Tide Pool Tiles
Play Tide Pool Tiles free online. Slide whole rows and columns of seashells that wrap around the edges, line up three or more and reach each tide target.
How to Play Tide Pool Tiles
The board is a six by six tide pool full of shells in five kinds: scallops, starfish, sea urchins, snail shells and sand dollars. Instead of swapping two shells, you slide a whole row left or right, or a whole column up or down. Shells that slide off one edge come back on the other side.
Line up three or more of the same shell in a row or a column and they are collected. The shells above drop down, new ones wash in from the top, and those can make more lines in a chain. Each shell collected is worth 10 points, multiplied by how far into a chain it was.
Every slide uses one move, whether it makes a match or not. You start with 25 moves. A line of four gives you one move back, and a line of five gives two. Each tide has a target score shown in the bar at the top, and reaching it starts the next tide with 15 extra moves and a higher target.
The game ends when you run out of moves before reaching the tide target. Your score is everything you collected across all the tides.
Controls
Touch
- Drag a row sideways or a column up or down. Let go to drop it into place.
Mouse
- Click and drag rows and columns the same way.
Keyboard
- Arrow keys move the cursor. A and D slide the cursor's row left and right, W and S slide its column up and down. P or Escape pauses, M mutes.
Tips and Tricks
- Because rows wrap, a shell on the far right is only one step from the far left. Look across the edges for easy matches.
- Long lines pay you back in moves. A line of five is worth more than its points.
- Make matches near the bottom when you can. Everything above falls, and the falling shells often set off chains.
- Before you slide, check the column or row you are about to move as well as the line you want to make. A slide changes six shells at once.
About the Game
Tide Pool Tiles takes the familiar match-three idea and changes the move: you shift whole rows and columns, like a sliding puzzle, and the edges wrap. That one change makes every turn a little planning problem, because one slide moves six shells at once.
It is calm to look at, with soft blue water and bright shells, and there is no timer, only the move counter, so you can think as long as you like. Your best score is kept in this browser and can go on the Top 10 board.
Tide Pool Tiles FAQ
Is there a time limit in Tide Pool Tiles?
No. The only limit is your number of moves, so take your time.
Does a slide cost a move if nothing matches?
Yes. Every slide uses a move, so plan slides that make a match.
How do I get more moves?
Lines of four give one move back, lines of five give two, and reaching each tide target adds 15.
What do chain reactions do?
When falling shells make new lines on their own, each new match in the chain is worth more points than the last.
