CRUNCH: play free online

You slide every block at once to the left, right, up or down, and two blocks of the same level collide and fuse into one higher block. It opens in a second in your browser on a phone or a computer, for free and with no account.

You will get the rules after your first swipe. Each move pushes the whole board to one edge, and then a new block appears on a free square. Only blocks of the same level merge, and every level has its own colour, so you can see at once what fits together. A round lasts as long as you have any move left. When the board jams, the game tells you plainly that there are no moves left, and a new round starts with one tap.

What sets CRUNCH apart is how it sounds. The sound is made live while you play: every merge has its own tone, a higher block sounds different from a lower one, and the tempo of the music follows how fast you play. There are three materials to choose from. Crystal rings like glass, Wax answers with a soft, wooden knock, and Gummy pops springily under your finger. On phones that support it you also feel each merge as a short vibration, as long as the sound is on.

Each round gives you one undo of your last move. It is best saved for the move you truly regret rather than one you merely doubt, because you will not get a second one in that round. Once you use it, the button shows that the undo for this round is gone.

How do you get a high score? Keep your highest block in one corner and do not pull it out without a reason, and line up the lower ones next to it along the edge, from the largest to the smallest. Avoid swipes in the direction that drags the highest block out of its corner. At first it is enough to merge whatever you see, but once the board starts to fill up, plan two moves ahead: which block to keep for later and which to merge now to set off a chain of merges. Your record jumps the moment you stop playing greedily.

Next to the score of the current round you see your record, and the best rounds go to the klyo leaderboard. On a phone you swipe with your finger, on a computer you use the arrow keys, and the board adapts by itself to whether you hold the screen upright or sideways.

It is a game for someone with five free minutes who wants to keep their head busy without a long session: in a queue, on the tram or during a coffee break. A round ends quickly and the next one starts with a single tap, so it is easy to tell yourself just one more.