Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26729468-20151013183433/@comment-24668482-20151119133544

I think the key to difficult board configurations like that one is not necessarily to get the special gems into positions adjacent to the tricky spot, but to manouever them towards each other instead. Swapping any two special gems with each other (doesn't matter what type or what colour) will create some very powerful board clearing moves that cover much greater areas than just using the one special gem in a match of 3 gems of the same colour. So, for example, you could try getting a single bomb near that tricky gem, but its blast radius of just one may not reach, whereas matching 2 bombs will double the blast radious and it may very well reach. Matching any striped gem (vertical or horizontal, it doesn't matter) with a bomb gem will remove 3 rows and 3 columns, so you don't have to be as accurated about positioning as would trying to use one single striped gem placed adjacent to that tricky spot. Matching a striped gem with a multicoloured gem will turn every gem the same colour as the striped gem into a striped gem and trigger them at once, so can normally clear a lot of rows and columns at once (a bit more random effect but one is bound to hit that tricky spot).