How to play Grand Bazaar: rules, orders and tips

How do you play Grand Bazaar?

Tap an open tile on the board and its item moves to the counter. The counter has 7 spaces, and identical items line up next to each other. The moment a third copy arrives, the triple is cleared and space opens up.

When no tiles are left on the board, you win the level. If all seven spaces fill up without a triple, the Counter Full! screen appears and the level is lost. When the counter holds 5 items, its edge flashes red: from then on, only take tiles that complete the pairs you already have.

Controls

• On phone and computer: tap or click a tile.
• Z key: uses the Undo helper.
• Esc key: opens and closes the pause screen.

The button at the top left opens the Pause screen: continue, restart, or go back to the map or the main menu. The gear at the top right opens effects, music and language settings; the timer stops while settings are open.

Tiles and layers

Tiles are stacked in layers. A tile with another tile on top of it looks dark and cannot be taken; if you tap it, it shakes. Once the tiles above are gone, it lights up. The board can be shaped like a rectangle, a diamond, a ring, a cross or an hourglass.

Level 1 has 18 tiles and 3 kinds of items. As you progress, the board grows, layers go up to five and there are more kinds of items. Levels are generated in the game so that each one has at least one solution; there is no final level.

Customer orders

From level 2 on, a customer appears on the card at the top of every level and asks for a set from the bazaar. There are 10 sets, such as a coffee service, a dowry chest, a tea table, holiday treats or a housewarming gift. The card shows the items wanted: at most 3 up to level 11, and at most 4 from level 12 on.

• Complete one triple of every wanted item; a finished item gets a check mark.
• When all are done, the order is delivered and you earn 20 to 30 bonus gold.
• Every triple of an item that is not in the order costs one point of the customer's patience. If you make another such triple while patience is at zero, the customer leaves.
• Even if the customer leaves, the level goes on, but you can get at most 2 stars on it.

Patience is calculated on every level from a route on which the order can be delivered, so every order has a solution.

Special tiles and bargaining

• Gold Tile (from level 3): a tile with a gold coin on its corner; matching it gives +5 gold.
• Hidden Tile (from level 6): its item is hidden and appears once the tiles above are removed.
• Chained Tile (from level 9): every triple anywhere on the board breaks one link; when the number reaches zero, the tile can be taken.
• Bargain level (5, 10, 15...): a timer counts down. Clear the board in time and the reward is doubled. Hidden and chained tiles do not appear on these levels.

Each new kind of tile is introduced with a short card the first time it appears.

Score, stars and gold

Every item that lands on the counter is worth 10 points and every triple 30. Make triples less than 4 seconds apart to start a streak: the second triple is worth 60 points, the third 90. Finishing early adds a time bonus.

Stars depend on speed. Finish in under 2.2 seconds per tile on average for 3 stars, up to 3.6 seconds for 2 stars, and slower for 1 star. On a bargain level, finishing with at least half of the time left gives 3 stars, with at least a quarter left 2 stars. If you missed the order, you get 2 stars at most.

The level reward is 30 gold for 1 star, 40 for 2 and 50 for 3, doubled on bargain levels. Replaying a level you have already passed gives half the reward. Gold from gold tiles and delivered orders is added on top.

Helpers and second chances

You start with 3 uses of each of the three helpers:

• Undo: puts the last item you sent to the counter back in its place on the board.
• Magnet: pulls the missing copies of an item and completes the triple at once; if the order still has an unfinished item, it pulls that one first. It can take covered, hidden or chained tiles if needed.
• Shuffle: tiles stay in place, but the items on them swap. It never gives a dead end; if shuffling would not help either, no use is spent.

When a helper runs out, you can get 1 more use by watching a short ad or paying 60 gold; where ads are turned off, you get 3 free uses every day. If the counter fills up, you can put the last 3 items back on the board, and if bargain time runs out, you can get 30 extra seconds. A second chance can be used once per level and is always your choice.

Map, bazaar and shops

The Map shows the levels you have unlocked and your stars; you can go back to any of them. The Bazaar screen has five streets: Carpet Sellers, Goldsmiths, Spice Sellers, Coppersmiths and Booksellers. Each street has 5 run-down shops, 25 in total. You restore them with gold: the first shop costs 60 gold, and the last shop on the last street 540.

When all five shops on a street are restored, you get +2 uses of every helper and the next street opens. Each new street brings two new items into the levels, so the 12 starting items grow to 20.

Story

Rıfat the bookseller gives you the key to the shop your grandfather left you and asks you to bring the bazaar back to life. The story is told in four short scenes when you first play; you can skip it with Skip. When all 25 shops are restored, a closing scene follows.

Tips

• Look at the counter before you tap: taking the third copy of an item you already have two of is the safest move.
• Complete triples of the items on the order card first; do not waste patience on other triples.
• Clear the top layers first; the match you need is often under a dark tile.
• Uncover a hidden tile while there is still room on the counter; you never know what will appear.
• Use the Magnet when the counter starts flashing red.
• Restore the shops in order: every finished street means 6 helper uses and two new items.

Common mistakes

• Collecting one or two of many different items: each takes a space on the counter and the 7 spaces run out fast.
• Playing without looking at the order card: triples of other items use up patience and you miss the third star.
• Trying to tap dark tiles: they cannot be taken until the tiles above them are gone.
• Rushing to free a chained tile: the chain breaks by itself with every triple anywhere on the board.
• Spending helpers at the start of a level: Undo and Magnet help most when the counter is about to fill up.