Bug Connect Mahjong

Bug Connect Mahjong runs fifteen levels of insect tiles, each one a little harder than the last, and each one on a clock. Beetles, moths and their neighbours make the pairs, and the field is flat, so every bug is visible from the first second of a level.

Removing a pair takes more than spotting it. The two identical insects have to be joinable by a line with no more than two ninety-degree turns, which is the strict version of the rule, and the line cannot pass through anything still on the field. Early levels are loose enough that almost any pair works; by the last few, the geometry is doing most of the work of stopping you. Another board that clears along a line is the Chain grid.

The escalation is the interesting part of the set. Difficulty rises across the fifteen levels rather than resetting, so an approach that clears level three comfortably will leave you short on level twelve, where blocked routes are the norm and clearing order decides the outcome. Hints and a shuffle exist for those boards. More of the same shape sits in the Connect section.

Play is mouse-driven, and the field expands in full screen, which is worth doing because several of the insect designs differ only in wing markings. The corridor habit carries straight over to the Fruitlinker board.

1. Open a level and pick out two identical insect tiles.
2. Trace the connecting line: at most two ninety-degree turns are allowed.
3. Check that no tile still on the field sits on that line.
4. Click both bugs to clear the pair and open routes for the rest.
5. Empty the field before the timer expires to reach the next of the fifteen levels.

• Clear the outer ring first — insects on the edge almost always have a legal two-turn line, and taking them widens everything inside.
• Trace before clicking — a pair blocked by one tile fails exactly like a pair that needs a third turn.
• Prepare for the late levels — the fifteen boards escalate, so the habits from level three will not survive level twelve.
• Keep the shuffle in hand — it is the only remedy when the field has no legal line left anywhere.
• Use full screen — several beetle and moth designs are separated only by wing markings that a small field hides.