diff --git a/assets/audio/LICENSE.txt b/assets/audio/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..783d8a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assets/audio/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+m3te sound effects
+==================
+
+clear.wav — "confirmation_001" from Kenney's Interface Sounds pack
+(www.kenney.nl), licensed CC0 1.0 (public domain):
+https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
+
+Converted to mono 44.1 kHz signed-16-bit PCM WAV (afconvert) — the format
+iOS System Sound Services loads directly via audio.sx.
diff --git a/assets/audio/clear.wav b/assets/audio/clear.wav
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ddd5e5
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/audio/clear.wav differ
diff --git a/audio.sx b/audio.sx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9254ef5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/audio.sx
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+// iOS sound effect via AudioToolbox System Sound Services (P8.1).
+//
+// A purely additive layer: it never reads or mutates score / board / move
+// state — board_view tells it a match cleared and it plays one short clip.
+//
+// System Sound Services is plain C, so it is reached with sx's `#foreign` FFI
+// exactly as uikit.sx reaches UIApplicationMain / dlsym / CACurrentMediaTime —
+// no sx-library change. The AudioToolbox + CoreFoundation frameworks are linked
+// per-target in build.sx. Every call is guarded by `inline if OS == .ios`, so
+// other targets never reference these symbols nor need the frameworks.
+
+#import "modules/std.sx";
+#import "modules/std/objc.sx";
+#import "modules/compiler.sx";
+
+// AudioToolbox — System Sound Services. SystemSoundID is a UInt32; OSStatus a
+// SInt32 (0 == noErr); the clip's file is passed as a CFURLRef (opaque ptr).
+AudioServicesCreateSystemSoundID :: (url: *void, out_id: *u32) -> s32 #foreign;
+AudioServicesPlaySystemSound     :: (sound_id: u32) #foreign;
+
+// CoreFoundation — build a file CFURL from an absolute path. `len` is a CFIndex
+// (long); `is_dir` a Boolean (unsigned char); a NULL allocator = default.
+CFURLCreateFromFileSystemRepresentation :: (allocator: *void, buffer: *u8, len: s64, is_dir: s8) -> *void #foreign;
+CFRelease :: (cf: *void) #foreign;
+
+// libc — getcwd to absolutize the bundle-relative asset path. The platform
+// chdir's to the bundle's resource dir at boot, so CWD is the .app and the
+// game's other relative `assets/...` loads already resolve against it.
+getcwd   :: (buf: *u8, size: usize) -> *u8 #foreign;
+c_strlen :: (s: *u8) -> usize #foreign "strlen";
+
+// Loaded once at startup; `play` is then a single C call per cleared match.
+GameAudio :: struct {
+    clear_id: u32;
+    loaded: bool;
+
+    init :: (self: *GameAudio) {
+        self.clear_id = 0;
+        self.loaded = false;
+        inline if OS != .ios { return; }
+
+        self.clear_id = load_system_sound("clear.wav");
+        self.loaded = self.clear_id != 0;
+        if self.loaded { NSLog(xx "[sx] audio: clear cue loaded"); }
+        else           { NSLog(xx "[sx] audio: load failed"); }
+    }
+
+    play_clear :: (self: *GameAudio) {
+        inline if OS != .ios { return; }
+        if !self.loaded { return; }
+        AudioServicesPlaySystemSound(self.clear_id);
+        NSLog(xx "[sx] sfx clear");
+    }
+}
+
+// Create a SystemSoundID for `assets/audio/<name>` (relative to the bundle).
+// Returns 0 on any failure, which `play_clear` treats as "skip".
+load_system_sound :: (name: string) -> u32 {
+    inline if OS != .ios { return 0; }
+
+    cwd_buf : [1024]u8 = ---;
+    if getcwd(@cwd_buf[0], 1024) == null { return 0; }
+    cwd : string = ---;
+    cwd.ptr = @cwd_buf[0];
+    cwd.len = cast(s64) c_strlen(@cwd_buf[0]);
+
+    // CFURLCreateFromFileSystemRepresentation takes an explicit byte length, so
+    // the formatted path needs no NUL terminator.
+    path := format("{}/assets/audio/{}", cwd, name);
+
+    url := CFURLCreateFromFileSystemRepresentation(null, path.ptr, path.len, 0);
+    if url == null { return 0; }
+
+    sound_id : u32 = 0;
+    status := AudioServicesCreateSystemSoundID(url, @sound_id);
+    CFRelease(url);
+    if status != 0 { return 0; }
+    sound_id
+}
+
+// The process-wide instance. main() allocates + inits it; board_view triggers
+// the cue through `sfx_clear`. Null until init, so `sfx_clear` is a safe no-op
+// before then.
+g_audio : *GameAudio = null;
+
+sfx_clear :: () {
+    if g_audio != null { g_audio.play_clear(); }
+}
diff --git a/board_view.sx b/board_view.sx
index 0c27434..a05e925 100644
--- a/board_view.sx
+++ b/board_view.sx
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #import "board_fx.sx";
 #import "gem_anim.sx";
 #import "swipe.sx";
+#import "audio.sx";
 
 // Fraction of a cell each gem occupies; the remainder is margin so a gem sits
 // inside its cell tile rather than touching the tile's edges.
@@ -622,6 +623,10 @@ impl View for BoardView {
                     mv := plan_and_commit(self.board, intent.a, intent.b);
                     if self.anim != null { self.anim.begin(mv); }
                     if self.fx != null { self.fx.begin(@mv); }
+                    // SFX (P8.1). Additive only — plays a short cue when a swap
+                    // actually clears a match; reads no score/board state and
+                    // writes none. A legal move has >=1 cascade round.
+                    if mv.legal and mv.rounds.len > 0 { sfx_clear(); }
                     self.sel.clear();
                 } else {
                     if hit := self.layout.point_to_cell(start) {
diff --git a/build.sx b/build.sx
index d7ce4fc..b5ccb9d 100644
--- a/build.sx
+++ b/build.sx
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ configure_build :: () {
             opts.add_framework("OpenGLES");
             opts.add_framework("QuartzCore");
             opts.add_framework("Metal");
+            // System Sound Services SFX (audio.sx) — a short clip played when a
+            // swap clears a match. CoreFoundation supplies the file URL.
+            opts.add_framework("AudioToolbox");
+            opts.add_framework("CoreFoundation");
             opts.add_asset_dir("assets", "assets");
         }
     }
diff --git a/main.sx b/main.sx
index 953bfea..fcd91ba 100644
--- a/main.sx
+++ b/main.sx
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #import "board_anim.sx";
 #import "board_fx.sx";
 #import "gem_anim.sx";
+#import "audio.sx";
 
 #run configure_build();
 
@@ -284,6 +285,14 @@ main :: () -> void {
     g_motion = xx context.allocator.alloc(size_of(GemMotion));
     g_motion.init();
 
+    // SFX (P8.1). Loads the one System Sound Services cue once; board_view
+    // plays it when a swap clears a match. Purely additive — never touches
+    // score/board/move state. On iOS the platform has already chdir'd to the
+    // bundle, so the cue's relative path resolves. No-op off iOS.
+    g_audio = xx context.allocator.alloc(size_of(GameAudio));
+    memset(xx g_audio, 0, size_of(GameAudio));
+    g_audio.init();
+
     // Deterministic-capture hooks: pin the animation clock and/or preselect a
     // cell so the always-on idle (and the select reaction) screenshot the same
     // way every time. No env set → fully live.