How to play Bubble Shooter
Bubble Shooter is the classic of its kind: coloured jewels hang from the ceiling in tight rows, and you fire new ones up from a launcher at the bottom. Make a group of three or more of one colour and it pops, and any jewels that were hanging from it drop off the board.
Aim straight at a spot or bank the shot off a side wall to get round the stack. Keep the jewels above the dashed red line: once one reaches it, the round is over.
Rules
- A jewel sticks where it first touches another jewel or the ceiling. Three or more of one colour touching pop, and every jewel no longer connected to the ceiling falls.
- Shots bounce off the side walls. The dotted guide shows the whole path, and the ring shows where the jewel will settle.
- You are only dealt colours still on the board. The next jewel waits beside the launcher, and you can swap it in at any time.
- Classic is endless. A shot that pops nothing is a miss, and when the misses run out a new row pushes in at the top and the stack moves down. Clear the board for a bonus and the next level. Level 1 has four colours and five rows; each level adds a colour and a row, up to six colours and eight rows. Five misses are allowed per row at levels 1 and 2, four at 3 and 4, and three from level 5.
- Puzzle is one board of six rows in four colours, against the clock. Every eighth shot, hit or miss, brings the ceiling down a row. Clear every jewel to stop the clock; let the stack reach the line and the round is lost.
- A popped jewel scores 10 and a falling one 20, doubled when six or more fall together and tripled from twelve. Clearing a board adds 1,000 × the level in Classic and 1,000 in Puzzle.
Controls
- Mouse
- Point to aim, click to shoot, right-click to swap
- Touch
- Drag to aim and let go to shoot (let go below the launcher to cancel); tap the launcher or the next jewel to swap; a button under the board pauses
- ← → / A D
- Aim
- Space / Enter / ↑ / W
- Shoot
- ↓ / S / X
- Swap the current and next jewel
- P / Esc
- Pause
- Enter / Space
- Start or play again
Tips
- Aim for the jewels that hold others up. A group of three near the ceiling with a big branch under it is worth far more than a group at the bottom.
- Bank shots reach gaps you cannot see straight on: follow the dotted guide off the wall and watch where the ring settles.
- When the colours get crowded, read the glyphs instead: diamond, ring, triangle, plus, square and three bars.
Bubble Shooter strategy
Misses, not shots
In Classic only a shot that pops nothing counts as a miss, and the counter empties only when a new row comes in or the board is cleared; a good shot leaves it where it is. Levels 1 and 2 allow five misses per row, 3 and 4 allow four, and from level 5 only three. When one pip is left, take a sure three over a clever set-up.
Drops pay in sixes
A popped jewel is worth 10 and a falling one 20, and the multiplier steps up at every six that fall together: five falling give 100, six give 240, twelve give 720. Look for a small group near the ceiling with a big branch under it; one shot there can be worth more than a dozen pops lower down.
The ceiling counts every shot
In Puzzle the ceiling comes down after every eighth shot, whether it popped anything or not. The line is twelve rows below the ceiling’s starting place, so a six-row stack is lost on the seventh drop, the 56th shot, and sooner if you let it grow downwards. Work on the rows that hang lowest first, and cut the stack off near the top where you can: a jewel that falls never comes back.
Thin out a colour
You are only dealt colours still on the board. Clearing the last jewel of a colour takes it out of your hand too, which makes every later shot easier to match. Near the end of a board, finish off the colour with the fewest jewels left, and use swap to keep a jewel for the spot where it fits.
About Bubble Shooter
Bubble shooters go back to Taito’s Puzzle Bobble (Bust-a-Move outside Japan), a 1994 arcade spin-off of Bubble Bobble. A pointer at the bottom fired coloured bubbles at a ceiling full of them, three of a colour popped, and whatever hung from them fell. Every few shots the ceiling came a little closer, and the rules carried over into many sequels, home versions and free web games.
This is a remake, not the original: the hex-packed board, the bank shots and the dropping ceiling follow the familiar rules, while the scoring, levels and boards are our own. Each colour carries an engraved glyph, so you never need to tell colours apart.
Questions
What is the difference between Classic and Puzzle?
Classic is endless: misses bring new rows in at the top, and each cleared board starts a harder level. Puzzle is a single board where the ceiling comes down every 8 shots, and your best time on a clear is what counts.
How do I play Bubble Shooter on a phone?
Put a finger on the board and drag to aim; the dotted guide follows it. Let go to shoot, or slide back below the launcher to cancel. Tap the launcher to swap jewels; the button under the board pauses.
How is the score calculated?
Each popped jewel is worth 10 points and each falling one 20, doubled when six or more fall together and tripled from twelve. Clearing a board adds 1,000 × the level. In Classic we set Expert at 5,000 points and Pro at 20,000; in Puzzle, at 2:00 and 0:45.
Are my scores saved?
Yes, in your browser, with a separate best for each mode. Send your link from the profile menu to a colleague and the two of you see each other’s bests; nobody else does. The game pauses itself when you switch tabs.
