Tap any group of two or more touching tiles of the same colour and the whole group pops; everything above falls straight down. Bigger groups score far more than small ones, so the game is really about arranging big meets before you commit. The Goal chip at the top shows exactly what the level wants — total tiles, a count of one colour, gems delivered, rocks broken — and the Moves counter is your budget. Q and E, or the two Spin buttons, turn the whole tray ninety degrees.

It rotates every tile a quarter turn and then lets them all fall straight down in their new columns, so groups that could never touch — separated by gaps or wrong colours — can end up stacked together. Spins are limited per level and shown on the button, and they are the difference between clearing a level and clearing it well: most big combos in Flipfall are set up one or two spins earlier. Spins never cost Moves, only their own count.

Pop a group of five or more tiles and a bomb appears where the group stood. Tapping the bomb detonates it: its whole row and its whole column are cleared at once, including stones, and any other bomb caught in the blast detonates too, so two bombs crossing can wipe most of a board. Bombs cost nothing to place — they are earned by making big groups — but tapping one spends a Move, so it pays to wait until the cross covers something you actually need.

Stones fall like tiles but never match a colour, so they cannot be popped directly. Pop a group next to a stone and the blast chips it — each stone takes two hits to break. A bomb blast is stronger: it removes any stone it crosses outright. Broken stones count toward rock goals, and because chipping rides on normal pops it rarely costs you extra Moves.

Gems only ever fall straight down, so a gem stuck in the wrong column has to be steered: empty the pockets beneath it so it drops low, then spin the tray so it hangs over different ground, then clear what holds it. It counts as delivered the instant it touches the glowing strip at the bottom, gems survive every pop and every blast, and a gem that reaches the bottom row during a spin counts just the same.

If the board dead-ends first — no matches anywhere and no spins left — the tiles reshuffle for free and you keep playing. When the Moves counter itself hits zero before the goal is met, the level ends and offers an instant retry, or once per attempt you can watch a short video for five extra moves and a fresh shuffle. Neither costs coins unless you choose the shop, and a failed attempt never takes away progress from earlier levels.