tile swaps, match removals, and the accurate, attractive movements of new tiles to happen smoothly. They also handle effects. Algorithms also control and sync up special visual effects like particle trails and explosions to go along with the player’s movements.
- Algorithms are used to turn on certain sound effects when something happens in the game. A satisfying chime for a big cascade or a strong sound for a line-clear explosion makes the reward cycle better.
High-quality graphics and sound that surround the player make them much more interested and happy. These algorithms work together to make all of Match 3’s features. Developers need to pay close attention to every detail in order to make a game that players will enjoy for a long time.
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