Royal Match power-up combinations: what every pair does, and which boosters are free

Rocket, TNT, Propeller and Light Ball on their own are fine. Put two together and it gets a lot better. Here's the full list of pairs, plus the four in-level boosters that don't cost a move.

By MaxPublished 29 Oct 20263 min read

Royal Match is one of the biggest-earning mobile games going. This guide comes from Dream Games' own help page, two fan and media sources, and not from playing it. I couldn't find a source I trust for the exact match shapes that create each power-up, so I've left that out rather than guess.

Royal Match gives you four power-ups: the Rocket, the TNT, the Propeller and the Light Ball. Each does something useful alone. The real value is in what happens when two of them touch, and that's what this page is for.

The pairs

To combine two power-ups, swap them together. These are the effects as Dream Games lists them on its help page:

The fan wiki says the Rocket + Propeller version is aimed at the tile where most targets are, and goes horizontally or vertically depending on which way the Rocket was facing. Pocketgamer's tips page puts the TNT + TNT blast at up to 80 tiles. I couldn't see that figure on the help page, so I'd treat it as a rough guide.

Which ones I'd go for

This is my reading of the list, not tested play:

• Light Ball + anything covers the most ground. It converts a large share of the board into a power-up, so it works well for a level with a wide spread of objectives.
• Light Ball + Light Ball is the biggest. It clears the lot and removes a layer, so I'd aim for it on a level that's close to done, or one with a lot of layered obstacles.
• Rocket + TNT is a cheap way to get a big, centred cut. Three rows and three columns is a lot of board for two power-ups.
• Propeller combos are random in where they land. That's useful if the level wants one specific item that's hard to reach, and less useful when you're trying to clear a particular side.

The pattern is the same as in other match games: if you have two power-ups on the board, don't set either one off alone. Line them up first.

The in-level boosters

Separate from power-ups, you can use boosters during a level, and the fan wiki says none of these cost a move:

• Royal Hammer: clears one tile, or one layer of any obstacle.
• Arrow: clears the row of the tile you pick and one layer of any obstacle in it.
• Cannon: the same, for the column.
• Jester Hat: shuffles every tile on the board.

The wiki also lists Rocket, TNT and Light Ball as pre-level boosters, meaning you pick one before the level and it starts on the board.

A tip from the media guide

Pocketgamer's advice is to save boosters for levels you can't pass without help, since you may not get a pre-level booster again if you fail. It also notes that clearing the bottom row can make more tiles fall, which sets off more matches and sometimes builds new power-ups for free. I'd add that if you're stuck, check the objective first, because the right pair depends on it.