'Unless you play them regularly, you'll see that they're the same, but we know our active players are very perceptive to the differences and nuances.

'Having developed casual games for more than 10 years, the misconception that all puzzle games are the same is something we're used to,' said Sebastian Knutsson, the chief creator officer of King, a company best known for Candy Crush Saga. There was a time when all first-person shooters were known as Doom clones.' And while there is some truth to the criticisms - there are indeed lots of video game clones, and there are puzzle games that exist only to capitalize on the success of others - members of the games industry believe there's more to a good match-3 game than a similar core mechanic. Match-3 games both new and old are often called ' Bejeweled clones' or copycats, and are quickly dismissed for all being the same. The market is saturated and frequently faces criticism for its seeming lack of innovation.

There's Jewel World - a match-3 gem game, Jewel Mania - a match-3 gem game, Candy Crush Saga - a match-3 candy game, Candy Blast Mania - a match-3 candy game, Matching With Friends - a match-3 matching game and, well, some 2,000 more. PopCap's Bejeweled sits at the top of the list alongside similar-looking titles that share similar names. Typing 'match-3' into the iTunes App Store yields more than 2,200 search results. The match-3 puzzle game market is a cluttered space.