Homescapes

Homescapes builds on the proven engine of Gardenscapes, just swapping the garden for an old family house that needs to be gradually repaired and furnished. The player goes through match-3 levels where swiping combines colored tokens into triples and higher combinations, and the money earned is then spent on renovating individual rooms – wallpaper, furniture, floors, small decorations. A light comic-style story unfolds between rounds about the butler Austin and his family trying to save the family estate, and this narrative framework gives meaning to what would otherwise be a purely mechanical matching of tokens, motivating the player to progress from room to room.

Playrix chose the same recipe that worked for its garden predecessor Gardenscapes and simply repackaged it in a different setting, which proved to be a reliable strategy for retaining a player base across multiple titles from the same studio running in parallel. The controls are purely touch-based – swiping a finger across the grid, no complex button combinations or extra gestures – so the game works equally well on phone and tablet and is accessible even to people who otherwise don't normally play mobile games. Visually everything is tuned to warm, cozy colors that underline the feeling of a neglected house gradually turning into a home, and with every completed room comes the motivation to see what the next one will look like.

Like the vast majority of Playrix titles, Homescapes is free-to-play with monetization that gradually intensifies – energy for playing runs out fairly quickly, extra moves, boosters and special items cost real money, and the pressure to spend noticeably increases with rising levels. The game nevertheless remains free to download on both major platforms and, even years after release, is regularly updated with new content and events.

Why play it: For fans of relaxed match-3 puzzles with a story sauce and house decorating, who should nonetheless expect that smooth progress without paying gets slower and slower and energy runs out faster than they might expect.