Fantasy Connect Deluxe

This one is not a pair game at all, which catches out anyone arriving from an onet board. For the rest of the group, see the full Connect list.

Lof Games has you press on a block and drag across neighbouring blocks of the same kind, releasing only when the whole chain is selected. Length is what pays: chains of seven or ten hand over powerups, so breaking a long run into two safe short ones actively costs you. A clock runs over the top of it, which is why hesitating over a nine-block chain to check whether it reaches ten is a real decision rather than a free one. Mahjong 3 Lines puts the same rule on a board of a different size.

The build is desktop-only, so the drag is a held mouse button rather than a finger. On an 800 by 600 board the fantasy artwork is large, and the practical skill is reading a winding chain of adjacent blocks quickly enough to commit before the timer eats the advantage. The Fruits Connect Float board is the nearest flat-board neighbour of this one here.

1. Press and hold on a block you want to start from.
2. Move the pointer across adjacent blocks of the same kind to add them to the chain.
3. Release the press once the whole chain is selected to score it.
4. Aim for chains of seven or ten to earn the powerups, and keep an eye on the clock.

• Chase seven and ten — those are the Fantasy Connect Deluxe chain lengths that hand over powerups.
• Adjacent only — blocks have to touch to join a chain, so a gap ends the sweep.
• The clock is running — this is a time-bound game, and a long deliberation costs you elsewhere.
• Hold the button — releasing mid-sweep locks in whatever you have selected so far.