Pixel Arcade
About this game
Gem Columns is a matching puzzle built around one piece: a vertical pillar of three coloured gems that falls into a six-wide well. You cannot change its shape. What you can change is the order of the three gems inside it and which column it lands in.
Left and right move the pillar, up or X cycles the gems within it, and down accelerates the drop; the touch pad maps the same way. Three or more gems of one colour in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line disappear, everything above them falls, and if that fall creates a new line it clears too — with a rising multiplier for each step of the chain.
Because the piece is always three tall and always vertical, the strategy is completely different from a line-clearing well. You are building a colour map rather than a flat surface, and the most efficient players keep the stack deliberately jagged so that diagonals become available. Dropping a pillar of three identical gems onto a matching column clears six at once and is the fastest way to reset a dangerous stack.
Speed increases with your total clears, and the well fills from the top, so leaving a single tall column is the usual way to lose. Three-gem pillar droppers appeared around 1990 as one of the main alternatives to four-cell block puzzles, and the diagonal rule is what still makes them feel distinct.
FAQ
What does cycling do?
It rotates the three gems within the pillar without changing where the pillar is, so you can put the colour you need at the bottom, middle or top.
Do diagonals count?
Yes, and they are the main source of chains, because a diagonal match usually collapses several columns at once.
How is it different from a falling-block game?
You never rotate a shape — the piece is always the same three-tall pillar. All the decisions are about colour order and column choice.
Related games
Found a bug or have an idea? Tell us on Discord. Join the Discord