Tile matching games look calm and end suddenly: one wrong tap and the tray is full. These tips are for Tile Tray, the tile matching game on Arena13, and the same ideas carry over to most games where you collect three of a kind.
How the game works
- Tiles are stacked in layers. A tile is free only when nothing on a higher layer covers it, and only free tiles can be tapped. Tapping a covered tile just shakes it.
- A tile you pick goes into a tray at the bottom, next to any tiles of the same kind already there.
- Three of a kind in the tray clear.
- The tray holds seven tiles. Fill all seven without making three of a kind and the game ends: tray full.
- Clear the whole board and you get a level bonus, then a bigger board with more layers and more kinds of tile.
Every board can be cleared. Tile Tray deals its tiles so that at least one order of picks solves the level without ever needing more than seven tray slots. If you get stuck, it was a choice, not the deal.
Tips that work
- Count the tray, not the board. Before every tap, look at what is in the tray. Seven slots sounds like plenty, but two tiles each of three kinds already uses six. Try to keep at most two or three different kinds in the tray at once.
- Finish what is in the tray first. If the tray holds two moons and a third moon is free on the board, take it. A pair waiting in the tray is a slot you are not using.
- Look one layer down. Before you take a tile, check what it is covering. A pick that frees the third tile of a pair you are holding is worth more than one that opens up something new.
- Clear the top layers early. Tiles on the bottom layer stay locked until everything above them is gone. Working from the top down keeps your choices open.
- Chain your triples. Completing triples back to back builds a combo: each triple scores 30 points times the combo, and any pick that does not complete a triple resets it. When you can finish one triple and then another, do it in that order.
- Save the helpers. You have two undos and one shuffle. Undo takes back your last tile, but not past a cleared triple. Shuffle re-deals the tiles on the board and puts ones that finish what is in your tray within reach. Save the shuffle for when the tray is filling up and nothing on the board matches.
The daily board
The daily mode in Tile Tray gives everyone the same layouts each day, numbered as a set, so you can compare scores with friends on exactly the same boards. Only the layouts are shared; a shuffle still deals differently for each player.
Keyboard controls
On a computer you can play without the mouse: arrow keys or WASD move the cursor, Space or Enter picks a tile, U, Z or Backspace undoes, and X shuffles.
How it was made
I wrote this with help from Claude, an AI assistant, and checked every rule against the game's code. If a tip does not work for you, tell me.
