Gardenscapes may seem like a friendly children’s game on the outside, but the levels and stages that the game challenges you to complete can be pretty merciless, even for an adult. Match-3 games have always been a game that puzzle enthusiasts have found comfort in playing due to both the unpredictability of the choices and the freedom at which the player has in solving them. This creates the game’s unique mix of luck and logic when it comes to finishing the puzzles.

Puzzle enthusiasts don’t usually go to guides for help since a lot of them consider it to be cheating, but the Match-3 genre is a rare exception; it doesn’t make use of a set of standardized rules. To find success in Match-3 games, players need to keep some tips and tricks in mind that veteran players have accumulated after years of playing the game. These tips and tricks will help you win more stages and rounds and, thus, lose fewer hearts in the process.

• Before Anything Else, Look at the Board

The most important part of solving a puzzle is pausing for a moment to look at the bigger picture. The very first thing that one must do is to take a look at all the pieces and where they are positioned. The most common mistake that match-3 players make is instantly making random moves and hope that it works out in the end. While this actually works in the game’s earlier levels, the later stages far more unforgiving and won’t let you get away with random moves.

The first move in any Match-3 game is the most crucial as it dictates the flow of the game. This is especially true in stages where you need to break a few barriers to secure a flow of pieces moving into another area of the board. Taking a good 15 seconds to look at the board is much better than wasting 1-3 minutes randomly matching combinations only for you to fail and redo the entire game, or worse, lose all your hearts and wait an hour or so until you can play again.

• Follow Move Priorities

Move priorities refer to the order in which you complete combinations around the board. In the case of Match-3 games, this term usually refers to moves that go from Top to Bottom. Moving pieces at the very top of the board usually don’t affect other pieces around the map. On the other hand, prioritizing pieces at the very bottom of the board will affect the rest of the board’s state, which isn’t always ideal. If you get lucky, though, it might cause a series of chain reactions that will work in your favor.

However, just because moves at the bottom have the most impact, that doesn’t mean you should always aim towards moving the bottom pieces. For example, in case you have to reveal a Gnome Statue at the very top of the board, it’s better to prioritize working at the top if you have the chance. Completing a combination at the bottom might mess up that chance and force you to wait for a few moves until you find the perfect combination to show up again.

• Learn When To Use Power-Ups

Powerups are the single most precious resource in Gardenscapes. They are precious because of how difficult they are to earn; they are only awarded once in a while. Squandering power-ups from stages 1-70 is such a waste since these stages are pretty much idiot-proof. Besides, you get so many rewards like Unlimited Life during these stages, so you shouldn’t have to waste powerups. Here are a few situations where using power-ups is recommended:

1. If you can finish the game only using one powerup/tool
2. If you’re on your 3rd or more try of that stage
3. If you think the goal and move limits are completely impossible to work with
4. If you have fewer than three moves left

Play Gardenscapes on PC

Play Gardenscapes on PC

Using more than one power-up or tool during the game is excessive. If you have to use more than one tool/power-up, the problem lies in your strategy. There are badly designed stages that require sheer luck to complete, so you might want to use power-ups or tools to complete them. Never use a tool in the middle of the game; only use them when you have fewer than three moves left, and you feel like it’s your once-in-a-lifetime shot where you can justify the use of a tool. 

• Make the Most Out of Unlimited Buffs

Once in a while, Gardenscapes will bless you with random buffs like Unlimited Lives or Unlimited Power-Ups for a short duration. When this happens, try to make the most out of your playtime and complete as many stages as possible. When you do have these Unlimited Buffs active, never spend gold or use power-ups/tools since it doesn’t matter if you lose; you won’t lose Hearts in the process, anyway.

If you’re using your Unlimited Buffs efficiently, you can zoom from Stage 1-100 easily in just an hour, even if you fail the puzzle a couple of times. When you’re on the brink of losing and don’t have enough moves left to complete the puzzle, simply redo the puzzle so that you don’t waste any more time. You can earn unlimited buffs when you complete a milestone in your story chapter or complete a world event on the server.

• You Can Change The Appearance Of Your Designs

This one isn’t necessarily a tip, but more of a trick in Gardenscapes since landscaping is one of the main points of the game. When you long-press a piece of furniture, plant, or architecture that you built, you can change the appearance of that item for free. This will help you redesign your garden to your liking.

Designing your garden early on doesn’t give you a lot to follow. Only when you finally start adding more and more pieces to the image, that’s when you get ideas in your head about themes that you want to follow. Try to make the best-looking garden and share it with your friends and family!