the last game like this i played was simon's cat on apple arcade, which took place during the pandemic and so i think my mental associations with match-3s are a bit tainted. that said, CRDM3 is a riot and the way it introduces its gonzo narrative is extremely fun and lighthearted. it's still a match-3 but it feels way more interesting than a typical match-3 game and the challenges it presents always feel fair and they pair well with the writing.

a few hours in and just enjoying dipping in and out, it avoids the thing where these games often have you doing increasingly obscure match-3 tasks and then just showing a cutscene indicating some nebulous sense of progress.