Gem Grotto
Gem Grotto
Match-3 cascades and Geode Rush through 100 cave levels
© 2026 Rankeno. All rights reserved.
Leaderboard
How to play
A match-3 puzzle in a glittering cave: swap neighbouring gems to line up three or more, set off cascades and fuse specials into combos. Fill the geode meter for a Geode Rush of free swaps and dig through 100 levels in ten chapters, with a rock golem at the end of each.
- Swipe a gem toward a neighbour, or tap one gem and then the other, to swap them. A swap only stays if it lines up 3 or more of one colour.
- Line up 4 for a Drill gem, an L or T shape for a Burst gem and 5 for a Prism. Swap two specials together for a combo.
- Each level has goals at the top and a move limit. Reach the goals before the moves run out, or you lose a life and the level is dealt again.
- Cascades, specials and combos fill the geode meter. When it is full you get a Geode Rush: six seconds of free swaps where any swap stays.
- Boosters such as the Hammer, +5 Moves and Prism Spark sit under the meter. Tap one to use it.
Controls
- Mouse: drag a gem onto a neighbour, or click one then the other
- Arrows move the cursor, Space or Enter grabs a gem and an arrow swaps it
- H shows a hint
- 1-6 use boosters (Hammer and Prism Spark then apply at the cursor with Space)
- P or Esc to pause
On a touchscreen: Swipe a gem toward a neighbour, or tap two neighbouring gems; tap a booster button, then a gem for the Hammer or Prism Spark; tap to skip the level banner.
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About Gem Grotto
Gem Grotto is a match-3 puzzle set deep in a mountain. The board is an 8 by 8 tray of cut gems, each colour with its own shape: round rubies, cushion sapphires, emerald-cut emeralds, pear citrines, marquise amethysts and hexagonal aquamarines. Swap two neighbours to line up three or more of a colour and the line shatters, the gems above fall and anything new that lines up clears too, so one swap can set off a whole cascade. Four in a line leaves a Drill gem that bores its row or column, an L or T shape leaves a Burst gem that blasts the nine cells around it, and five in a line makes a Prism that clears every gem of the colour you swap it with. Swap two specials into each other for a combo such as the Star Bore, which drills a row, a column and both diagonals at once.
Gem Grotto is an original game made for Rankeno Play and first released in 2026; it runs free in any modern browser on a phone or a computer, with every run ranked on the Rankeno Play leaderboards. The 100 levels run through ten chapters, from the sunlit Glimmer Mouth through the Frost Seam, Rail Tunnels, Boulder Hall, Root Hollow, Amethyst Garden, Lantern Deep, Magma Vein and Sunken River down to the Heart of the Mountain, and each chapter adds something new: ice, relic carts, boulders, vines, creeping crust, darkness and lanterns, ember gems with a countdown, flowing river rows and giant geodes. A rock golem waits at every tenth level and a Treasure Vein bonus at every fifth, and after level 100 the grotto keeps going with endless remixed levels.
Game facts
- Category
- Puzzle
- Scores
- Points, highest wins
- Works on
- Desktop and phone browsers
- Made by
- Rankeno
Gem Grotto tips and strategy
- The geode meter fills from cascades (the second pass of a cascade adds 3, the third 6 and so on), from each special you make and from combos, up to 15 per move, and every run starts with it more than half full. A Geode Rush lasts 6 seconds of free swaps and its clock stops while cascades play, so use it to push specials next to each other and fire combos.
- Every fourth Geode Rush raises the geode tier, so Rush points go from double to 2.5, 3 and finally 3.5 times. The tier is shown on the meter and it carries through the whole run.
- Each move you have left when a level is done pays 150 points times the chapter multiplier, and finishing a level on its very last move adds a clutch bonus of 500 times the multiplier.
- Ember gems lose one point of their countdown with every move you spend and erupt at zero, which costs a life. Any match in the eight cells around an ember cools it for 250 points times the chapter multiplier, doubled if it was down to 1.
- Relic carts cannot be matched: clear the gems under one and it rolls out on the rail at the bottom (or drops down a shaft in the board) for 500 points times the chapter multiplier.
- A golem takes 1 damage for every gem you clear and 3 for gems of the colour glowing on its chest. The cells its next attack will hit are marked one move ahead, so you can clear them first.
Gem Grotto FAQ
What happens when you run out of moves in Gem Grotto?
Can a Gem Grotto board run out of moves to make?
Is Gem Grotto free to play?
Can I play Gem Grotto on my phone or tablet?
How do the Gem Grotto leaderboards work?
Gem Grotto is an original Rankeno game. © 2026 Rankeno. All rights reserved. The game, its code, artwork, sounds and name are protected by copyright; copying, re-hosting, embedding or redistributing them is not allowed. See our Terms.