Game mechanics
Classic
Section titled “Classic”Numbered levels, played in order. Clearing a level unlocks the next one, and cleared levels stay unlocked in Level Select. Every player gets the same board and the same sequence of shots for a given level, so scores are comparable.
Levels 1 to 20 are hand-built. Levels 21 and up are generated, and there is no last level.
Endless
Section titled “Endless”A run of waves. Clearing a wave loads the next one, and your score, streak and upcoming shots carry over. Waves get wider, taller and use more head types as you go. The run is seeded by the date (UTC), so every player gets the same waves that day. The game-over screen shows the wave you reached.
Daily Challenge
Section titled “Daily Challenge”One puzzle per UTC day, the same for every player. Each Daily is checked by a solver before it goes out, so it can always be cleared. You can replay it to improve your score. Continues are not allowed in the Daily.
Clearing the Daily while signed in lets you claim a free Ember. See Embers and the shop.
Tutorial
Section titled “Tutorial”A fixed two-row board that teaches matching, dropping and the danger meter. It doesn’t count toward anything.
Difficulty by mode
Section titled “Difficulty by mode”Miss limit is how many misses fill the danger meter before the ceiling drops.
| Mode | Board width (heads) | Miss limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tutorial | 8 | 3 | Fixed layout |
| Classic 1–5 | 8 | 4 | Hand-built |
| Classic 6–10 | 10 | 4 | Hand-built |
| Classic 11–20 | 10 | 3 | Hand-built |
| Classic 21–25 | 12 | 3 | Generated |
| Classic 26+ | 12 | 2 | Generated |
| Daily | 10 | 3 | 7 rows, 5 head types |
| Endless waves 1–3 | 8 | 4 | |
| Endless wave 4 | 10 | 4 | |
| Endless waves 5–10 | 10 | 3 | |
| Endless waves 11–12 | 12 | 3 | |
| Endless waves 13+ | 12 | 2 |
From level 21, generated Classic boards start at 6 rows and 4 head types, and gain rows and types every few levels up to 10 rows and 6 types. Endless waves grow the same way, up to 9 rows and 6 types.
There are no lives and no timer. You can take as long as you like on each shot.
Continues
Section titled “Continues”When you lose in Classic or Endless, you can press Continue · 2 Embers. The board rewinds to just before the shot that lost the game and the danger meter is cleared.
- One continue per game.
- Not available in the Daily.
- The run is marked ASSISTED for good. Assisted runs don’t count on the competitive leaderboards and don’t get the clean-clear bonus. They do still count toward the Progress board.
Saved games
Section titled “Saved games”If you leave mid-game, the game remembers where you were. Next time you pick that mode it asks whether to resume:
- Classic: Resume, Start over or Cancel
- Endless: Resume run, New run (today’s seed) or Cancel
- Daily: Resume, Restart or Cancel
Verified runs
Section titled “Verified runs”When you’re signed in, each shot is sent to the game server as you play. The server replays the whole game to check the result. Only verified runs count on the leaderboards. The result screen tells you which you got:
- ✔ Verified by the server · counts on the leaderboards
- Not verified online · this clear does not count on the leaderboards
If your connection drops, you can keep playing, but that game won’t be verified.