Farm Connect

Farm Connect fills its grid with pigs, cows, apples and carrots, animals on some tiles and produce on others, across twenty-one levels.

Linking is the mechanic: pick two identical tiles and the connecting line may bend twice, no more. The 2017 board from Agame is wide at 800 by 500, which gives horizontal routes an advantage the vertical ones do not have. The Best Link grid belongs to the same easy-going list.

The timer is the interesting part. Rather than simply counting down, it responds to successful moves, so a run of quick matches keeps you in the level while hesitation drains it. That turns the middle levels into a rhythm problem as much as a spotting one. The guide to connect boards goes through it slowly for a first-time player.

Three bonuses back you up: a hint that names a pair, a bomb that removes one outright, and a shuffle that redeals what is left. Full screen is the difference between recognising a cow at a glance and hovering to check, and the tile art rewards the extra size. Another board from the same undemanding group is the Emoji Link: The Smile board.

1. Choose two tiles showing the same animal or crop.
2. Make sure the line between them needs two bends or fewer.
3. Click the pair to clear it and keep the timer healthy.
4. Call in the hint, bomb or shuffle bonus when the board stalls.
5. Work through all twenty-one levels one board at a time.

• Keep matching to keep time — the clock in Farm Connect rewards successful moves, so momentum is literally worth seconds.
• Work along the rows — a wide 800-by-500 grid lets side-to-side routes clear two bends more easily than top-to-bottom ones.
• Save the bomb — it takes a pair off outright, which is exactly what a locked late level needs.
• Shuffle before the clock bites — a redeal early costs nothing, while a redeal at five seconds left saves nothing.
• Full screen for the small livestock — several farm animals share a colour and an outline at default size.