Birds Link

Birds Link does not draw a line between two tiles, it slides them. A block travels until it meets another block, and if the two are identical both leave the board. For the rule in plain words, see the onet explainer.

Scoring is where the game gets strict. A clean elimination is worth 100 points, but every slide beyond the first knocks 10 points off, so a pair joined in one push is worth far more than the same pair shoved around the grid four times. Playing for a full clear is straightforward, while playing for a good score means working out the single push that does the job. Easter Mahjong Connection runs the connect rule on its own artwork.

There are 36 levels, and each is finished only when every block has gone. Lof Games laid it out at 1280 by 720, wide enough to see the whole travel path of a block before you commit to sending it. Connect The Roads puts the same rule on a board of a different size.

1. Look at where each block will stop if it is pushed.
2. Slide a block towards an identical one so the two meet.
3. Both disappear, scoring 100 points for the pair.
4. Keep extra slides to a minimum, since each one costs 10 points.
5. Empty the board to complete the level, then take on the next of the 36.

• Plan the push, not the pair — in Birds Link the two blocks are obvious, and the cheap route between them is not.
• One slide is the target — 10 points vanish for every additional move, and they add up across 36 levels.
• Mind what a block stops against — a mistimed push parks it exactly where the next pair needed to travel.
• Clear the crowded side first — open space lets blocks travel further, which is what you want late in a level.