Match Masters

Match Masters reimagines the match-3 genre by replacing solo level progression with competitive multiplayer duels. Developed initially by Funtomic in 2017 and relaunched by Candivore in 2018 after the studio acquired the IP, the game has grown into a global hit with 75+ million downloads.

The game is available on iOS, Android, and, since December 2025, on web browsers through Game Distribution partners. Candivore, the independent studio behind Match Masters, employs over 100 professionals and continues to actively develop new content for the game.

What sets Match Masters apart from competitors like Candy Crush Saga or Royal Match is its PvP-only core loop. Players compete directly against friends or random opponents from around the world in real-time matches, creating a social, competitive experience absent from traditional single-player match-3 games.

At its heart, Match Masters is straightforward: two players share a single 7x7 game board filled with colored tiles. Each match lasts four rounds, with both players receiving two moves per round. A 30-second timer limits each turn; if the timer expires before a move is made, the player loses that turn.

Players score points by matching three or more tiles of the same color. Each tile removed equals one point, so larger matches yield higher scores. Matching four tiles in a straight line creates a Line Clear special piece, while matching five tiles in an L or T shape creates a Bomb piece. Matching five tiles in a straight line creates Match Masters' unique Lightning piece, which removes 12 random tiles from the board rather than all tiles of a single color.

The player with the highest cumulative score after all four rounds wins the match and earns trophies and coins, both scaling with the opponent's rating and the rarity of the booster brought. Losing a match costs trophies and, critically, the booster you brought.

The booster system

Boosters are Match Masters' defining mechanic. Before every match, players must select one booster from their inventory to bring into battle. Boosters are special abilities activated during the match by collecting colored pieces: matching blue stars charges your booster meter, while matching red circles charges your opponent's. Once charged, typically requiring 5 to 7 pieces, the booster can be activated without consuming a move.

The critical risk-reward mechanic: if you win the match, you retain your booster. If you lose, the booster is consumed and lost. To play again after losing, you must either select a different booster from your inventory, purchase new boosters with coins, or wait for free bronze boosters to refill over roughly an hour.

Boosters are organized into six rarity tiers. Bronze boosters cost 50 coins or refill free every hour and include Firecracker, Rubber Ducky, and Paint Bucket. Silver runs 100 coins, gold 200, and diamond 400 to 1,000, covering names like The Slime, Laser Beam, Mastermind, High Voltage, and Foxy Roxy. Legendary boosters such as Mixy Meow and Billie Boom come from gacha or event rewards, while Special Edition boosters arrive through bundles or gacha. There are 30+ boosters in total, each with a distinct effect ranging from board-clearing explosions to score multipliers and tile transformations.

Match modifiers and special rules

Match Modifiers unlock at 100 trophies and apply special rules to every match within a given trophy rank. Funky Tiles gives some tiles rainbow edges that explode adjacent tiles in a plus shape when matched. Candy World drops multicolored Jelly Beans that match with both red and blue pieces. Beam Blast explodes all pieces after a match until reaching a piece of the same color.

By the time players reach Master Ranks at 3,800 trophies, all modifiers are unlocked, and players are placed in Daily Mode, which randomizes modifiers daily for regular matches. Some matches and game modes can carry up to two additional modifiers, such as changing the number of rounds or reducing booster charging costs.

Match Masters features numerous game modes that rotate in and out of the active schedule. The most prominent:

• Classic PvP: the standard four-round 1v1 duel on a shared board.
• Match Rumble: a battle royale for 10 to 60 players on individual boards, with the bottom scorers eliminated each round.
• Score Rally: players compete to reach score milestones, featuring multiplier mushrooms.
• Tournament Mode: a knockout bracket with quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, played best-of-three.
• Column Mania: each column carries a score multiplier and 20 players compete for the highest.
• Multiplier Mushrooms: a 60-player mode where matching mushrooms raises your multiplier; scores can reach the hundreds of thousands.
• Party Rumble: a variant of Match Rumble with its own special rules.
• Speed Solo: a time-limited solo mode with mode combos.

Match Rumble is particularly worth knowing for newer players: because it is not a 1v1 duel, it lets you grind trophies without risking the booster you brought.

Match Masters does not use a traditional XP or leveling system. Instead, progression is measured through trophies, which function as both a ranking metric and an unlock gate for features.

Players earn trophies for winning matches and lose them for losing, with amounts scaling to the opponent's rating and booster rarity. The trophy road has secured ranks: once a player reaches a new rank threshold, they cannot drop below it even if they lose trophies afterwards.

• 0 to 100 trophies: the tutorial and early game, with no match modifiers yet.
• 100 trophies: Match Modifiers unlock.
• 200 trophies: Sticker Albums unlock.
• 1,400 trophies: the Teams feature unlocks.
• 3,800 trophies: Master Ranks unlock, along with all boosters, teams, and most events and modes.
• 16,000 trophies: Legendary Leagues unlock, opening access to Legendary and Special Edition boosters.
• 30,000 trophies: the Legends League seasonal ladder unlocks.
• 200,000 trophies: the maximum Legends League rank, which resets to 30,000 each season.

Reaching 3,800 trophies takes roughly 150 to 250 total matches. Reaching 30,000 takes 1,000 to 2,000 matches, and 200,000 takes 5,000 to 10,000. The curve is steep enough that the later thresholds represent a serious time commitment rather than a weekend push.

Match Masters runs on three currencies with quite different roles.

Coins

Coins are the currency that actually matters day to day, used to purchase boosters, sticker packs, and event entry. You earn them by winning matches, taking the free Daily Spin, hitting event milestones, watching optional rewarded ads, helping teammates, and through in-app purchases. A win pays more at higher trophy tiers and with rarer boosters.

Trophies

Trophies are not spendable. They function purely as a progression metric and an unlock gate for features, which is why the trophy road matters more than any balance you accumulate.

Stars

Stars come from matches, at 2 to 3 per win and 1 per loss, and feed team progression rather than your own. They are what unlocks the weekly Team Box, which is why an active roster is worth joining.

Sticker Albums are Match Masters' primary collection system, and they come in three types. Basic Albums are permanent and can be collected at any time. Adventure Albums are unlocked via adventure challenges and can be reset and replayed. Seasonal Albums run for about a month and are available only during their season.

Sticker rarities run white, silver, gold, and diamond within Basic Albums, from easy through very rare, plus Adventure and Seasonal stickers exclusive to their own album types.

Completing sticker albums rewards outfits, coins, boosters, Super Spins, and Special Edition stickers. Default starting outfits are Pig or Crocodile and Bunny or Koala, with additional outfits such as Chicklet, Tiger, Wolf, and Cow earned through album completion.

Sending rules vary by rarity and are worth planning around: white and silver stickers can be sent every 24 hours, gold on Sundays only, diamond on special days only, and seasonal stickers every Sunday.

The Teams feature unlocks at 1,400 trophies and lets players chat with fellow members, exchange boosters, send and receive stickers, participate in team events, and access team boxes with weekly rewards.

When you help teammates get what they want, whether random stickers, random boosters, lucky spins, or On Fire perks, you receive 5 coins for every help. You can send an item request every 24 hours.

Being in an active team makes a significant difference in progression, since teammates help each other with sticker trades, share tips, and coordinate during events. The gap between an active roster and a dormant one is one of the larger swings available to a free player.

Yes, Match Masters is free to download and playable without spending money. The game uses a free-to-play model with in-app purchases and optional rewarded video ads.

In-app purchases run from $0.49 to $99.99 on Google Play and $1.99 to $19.99 on the App Store. Home screen offers bundle boosters, coins, and stickers at $1.99 to $9.99 with one-hour to one-day windows. Legendary booster bundles run around $15 and Special Edition bundles around $22, both granting random boosters. A season pass or monthly subscription runs $5.49 to $20.99 across multiple tiers, which is higher than the genre average.

Ad practices

Match Masters is notably ad-light in its core loop, with no forced ads during matches. This is a genuine differentiator and is frequently praised by players. Optional rewarded video ads are available for bonus coins, extra spins, or reshuffling booster rewards.

Pay-to-win concerns

The most common complaint across both app stores is that matches feel rigged or pay-to-win: reviewers say you cannot win without buying, that you get paired against far stronger boosters, and that progress stalls unless you spend. While the game is technically playable for free, the booster economy is designed to encourage spending to stay competitive at higher trophy levels.

If competitive match-3 appeals but this particular economy does not, a few other games sit nearby in the genre.

• Candy Crush Saga: the genre's benchmark, built on solo level progression rather than PvP. No booster-loss risk, but also none of the head-to-head tension.
• Royal Match: another solo-progression match-3 with a decoration meta-game. Heavier on ads than Match Masters, which is one of the clearer trade-offs between them.
• Bingo Blitz: a different genre, but a comparable live-event calendar and daily-gift rhythm if that loop is what keeps you coming back.

All of them are free to play with optional purchases, and none of them pay real money. If you play more than one, the free reward links for each are collected here too.