Frostmatch: Multiplayer Match-3 Game with Friends
Race on matching gem boards. Build cascades and send ice to your friends.
Party · 2 to 16 players · about 3 minutes · free to host, nothing to download, TV optional
About the game
Think of a gem-matching puzzle turned into a race. In Frostmatch everyone plays the same 7 by 7 board at the same moment, each on their own screen, and the points you score freeze gems on a friend's board. It takes 2 to 16 players, and with the default settings a game is over in a little more than three minutes. It makes a good warm-up between longer games.
A TV is fun for watching the scores climb, but you do not need one: pick "Just this screen" and your board sits on your own device. On a video call everyone does the same, so nobody has to share their screen.
How to play
- Everyone plays at once on their own screen. You get the same starting board and gem sequence. Swap two neighbouring gems to make a row or column of at least three.
- Each cleared gem scores 10 points. Cascades multiply the next clear, up to five times. Match four to create a line gem, five for a rainbow, or intersecting lines for a bomb. Swap a special gem to activate it.
- Every 150 points sends ice to one opponent, rotating through the group. Incoming ice lands after their next move. Frozen gems cannot move; match them or match beside them to break ice for 5 bonus points.
- A board without a legal move refreshes automatically without losing points. Each round lasts 90 seconds by default. The top two qualifying totals advance to a final; players tied for the second spot also qualify. The final starts at zero. Highest final-round score wins. Qualifying points are added only if players tie for first in the final. If they are still tied, they share the win.
Open a room for Frostmatch. No app, no accounts, free to host.
Tips to play well
- Cascades pay more than one big match. Each wave of falling gems scores 10 per gem times the wave number, up to five times, so a clear low on the board that sets off chains beats a tidy match near the top.
- Ice is sent in 150-point steps, one frozen gem per step and at most four from a single move. Targets rotate round the group, so nobody can pile it on the leader.
- Break ice early. Each frozen gem you free is worth 5 points, a match beside it counts, and frozen gems stay put while the others fall, which spoils the cascades you were planning.
- In the qualifying round you only need a top two place. The final starts everyone at zero, and qualifying points come back only if the final ends level.
- With two players, both of you always reach the final, so treat the qualifying round as practice that banks a tiebreaker.
Host settings
- Qualifying rounds: 1 to 5, default 1. Totals add up across the qualifying rounds, then the top two (and anyone tied for second) play the final.
- Round length: 30 to 180 seconds in steps of 15, default 90. It applies to every round, the final included, with a short pause for the scores in between.
Questions people ask
How is this different from other match-three games?
It is our own take on the swap-three-in-a-row style, but everyone plays the same board at the same time and your score sends ice to the others. There are no lives, levels or purchases.
Can we add computer players?
Yes, the host can add bots. A bot makes the first legal swap it finds about every second and a half, so it is steady but never plans a cascade.
Can we play it on a video call?
Yes. Everyone opens the room on their own device and picks "Just this screen". Use your usual call app for talking.
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Guides
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