Diamond Rush 2 — Play Free Online

Diamond Rush 2 is a match-3 puzzle game with a space theme. If the title makes you expect a runner, it is not one: you stay put, look at a board of coloured jewels and swap neighbouring pieces to line up matches. It is a quick, low-pressure change of pace from the jumping and dodging that most of this site is about.

Each level has a progress bar that you fill by clearing matches. The catch is that the bar drains while you sit idle, and if it empties the round is over. That timer gives the game its rhythm. You cannot leave the board and plan three moves ahead for a minute at a time. You have to keep finding matches and keep the bar moving.

It loads in the page, with nothing to install and no account to make, so it suits a few spare minutes between longer sessions of Doodle Jump.

How to play

It is mouse-driven. Use the left mouse button to swap a jewel with the one beside it. Line up three or more of the same kind and they clear, which fills the bar. The site lists arrow keys and WASD for some of its games, but they are not what this one is played with. On a phone or tablet, tap and swipe the jewels instead.

A round goes like this. You scan the board for any available match and make it. New jewels drop in, sometimes forming matches of their own. You keep going until the bar is full and the level is complete. Stalling to look for the perfect move costs you, because the bar keeps falling the whole time.

Tips

• Never leave the board idle. A small, ordinary match is better than a long search for a big one, because the bar only drains when you are not acting.
• Look for matches near the top of the board first. Clearing there lets new jewels fall in and can set up extra matches without costing you a move.
• Keep your eyes on the bar rather than the jewel you are moving. If it is running low, take the nearest match straight away.

Similar games on Doodle Jump

Nothing else here plays quite like this one. Helix Jump is also about timing and keeping a run going, but you steer a ball down a tower. Bird Jumper and Hoppenhelm are platform jumpers that ask for reflexes instead of pattern-spotting. For a calmer pick with a puzzle feel, Fireboy and Watergirl swaps match-3 for cooperative level puzzles.

Diamond Rush 2 suits short sessions, and a mouse or a finger on a touchscreen is all you need.