How To Make A Match-3 Game: A Complete Guide

Match-3 games are some of the most popular mobile games out there. Whether it’s Candy Crush or Bejeweled, these games are loved for their simple but fun gameplay. If you've ever wondered how to make your own match-3 game, this guide will show you everything you need to know. From the basics of the game to designing it and publishing it, we’ll take you step-by-step through the process. 

Match-3 games are currently growing at the speed of skyrocket. Most casual gamers spend their time playing games like Candy Crush or Gardenscapes that perfectly fit this guide in the scenario. Making a match-3 game not only offers you access to a broader user base but also is profitable enough to make your game a revenue stream. 

Here, let’s explore more about the game and learn how to develop a match-3 game even if you are a non-coder. 

What Makes a Match-3 Game Fun? 

Before you start making your game, it's important to understand what makes match-3 games so fun. At the core, the game involves swapping tiles that are next to each other in order to make a row of three or more matching tiles. When you make a match, those tiles disappear, and new tiles fall into their place. 

What makes it interesting are the cascading effects when new tiles fall, and power-ups that give players a boost. 

Fun Elements of Match-3 Games:

• Tile Swapping: Players switch adjacent tiles to create matches.
• Tile Matching: A match happens when three or more tiles of the same kind are lined up.
• Power-ups and Special Tiles: These tiles can remove larger sections of the grid or cause other cool effects.
• Cascading Matches: After a match, new tiles fall into place, which can create more matches. 

How To Make An Online Match 3 Game? 

Creating a Match 3 online game is a comprehensive approach to engage players thoroughly is an exciting journey. Therefore, it shouldn't be tiring. The Match-3 game is a trending genre right now, and to make it financially successful, the game needs to be engaging but at the same time should be hard enough to keep the challenging vibrations so that players have fun and complete. Here how you can make an match 3 game: 

Step 1: Designing Your Match-3 Game 

Designing your game is the first and most important step. You need to figure out the theme, level designs, and how the game will feel to play. Here’s how to get started: 

Choose Your Game's Theme and Look 

The theme is what makes your game unique. Popular themes for match-3 games include candy, gems, fruits, or even things like space or nature. Your game’s visual style (how it looks) should match the theme. For example, bright colors work well for a candy-themed game, while a more elegant look might suit a gem-based game. 

Create Levels and Make Them Progress 

The fun in match-3 games comes from level progression. Start with simple levels and make them harder as players advance. You can create levels where players need to clear certain tiles, score a specific amount, or break obstacles. The key is to make the levels challenging but still fun. 

User Interface (UI) and Experience (UX) 

The user interface (UI) includes things like buttons, menus, and score displays. These should be simple and easy to understand. You want the game to be fun to play without confusing the user. The experience should feel smooth with easy transitions from one screen to the next. 

Step 2: Choosing a Platform to Build Your Game 

Once you know what your game is going to look like, it’s time to pick a platform to create it. There are many tools available for both beginners and experienced developers. Here are three different ways you can create your match 3 puzzle game: 

How to Make a Match-3 Game in Unity 

Unity is one of the most powerful tools for creating games. It’s used by many professionals, but it’s also great for beginners. Unity is perfect for match-3 games because it provides many tools for creating tile grids and animations. 

Steps to make a match-3 game in Unity:

• Grid Management: Unity helps you create and manage the grid for your tiles. You can use Unity’s built-in tilemap system to organize the grid.
• Match Detection: You will need to write code (in C#) that checks for matching tiles after every move and removes them.
• Cascading Matches: When tiles are removed, new tiles should fall into the grid, and this can trigger new matches.
• Power-ups: You can create special tiles, like bombs or color-clearing tiles, that will help players during the game. 

How to Make a Match-3 Game in Scratch 

If you’re new to game development, Scratch is a great place to start. It’s a free, easy-to-use tool that lets you create games without any coding experience. 

Steps to make a match-3 game in Scratch: 

1. Create the Grid: In Scratch, you can design your grid using sprite tiles and place them in a grid layout.

2. Tile Matching: Use Scratch’s blocks to check for matching tiles in a row or column.

3. Tile Removal: When tiles match, they disappear, and you can make new tiles fall into place.

4. Add Power-ups: Scratch also allows you to create special tiles that do cool things like clear other tiles or swap places with others. 

No-Code Game Creation: Making a Match-3 Game Without Writing Code 

For those who don’t want to write code, no-code tools like Buildbox and GameSalad let you create games using a drag-and-drop interface. 

Steps to make a match-3 game in Buildbox: 

1. Create a New Project: Open Buildbox and create a new game project.

2. Set Up Your Grid: Use the drag-and-drop tools to set up your game’s grid and choose the tiles.

3. Match Detection: Buildbox automatically handles many of the rules for matching tiles.

4. Design Levels: Add obstacles and set up level-specific goals.

5. Add Power-ups: Create tiles with special effects.

6. Publish: Once your game is ready, Buildbox makes it easy to export your game to different platforms. 

Step 3: Coding the Core Mechanics 

For those who prefer coding, this step is about creating the game logic and rules. 

Tile Grid and Matching Logic 

You’ll need to create a 2D grid system where each tile is represented in a list. When the player swaps tiles, the game checks if three or more tiles are lined up. If they are, those tiles are removed. 

Power-ups and Special Tiles 

Add excitement by creating special tiles that do things like clearing rows or removing certain tiles. These can be programmed to work in different ways and help players during tough levels. 

Level Design and Difficulty Scaling 

Start with easy levels, then make the game harder as players progress. Add new challenges, limit the number of moves, or introduce obstacles like locked tiles or blockers. 

Step 4: Polishing and Testing Your Match-3 Game 

Once your basic mechanics are working, it’s time to add the finishing touches to make your game enjoyable to play. 

Graphics and Animations 

Make sure the tiles are visually distinct, and the animations for swapping and matching tiles are smooth. The role of animation in gaming plays a big part in making the game visually appealing, and especially graphics also. 

Sound Design 

Sound effects can make the game more fun. Use satisfying sounds when players make matches and complete levels. Background music that fits the theme of the game can also enhance the experience. 

Testing and Feedback 

Playtest your game with others to find bugs and make sure it’s fun to play. Feedback from players will help you improve the game and fix any issues before launch. 

Step 5: Publishing and Monetizing Your Game 

After your game is ready, it’s time to share it with the world. 

Choosing a Platform to Release Your Game 

You can release your match-3 game on popular platforms like the App Store, Google Play, or on websites like Kongregate. 

Monetization Strategies 

Many match-3 games are free to play with options to make money:

• In-App Purchases: Players can buy extra lives, power-ups, or other helpful items.
• Ads: You can show ads between levels or offer rewards for watching ads.
• Paid Version: A paid version of the game with no ads or extra features. 

Marketing and Promotion 

To get people to play your game, you’ll need to promote it. Use social media, app store optimization (ASO), and influencer marketing. Keep your players engaged by adding new content and features regularly. 

Step 6: Post-Launch – Updating, Engaging Players, and Long-Term Success 

After the game launches, the work is far from over. Keeping players interested in the game is key to long-term success. 

Regular Updates

Add new levels and challenges to keep the game fresh. Special events or seasonal content can also keep things exciting. 

Collect and Analyze Feedback 

Use feedback from players to fix any problems and improve the game. Look at game analytics to see how players are interacting with your game. 

Building a Community 

Engage with your players on social media, create in-game events, and start a forum or group for fans of your game. A strong gaming community will keep players coming back to your game. 

Step 7: Resources and Tools to Help You on Your Match-3 Game Development Journey 

Making a match-3 game can be hard, when you don’t have slightest knowledge about how game programming works. But there are many tools and resources available that can help you in your simple game making process. Whether you’re using a professional game engine or beginner-friendly platform, these resources will guide you through the process and help you create your game. 

Unity 

Unity is a powerful game engine used by both beginners and experts. It has a lot of tutorials and resources to help you build your match-3 game. Plus, it’s widely used in the gaming world. 

• Unity Tutorials: Unity Learn is free and has easy-to-follow tutorials. These tutorials teach you everything from the basics to advanced game-building techniques. 
• Unity Asset Store: The Asset Store is another helpful tool. It offers pre-made assets like tiles and characters. Using these assets can help you save time and make your game look better. 

Scratch 

If you’re new to game development, Scratch is a great platform to start your journey. It's a free tool that doesn't require any deep coding. Instead, it uses blocks you can drag and drop to create games. 

• Scratch Tutorials: Scratch provides simple tutorials to help beginner level game creators understand the tool workability. These tutorials show how to build games, including match-3 games. 

No-code Tools 

If coding or programming is not your thing, no-coding game creation tools can help you. Tools like Buildbox and GameSalad are the tools that require no-code programming and let you create games by dragging and dropping elements. 

• Buildbox: Buildbox is a no-code platform that’s easy to use. It has pre-made templates for match-3 games, so you can start right away. You can also customize the game’s levels and features. 
• GameSalad: GameSalad is another great tool for beginners. It also follows the no-code concept, and it helps you design game mechanics, add obstacles, and create levels quickly. 

Online Communities 

Online communities are a great way to get help, ask questions, and meet other game developers who have been experienced in creating games using no-code or advanced tools. These communities are especially useful if you’re just starting out in the game development field. 

• Stack Overflow: Stack Overflow is a question-and-answer website where developers can ask and answer technical or coding related questions. If you get stuck in the process of your game designing, it’s a great place to find solutions. 
• Reddit GameDev Subreddit: The GameDev subreddit is another community to explore. You can share your progress, ask for feedback, and learn from other developers. The community genuinely helps people through answering their questions in the most helpful way. 

The online community is not a direct game development tool but it is equally helpful as the no-code tools. These tools and resources can help you create your match-3 game, whether you’re using Unity, Scratch, Buildbox, or GameSalad. Also, joining online communities will provide you with support and feedback to improve your skills. With these resources, you’re all set to start developing your game. 

Platform/Tool Comparison Table 

There are few game development tools that allow you to build a simple game without needing to learn the complex coding skills, while some require basic programming knowledge. Unity, Scratch, Buildbox, and GameSalad are one of them. Here is a quick comparison overview between each tool: 

Build Your First Match-3 Game with Orion Infosolutions

Matching-3 games are a very interactive way to attract a larger user base and make them loyal. Match-3 games are very easy to learn with no complex winning criteria and easy controls. However, the game is challenging but at the same time sparklingly engaging and fun. Creating such a game would be a highly profitable idea in 2025, where modern people like short gaming sessions while on the go. 

Your idea and our experts, together we can create a game that will possess the ability to attract numerous users, keep them engaged for hours, keep them coming back for more, and ultimately will become a substantial revenue source. While you focus on your business, let us help you build your first match-3 game. Care to build one? Feel free to get in touch with us anytime you want! 

How to Make a Match 3 Game (FAQs)

Do I need coding skills to make a match-3 game? 

No, you don’t necessarily need to have skills in coding, just the basic knowledge about how these things work. You can use no-code platforms like Buildbox or Scratch to create a match-3 game on your own. Coding is only required if you want more control over the game's features (more personalized experience). 

What platform should I use to make a match-3 game? 

It depends on your skills and goals. However, Unity is greatly known for its flexibility and advanced features, while Buildbox and GameSalad are ideal for no-code game creation. 

How much does it cost to develop a Match-3 game? 

The development cost of the Match-3 game depends on how complex and the number of features it includes. Match-3 games are not that complex so considering that, the average cost of development can range from $5,000 to $15,000. Determining the exact cost is highly difficult unless the requirements are thoroughly discussed with the development partner. 

How long does it take to make a match-3 game? 

It depends on how complex the game is. A simple game might take 3 to 4 weeks, while a more advanced game could take about 3 months. It's better to be realistic in these scenarios and consult with game developers.

Author Recommendation 

👉 How to Create an Android Game? Beginner's Guide 2025

👉 Top 10 Game Design Principles Every Designer Should Know

👉 How Do Free To Play (F2P) Games Make Money

👉 Blender vs Unity: A Brief Overview, Features, Pros & Cons
👉 How Much Does It Cost to Make a Game App in India?