Sunny Farm: Match 3

The pitch

Sunny Farm is a cozy match-3 puzzle with 500 levels across five big worlds: your home farm, a trip around the farms of 10 countries, the Magic Forest, the Sky Islands and the brand-new Golden Sun Valley. Swap neighbouring fruits, line up three or more and set off explosive combos. Every level has its own goal: harvest crops, clear hay, crates, weeds, ice and chains, dig up turf, bring baskets down, catch fireflies, blow a pinwheel to the weathervane — and in the valley, untie festive ribbons and bake layered cakes. What's inside: • 500 levels and 50 chapters on a living map: the farm through the seasons, 10 countries from Holland to Lapland, the Magic Forest, the Sky Islands and Golden Sun Valley • New in the valley: festive ribbons with bows and cakes that bake right on the board — sponge, cream, berries, candles and a burst of fireworks • 14 helper friends: owl, fox, hedgehog, the cloud lamb and the new hamster, peacock, beaver and fawn • Special pieces: rake, beehive, barrel and the magic watering can. Swap two special pieces and both go off! • The Manor: earn planks for your wins and rebuild plots — from the Fairy Glade and the Castle in the Clouds to the Tea Garden and the Triumph Palace • Postcard albums for all five worlds, with a gift for every postcard • Pumpkin Festival: catch jack-o'-lanterns on the board and open festive chests • Your own garden with golden harvests, treasure digging, a frog crossing, a piggy bank, a weekly fair, daily orders and a wheel of fortune • 10 boosters: hammer, shovel, dynamite, pitchfork, basket, bee swarm, hose, lantern, storm and fireworks • Every land has its own music Free to play, no sign-up. Works on phone, tablet and computer.

Controls & how it runs

Mouse or touch: swap two neighbouring fruits to line up three or more of the same kind (drag, or tap one fruit and then its neighbour). The level goal is shown at the top: collect fruits, reach a score, clear the board, dig up turf (match right on it), bring baskets down (match below a basket), catch fireflies (clear the tile under a firefly), push the pinwheel to the weathervane on the Sky Islands (a match next to the pinwheel moves it along the arrows) or, in Golden Sun Valley, untie festive ribbons (match next to the bows at both ends) and bake cakes (match next to a cake: sponge, cream, berries, candles). Special pieces: four in a row — rake (clears a row or column); 2x2 square — beehive; L or T shape — barrel; five in a row — magic watering can (removes every fruit of one kind). Swap two special pieces and both go off. Fog clears when you match on it or next to it. A sleepy cloud wakes up when you match next to it — then its rain hits obstacles or brings goal fruits. Moves left at the end turn into points — finish fast to earn three stars.

Getting a run going takes exactly one press: Press start, up top, and the game boots inside this page — nothing downloads in the background and no form wants your details before the first jump. The cabinet is drawn for a portrait (upright) screen and listens to mouse, keyboard or touch, whichever the game prefers. This cabinet stands tall: it was built for portrait screens, so a phone held upright gives it the frame it wants — though it will squeeze politely into any window. Given a fullscreen button, use it — scores look better at full size, that's just science.

Pro tips for arcade cabinets

• Treat your first run as a scouting mission. Arcade cabinets hide their cruelty in the second minute, not the first — learn where the difficulty spikes before you start chasing numbers.
• Small scores compound. Grab the easy pickups on every pass instead of gambling the whole run on one heroic line; heroes respawn, banked points don't evaporate.
• Watch the edges of the screen. In classic arcade design the next problem almost always enters from somewhere you weren't looking — build the habit of scanning the borders.

Sunny Farm: Match 3 — quick-fire questions

Does Sunny Farm: Match 3 cost anything to play?

Not a token. The cabinet is free from the first run to the five-hundredth — no wallet, no sign-up, no toll booth hiding three levels in. The adverts around the page are what keep the floor's lights on.

What sort of game is Sunny Farm: Match 3?

It stands on our Arcade row — that's the family it plays most like. The pitch above is the publisher's own rundown of what it throws at you and what it hands back.

Can I play Sunny Farm: Match 3 on my phone?

Happily, yes. It runs inside the browser on phones and tablets the same way it does on a computer. This cabinet stands tall: it was built for portrait screens, so a phone held upright gives it the frame it wants — though it will squeeze politely into any window.

Do I need to install anything first?

Nothing whatsoever. Sunny Farm: Match 3 is an HTML5 game: hit the start button and it boots on this page, and shutting the tab sweeps the cabinet clean behind you.

Before you wander off

Personal best banked, or still chasing it? Either way the full Arcade row is powered on and waiting — The main floor: 415 cabinets of pure arcade stock — the quick, the loud and the gloriously unfair. If it beeps, flashes and dares you to beat a number, it lives on this row.