Patterns Link

Patterns Link runs ten levels of coloured pattern tiles, each cleared by taking identical pieces off in pairs while a clock counts down. Points come with every removal, so the run is scored rather than merely survived.

The first three levels behave the way a link board is expected to: the pieces stay exactly where they were dealt, and the only question is whether an open lane joins the two you have spotted. From level four onward the layout stops being static. Tiles move sideways as gaps appear, which means a route you traced a second ago may no longer exist, and a pair that looked hopeless can slide into reach without you doing anything. Another board that clears along a line is the Cake Link Master board.

Seven hints are handed out for the whole run, not per level, and that budget is the real strategic decision in the game. Spending three of them on level two leaves the sliding boards later on without a safety net, and those are the levels where a stalled scan costs the most seconds.

Full screen is more useful here than on most link boards because the patterns differ by fine detail rather than by subject, and at default size two similar tiles can cost you a wasted pair of clicks. The board also handles a touchscreen, where a tap does the work of a click. The same two-bend path rule drives Connect 2.

1. Start level one and look for pattern tiles that repeat on the board.
2. Click two identical tiles that an open path can run between.
3. Watch the board after each removal, because from level four the tiles shift sideways into the gaps.
4. Spend a hint when a level stalls, remembering that only seven exist for the whole run.
5. Clear all ten levels before the clock beats you.

• Ration the seven hints — they are a run-long budget, not a per-level allowance, so the late sliding boards deserve most of them.
• Re-read the board after every match — from level four the sideways drift rewrites the lanes you had planned.
• Clear the middle columns — gaps there give the tiles room to slide and open routes on both flanks.
• Look at pattern detail, not colour — several designs share a palette and differ only in the shape inside them.
• Play it in full screen — a bigger board is the cheapest way to stop confusing two near-identical patterns.