Device, game and control methods therefor

A device having:

• a display configured to display a game board having game objects of a first size, at least one memory configured to store, for each game object, one or more characteristics, a user interface configured to receive user input, and at least one processor communicating with said at least one memory configured to:
• detect a first move comprising a selection of at least one game object of a first size with respect to said game board in response to user input via said user interface;
• re-order said selected game objects on said displayed game board in dependence on said user input;
• in response to said re-ordering, determine by said at least one processor if a plurality of game objects satisfy at least one rule stored in said memory;
• if so, create a further game object of a second size, wherein said second size is greater than that of said first size, and said further game object shares at least one of one or more characteristics of said plurality of game objects;
• replace said plurality of game objects with said further game object for display;
• wherein in at least one subsequent move at least one other game object is removed;
• determine if said further game object can be moved to a space cleared by removal of said at least one other game object or if said space is smaller than said second size;
• and
• in response to said determining, cause said at least one further game object to be moved to occupy said space at least partially, or cause at least one other game object to move around said further game object to occupy said space.

A computer readable non-transitory storage medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes said processor to perform the following steps:

• displaying on a display a game board having a plurality of game objects, each game object having one or more characterstics;
• detecting a first move comprising a selection of at least one game object of a first size with respect to said displayed game board in response to user input via a user interface;
• re-ordering said selected game objects on said displayed game board in dependence on said user input;
• in response to said re-ordering, determining by said at least one processor if a plurality of game objects satisfy at least one rule stored in said memory;
• if so, creating a further game object of a second size, wherein said second size is greater than that of said first size, and wherein said further game object shares at least one of the one or more characteristics of said plurality of game objects;
• replacing said plurality of game objects with said further game object for display on said user interface, wherein in at least one subsequent move, at least one other game object is removed;
• determining if said further game object can be moved to a space cleared by removal of said at least one other game object or if said space is smaller than said second size;
• and
• in response to said determining, causing said at least one further game object to be moved to occupy said space at least partially, or causing at least one other game object to move around said further game object to occupy said space.