A missed shot in this case loses you much more than a wasted bubble. After shooting a single colored bubble through your cannon, the bubble will pop one, and only one, grey orb underneath your cannon. Then when the last grey orb is gone, another row will drop. Bubble Shooter HD is a free version of a bubble-popping game that can be played right in your web browser. You target a cannon at a field filled with colorful bubbles, pop groups of three or more and try to keep the field away from your cannon as long as possible.
Main Controls
- MOUSE and LEFT-CLICK
How Does This Game Work?
Bubble Shooter HD is an endless score-based game without levels. Your cannon located at the base of the screen shoots one colored bubble at a time into a field of bubbles that hang from the top. Once you've fired a bubble into the field that hits two or more bubbles of the same color, they'll pop. Any other bubbles that were supporting those popped bubbles will also fall due to lack of support. The walls around the playing area cause shots to bounce back.
Your fouls are time. Underneath your field of bubbles is a row of grey orbs. Every shot that doesn't pop any bubbles eliminates one grey orb. When the last orb is eliminated, a new row will push your field of bubbles towards your cannon. When the bubbles in your field reach the cannon, your run is over and the score is based on how many bubbles you were able to pop along with any bonus points. Three different difficulty settings, Beginner, Expert and Master, reside in the setup menu.
Setup Menu
To select which difficulty setting you would like to use, Beginner, Expert or Master, simply:
- Open the 3-bar menu and choose Beginner, Expert or Master.
- Use your mouse to target a cluster of matching colored bubbles.
- Click LEFT MOUSE to shoot and pop 3 or more matching colored bubbles.
- Take advantage of bouncing shots off the walls to find hidden clusters of bubbles.
- Keep track of your grey orbs, as every time you fail to pop something, you eliminate one grey orb.
- Survive until the next row arrives after you've used up all your grey orbs.
What Makes This Game Stand Out
- Instead of using a timer as your fouls, misses bring the next row down.
- 3 different difficulty settings.
- No levels exist in Bubble Shooter HD. Only scores matter.
- Rebound shots. Shots bounce off both sides of the playing area.
- Gravity drop. Bubbles that have fallen from the top will now drop alone once their support has been removed.
Getting Started
- Begin at Beginner and focus on watching your grey orbs. In Bubble Shooter HD, misses cost you, but speed won't hurt you. Also, watch how many grey orbs you have left to go.
- Pop from the top down. Cutting loose a large group from the ceiling will make it fall as one unit and count all bubbles as part of your total.
- Use wall shots when you're blocked from getting a straight shot. A shot that rebounds off the walls and pops 3 is a great success while a straight shot hitting the wrong colored bubble is a foul.
- Place bad colors farthest from the center lane. Colors that don't match anything should be placed far left or right in order to block access to the rest of the colors.
Going Further
In order to increase your score quickly in Bubble Shooter HD, popping from top-down works best because once a group is cut loose from above it will fall as one unit and every bubble will count. Foul penalties can also be seen as resources. By having nothing to shoot at, burning 1 orb to put a bubble in a position where it can pay off later beats taking a bad shot and potentially losing a turn.
The amount of space available vertically makes more of a difference than horizontally, since either way the next row will always land at the same point; therefore, a taller vertical grouping is what poses the greatest threat. To get past Master, you must improve upon timing the gap between fouls and rows and take advantage of the largest amount of support cleared per shot in the matches you win.
Mistakes That Are Worth Avoiding
- Taking an odd-colored shot directly into the middle of your field. Later shots may have trouble accessing these areas.
- Popping just the bottom of a cluster. The rest remains attached to the top and none will fall.
- Ignoring the grey orbs. The last foul will create a new row, and creating a new row while the field is already high enough will immediately end your run.
- Immediately jumping up to Master for better scoring. With less room for errors between rows, you will likely have fewer runs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Bubble Shooter HD?
Bubble Shooter HD is an endless bubble-popping game created by Softgames. You fire colored bubbles from your cannon into a field of bubbles, pop groups of 3 or more and lose when the bubbles reach your cannon. Missed shots are considered fouls and will bring about a new row of bubbles sooner than later.
How do I play Bubble Shooter HD?
Point your mouse at where you want to shoot your cannon and click LEFT MOUSE to shoot. Try to match 3 or more colored bubbles together to pop them. Try to bounce your shots off the walls to pop hidden clusters. Each missed shot will remove one grey orb from underneath your field of bubbles. When all grey orbs have been removed, a new row of bubbles will be dropped.
Does Bubble Shooter HD have levels?
No. Bubble Shooter HD has no levels. You are forever trapped in one never-ending field where new rows arrive continuously and there is no advancement except for increasing your score and selecting between three difficulty settings: Beginner, Expert and Master.
Can I beat Bubble Shooter HD?
You cannot "beat" Bubble Shooter HD because there is no last level. Therefore, winning consists solely of achieving the highest possible score based on how many bubbles you can pop combined with avoiding fouls.
What are the grey orbs in Bubble Shooter HD?
The grey orbs underneath your field in Bubble Shooter HD represent how many fouls you have remaining. Each shot that fails to pop any bubbles reduces one grey orb. Once all grey orbs have been reduced, a new row of bubbles will begin falling.
Is Bubble Shooter HD free?
Yes. Bubble Shooter HD has no cost associated with playing on Rocket Games. You can start playing immediately without installing anything or needing an account. All three difficulty settings are accessible from the very beginning.
Similar Bubble Popping Games
If it was the unique foul system that attracted you to play Bubble Shooter HD, Bubble Hit features its own miss-counter with an added feature that gives players previews of upcoming bubbles. If clearing a field completely is what appeals to you most, then Bubble Shooter is your choice; in this version, your sole objective is to create an empty field. For a version from the same series with a harsher rhythm, check out Bubble Shooter HD 3, where failing to pop any bubbles results in dropping an entire row with no orb buffer.
Conclusion
This is essentially the standard cannon-shooting game with one major change: fouls. Don't bother playing if you prefer to have levels, an end-game or some sort of reward; all you'll ever achieve is your overall score. Play on Beginner until the number of grey orbs stop being shocking surprises to you, and then Master will seem reasonable.