Bubble Shooter tips: how to score higher

Bubble Shooter looks like a game of quick reflexes, but the best scores come from patience and planning. Popping small groups keeps you alive. Dropping big clusters is what makes the score climb. These tips explain how to do both.

Understand where points come from

Each popped bubble is worth 10 points, but each bubble that falls is worth 20. A shot that pops three bubbles scores 30. A shot that pops three bubbles holding up a cluster of twelve scores 270, plus a 100 point bonus for clearing eight or more. So the real goal of almost every shot is to make bubbles fall.

Aim for the roots

Look at the board as a set of hanging bunches. Each bunch is held up by a few bubbles connected to the ceiling or to other bunches. If you can pop the bubbles at the top of a bunch, everything below them falls.

When you scan the board, look for a colour group of two that sits right above a big cluster. Adding one bubble of that colour to it pops the group and drops the cluster.

Before each shot, ask: if this group pops, what falls with it? Pick the shot that drops the most.

Use the walls

A straight shot can only reach bubbles that nothing else is blocking. Bouncing off a side wall reaches gaps behind and beside other bubbles. On Gamesupa, the dotted aim line shows every bounce, and the faint bubble at the end shows exactly where your shot will stick, so you never have to guess.

Shallow angles bounce more times and are harder to judge by eye. Let the guide line do the work: move slowly until the faint bubble sits in the gap you want.

Plan with the next bubble

The small bubble beside the launcher is the next one. You can swap it with the current bubble by tapping it, or pressing S. Use this in two ways:

• Pick the better shot. If the current colour has nowhere useful to go but the next one does, swap.
• Set up the next turn. Place this bubble next to a group of the next bubble's colour, so the following shot can pop it.

Don't waste shots

Several shots in a row that pop nothing bring a new row down from the top. The number of misses allowed shrinks as your score grows, so late in the game every miss matters.

When there is no shot that pops anything, don't fire at random. Place the bubble where it builds toward a pop: next to bubbles of the same colour, and preferably near the top of a big bunch, so the next match drops more.

Keep the middle low

The middle of the board is the part closest to the launcher, and long middle columns are the most common reason a game ends. Clear the middle first when it starts to grow, even if a side shot looks more exciting.

Watch the line

The dotted line near the bottom is the limit. When bubbles come close to it, the line turns red. At that point, focus on any shot that removes bubbles from the lowest rows, even small ones, until you have room again.

Common mistakes

• Popping the easy group at the bottom. It scores a little and drops nothing. A group higher up often drops many more.
• Ignoring the swap. Two colours to choose from double your options on every turn.
• Rushing. The game waits for you between shots. Take a second to read the board.
• Leaving lone bubbles stuck in gaps. A single bubble of a rare colour can block a whole area. Clear it early.

Practise the long game

Your best score is saved on your device, and the game pauses and saves itself if you switch apps. Play a few rounds focusing only on making bubbles fall, and you will see your scores jump.

Ready? Play Bubble Shooter now.