# Match 3 games without microtransactions **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 13, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-without-microtransactions/798747 "2017-10-13T18:27:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **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:** [October 13, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-without-microtransactions/798747/1 "2017-10-13T18:27:36Z")
Match 3 games. There are hundreds of thousands of them out there, 99% of them little more than slightly different copies of each other, and 99% of those are little more than flimsy attempts to leech money out of you a buck at a time. There are just a few that do not follow the In-App Purchase model in favor of the simple old-school “pay-up-front-and-get-the-complete-game” model. There’s Bejeweled Classic. There’s 10,000,000 and its sequel You Must Build a Boat. There’s SwapSword. What else is there? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-without-microtransactions/798747/2 "2017-10-13T18:43:06Z")
Match 3/dating sim HuniePop. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-without-microtransactions/798747/3 "2017-10-13T19:14:39Z")
I really, really enjoyed Puzzle Quest. Got a lot of play out of it some years back. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-without-microtransactions/798747/4 "2017-10-14T00:18:25Z")
On Android (and probably iOS), there’s [Jewel Legends](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bigfishgames.jltolgooglefull&hl=en). One of the only casual Match-3 games I’ve found that’s all one package. I say “casual” to separate it from games like 10,000,000 which are more frantic and have RPG-lite options (like upgrading your base and buying armor) On the PC/Mac, assuming you don’t want to go the HuniPop route, there’s [Kitten Sanctuary](http://www.bigfishgames.com/games/5000/kitten-sanctuary/). ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-without-microtransactions/798747/5 "2017-10-15T15:49:24Z")
Cookie Jam is the most fun match 3 I have played. While there are microteansactions, they are completely unnecessary. The game gives away lots of free stuff and once a month or so they do a 24 hour unlimited lives events. In on level 1249 and have yet to spend a dime. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-without-microtransactions/798747/6 "2017-10-17T10:06:28Z")
Echoing the above, I know it’s not what you asked for but I’ve completed over 2,100 levels on Candy Crush Saga (the original) for zero outlay, which is pretty good value. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-without-microtransactions/798747/7 "2017-10-17T13:16:33Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > On the PC/Mac, assuming you don’t want to go the HuniPop route, there’s [Kitten Sanctuary](http://www.bigfishgames.com/games/5000/kitten-sanctuary/). Looks like Big Fish Games, which you linked to, has literally hundreds of pay-up-front Match 3 games (of varying quality, I assume). Probably there are plenty of other sources. The pay-up-front model is not dead, if you’re looking in the right place. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-without-microtransactions/798747/8 "2017-10-17T13:24:02Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Match 3/dating sim HuniePop. PORNOGRAPHIC match 3/dating sim, it should be noted. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/match-3-games-without-microtransactions/798747/9 "2017-10-17T15:36:38Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Looks like Big Fish Games, which you linked to, has literally hundreds of pay-up-front Match 3 games (of varying quality, I assume). Yeah, they also did Jewel Legends. Which is, curiously and unfortunately, the only “pay up front” Match 3 game that Big Fish has on mobile. They have other mobile Match 3’s but they’re all on the microtransaction model. As you said, they have lots of stuff for the PC/Mac though if the OP is interested in that.