How to play Suit Swap
Suit Swap is a match-3 dealt from a deck of cards. The board is eight by eight cards of four suits: hearts and diamonds in red, spades and clubs in ink. Swap two neighbouring cards so that three or more of one suit line up across or down, and they clear.
Cards above fall into the gaps and new ones drop in from the top, sometimes lining up again on their own. Those cascades pay more with every wave, and long lines leave Aces and Jokers that clear far more than three.
Rules
- Swap two cards that touch along a side. The swap only counts if it lines up three or more of one suit; otherwise the cards slide back and it costs nothing.
- Every card cleared scores 10 times the wave it went in: 10 on the swap’s own match, 20 in the first cascade, 30 in the next, and so on.
- A line of four, or an L or T shape of one suit, leaves an Ace of that suit where you swapped. When an Ace is cleared it takes its whole row and column with it.
- A line of five leaves a Joker. Swap it with any card to clear every card of that suit; swap two Jokers to clear the board. A Joker caught in a blast takes the suit with the most cards. Now and then a Joker also drops in with the new cards.
- If no swap is left, the board is shuffled for free.
- Moves gives you 30 swaps and keeps a game in progress between visits. Blitz gives you 90 seconds from your first swap; the clock keeps running while the cards fall, and pauses when you switch tabs.
Controls
- Drag
- Drag a card onto its neighbour to swap them
- Click, click
- Click a card, then a neighbour, to swap them
- Arrows / WASD + Space
- Move the cursor, Space to pick up, then an arrow to swap
- H
- Show a swap that works
- N · 1 2
- New game · switch mode
Tips
- Look for fours before threes. An Ace clears up to fifteen cards, and a cascade can set it off for double or triple points.
- Swap low on the board when you can. Clearing near the bottom drops more cards, and more falling cards means more cascades.
- Save a Joker for a suit there is a lot of, or swap it next to an Ace: the Ace in that suit goes off too.
Suit Swap strategy
Make Aces, then spend them
A plain match of three is worth 30. An Ace that goes off clears its row and column, up to fifteen cards, and if it goes in a cascade those cards score double or triple. Before every swap, scan for a four or an L or T shape: with only four suits on the board there is nearly always one within reach.
Work from the bottom
A match low on the board drops everything above it, and new cards come in at the top. The more cards that move, the better the chance of a free cascade. A match in the top rows moves almost nothing.
Point Jokers at the crowd
A Joker takes every card of the suit you swap it with, so count before you swap: a suit with twenty cards on the board is worth twice one with ten. Better still, swap it with a suit that has an Ace on the board, because the Ace goes off with it.
Pace Blitz
In Blitz the clock keeps running while cards fall, so a long cascade costs time as well as paying points. Look for your next swap while the board settles, and do not wait for the hint: it only shows up after nine idle seconds.
About Suit Swap
Matching three in a row by swapping neighbours goes back to Shariki, a 1994 MS-DOS game, and reached millions of players through PopCap’s Bejeweled, first released as Diamond Mine in 2000.
Suit Swap keeps the rules and swaps the gems for the four card suits. They differ in shape first and colour second, so the board reads without colour vision too.
Questions
How is Suit Swap scored?
10 points per card cleared, times the wave of the cascade it fell in. The house’s Expert target is 8,000 in Moves and 6,000 in Blitz; its Pro target is 20,000 and 24,000.
What do the Ace and the Joker do?
An Ace, made by lining up four or an L or T, clears its row and column when it goes. A Joker, made from five in a line, clears every card of the suit you swap it with.
Can I run out of moves on the board?
No. If no swap would make a match, the board is shuffled for free and play goes on. Moves ends after 30 swaps, Blitz after 90 seconds.
Does a swap that doesn’t match cost a move?
No. The cards slide back and nothing is counted.
