Dragons & Diamonds

Dragons & Diamonds is a swap match-3 set on a chain of islands. Swap two neighbouring gems to line up three or more of a colour and they vanish, the gems above fall and new ones drop in. Four in a row leave a line blast, an L or a T leave a bomb, five in a row leave a colour gem that takes every gem of one colour, and two powers swapped together set off something bigger. Each of the 36 levels sets a goal inside a fixed number of moves: so many gems of a colour, wooden crates to smash, ice and lava blocks to break, dragon eggs to hatch, gold to dig out or treasure to carry down to the bottom of the board. Finish with moves to spare and you keep two or three stars.

Ten heroes travel with you. You pick one before each level, and their portrait sits beside the board with a meter that fills from cleared gems of their colour: the Archer's arrows clear a row, the Gladiator's spear a column, the Ninja strikes a cross, the Mage casts a net over a patch of the board, the Druid calls every gem of one colour and the Warlock summons a dragon. A full meter is a free power the moment you tap it. Under the board four boosters wait for the tight spots: the Pickaxe hits one gem, the Hammer a gem and its neighbours, the Bomb a whole patch, and the Compass removes every gem of one colour. They cost coins to replace, and so do five extra moves when a level ends one short.

Every first win pays a map token, and tokens clear the clouds from the 41 islands of the hex map. Most islands hold coins, some a page of the story, and seven a chest with a new hero. Explore the islands around the Dragon Lair or the Gold Crypt and the zone opens, with a boss level inside and the Warlock or the Black Titan as the prize. Energy limits how many levels you play in a row and refills by itself. Play with a swipe or a drag of the mouse; your map, heroes, coins and stars are saved in your browser.