Match 3 Games

It’s All About Simplicity!

Match 3 games are some of the simplest—but most rewarding—games available to play online. They often start with easy levels, so you can get the hang of the gameplay before you progress to harder challenges. Games feature a number of different themes and styles, so you can match colored gems, candy, emojis or even Minecraft-inspired puzzles. As they’re so easy to get to grips with, you’ll find yourself playing for hours! Plus, because levels are short, it’s easy to dip in and out of match 3 games. Here on GamePix, you’ll find free match 3 games of every variety, to suit any mood. Rather than complex storylines or complicated instructions, you’ll enjoy games that are easy to play and provide lots of fun!

The History of Match 3 Games

Match 3 games are some of the most popular games on the planet. All you need to do is match three or more identical tiles in a grid to earn rewards or to complete a level. The game that started it all, back in the 1980s, was Tetris. It is one of the most popular video games of all time—a game where players arrange falling blocks into complete shapes and enjoy the sensation of a complete line disappearing. Although Tetris felt like an innovative and pioneering game at the time it owed a lot of its history to old-fashioned card games, like Solitaire, that go back hundreds of years.

In the 1990s, the simple idea of match 3 evolved beyond Tetris with the release of Dr. Mario—a classic puzzle game created by Gunpei Yokoi, the man who invented the Game Boy! It stars everyone’s favorite video game character, Mario, who has now become a doctor in order to eliminate different colored viruses. Dr. Mario is one of the most popular and replicated Nintendo games of all time!

In 2001, a browser-based puzzle game called Bejeweled took match 3 games to the mainstream. The game racked up over 350 million downloads, with people of all ages fascinated by creating chains and lining up gems, diamonds and crystals.

In 2016, Gardenscapes: New Acres used familiar and popular match 3 elements to allow players to decorate and build a garden by completing a series of levels. It was not the straightforward match 3 game made popular by games like Bejeweled—instead it involved puzzle solving and layers of storytelling. As a result, the game resonated with an incredibly wide audience, enjoying huge popularity and a loyal fanbase.

Perhaps most famous of all is Candy Crush Saga, released for Facebook in 2012—and thought of as one of the most successful games of any genre with over three billion users! This is perhaps the most famous match 3 game of all time!

How to Play Match 3 Games

The goal is for players to swap adjacent candies, gems or fruits until you match three or more in a row. Seasonal variations may mean the tiles you are matching are love hearts for Valentine’s Day, pumpkins and ghouls for Halloween or stockings, reindeers and gifts wrapped in a bow for Christmas! On matching three in a row the items will then vanish, causing a ripple effect of changing tiles. Every time you are able to make a sequence of tiles vanish you acquire points. This is when the game gets exciting and tense, and the soundtrack builds as you match more and more tiles. This is why the game can be so addictive—and people find themselves constantly wanting more. Researchers estimate than over ten billion hours have been put into online match 3 games since they were first created.

Playing Online Games is Good for Your Brain

Match 3 games are often played as a quick and stress-free pastime during short breaks or idle moments. Although it is easy to think this type of activity is bad for you, it can actually activate a part of your brain that would not otherwise be in use. Match 3 games offer elements that require players to think ahead and plan their moves, even if you are not always aware of how much of your brain you are using! Every minute of the day millions of people across the world are matching gems and crystals in a row. Playing games online can enhance cognitive skills such as problem solving and decision making. Most of all, the brain craves fun—and there are hundreds of hours of fun available to you here on GamePix.

Children Love Match 3 Games!

These fast-paced games allow players to engage in a fun, safe activity without needing to own a console, spend money or commit too much time and energy in one sitting. Match 3 games are not just for commuters and people on their lunch breaks, though! Children love these games as much as their parents and grandparents. There can be very few games that are as popular across so many generations! Match 3 games can be meditative and calming and provide a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when you reach each goal and complete each new level. They can be exhilarating and rewarding too.

A game that children are guaranteed to love is Match Dinosaurs. It does not have the familiar grid format of a match 3 game. Instead, a screen fills with cartoon images of penguins, koalas, pandas and dinosaurs. Ignore anything that isn’t a dinosaur though! You have to match three dinosaurs in order to score points!

FAQs

What will I need?

Match 3 games rely on a few basic elements, and they can usually be picked up in seconds. Whether playing to relieve stress, for fun or to try and beat your high score, there are hours of fun to be had matching up three identical tiles in a row. We have a wide selection of online match 3 games here on GamePix. All of them are free browser games, available on any device with a web browser. All you need is to choose which game to play and start having fun!

Will I have to spend money playing online?

Our match 3 games will never ask you to use real-life money. There will never be an “offer of the day” and certainly no special deals tempting you to part with your hard-earned money. Everything we do here is free to play.