Tile Match: The new Match-3 or the new Merge?

It’s hard to keep secrets in the gaming industry.

Once players show interest in something you’ve created, many game developers worldwide quickly become “inspired” by your game. While finding the blue ocean is the enduring hot topic for game developers, staying relevant as that ocean turns red is a rare and more valuable skill to possess.

Some of those oceans are extremely hard to enter once they turn red. It’s not necessarily due to the exceptional quality of existing games or the lack of potential for improvement within the genre. Instead, the audience interested in the genre is not sufficiently large enough for late entries. This heavily contributes to what we call the first mover advantage. Merge was a great example of a genre that appeared to be “the new Match-3”, but eventually evolved into a smaller genre dominated by a few games. Merge Dragons was the legacy title that stood the test of time while Merge Mansion became the new entrant that managed to sustain its initial success.

Then there are cases where a breakthrough game successfully navigates a truly opaque red ocean, sailing securely alongside the giants. It’s also not because of the lack of quality in the existing games or the genre still being immature. The insatiable demand by that genre’s players and the consistent desire of wanting something new to play gives hope to new entries. Match-3 is the perfect example of this occurrence, which saw quite a few new entrants in the past few years despite being a crowded market with many dominant players. During Candy Crush Saga’s reign, we saw Playrix (Homescapes, Gardenscapes, and Fishdom), AppLovin (Matchington Mansion and Project Makeover), and Dream (Royal Match) produce titles that were able to compete against it. Moreover, considering that Match-3 games have generated a remarkable $5 billion from in-app purchases in the past year, compared to the $600 million from Merge games, even the less successful Match-3 games are in a relatively favorable position.

A few years ago, when Merge began gaining popularity, there were expectations that it might become the new Match-3. However, as things stand, Match-3 generates nearly 10 times the annual revenue compared to Merge. This doesn’t take anything away from the still-growing Merge market, but it no longer seems like it will replace Match-3. So, in the never-ending search for the next blue ocean, there is a new stop: Tile Match. Defining genres and naming them is always a big issue because not everything is black and white. Still, let’s examine what constitutes a Tile Match game.

What is and is not a Tile Match?

Tile Match is a pretty intuitive name. Each level consists of tiles stacked on top of each other. There is a “rack” for players to collect and match those tiles. Once they collect 3 of the same kind there, the items match and are removed. Players are limited to a certain amount of tiles (usually 7) inside that rack before making a match while clearing out the whole board to beat a level. Games like Zen Match, Triple Tile, and Tile Busters all belong to this category.

Although we are using the term Tile Match for this genre, data.ai prefers “Connect Tiles” which actually covers several other types of mechanics. Games like Cube Master 3D, Goods Match 3D, and Onet Puzzle are also put into this category and differ greatly from the mechanics we described as Tile Match. Each mechanic still remains too small to have a namesake genre. The games that fall under the “Tile-Matching” category in data.ai, on the other hand, are not really what we mean by Tile-Matching here.

However, there is another type of mechanic that is quite similar to Tile Match yet should be treated as a separate genre. Games like Match 3D or Triple Match 3D belong to this group. This genre can be called “Physical Match” due to its very physics-based gameplay. There is no structured layout for the levels or a casual puzzle-like level design. Players are given a group of items that have different behaviors depending on their shapes. The objective is to either match a specified number of particular items or clear the entire board. Its popularity is widespread enough that it can be found in many puzzle ads as well as in Tactile’s Makeover Match game. 

Why treat Tile Match differently than “Physical Match”? Because Tile Match has an inherent puzzle-like structure that lets the player think and strategize. In a Tile Match game, you can clearly see the tiles on top of the pile and even some of the ones beneath them. This gives the player the opportunity to assess the board and come up with a plan to beat the level. Whereas “Physical Match” games rely more on speed and figuring things out as you play. You can’t plan much because the board is crowded and messy, making it hard to see most of the items. You’re supposed to make matches quickly to clear the board and reveal the pieces you need to match. Furthermore, Tile Match is well-suited to use match-3-like obstacles, which significantly enhances the depth of gameplay. “Physical Match” feels more like a hyper/hybrid casual puzzle with its focus on speed and simpler structure compared to Tile Match.

The Short History of Tile Match

Tile Match isn’t a completely new mechanic that has been recently invented. It’s quite similar to a genre known as Mahjong Solitaire, which combines elements from two tabletop games: Mahjong and Solitaire (Yes, real shocker). The visuals of Mahjong, including the Chinese symbols and tile-like objects reminiscent of the physical game, are combined with the gameplay of Solitaire, where the game objects are stacked on top of each other. So, the core mechanics of Mahjong Solitaire and Tile Match are the same: Match objects on the board to uncover those beneath and ultimately clear the board.

Of course, there are clear differences between Mahjong Solitaire and Tile Match that merit their separate categorization. First of all, the symbols and types of items used in both games are quite distinct from each other. In Mahjong Solitaire games, the items on the board are all rectangular tiles with classical Chinese symbols, reflecting the visual style of the traditional physical Mahjong game. In contrast, Tile Match games use square tiles adorned with universal symbols like vegetables or fruits. This puts Tile Match in a favorable position for two main reasons:

• Using square tiles simplifies level design by allowing for more items to be included, as each item takes up less space
• Using universal symbols simplifies the gameplay for players, as it makes recognizing and matching items easier

Another key distinction is that Mahjong Solitaire games don’t have a designated space for collecting objects before matching, unlike Tile Match games. Matches occur directly on the board as soon as the player finds a pair. Tile Match, on the other hand, provides a space at the bottom of the board for players to gather items before they make matches of three. This gives Tile Match an advantage for two main reasons:

• Making matches of two results in faster gameplay for Mahjong Solitaire, but it lacks the depth of puzzle-solving compared to Tile Match
• Having a space to collect items before matching them provides players with more room for planning and strategy

Then comes what may be referred to as the most important difference: Revenue. According to data.ai, Mahjong Solitaire games have earned around $25 million from in-app purchases in the last year while Tile Match games have earned around $60 million in the same time frame. Considering the fact that the Tile Match games are fairly immature (most of the top games are younger than 2 years), there is a lot more room to grow for Tile Match.

Another important factor to keep in mind is that the most downloaded Tile Match game, Triple Tile, does not monetize through in-app purchases. So, on top of the already improving trend of in-app purchase revenue for the Tile Match games, there is another game using the same mechanic with a complete focus on ad monetization. Even the games that mainly monetize through in-app purchases use ad monetization through banners and interstitials.

Inherent design challenges

Although both genres require matches of three, the approach to making matches is quite different between Tile Match and Match-3: Luck plays a great part in Match-3 games while Tile Match games are heavily deterministic. In Match-3 games, each match triggers a cascade that often varies based on the board’s configuration where the match occurred. This introduces significant randomness in each level because you can’t fully control the cascades that change the board layout. Whereas in a Tile Match game, the board layout is already determined the moment you start the level. Your moves can only reveal that layout, but you can’t change it unless you use a “Shuffle” booster.

I think this presents a current limitation for Tile Match games, but it also offers potential for future experimentation. The deterministic nature of the levels can lead to situations where players realize they can’t win long before they actually fail. Of course, this can lead to the players purchasing boosters to continue playing. Also, this deterministic gameplay gives players much more agency in beating levels. But it doesn’t feel the same as a Match-3 game due to that deterministic nature. In Match-3 games, there’s a greater sense of hope as clearing a row or getting extra moves can significantly influence the game’s outcome based on subsequent cascades…

In order to understand why Tile Match games have deterministic gameplay, it is important to understand the level design. A classical Tile Match level consists of three types of layers:

1. Layer 1: Tiles at the top that can be collected
2. Layer 2: Tiles beneath that are not entirely covered with a portion of their symbol visible
3. Layer 3: Tiles that are completely concealed and can only be uncovered by collecting the tile positioned above them.

Players of a Tile Match game can look at the first and the second type of tiles at a given moment to devise a plan.

You might say “Isn’t that normal for puzzle games?” and you would be right. Match-3 also puts the player in situations where they don’t have complete information, which is actually part of the fun. But in a Match-3 game, it happens through sheer luck where you see new items drop onto the board after every move. It is fun both visually and mechanically to see new items settling on the board. In a Tile Match game, on the other hand, you can only reveal a single tile from Layer 3, which is completely hidden. So, the inherent luck factor and fun in Match-3 through cascades and changing board layout is replaced by the boring reveal of a single tile in Tile Match.

This highlights another aspect where Tile Match faces certain limitations compared to other genres. The fact that a random move in a Match-3 game can change the fate of the level is a crucial factor in why it is so addictive. You never know what might happen if you make the next move. In a Tile Match game, even the best guess can only give you a single match, clearing 3 spaces from your rack. Then you are left with the rest of the level to climb that mountain of blind guesses one by one…

The unstoppable rise of Tile Match

Despite these challenges, or perhaps because of the opportunities they presented, several games have played a role in the recent growth of the genre. Starting from the beginning of 2023, Tile Match games have been progressively gaining more traction in terms of both revenue and downloads. While it’s early to call it even “the new Merge” due to the matured Merge market, Tile Match has seen significant growth since January 2023.

Another important factor to consider when comparing Tile Match with other genres is the undeniable impact of IDFA. Since it is harder and more expensive to reach the right audience for your game, the top games in the market now hold an even more advantageous position compared to earlier times. This makes it a lot more difficult for a new genre to emerge and requires having a diverse monetization arsenal. So, we need to be mindful of the ad-monetized games when looking at Tile Match and its potential to have a substantial share in the casual puzzle market.

Still, a lot of teams have already started using this mechanic and displayed admirable progress so far. There is still much to do in terms of capturing players and generating revenue. Although we need more time to make a proper assessment, the early signals show a hopeful future for Tile Match. I don’t think it will grow enough to be a serious threat against Match-3, but we might see Tile Match surpassing Merge in a few years.