# Match 3 Games, Good Idea/Bad Idea: Follow the suggested move? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 14, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573 "2017-05-14T03:53:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/1 "2017-05-14T03:53:22Z")
You know what I’m talking about (unless you don’t, in which case you will be no help here :)). Match 3 games. Do nothing for a few seconds, the game will suggest a move. Is this generally helpful, not helpful, or neutral? I mean, is the game’s suggestion a net positive move, or is it just _a_ move? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/2 "2017-05-14T04:09:53Z")
You mean things like Bejeweled? In most of these games, the suggested move will just be the first one the move-suggester found. It probably won’t do anything to set up or trigger a combo, which is where the vast majority of the points come from in such a game. I suppose some of them might suggest the move that will give the highest score, which will mean suggesting that you trigger a combo, but that still won’t help you to set one up. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/3 "2017-05-14T06:23:40Z")
In my experience, it’s just a move. I can almost always find a better one. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/4 "2017-05-14T06:59:13Z")
I agree with the above posters. It’s just a move. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/5 "2017-05-14T07:23:48Z")
Sometimes it’s the only move, so it’s nice to know where. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/6 "2017-05-14T19:57:42Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Sometimes it’s the only move, so it’s nice to know where. Yeah if you’re **really** stuck at least it gives you something to do. If it always showed you the best move it wouldn’t be much of a game, would it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/7 "2017-05-14T23:51:21Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > If it always showed you the best move it wouldn’t be much of a game, would it? 😉 I don’t know. I can’t prove it, but because of the randomness and the artificial difficulty built in to these types of games, I have a feeling optimal play would not necessarily yield significantly different results than just always making the first match you see. . ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/8 "2017-05-15T01:28:21Z")
Neutral, for most games that I’ve played. I generally play them, since they rarely come up if I’m not at a total loss for moves. (Based on how often the board then resets, about half the time it is the only possible move, the other half I’m just not seeing anything else.) The exception is in the Puzzle Quest games…I don’t know if it’s just confirmation bias, or something actually coded into the games, but the suggested move in those seems to me to most often be crap for me, while setting up a huge cascade for the computer. So, unless I’m 100% sure it’s the only possible move, I ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/9 "2017-05-15T01:30:52Z")
It’s vastly different. You can get more points from a single combo than you can in hours of just taking the first move you see. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/10 "2017-05-16T21:00:43Z")
These games are so crazy random that most of the time there’s barely such a thing as a “good move” anyway. Cite: [This Dumb Industry: Fixing Match 3 - Twenty Sided](http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=36563) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-good-idea-bad-idea-follow-the-suggested-move/786573/11 "2017-05-16T21:33:49Z")
OK, so now there are two people on the Internet saying “I’m no good at this game, therefore nobody’s any good, and it’s all luck”. Seriously, take your Match-3 game of choice, look up some high scores online, and then try to get anywhere remotely close to those scores by playing randomly.