WALKTHROUGH

Match Factory Level 12697 Walkthrough

Detailed steps, unique tips, and video context for Match Factory Level 12697. Source video: Match Factory lvl 13559 take 2 #MatchFactory #WinnerWinner.

Text walkthrough available

Follow the 6-step guide and the pro tips below to clear this level.

Watch level 12499 for similar boards

Walkthrough credit: The Just Game Channel

1Quick Steps

  1. 1.Conquer Level 12697 by scanning the full board and matching items in the most efficient order.
  2. 2.Look for hidden items under obstacles or behind other pieces.
  3. 3.Map out the entire board mentally before making your first move.
  4. 4.Use the shuffle power-up if you can't find any more visible matches.
  5. 5.Use combo strategies to clear multiple sets of items quickly.
  6. 6.Clear obstacles and locked items early to open up more matching opportunities.

Still stuck?

Try a different opening sequence, focus on tray space, or consider boosters.

!Pro Tips

  • •Use all available boosters in combination for the best chance of clearing.
  • •Memorize the item layout on your first look; this level punishes guesswork.
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Strategy guide

Complete strategy guide — level 12697

Match Factory Level 12697 is one of those endgame puzzles that looks manageable at first glance but quickly reveals hidden complexity once you start moving pieces. Players who rush through the opening moves without a plan almost always find themselves with a full tray and no clear path forward. This guide breaks down exactly what you need to know to clear it efficiently on your next attempt.

Level 12697 in Context

Level 12697 is endgame territory. At this point in your Match Factory journey, you've seen every board element the game has to offer — the challenge now is executing known strategies with precision under increasingly difficult constraints.

What Makes Level 12697 Distinct

Level 12697 ships with 6 walkthrough steps and 2 pro tips — about 95 words of board-specific guidance. Reading those first is worth more than any general advice, because they describe this exact pile rather than Match Factory in general.

If you only remember one thing about Level 12697, remember the order of operations. The board is solvable; it is the sequence that players get wrong.

What Level 12697 Tests

  1. Move sequencing on Level 12697 — This step is about sequencing, and sequencing is what separates a two-attempt clear from a ten-attempt clear on a board like this.
  2. Layered burial on Level 12697 — Buried items are the level's pacing mechanism: the board deliberately hides part of each item type so you cannot finish a trio without doing excavation work first.
  3. Special-item handling on Level 12697 — Special items are worth chasing only after the board is readable. Taken early they eat bar space while their partners are still hidden, which is the opposite of what they are for.

How to Start: The Opening Phase

The first 8–10 clicks in Level 12697 largely determine whether you'll win or not. The goal of the opening phase is simple: create visibility. The more items you can see, the better your decision-making.

Start by targeting items on the outer edges and top of the main pile — these are the "unlock" items that expose what's beneath. Don't try to complete matches in the first few moves unless one falls right into your lap. Instead, think of the opening as an "information gathering" phase where your goal is to expose the widest possible selection of items.

After 6–8 clicks you should have a much clearer picture of which item types are densely represented (meaning they're easy to match) versus which types have most of their copies buried deep. Use this information to decide your first committed match sequence.

Tray Management: The Core Skill

The tray in Match Factory holds seven items, and on Level 12697, eight wrong clicks in a row will end your run. The board design deliberately creates situations where items from 4–5 different types are visible but none have a full trio accessible — this is the trap.

Surviving this trap means maintaining tray "breathing room." Always try to keep 2–3 open slots. If your tray is at 5 items, stop picking up new types and focus entirely on completing existing partial matches. This might mean clicking items that seem less exciting (like completing a boring coin match) instead of going after the animated special items — but completing that boring match keeps you alive.

On Level 12697 specifically, watch for the moment around the mid-game when the center pile shifts. Items that were blocked early become accessible, and the temptation to grab everything at once is strongest right here. Stay disciplined.

Mid-Game Strategy

Mid-game on Level 12697 is where most runs either solidify or collapse. By now you've cleared the surface layer and can see roughly half the board's items. The question is: what sequence delivers the most efficient path to a cleared board?

Prioritize items that unblock others. On this board type, there are usually 2–3 "keystone" items that are partially visible but mostly covered by neighbors. Completing the match that includes one of these keystones often triggers a cascade — suddenly 3–4 new items are visible that were completely hidden before.

Another mid-game principle: use the physics engine. Match Factory is a 3D physics simulation, so clearing items from one area causes remaining items to shift and roll. If you're trying to uncover a specific buried item, sometimes matching nearby items (even if that match isn't ideal for your tray plan) causes enough movement to expose what you need.

Step-by-Step Analysis (6 phases)

  1. A later step worth reading carefully: "Conquer Level 12697 by scanning the full board and…" Prioritising is the whole skill here: rank the visible item types by how close they are to a trio, then work that list top-down instead of clicking whatever catches your eye.
  2. The mid-phase step is the pivot of the run: "Look for hidden items under obstacles or behind other…" Buried items are the level's pacing mechanism: the board deliberately hides part of each item type so you cannot finish a trio without doing excavation work first.
  3. The final step is a cleanup instruction: "Map out the entire board mentally before making your…" Planning clicks in advance is not slow play — on a board with this much hidden information it is the only way to avoid spending slots on items you cannot finish.
  4. The opening step sets the tone: "Use the shuffle power-up if you can't find any…" The rule with specials is simple: know where the other copies are before you pick one up. Otherwise the shiny piece becomes the reason your bar fills.
  5. The second phase narrows the board: "Use combo strategies to clear multiple sets of items…" Cascades are the closest thing to free progress in this game — you spend one match and the board hands you the next. Aim your clicks at the pieces sitting on top of clusters to trigger them deliberately.
  6. This is where the level starts to tighten: "Clear obstacles and locked items early to open up…" Prioritising is the whole skill here: rank the visible item types by how close they are to a trio, then work that list top-down instead of clicking whatever catches your eye.

Booster Strategy

Treat Level 12697 as a strategy check rather than a resource check. With no rating on record, the level is telling you nothing about how much you should spend — only about how well you are managing the tray.

If the tray is what keeps ending your runs on Level 12697, no booster fixes that. Go back to the walkthrough steps above, replay the opening with the single rule of never holding more than three item types, and you will usually clear it without touching the shop.

If instead the board itself keeps jamming — clusters that leave nothing reachable — that is a legitimate Fan moment on Level 12697. Use it with two or fewer items in the tray, then rebuild from the fresh layout.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  1. Panicking when the tray fills to 5–6 items and making random clicks hoping to get lucky.
  2. Leaving corner pieces for last, then discovering they are walled in once the middle of the board has collapsed.
  3. Treating the level as a speed challenge and clicking too fast to plan ahead. Match Factory rewards deliberate play over speed.
  4. Refusing to use boosters at all because of coin conservation — sometimes one well-timed Fan booster saves three future attempts.

Pro Tips Explained

The 2 pro tips above come from the failure patterns that show up repeatedly on Level 12697. Taken together they point at one theme — move sequencing — which is the skill this particular board is really testing. Read them as a checklist before your next attempt rather than as background reading.

Frequently asked questions

What should I focus on first in Level 12697?

Start with visibility, not matches. Level 12697 hides part of its item distribution under the surface layer, so your first job is to expose enough of the board to know which types are plentiful. Once you can see two copies of a type, that type becomes a safe commitment; until then, treat every pick-up as a slot you may not get back.

Is there a trick to Match Factory Level 12697?

The closest thing to a trick on Level 12697 is using the physics simulation deliberately. When you complete a match involving pieces that sit next to a buried cluster, the simulation rolls those hidden items into view for free. Aiming matches at pieces that support the pile therefore reveals more than aiming at whichever item happens to be nearest your cursor.

What's the fastest way to beat Level 12697 without watching a video?

The fastest text-only approach for Level 12697: spend the first eight clicks excavating rather than matching, identify the two or three item types you can see the most of, complete those trios in full before touching anything else, then let the physics settle and reassess. This disciplined loop clears most Match Factory boards without a video guide.

Don't get discouraged if Level 12697 takes a few attempts — even with the optimal strategy, some board randomization means not every run comes together. The key is learning something from each failed attempt: did the tray fill up too early? Did you miss the mid-game item cascade? Use each run as data, refine your approach, and the clear will come.

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