Are your ears burning? Welcome to Gossip Harbor, where you play as restauranteur Quinn Castillo as she attempts to rebuild her life – one food order at a time.

Not only has Quinn just emerged from a messy divorce, but her restaurant has been destroyed in an apparent arson attack. Through Gossip Harbor’s match-and-merge gameplay, you’ll need to fulfil customer orders to earn enough money to rebuild Quinn’s pride and joy, and uncover the many mysteries that contributed to her life falling apart.

At the core of Gossip Harbor are match-and-merge puzzle boards, which task you with combining like-for-like items.

Got a customer who’s demanding a fancy latte? You’ll need to get matching! Merge pairs of disposable coffee cups to upgrade them into something more premium, such as a piping hot mug of java, then merge the results to add a couple of cubes of sugar – soon, you’ll have a frothy latte worthy of the hippest of baristas.

The reward for all your puzzling is progression through Gossip Harbor’s story. Quinn is quite the amateur sleuth and her detective work uncovers one mystery after another, taking you on an adventure that features a wide cast of characters – from her daughter, Olivia, to her best friend, Amala, and local eccentric (ahem, sorry, “gnome expert”) Norman.

While the gameplay is super-approachable, there are ways to make your progress a little bit easier.

Prioritise clearing as much of the board as possible while you play. More empty tiles means more space to spawn the merging components you need. Spend some time at the start of the game clearing out the squares on the board that are covered in dust and dirt, and as you proceed, try to avoid cluttering up your board with unnecessary components.

Make use of the bonuses that Gossip Harbor throws your way, too. Log in daily to collect additional rewards – such as energy (needed for generating merge components) and red gems (which we use to reduce cooldown timers) – and keep track of bonus objectives for a chance to grab other helpful items.

Gossip Harbor is the work of Microfun, a Beijing–based developer founded in 2008.

While Microfun enjoyed some early success with the match-3 game Jellipop Match, it’s become a global juggernaut thanks to match-and-merge titles Gossip Harbor and Seaside Escape, which were both released in 2022.

The popularity of Microfun’s games is often attributed to their engrossing narratives, which keep players coming back to experience their ongoing stories day after day.