Bank or chase: when a perfect fit is worth the seconds
October 5, 2026
Every shape in Perfect Match ends with the same question. The meter reads 99.6%, the BANK button says 62 or so, and the clock is ticking. Take it, or hold out for 100?
What a nine costs
Points follow the meter's "nines" scale (the full table is in how scoring works). Each extra nine is worth roughly the same 22 points, and in practice each one costs roughly the same few seconds of fine adjustment. Getting from 90 to 99 is a couple of broad moves. Getting from 99 to 99.9 is two or three careful nudges. Getting from 99.9 to perfect is the part that eats time.
What the refund really buys
A perfect fit gives 100 points and 3 seconds back. Over ten shapes that is 180 seconds of budget plus up to 30 more, so the refund is a bonus, not a strategy. If the snap takes you more than about eight seconds beyond where you would have banked, you have spent more time than the refund and the extra points returned.
A rule of thumb
- Above 99.9 with ten or more seconds per remaining shape: chase. You are two nudges away and the refund covers one of them.
- Between 99 and 99.9: bank unless the shape is a shard with few vertices. Sharp shapes snap easily once the rotation is right; chunky blobs do not.
- Under 99 and the clock under thirty seconds: bank immediately and move on. 44 banked beats 0 unreached every time.
Read your own strip
The result card shows one square per shape coloured by the tier it banked at. A strip full of yellow and orange with two black squares at the end means you chased too long. A strip of greens with time to spare means you could have afforded more. The verdicts, from GREEDY to THE BANKER, say the same thing in fewer words.