How Bloom Haven puzzles work: match 3 rules

In Bloom Haven you swap two neighbouring tiles to make a line of three or more of the same kind. The line clears, the tiles above fall down and new ones drop in from the top. You win a puzzle when the counter under Your goal is full before Moves left reaches zero.

The board and the five tiles

The board is a square of 8 by 8, so 64 tiles. There are five kinds of tile:

The green leaf matches like any flower: three green leaves in a line clear too. Every puzzle uses all five tiles.

Which swaps are allowed?

• You can only swap two tiles that touch along a side: above, below, left or right. Corners do not count.
• The swap must make at least one line of three or more of the same tile. Otherwise nothing moves, no move is used, and you see Try matching three of the same flower.
• Using a power-up on its own is also a move. See the power-ups page.

Each allowed swap costs one move, no matter how much it clears.

Matches and cascades

When a swap makes a match, all matching lines clear at the same time. Then:

1. The tiles above the gap fall straight down.
2. New tiles drop in from the top to fill the board.
3. If the falling tiles make new lines, those clear too. This is a cascade.

Cascades are free: they happen inside the same move. The first cascade shows Lovely! on the board, and longer chains show Blooming! (unless Moving effects is set to calm).

A match of four or five, or a T or L shape, leaves a power-up behind instead of clearing everything. The power-ups page has the details.

The three kinds of goal

Every puzzle has one goal. You see it under Your goal, with a picture, a counter such as 4 / 8 and a bar.

Collect flowers

The picture shows which tile to collect: coral, golden, blue, violet or green leaf. Every tile of that kind counts, whether you match it yourself, a power-up clears it or it falls into a cascade.

Clear the leaves and Free the planters

Some squares of the board are covered. In a leaf puzzle, a covered square is darker green with a small leaf mark in its corner. In a planter puzzle, it is light brown with a small planter mark. The cover belongs to the square, not to the tile: when tiles fall, the cover stays where it is. To clear a covered square, clear any tile that sits on it, once. Then that square is done and counts toward the goal.

Clear the leaves and Free the planters work exactly the same way. Only the look of the covered squares is different. The covered squares always make a pattern, such as two full rows or a square in the middle; every pattern is listed on all 60 puzzles.

Moves

Each puzzle starts with 24 to 28 moves, shown as Moves left. A swap or a power-up uses one move. A swap that makes no match uses none.

• Reach the goal and the puzzle ends at once, even with moves left. Leftover moves give nothing extra.
• Run out of moves and you see A fresh try is waiting. with "No lives lost. Your garden is safe." You can choose Try again, Try with 5 extra moves, Finish and carry on or Back to the garden. See play at your own pace.
• With Relaxed play on, Moves left shows ∞ and you never run out.

What if no swap is left?

The board never gets stuck. If no swap can make a match, the game quietly gives the flowers a new arrangement before your next move. Power-ups stay where they are, and your goal counter, covered squares and moves stay the same.

Winning a puzzle

When the goal is full, you see Look what you grew!

Then press Back to the garden to spend your leaf, or Next to play on. How leaves become projects is on the three garden areas.

Puzzle order

You play the puzzles in order. The next new puzzle is always the first one you have not finished. You can replay any finished puzzle from the Puzzles list. The first puzzle of a new area opens when every project in the area before it is built.

See also

• Power-ups: the four special flowers.
• Tips for new gardeners: how to use these rules to win.
• All 60 puzzles: every goal and move count.
• Back to the Bloom Haven guide, or play Bloom Haven.

• About Bloom Haven
• All game guides