Do I need an account?

No. Opening the page is the whole setup.

Where does the score go?

Into this browser on this device. Nothing is sent to a server, so it does not follow you to another device.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. The pad and drop button below the board are sized to be pressed with a thumb.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Once the page has loaded, it plays through with the network off.

What if I stop halfway?

The board and score are kept, and reopening the page resumes from there.

It starts off. The button below the board turns it on, and that choice is remembered.

A fourth bead clears the group immediately, so the material for a chain is laid down in threes. A single bead falling from above becomes the fourth, that group goes, and the beads above it fall into the next group. Stacking several of those in advance is what a chain is. No points arrive while you build, which is why holding back feels harder than clearing.

Build in steps, not columns

Place threes of a colour on a diagonal. When the bottom group clears, the beads above drop one column at a time and complete each group in turn. Stacked straight up, the beads that fall stay in the same column and never complete anything. A diagonal is the shape that does not connect now so that it can connect after the fall.

Keep the third column clear

Beads enter at the third column from the left. Fill that to the ceiling and the game ends there and then. Stack high at the edges and leave the middle breathing room; the taller your chain gets, the more that one column decides how long you last.

Four colours, not five

With five, accidental groups become rare enough that a new player can finish a game without ever seeing a chain. Four sits at the point where chains reward planning but still happen on their own now and then. Each bead is drawn at random with no weighting.

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Chain puzzle

Runs in your browserNothing is uploaded

Pairs of coloured beads fall. Link four of one colour in a row or column and they vanish; whatever was above drops into the gap, and if that lands four in a row it clears too. The longer the chain, the sharper the score rises.

Score 0Best 0Longest chain 0

Four of a colour in a row or column clears. Beads falling into the gap can clear again — that is a chain.

Keyboard: ← → move / ↓ one row / ↑ or X turn / Z turn back / Space drop / P pause

Beads above fall into the cleared gap. If they land four in a row, the next clear happens on its own — that is a chain.

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Why this one

The chain is the game: Clearing four beads five times over scores far less than one five-step chain. The first step of a chain is worth 40 points; the fifth step, for the same four beads, is worth over 2,000. Holding back a clear you could take now is where the game actually lives.
Beads fall one at a time: The moment a pair lands, its two beads settle independently — if one has empty space below it, only that one drops. Building in steps therefore produces shapes you can aim for. Landing the pair as a rigid unit would leave beads floating and break chains.
Close it and come back: The board and score are kept on this device. Reopen the page and you carry on where you stopped. Nothing is sent to a server, so no score of yours is visible to anyone — including us.

How to play

Move left and right
Use the pad below the board or the arrow keys to pick a column. Hold a direction to keep moving.
Turn the pair
The middle of the pad, or the up arrow, rotates it. It shifts off a wall rather than refusing, so the edge columns stay usable.
Link four
Four of a colour in a row or column clear. Whatever falls into the gap can clear again, and that is a chain.

Building a chain

Why stop at three: A fourth bead clears the group immediately, so the material for a chain is laid down in threes. A single bead falling from above becomes the fourth, that group goes, and the beads above it fall into the next group. Stacking several of those in advance is what a chain is. No points arrive while you build, which is why holding back feels harder than clearing.
Build in steps, not columns: Place threes of a colour on a diagonal. When the bottom group clears, the beads above drop one column at a time and complete each group in turn. Stacked straight up, the beads that fall stay in the same column and never complete anything. A diagonal is the shape that does not connect now so that it can connect after the fall.
Keep the third column clear: Beads enter at the third column from the left. Fill that to the ceiling and the game ends there and then. Stack high at the edges and leave the middle breathing room; the taller your chain gets, the more that one column decides how long you last.
Four colours, not five: With five, accidental groups become rare enough that a new player can finish a game without ever seeing a chain. Four sits at the point where chains reward planning but still happen on their own now and then. Each bead is drawn at random with no weighting.

Questions

Do I need an account?: No. Opening the page is the whole setup.
Where does the score go?: Into this browser on this device. Nothing is sent to a server, so it does not follow you to another device.
Does it work on a phone?: Yes. The pad and drop button below the board are sized to be pressed with a thumb.
Does it work offline?: Yes. Once the page has loaded, it plays through with the network off.
What if I stop halfway?: The board and score are kept, and reopening the page resumes from there.
Is there sound?: It starts off. The button below the board turns it on, and that choice is remembered.

Related tools

Why this one

How to play

Move left and right

Turn the pair

Link four

Building a chain

Questions