Game mechanics and their development

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It all started with the classic "Collect three balls of the same color in a row" and Tetris-like mechanics. Then the games began to acquire additional features.

For example, in 2003, PopCap Games studio introduced Zuma to the world, whose name became a household word for an entire subgenre. The idea was to control a large frog that sat in the center of the field, and around it, balls moved in a single chain along certain labyrinth routes.

The task was simple - spit out a ball of the right bulgaria telegram database color and get it into the stream as successfully as possible to make the right combination. First, you just had to knock out points, then - not let the chain of balls reach a certain critical number (or a key point on the route).

Over time, so-called hybrid mechanics began to appear, when the possibility of duels with an opponent was built around the classic "three in a row". In such cases, the player, creating a certain sequence, could perform a specific action.

For example, three red balls deal fireball damage to the enemy, and three blue ones build a defense that reflects a future blow. There can be many such combinations, as well as actions associated with them.




Examples of hybrid match-3 mechanics. Screenshots from Heroes & Elements and Pirates & Puzzles.


Games also began to add a plot, where the user must complete a level using the “match three” mechanics to unlock the next quest or location. Gardenscapes is a great example.

These new mechanics are often aimed specifically at a younger audience that is not so interested in playing standard “match-three” games. But at the same time, it cannot be said that the classics are being replaced by innovations - rather, they simply complement each other.

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Monetization
In terms of earnings, the genre differs from most other games.

In simulators, RPGs or shooters, some kind of game base is first created, and then a balanced (if the developer tries) monetization system is built around it.

In “three in a row” the starting point is a pre-built system of earning money, around which the game itself is created.

For money in such games you can get additional attempts, roll back your move if suddenly something went wrong and the correct combination did not work out.

Or to prescribe additional capabilities, for example, to temporarily make objects capable of erasing not only the horizontal, but also the vertical. Or simply erase half the field in the electric lightning mode.