Match3

Match-3 Puzzle Patterns

Grid System

public sealed class Board : MonoBehaviour
{
    [SerializeField] private int _width = 7;
    [SerializeField] private int _height = 9;
    [SerializeField] private float _cellSize = 1f;
    [SerializeField] private TileDefinition[] _tileTypes;

    private Tile[,] _grid;

    private void Awake()
    {
        _grid = new Tile[_width, _height];
    }

    public Vector3 GridToWorld(int x, int y)
    {
        float offsetX = (_width - 1) * 0.5f;
        float offsetY = (_height - 1) * 0.5f;
        return new Vector3((x - offsetX) * _cellSize, (y - offsetY) * _cellSize, 0f);
    }

    public bool IsValidPosition(int x, int y)
    {
        return x >= 0 && x = 0 && y  _tileId;
    public Sprite Sprite => _sprite;
    public Color Color => _color;
    public TileType Type => _type;
}

public enum TileType
{
    Normal,
    StripedHorizontal,
    StripedVertical,
    Wrapped,
    ColorBomb,
    Blocker,
    Ice,
    Chain
}

Swap & Match Detection

public sealed class MatchDetector
{
    private readonly Board _board;
    private readonly List _matchBuffer = new(16);

    public MatchDetector(Board board) { _board = board; }

    public List FindAllMatches()
    {
        _matchBuffer.Clear();
        FindHorizontalMatches();
        FindVerticalMatches();
        return _matchBuffer;
    }

    private void FindHorizontalMatches()
    {
        for (int y = 0; y = 3)
                    {
                        MatchResult match = new MatchResult();
                        match.Direction = MatchDirection.Horizontal;
                        for (int mx = matchStart; mx = 3)
                    {
                        MatchResult match = new MatchResult();
                        match.Direction = MatchDirection.Vertical;
                        for (int my = matchStart; my  matches = _detector.FindAllMatches();
    int comboCount = 0;

    while (matches.Count > 0)
    {
        comboCount++;
        yield return StartCoroutine(DestroyMatches(matches, comboCount));
        yield return StartCoroutine(ApplyGravity());
        yield return StartCoroutine(RefillBoard());
        matches = _detector.FindAllMatches();
    }

    CheckLevelObjective();
    EnableInput();
}

Special Tile Rules

| Match | Creates | |-------|---------| | 4 in a row | Striped tile (clears row or column) | | L or T shape | Wrapped tile (explodes 3x3 area) | | 5 in a row | Color bomb (clears all of one color) |

| Combo | Effect | |-------|--------| | Striped + Striped | Cross clear (row + column) | | Striped + Wrapped | 3-row or 3-column clear | | Wrapped + Wrapped | 5x5 explosion | | Color bomb + any | Clears all tiles of that color | | Color bomb + Color bomb | Clears entire board |

Touch Input for Swap

• Drag threshold: 0.5 cells (half the cell size)
• Only allow horizontal/vertical swaps (snap to nearest direction)
• Invalid swap: animate swap then swap back
• Disable input during cascade animation

Level Objectives

• Score target: reach N points in M moves
• Clear blockers: destroy all ice/chain tiles
• Collect items: match next to items to collect them
• Reach bottom: guide special tile to bottom row

Lives / Energy System

public sealed class LivesSystem : MonoBehaviour
{
    [SerializeField] private int _maxLives = 5;
    [SerializeField] private int _regenMinutes = 30;

    private int _currentLives;
    private System.DateTime _lastLifeLostTime;

    public int CurrentLives => _currentLives;
    public bool HasLives => _currentLives > 0;

    public void UseLive()
    {
        if (_currentLives = _maxLives) return;
        System.TimeSpan elapsed = System.DateTime.UtcNow - _lastLifeLostTime;
        int livesRegened = (int)(elapsed.TotalMinutes / _regenMinutes);
        if (livesRegened > 0)
        {
            _currentLives = Mathf.Min(_maxLives, _currentLives + livesRegened);
            _lastLifeLostTime = _lastLifeLostTime.AddMinutes(livesRegened * _regenMinutes);
            Save();
        }
    }

    private void Save()
    {
        PlayerPrefs.SetInt("Lives", _currentLives);
        PlayerPrefs.SetString("LastLifeLost", _lastLifeLostTime.ToBinary().ToString());
        PlayerPrefs.Save();
    }
}

Performance Notes

• Pool all tiles — never Instantiate/Destroy during gameplay
• Use SpriteRenderer or UI Image, not 3D meshes
• Pre-calculate match possibilities for hint system
• Animate with DOTween for smooth tile movement

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: XeldarAlz
• Source: XeldarAlz/everything-claude-unity
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://github.com/XeldarAlz/everything-claude-unity#readme

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.