Gardenscapes Moving Elements: How They Move and How to Collect Them

Austin fishing from a sunny wooden pier with a Fishing Float in the water, a bunny beside him, green butterflies overhead, rubber ducks in the sea, and a mole peeking through the dock.

Discover how Moving Elements work in Gardenscapes, including Fishing Floats, Rubber Ducks, Bunnies, Moles, and Butterflies, and how each one moves and is collected.

The Moving Elements category includes elements that change position on the board during a level.

Movement is a core part of how these elements work. Some move after a specific number of player moves, while others change position whenever the player tries to collect or uncover them.

Movement is only one of the ways Gardenscapes elements can behave on the board, with different mechanics affecting how each level develops.

Moving Elements at a Glance

Element	Match-3	Power-Up	Movement	How It Is Collected
Fishing Float	Yes, same color	Yes	Moves every 2 player moves to another random water tile.	Make a Match-3 of the same color or activate a Power-Up next to it.
Rubber Ducks	Yes, next to them	Yes	Move every 2 player moves to another random water tile.	Make a Match-3 or trigger an explosion next to them. They can also be hit with Darts, a Kettlebell, or a Shovel.
Bunnies	Yes	Yes	With every player move, they jump through the Grass and hide in an area with denser vegetation.	Make a Match-3 or activate a Power-Up next to the Grass where they are hiding.
Moles	Yes, through the Soil	Yes, through the Soil	Move to neighboring tiles that still contain Soil.	Clear the Soil until the Moles have nowhere left to move or hide.
Butterflies	Yes, same color	Yes	Move up 1 tile after every player move.	Make a Match-3 of the same color or activate a Power-Up near them.

Fishing Float

The Fishing Float appears on water tiles and changes position during the level. Every 2 player moves, it moves to a different random water tile.

To collect it, you need to make a Match-3 using pieces of the same color as the Fishing Float or activate a Power-Up next to it.

Because it keeps changing position, the player needs to keep track of where it moves and adjust the next few moves accordingly.

Rubber Ducks

Rubber Duck element containing rewards on a Gardenscapes water tile

Rubber Ducks appear on water tiles and can contain one or more Power-Ups along with other elements.

To release their contents, you need to make a Match-3 or trigger an explosion next to the Rubber Duck. Rubber Ducks can also be hit with Darts, a Kettlebell, or a Shovel.

What places them in the Moving Elements category is the fact that every 2 player moves, they move to a different random water tile. Their position can therefore change before the player gets a chance to complete a Match-3 that was being set up next to them.

When a Rubber Duck is activated, the Power-Ups and other elements inside it can appear anywhere on the board rather than necessarily appearing near the tile where the duck was located. This works differently from elements that must leave the board before they count toward a level objective.

Bunnies

Bunny hiding in dense Grass on a Gardenscapes match-3 level board

Bunnies hide in the Grass. With every player move, they jump through the Grass and hide in an area with denser vegetation.

To find and collect a Bunny, the player needs to make a Match-3 or activate a Power-Up next to the Grass where it is hiding.

To complete the level objective, all of the required Bunnies must be collected.

Moles

Mole hiding in Soil on a Gardenscapes match-3 level board

Moles appear in levels with Soil and can move only to tiles that still contain Soil.

When the player tries to catch them, the Moles can move to neighboring tiles that contain Soil. Because of this, the main strategy for dealing with them is to gradually clear the Soil from the board.

Soil is cleared by making a Match-3 or activating a Power-Up next to it. Once there is no available Soil left, the Moles no longer have anywhere to move or hide and can be collected to complete the objective.

Butterflies

Colored Butterfly moving upward on a Gardenscapes match-3 level board

Butterflies come in different colors and move up 1 tile after every player move.

To collect a Butterfly, the player needs to make a Match-3 with pieces of the same color or activate a Power-Up near it.

Their constant upward movement is the defining feature of the element and forces the player to adjust their moves as the Butterflies change position on the board. This is a different type of board behavior from elements that spread across the board instead of moving from one position to another.

Sources

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