Guivo Game Info: Rules, Ice, Special Pieces and Elo

Match-3 Basics

Guivo is a multiplayer Match-3. Every player in the round gets the same board and the same falling pieces, so the round is decided by your moves, not by luck.

How to play:

• The board is 8×8 with 7 piece colors
• A match is 3 or more pieces of the same color in a straight line, horizontal or vertical
• Swap two pieces that are next to each other to create a match
• Matched pieces explode and new ones fall from the top
• The longer the match, the more points it gives. See Points & Combos below

Ice Mechanics

Sending & Receiving:

• Your matches send ice to opponents and their matches send ice to you
• The more points you score, the more ice your opponents send back to you
• If you fall behind, you receive less ice from the others
• The ice bar at the top shows how much ice is waiting to spawn on your board

Ice on your Board:

• After each move, ice from your queue freezes pieces on the board. It starts from the edges and then spawns closer to existing ice
• Ice spawns faster when your queue is bigger, faster still the longer you take between moves
• Near the end of the round, ice spawns faster, so the last 10 to 20 seconds get harder
• When ice spawns from your queue, no more than 20 pieces of ice will spawn at the same time. The rest stays in the queue and spawns right after
• During the match animation, small sparks show where new ice is about to appear, so you can plan your next move
• Frozen pieces can't be moved but can still be matched
• Break ice by matching next to frozen pieces (+50 bonus points each)

Special Pieces

Wildcard: a special piece that matches any color

• Works as any color in a match
• Has 3 lives. Each match uses one life, then it disappears
• Can join two colors at once. Example: Red-Red-Wildcard-Blue-Blue counts as two separate matches
• Boards may start with 1 to 3 wildcards. They never appear on board reset. Each new piece falling from the top has a 1% chance of being a wildcard

Spawned special pieces (Line, Bomb and Rainbow):

• They appear from your matches based on the rules below
• When you move a special piece, if the swap also makes a normal match, that match scores first and gives its special piece. Then the special piece activates
• They can be moved like any normal piece, unless one of them is frozen
• Moving a special piece in any direction activates it. The direction you move it matters
• Swapping a special piece with a normal piece activates the special piece
• Swapping two special pieces together creates a much bigger effect (see "Special + Special combinations" below)
• The blast from a special piece does not damage or activate other special pieces. Only direct swaps make combinations

Line:

• Appears when you match exactly 4 pieces in a row
• Moving it left or right destroys the entire row it sits on
• Moving it up or down destroys the entire column it sits on
• Points: 500

Bomb:

• Appears when two matches cross each other, one horizontal and one vertical, sharing a piece
• Destroys every piece in a diamond around it (range 2)
• Points: 700

Rainbow:

• Appears when you match 5 or more pieces in a row
• When swapped with a regular piece, it destroys every piece on the board of that piece's color
• When swapped with a wildcard, it destroys every piece of the most common color on the board instead
• Points: 500 + 120 per piece destroyed

Special + Special combinations:

• Line + Line: each of the two specials destroys its full row and its full column. A horizontal swap ends up clearing one row and two columns. A vertical swap clears one column and two rows. Points: 2,000
• Line + Bomb: clears three full rows on a horizontal swap, or three full columns on a vertical swap. Points: 2,000
• Bomb + Bomb: destroys every piece in a diamond with range 4 from the bomb you moved. Points: 3,000
• Line + Rainbow: looks at the most common color on the board. For every piece of that color, it destroys that piece's row on a horizontal swap, or its column on a vertical swap. Points: 1,000 + 400 per piece of that color
• Bomb + Rainbow: looks at the most common color on the board. For every piece of that color, it destroys a diamond around it (range 2). Points: 1,000 + 400 per piece of that color
• Rainbow + Rainbow: destroys every non-special piece on the board. Points: 20,000

Points & Combos

Points per Match:

• 3 pieces = 100 points
• 4 pieces = 200 points
• 5 pieces = 400 points
• 6 pieces = 1,500 points
• 7 pieces = 10,000 points
• 8 pieces = 1,000,000 points

Combos:

• The combo level grows while your move keeps making matches. It starts at 0. If your first move makes two or more separate matches at once, it grows by 2. If not, it grows by 1
• After that, every time pieces fall and match again the combo grows by 1, no matter how many matches happen at the same time
• All the points from the chain are added up first, then multiplied by the final combo level once at the end. A longer chain does not only add more points. It also multiplies everything you already scored
• Example: your move makes two 3-piece matches at the same time. Combo grows to 2. Pieces fall and two more 3-piece matches happen at once. Combo grows to 3. No more matches. Raw points: 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 = 400. Final combo: 3. Total: 400 × 3 = 1,200 points

Bonuses:

• Ice break: +50 points per ice block destroyed

Board Reset Penalty:

• If no moves are available, the board resets and you lose a percentage of your score
• How much you lose depends on the ice on your board, the ice in your queue and the time left (0 to 30% of your score)

Rounds

Each game is a competitive 90-second round:

• Score as many points as possible before time runs out
• All players start with an identical board layout. Piece drops and ice patterns are also identical for everyone, so the round is decided by how you play, not by luck
• Players are ranked by final score
• The winner appears in the top banner

Ranking & Elo System

Guivo uses an Elo system, like chess, to measure skill and keep the competition fair:

• Your Elo changes after each ranked round, based on your score compared to the other players
• You gain Elo from players you finish above and lose to those you finish below
• Beating higher-Elo players gives more points; losing to lower-Elo players costs more
• New players start with 1000 Elo
• If you join a round after it has already started, your Elo does not change for that round
• If you do not make any moves during the round, your Elo does not change
• Elo Decay: Play at least 10 ranked rounds every 30 days to avoid losing Elo
• The higher your Elo, the harder it becomes to gain more (and easier to lose). For example, a player at 1500 gains less from a win than a player at 1100 does
• Above 2500 Elo it gets much harder on purpose: you lose more points and gain fewer

Trophies & Banner

The banner at the top shows the latest round winner:

• Finish 1st in a round to earn a trophy
• Swipe the banner to see the last few winners
• For each winner it shows their score, their total trophies and their global ranking
• Only trophies from the last 365 days count for your trophy ranking position
• The "Last 24h Winners" section lists the players who finished first recently

Fair Competition

Guivo is built for fair, skill-based competition:

• No pay-to-win
• All players start each round with identical boards. Piece drops and ice patterns are identical too, so nobody gets a better draw than you (see Rounds)
• Elo ranking like chess: you gain rating from players who finish below you and lose it to players who finish above you
• Speed and accuracy both matter. One move that creates a special piece and breaks a lot of ice scores more than a sequence of small matches that break none
• Toggle "Ranked" on/off in the main menu for casual or competitive rounds