Combo Crusader — Play Free Online

Combo Crusader is a match-and-chain puzzle game. The board is filled with colourful monsters, and your job is to connect groups of similar creatures so they clear away. The score comes from chain reactions, which is where the name comes from: one tidy move that sets off a run of follow-up clears is worth far more than several small ones.

It is a quiet, thinking-first game rather than a reflex test. A round is a series of short decisions about which group to take now and which to leave for later, so it suits a few spare minutes as well as a longer sit-down. Poki lists it as a puzzle game, and it runs in the browser with nothing to install.

On a site built around Doodle Jump it is a change of pace. There is no falling, no timing a bounce and no platforms to miss. If you want something to play between jumping runs that does not demand fast hands, this is that kind of game.

How to play

The game is played by pointing. On a computer you use the mouse to connect similar monsters; on a phone or tablet you do the same with your finger. Link matching creatures together and they are eliminated from the board. Our catalogue entry also mentions arrow keys or WASD, but the game's own description points to mouse or touch as the way to play, so start there.

The goal is the highest score you can reach, and the way to get it is to plan your clears so that they build on each other and trigger large chain reactions rather than taking the nearest group every time.

Tips

• Look over the whole board before your first move. Grabbing the first obvious group often breaks up a bigger one that sat next to it.
• Think about what shifts after a clear. A move is only as good as the layout it leaves for the next one.
• Do not rush. Nothing here punishes a slow, careful look, and the best chains usually come from a moment of planning.

Similar games on Doodle Jump

For another game where a clear head beats quick reflexes, try Fireboy and Watergirl, which is about working out routes through a temple rather than matching. Bloons Tower Defense 2 is also a planning game, but you spend your time placing towers instead of linking monsters. If you want to get back to fast action, Helix Jump and Doodle Jump itself are the more reflex-driven picks.

Combo Crusader suits short breaks, one-handed play on a phone, and anyone who likes puzzle games that reward planning ahead.