Fruit Link is a tile-matching puzzle with one rule that decides everything: two identical fruits clear only if a path can join them with at most two turns. This page explains that rule properly — including the part most players miss — plus all six stages and what changes as you go.
Objective
Tap two identical fruits to clear them. Clear the whole board before the timer runs out.
The path rule
Two fruits clear when a path can join them travelling only through empty cells, turning no more than twice. So a straight line always works, an L-shape works, and a Z or U-shape with two corners works. Three turns does not.
The part people miss: the path may run around the outside edge of the board. There is a permanently empty corridor one cell wide surrounding the grid, and it counts as walkable. That is why two fruits on opposite rims often connect when it looks as though they shouldn't — the route goes out, along, and back in, using only two turns.
Under the hood the matcher is a breadth-first search over straight segments on a grid padded by one cell on every side. That padding ring is the outside corridor. A path is legal at three segments or fewer, which is the same thing as two turns.
Stages
| # | Stage | Grid | Fruits | Time | After each link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fruit Grove | 6×4 | 6 | 2:30 | — |
| 2 | Sunny Orchard | 8×5 | 8 | 2:50 | — |
| 3 | Village Market | 10×6 | 10 | 3:20 | Tiles drop to the bottom of their column |
| 4 | Harvest Festival | 12×6 | 12 | 3:35 | Tiles slide to the left of their row |
| 5 | Windy Bazaar | 12×6 | 12 | 3:25 | Tiles scatter to both ends of their row |
| 6 | Master Grocer | 12×6 | 12 | 3:15 | Tiles crowd into the middle of their row |
The grid stops growing at stage four. From there the difficulty is board motion: after every successful link the survivors rearrange, so a route you spotted a moment ago may no longer exist. The active motion is shown as a chip in the game bar, and on the stage card before you start.
Hints and shuffles get scarcer as you descend — five hints and three shuffles on stage one, one and one by stage six.
Controls
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Select a fruit | Click or tap; tap again to deselect |
| Hint | H — highlights a pair and traces its path |
| Shuffle | S |
| Pause | Esc |
Scoring
100 a pair, plus a 40-point combo step for every match made within 3.5 seconds of the last one, plus 10 for each second left on the clock at the end. Three stars needs 45% of the clock remaining, two stars needs 20% — so the combo chain matters more than careful play.
Strategy
- Clear the edges early. The outside corridor makes rim pairs the easiest joins on the board, and they get harder to reach once the middle fills the routes.
- From stage three, read the board fresh after every link rather than planning two moves ahead. The rearrangement will have moved your second move.
- If no legal move remains, the board reshuffles itself free — it does not spend one of yours. So save paid shuffles for a jam you can see coming, not one you are already in.
- Chase the combo timer. Ten quick pairs are worth far more than ten careful ones.
Questions
Why won't these two identical fruits connect?
The path needs three or more turns, or every route between them is blocked by other fruit. Clearing something in between usually opens it.
Can the path really go outside the board?
Yes — there is a one-cell walkable corridor all the way around. Two fruits on opposite rims can often be joined that way.
Does a free reshuffle cost me a shuffle?
No. A deadlocked board rearranges itself at no cost, because it isn't your mistake.
Are stages unlocked in order?
Yes, and your best score and star rating per stage are kept in your own browser.
Other guides
- Minefield — chording, safe first click and efficiency scoring
- Gold Miner — the price board, TNT chains and the winch
- Fruit Cascade — cascade multipliers and special fruit
- All guides