I was wondering, which are the most commonly used algorithms applied to finding patterns in puzzle games conformed by grids of cells.

I know that depends of many factors, like the kind of patterns You want to detect, or the rules of the game...but I wanted to know which are the most commonly used algorithms in that kind of problems...

For example, games like columns, bejeweled, even tetris.

I also want to know if detecting patterns by "brute force" ( like , scanning all the grid trying to find three adyacent cells of the same color ) is significantly worst that using particular algorithms in very small grids, like 4 X 4 for example ( and again, I know that depends of the kind of game and rules ...)

Which structures are commonly used in this kind of games ?