How to Play Crown Trouble: A Beginner's Guide to the Castle Match-3
Learn Crown Trouble in five minutes: swapping tiles, level goals and moves, Rockets and Bombs, stars, and how every win fixes up your castle. Free in your browser.
Crown Trouble is a match-3 puzzle with a castle to fix up. You swap tiles, you win levels, and every win gives you a star to spend on a run-down royal castle. This guide covers everything you need for your first session, from the first swap to your first finished room.
The board
Every level plays on an 8x8 board. There are five kinds of tile, and each one has its own shape as well as its own color: a crown, a star, a drop, a leaf and a gem. You never have to tell two shades apart. If you can see the shape, you know the tile.
The first few levels use only four kinds of tile, which makes matches easier to find while you learn. Later levels bring in the fifth.
Making a match
Swap two tiles that sit side by side (not diagonally). If the swap lines up three or more of the same kind in a row or a column, they clear. The tiles above fall into the gap, new tiles drop in from the top, and any new lines that form clear on their own. Those follow-up clears are called cascades, and they can chain several times from one swap.
There are two ways to swap:
- Swipe a tile toward its neighbor.
- Tap one tile, then tap the tile next to it.
A swap that doesn’t make a match simply snaps back. It costs nothing, so you can’t lose a move by mistake. And if the board ever runs out of possible matches, it shuffles itself, so you’re never stuck.
Goals and moves
The top of the screen shows two things: the level’s goal and your moves left.
The goal is always to collect a number of tiles of a certain kind, for example 14 crowns. Some levels ask for two kinds at once. Every tile of that kind that clears counts, whether you matched it yourself or a cascade cleared it.
You have a fixed number of moves to do it. Reach the goal with moves to spare and you win. Run out first and you can simply try again; there’s no waiting and no penalty.
The habit that matters most: before each swap, ask whether it clears goal tiles or sets up a match near them. A big match in the wrong kind of tile looks great, but it doesn’t move you toward the win.
Rockets and Bombs
Match more than three and you make a power-up instead of a plain clear:
| Match | Power-up | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Four in a row or column | Rocket | Clears a whole row or column |
| Five in an L or T shape | Bomb | Clears the 3x3 area around it |
Fire a power-up by tapping it or swapping it. When a blast hits another power-up, that one goes off too, which is where the biggest clears come from. Our Crown Trouble boosters guide goes deep on when to make each one and where to fire it.
Stars and the castle
Win a level for the first time and you earn a star. Stars are what the castle runs on.
The castle starts with the Throne Room, and it needs work: rubble on the floor, a broken throne, a cold fireplace. Each repair is a job, and each job costs one star. Finish all five jobs in the Throne Room and the Castle Garden opens with five jobs of its own.
You don’t have to wait for the castle screen to see progress, either. While you play a level, a strip above the board shows the job this level’s star will pay for. As your goal tiles clear, they fly into its picture, and it fills in from the bottom. Win, and it glows: your star is ready to spend.
After a win, the win card offers Fix the castle whenever you have a star to spend, and Next level when you don’t. We cover every job, and the best order to play in, in our Crown Trouble castle guide.
The level map
The map shows the path of levels. Each one you’ve won is marked, and the next one is ready to play. You can replay any level you’ve won, but a level gives its star only once, on the first win. Ten levels, ten stars, ten jobs: the numbers line up so the whole castle can be finished.
Today’s Daily
Once you know the basics, there’s a new board every day: Today’s Daily. It’s the same for everyone, it resets at midnight US Pacific, and winning it keeps your daily streak going. It doesn’t pay a castle star, so it never skips you ahead on the castle. Read more in our Crown Trouble Daily guide.
Five tips for your first session
- Work from the bottom. Matches near the bottom of the board drop more new tiles, which means more chances for free cascades.
- Count before you swap. Check your moves left against the tiles still needed. If the gap is big, look for a Rocket or Bomb setup.
- Use free swaps to look. A swap that doesn’t match costs nothing, but it also does nothing. Spend a moment scanning instead.
- Fire power-ups near goal tiles. A Rocket through a column full of crowns can finish a crown goal in one move.
- Spend stars right away. Each job is a small reward on its own, and the next level’s strip shows the next job filling in.
Hula Points
On HulaGames, Crown Trouble earns Hula Points: for winning levels, for finishing castle jobs and for restoring a whole room. Those points count toward the weekly leaderboards and the Crown Trouble daily quests when they come up.
Play Crown Trouble
Crown Trouble is free in your browser on a phone or computer, with nothing to install. Your progress saves in your browser, and with a free HulaGames account it follows you to any device. Play Crown Trouble and start on the Throne Room.
FAQ
How do you play Crown Trouble?
Swap two neighboring tiles to line up three or more of the same kind. Each level asks you to collect a number of tiles of one or two kinds before your moves run out. Win and you earn a star to spend on your castle.
Does a swap that makes no match cost a move?
No. A swap that makes no match snaps back and costs nothing. Only swaps that make a match use a move.
How many levels does Crown Trouble have?
There are 10 hand-made levels, plus Today’s Daily, a new board every day.
Is Crown Trouble free?
Yes. Crown Trouble is free to play on HulaGames, in your browser on a phone or a computer, with no download.
