Catch The Snowflake

Catch The Snowflake lays its grid out in winter colours: every tile carries either a snowflake or a small Christmas tree, and the pairs you draw a line between are the ones that leave.

The countdown is the point here. bestphysics built the board around a running clock and a points total, so the real question is not whether the grid can be cleared but how many links you can bank before the timer empties. Points accumulate pair by pair, and the clock never stops between matches. The Magic Links board is matched by path rather than by stack, the same way.

A legal link is a line with at most two bends that cuts through no other tile, which is why the middle of this board is harder than its rim. A tree hemmed in by four neighbours has no route out until something around it goes. If the layout is new, the guide to connect boards explains it.

The 2021 build is mouse-driven at 960 by 800, a squarer frame than most link boards, with holiday music playing behind the round. Full screen makes the smaller snowflake shapes easier to separate, and the same grid also answers to touch. The Fish Connections grid keeps the pace of this one.

1. Scan the grid for two tiles showing the same snowflake or the same tree.
2. Click one, then the other. The link counts only if the line bends twice at most and passes through no other tile.
3. Keep pairing while the clock runs down, since each link adds to the points total.
4. Clear the whole grid before the timer empties to finish the board.

• Work centre-outwards — the tiles in the middle of Catch The Snowflake are the ones with no legal route, so freeing them early keeps the board playable.
• Count the bends — if a line would need three corners to reach its twin, that pair is unavailable however obvious it looks.
• Give the snowflakes a second look — the tree tiles are distinct, but the snowflakes are the ones that look alike at a glance.
• Never stall — the clock runs while you search, so take any legal pair in sight rather than hunting for the neatest one.
• Play in full screen — at window size the 960-by-800 board shrinks its icons, and full screen gives them their detail back.