Matching

Overview

Gem matching is a core part of the Magic: the Gathering Puzzle Quest gameplay. Matching occurs when you move Gems on the gem board to form groups of the same color. Matching gems gives you Mana and Loyalty to power your Cards and your Planeswalker abilities. Matching special gems can trigger special effects or abilities.

How to match

On each of your moves, make a match by swapping a gem with its neighbor to form 3 in a row. This means a line of 3 or more gems of the same color, vertically or horizontally.

In addition:

• Cards you play which convert gems to other gems can also cause a match.
• At least one move making a match is always available on the board. If the board gets into a state with no valid moves, the gems on the board are shuffled.
• The game prompts you with a possible match if you take some time to make your move. The prompted match is not necessarily the best move.

Effects of matching

Making a match causes the following effects.

• You get Mana and/or Loyalty (see below)
• The matched gems are removed from the board (except for some special gem types)
• All gems vertically above the removed gems fall down to fill the empty space
• New gems appear from beyond the top of the board, so the board remains full of gems
• A falling gem which makes 3 in a row when it lands causes another match (this is a "cascade")
  • Any number of cascade matches can occur in a turn
  • A falling gem temporarily making 3 in a row while still falling (before landing) does not cause a match

What you get when you match

Matching gives you mana and/or loyalty.

• Mana powers your Cards
• Loyalty powers your Planeswalker abilities

Matching coloured gems

Each match of 3 or more colored gems gives you:

• +1 mana for each gem matched
• Additional mana equal to your mana bonus
• +1 loyalty

Example

If your green mana bonus is +3 and you match 4 green gems:

• You get: 7 mana and 1 loyalty
  • +4 mana (from 4 gems)
  • +3 mana (from your mana bonus)
  • +1 loyalty

Matching loyalty gems

Each match of 3 or more loyalty gems gives you +1 loyalty for each gem matched.

Example

If you match 3 loyalty gems, you get +3 loyalty.

Special matches

Match 4

Matching 4 or more gems in a line destroys the whole row or column.

• You only get mana for the 4 gems you match, even though 7 gems are hit by the match.

Match 5

Matching 5 adjacent gems gives you an Extra turn.

A match 5 (5 or more adjacent gems triggering an extra turn) includes the following arrangements:

• Line: 5 same-colored gems in a line
  • (This also triggers the match 4 effect of destroying the whole row or column)
• L: 5 same-colored gems in an L shape
• Plus: 5 same-colored gems in a plus shape
• Adjacent: 6 same-colored gems in two orthogonally adjacent match 3s

The following arrangements are not considered match 5s:

• Diagonal: Diagonally adjacent match 3s of the same color
  • This arrangement counted as a match 5 in the past

Extra turn

An extra turn grants you an extra move on the board in which you can gain mana and loyalty, and play cards. You don't get to draw another card or attack again.

• If your move on your extra turn causes another match 5, you get another extra turn
• An extra turn is triggered whether the match 5 is a direct match or a cascade
• An extra turn is not triggered by a match 5 which occurs from a gem conversion effect
• Making two or more match 5s in a single move (match plus cascades) provides only up to 1 extra turn
  • However, if one of the two match 5s involves a permanent support gem, two extra turns can occur (it is not known whether this is a bug)

Landfall

Cards with the Landfall ability trigger an effect written on the card when you perform a Landfall match.

A landfall match is a move or cascade in which a match 4 or match 5 occurs on coloured gems.

• Matching loyalty gems does not count as landfall
• Landfall only triggers up to once per move or cascade step, even if two or more match 4s occur simultaneously

Matching special gems

Matching or hitting special gems with a match 4 can trigger a variety of effects. The effect of matching each kind of special gem is described in Gems.