Strategy guide
The ghost isn't random. Once you understand what it's actually optimizing for, you can start beating it on purpose instead of by luck.
Read the board before you tap
The single biggest score difference between players isn't speed, it's which pair they take. Every pair you clear unlocks some number of new tiles for both players. A pair buried three layers deep, with tiles stacked on top, is usually worth taking first, since clearing it opens the most future options. A pair sitting in an already-open patch of the board barely changes anything when cleared.
Before you tap, glance for tiles with something visibly resting on top of them. Those are usually your highest-value moves.
Ghost Duel: wards and steals
Save your wards for real threats
You only get 3, with one back every 40 seconds. Don't spend one on a pair you don't care about. Watch what the ghost is reaching for: if it's about to take a pair that would have opened up a lot of board for you, that's worth a ward. If it's a pair in a dead corner, let it go.
Stealing is a last resort, not a habit
A stolen pair only scores a quarter of its value. It's there so the ghost never gets something for nothing, not as your main strategy. If you're relying on steals more than your own reads of the board, your score is capped low no matter how fast you tap.
Use crunch time to bait, not panic
Once the ghost speeds up in the final minute, it's still following the same logic, just faster. Keep taking the pairs that open the most tiles, and let your wards regenerate for when it matters. Players who freeze up and start clicking randomly in the last minute are the ones who lose their lead.
Séance: think one move ahead
The ghost in Séance is entirely predictable: it always takes the single most valuable free pair, then, if there's a tie, whichever one opens the most new tiles. That predictability is your entire advantage. Before you take a pair, ask: what does this hand the ghost next?
- If your move exposes a dragon or a wind pair, the ghost will take it on its very next turn. Sometimes it's worth taking a smaller pair yourself and leaving the board undisturbed, rather than opening something valuable up for it.
- Ones and nines score double, winds triple, dragons quadruple. Clearing scarce, high-value tiles yourself, before they become available to the ghost, is usually better than chasing every small pair as fast as possible.
- Since there's no clock, take the extra few seconds to actually look one move ahead. Séance rewards patience more than any other mode.
Zen: fail less, not just clear faster
On Sharp and Ruthless especially, the board can genuinely dead-end if you play carelessly, since there's little or no shuffle to bail you out. Watch the live moves counter next to the timer: if it drops to 1 or 2, stop and think rather than tapping the first match you see. A board that reaches zero available moves with tiles still on it ends the round immediately on Ruthless.
If you're chasing a personal best, remember that clearing the whole board in under a minute adds a flat 1,000 points on top of everything else, so a clean, fast finish is usually worth more than a slow, perfect one.
General habits that raise every score
- Scan before you commit. A half-second look at the whole board before your first tap usually beats reacting to the first pair you spot.
- Track what's scarce. There are only 4 copies of each tile face. If you've already seen 3 dragons of one color go, the 4th is now a lone tile that can't be matched, so don't count on it.
- Don't hoard hints. A hinted pair scores half, so use a hint only when you're actually stuck, not as a way to play faster.
- In Ghost Duel, protect your lead, don't chase the ghost's score. Once you're ahead, taking calm, high-quality pairs usually protects your lead better than rushing.