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Mochi Link

Match two candy chips only when a clear lane with no more than two right-angle turns can run between them — then watch the elbow connector snap shut and pop the pair.

About Mochi Link

Mochi Link is the classic connect-the-pairs board, the one tile fans know as Onet or Shisen-Sho, dressed up in soft pastel candy chips. Each chip carries one of twelve hand-drawn glyphs — dot, ring, heart, star, triangle, drop, leaf, moon, square, flower, spark and cross — and because every glyph is dealt in an even count, the whole grid can always be emptied two chips at a time. You tap a chip to lift and glow it, tap its twin, and if a legal lane joins them the pair vanishes with a sparkle.

The whole game lives in one rule: the connecting lane. Two matching chips clear only when an unobstructed route can run between them through already-empty cells using at most two right-angle turns — three straight segments at the very most. One turn makes an L; two turns make a Z or a staircase; a path that would need three or more bends simply does not count, even when the chips sit close together. That single constraint is what makes a Mochi Link board a reading puzzle: you are constantly scanning for the chip pair whose lane is still open.

There is a clever twist that catches new players out. The lane is allowed to leave the grid entirely and run through the one-cell channel that wraps the whole board, so a chip on the far-left edge and one on the far-right edge can link by sweeping up and over the top rim, or down and around the bottom. Edge and corner chips are often the easiest to clear, not the hardest, once you remember the outside lane exists.

Crucially, the chips never fall, slide, or collapse when a pair clears — the cleared cells just become empty lane and everything else stays exactly where it sat. There is no gravity and no restacking here, which is what separates Mochi Link from match-three and falling-block games: the board you study is the board you solve, and each clear only opens new lanes, never reshuffles the field under you.

The journey runs across 20 hand-built levels in five candy worlds of four boards each — Berry, Citrus, Mint, Ocean and Galaxy. Berry starts gentle with tiny four-wide grids and only three or four glyphs; later worlds widen the board toward nine-by-nine, add more glyph kinds, and stop being plain rectangles — Mint introduces punched holes, then come hollow frames and rotated-diamond outlines, so lanes have to thread through awkward gaps. Clear all twenty and an endless run takes over, generating fresh boards that begin at Galaxy-level difficulty and keep climbing toward a ten-wide grid using all twelve glyphs.

Behind the scenes a built-in solver checks every board — curated, endless, and reshuffled — before it ever reaches you, confirming it can be cleared all the way down. And because even a solvable board can be painted into a dead end by a careless clearing order, a shuffle button under the board re-scatters whatever chips are left into a freshly re-verified layout, and the game shuffles itself the instant the last legal lane disappears.

How to play Mochi Link

Tap a candy chip — it lifts and glows to mark your first pick.
Tap a second chip carrying the same glyph to attempt a link.
If a lane of at most two right-angle turns can join them, a glowing elbow connector snaps along the route and both chips pop in a burst of sparkles.
Remember the lane may swing out through the empty channel around the board's edge, so chips on opposite rims can still reach each other.
If the second chip is a different glyph, or no open lane exists, your pick just hops to that chip so you can try the next pairing.
Empty the whole board to finish the level; tap the shuffle button under the board any time you want the remaining chips re-scattered into a fresh solvable layout.

Controls

Input	Action
`Tap` / `left-click a chip`	Select it as your first pick, or try to link it to your current pick
`Tap your selected chip again`	Deselect it
`Tap an empty cell`	Cancel the current selection
`Tap the round shuffle button under the board`	Re-scatter the remaining chips into a new, solver-verified layout
`Settings gear`	Open level select, shuffle, restart the level, or toggle sound

Tips & strategy

Count the bends before you tap: trace the lane in your head and make sure it turns no more than twice. Two chips an inch apart still will not link if the only route between them zig-zags three or more times.
Lean on the outside lane. The path can hug the empty ring around the board, so a left-edge chip and a right-edge chip usually connect by going up and over or down and under — clear those rim pairs early.
Open the centre first. Clearing chips in the middle carves long straight lanes that later let stubborn edge and corner pairs reach across the board.
Re-read the board after every clear, because removing one pair can be the move that finally opens a lane for a pair somewhere else entirely.
When a glyph appears four or six times, clear the convenient copies first so the last pair of that glyph still has an open lane to travel through.
Tapping a second chip of the right glyph but no valid lane gives a little red shake and bounces your pick there — it is a free hint that those two are the same glyph but currently unreachable.
Glance at the 'pairs left' count up top to see how close the board is to empty.
Stuck for a move? The shuffle button is always safe — it keeps the same chips and only re-arranges them into a verified-solvable layout, and the board auto-shuffles itself if you ever run it dry.

Game features

Onet / Shisen-Sho connect-the-pairs play rendered as pastel candy chips with twelve distinct hand-drawn glyphs (dot, ring, heart, star, triangle, drop, leaf, moon, square, flower, spark, cross).
The signature lane rule: clear two matching chips only when a route of at most two right-angle turns links them through empty cells.
Edge-wrap lanes — the path may run through the one-cell channel around the whole board, so opposite-rim chips can connect by going around the outside.
A static board with no gravity: clearing a pair leaves empty lane behind and nothing falls, slides, or restacks.
20 hand-built levels across five candy worlds — Berry, Citrus, Mint, Ocean and Galaxy.
Boards grow from a tiny four-wide grid with three glyphs up to nine-wide with ten, in full-rectangle, punched-hole, hollow-frame and rotated-diamond shapes.
Endless mode after level 20: generated boards that begin at Galaxy difficulty and ramp toward a ten-wide grid with all twelve glyphs, every shape in rotation.
A built-in solver verifies every board — curated, endless, and shuffled — so each one can be fully cleared.
One-tap shuffle plus automatic reshuffling the moment no legal lane remains, both into freshly re-verified layouts.
Glowing elbow connectors, sparkle pops, screen-shake and gentle synthesized chimes you can mute.
Unlocked levels saved in your browser; plays instantly on phone, tablet and desktop with no download or account.

Game details

Title: Mochi Link
Genre: Connect-the-pairs puzzle
Players: 1 player
Controls: Tap one candy chip, then tap its twin to link them
Platforms: Web browser, Android, iOS (no download)
Developer: Anime Mochi
Released: 2026
Last updated: June 2026
Price: Free to play

Frequently asked questions

What exactly makes two chips linkable?

They must carry the same glyph, and a lane must run between them through empty cells turning no more than twice — so the connector is at most three straight segments meeting at one or two right angles. A route needing three or more bends will not clear the pair, even if the chips look close.

The chips on opposite edges still linked — how?

The lane is allowed to leave the grid and travel through the one-cell channel that wraps the whole board. So a chip on the left rim and one on the right rim can connect by sweeping up and over the top, or down and around the bottom, using only one or two turns out in that border lane.

Do the chips drop down or slide together when I clear a pair?

No. Mochi Link uses a static board with no gravity — a cleared cell simply becomes empty lane and every other chip stays put. That is the Onet / Shisen-Sho style; it is not a match-three or falling-block puzzle, so each clear only opens new lanes rather than reshuffling the field.

What does the shuffle button do, and does it change my chips?

It keeps the exact same set of remaining chips and only re-scatters their positions into a fresh layout that the built-in solver has confirmed is fully clearable. It is a rescue for a tangled board, not a way to swap in different glyphs. The board also shuffles itself automatically the moment no legal lane is left.

Why won't two chips with the same glyph connect?

Same glyph is only half the rule — there also has to be an open lane between them with at most two turns. If the route is blocked by other chips or would need too many bends, they cannot clear yet. Often clearing a nearby pair first carves the lane that lets them link.

What happens after I finish the 20 worlds levels?

Endless mode unlocks. It generates fresh boards starting at the hardest curated difficulty — a nine-wide grid with ten glyphs and a shaped mask — and keeps ramping up toward a ten-wide board using all twelve glyphs, cycling through the hole, frame and diamond shapes so no two endless boards feel the same.

Is it really free, and do I need an account?

Yes, completely free and no sign-up. Mochi Link runs right in the browser with no download, and your unlocked levels are stored locally on your own device, not on any server.