Match 3 games are one of the best suited games for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad. This subgenre of puzzle games ranks up there with Tower Defense, Line Drawing, Racing, Hidden Object, and Time Management in terms of maximizing the touch controls, accelerometer and in the case of the iPad, the large real estate, and simply providing the most fun and excitement in games that are generally easy to pick up and play. Like the Tower Defense genre, the Match 3 genre has also a diverse collection of games that provide different kinds of gameplay, with the main goal, of course, still always having to eliminate tiles from the board by making a match of 3 or more. Match 3 games are among the most popular pick up and play puzzle games primarily because the objective is very much straightforward.

This article hopes to provide you puzzle gamers with an in depth look in to the different Match 3 games currently available in the App Store for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad. Below are the three major categories of Match 3 puzzle games including the best recommended games of each category:

Match 3 Games: Sliding

Best App Store Games: Aurora Feint II: Arena Daemons, Puzzle Quest Chapter 1 and 2

Sliding gameplay is generally the original Match 3 gameplay. Various items or tiles of all sorts, ranging from gems to artifacts (depending on what game you’re playing) are spread across the board, and you are tasked in putting three or more of these items in a line in order to eliminate them from the board. The manner in achieving this objective is where the sliding gameplay enters – you basically slide tiles, swapping adjacent tiles for each other, until three or more are lined up together in a match. Some have made slight modifications to this gameplay, but the logic is still to slide tiles across the board.

Best Games review: Arena Daemons is the best game in the Aurora Feint franchise. It is also among the first to incorporate asynchronous multiplayer gaming. On top of amazing graphics and music, the game keeps you engaged as you try to create the most dominant ghost profile paired with one of the many powerful Daemons. Puzzle Quest is a RPG with Match 3 gameplay. It is one of the very few available story-driven Match 3 games and arguably having the most content and a high quality epic storyline. Battles rely on Match 3 gameplay. And as your character gains experience, you get to learn various spells depending on your class. Content-wise, these two are really among the best puzzle games in the match 3 puzzle genre.

PuzzleQuest Chapter 1 and 2

Match 3 Games: Falling Blocks

Best App Store Games: Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night

To describe this gameplay in a simplest way possible: it is a hybrid of the Match 3 and the classic Tetris puzzle gameplay. Instead of having a board of dozens of scattered gems, your gems are dropped from above in shapes that usually resemble the classic shapes from Tetris. But instead of eliminating entire rows, the gameplay’s objective is for you to drop the falling blocks adjacent or at least in close proximity (depending on your strategy if you’re after a combo) with other similar blocks below in order to match and align 3 or more similar blocks.

Best Games review: A Castlevania game (the first for the iPhone) that disappointed hardcore fans of the franchise, but is in fact a great Match 3 puzzle game. Among its best features is that the theme follows the very popular Symphony of the Night from the PS1. The RPG gameplay elements are deep in this game, and compared to Puzzle Quest, you and your opponent have your own board. This makes this game more fast-paced and strategically challenging than Puzzle Quest.

Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night

Match 3 Games: Marble Shooting

Best App Store Games: Atlantis Sky Patrol, Luxor

This gameplay is very much different from the two described above. This time, marbles of various colors roll all over the board through twisting, spiralling, or snake-like paths. The objective is to eliminate these marbles before they eventually reach the end of the path. You achieve this by shooting a colored marble from a designated spot, usually either in the middle of the screen or from below, at the line of marbles, aiming of course at a cluster of similarly colored marbles, or for best results, at a cluster that can cause a chain reaction.

Best Games review: Atlantis Sky Patrol is just like any other marble shooting game except with better gameplay: more intricate paths, challenging obstacles, and a nice upgrading system for your weapon. Luxor is a port of the successful PC puzzle game, which explains why there’s not much not to like. There’s nothing new either especially in gameplay; however, if you want classic marble shooting gameplay then you shouldn’t look elsewhere in the App Store.

Atlantis Sky Patrol

There’s certainly at least one match 3 puzzle gameplay among those mentioned above that would suit your taste. And if you’re an owner of an iPhone, iPod Touch, or an iPad, there’s no reason not to have any of the best match 3 puzzle games in the App Store. It’s easy to learn and fun to share.