Look at three recorded positions, choose a move, then compare it with the explanation. Each question includes the actual gameplay clip. These are ways to read a board, not guaranteed winning moves.
Mainu Studio ·
Your turn: read these three positions
Choose an answer and open the explanation. The video shows the same position in motion; pause it to inspect the supporting fruit. A low lane is useful only if the next fruit can actually reach it.
Mainu Studio gameplay recording · 11 September 2026
Watch this position in motion
1. A match under a curved shelf
Compare the reasoning
The route around the banana's tips
The banana blocks the approach from above. Inspect the openings around its tips: a newly merged apple needs a clear route before it can reach the apple below. Apples are made by merging grapes, not drawn as the next drop.
Only the apple's horizontal position
Matching the horizontal position does not make a falling apple pass through the banana. Its first contact may redirect it away from the target.
The total empty space above the pile
There is plenty of empty space, but the last part of the route is obstructed. What matters is whether the fruit can actually reach its partner.
Watch this position in motion
2. An open box can still have a dangerous side
Compare the reasoning
Any drop is safe because the bottom is mostly empty
Empty space at the floor does not mean a new fruit can reach it. A landing on the right can add height even while the left remains open.
The tall right side and the lower left route need separate attention
The right-hand apple is much higher than the fruit on the left. Check the low route for a reachable match instead of treating the whole surface as equally safe. The frame catches motion, so watch it settle first.
A shake will definitely level the pile
A shake moves the supports as well as the top pieces. It may open a route, but can also lift or tip the stack; this frame cannot establish a guaranteed rescue.
Watch this position in motion
3. A merge is not always a clear
Compare the reasoning
Both melons disappear and leave an empty gap
An ordinary merge replaces two fruit with one larger fruit. It does not remove the result from the board.
A banana appears immediately
Two watermelons make a banana. The two striped Korean melons are one step earlier in the chain.
Another watermelon needs somewhere to settle
Two Korean melons produce a watermelon for 130 points. The kiwi between them can delay contact, and the existing central watermelon constrains where the new result can move. Check space as well as the possible score.
Read this 3,717-point board before choosing a drop
The gameplay image below is a recorded position, not a promise of the next result. The current piece is a blueberry and the preview is a kiwi. A watermelon fills the lower left, a Korean melon fills the lower right, and pears, a peach, apples, and grapes form the upper surface.
Find an exposed match. A blueberry sits just right of the large peach, above the central pear. Aiming toward that pocket is a candidate move, but the grape bunch above it may intercept the falling fruit. Check the visible route, not just whether a matching fruit exists.
Ignore the tempting buried matches. Several blueberries lie at floor level. The two largest fruit block their direct landing routes. Dropping above a buried match will not make the new fruit pass through the stack.
Plan for the preview. There are kiwis near both outer edges. Keep at least one of those routes usable for the next piece instead of building a new tower above both sides.
Use the 21 tokens deliberately. There are two pears and several apple-sized obstacles, but the large fruit support most of the board. A shake could create a useful contact or raise a new obstruction. Watch one shake settle before spending another.
For practice, name the match you expect before each drop, then compare the landing with that prediction. If it misses, look for the first surface that deflected it. This makes the next decision more useful than repeatedly aiming at the same buried fruit.
Banana Game