Best Fiends merges match three puzzle gameplay with RPG elements. To just glance at a screen of the puzzles in Best Fiends, it may be hard to identify it as distinct from games like Candy Crush, but there's a deep layer of systems running beneath the moment to moment experience that truly fashions this game into something unique. A grid of colorful plants is presented to the player, and they have to connect as many objects of the same color together to clear it from the board. Obstacles often block the way, forcing players to make adjoining matches to open up the rest of the board for them.

But unlike many of Best Fiends' competitors, simply clearing the board isn't the objective. You're competing against AI controlled slugs, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and hit points. Matches help you whittle down their health, a goal that must be accomplished within a given amount of turns. Bringing an additional level of complication to the game is your colorful cast of Fiends. Dozens are available, each with their own color theme, and upgrading them over the course of the game makes them more effective in battle. Thousands of puzzles are available, with new boards being added regularly.