Bubble Shooter Game
Glass Bubbles is a free bubble shooter you can play online in a few seconds. Drag to aim, let go to shoot, match three bubbles of the same color, and free the otters trapped in the glass. There is no timer. Level 1 takes about a minute, and soft ocean waves play while you aim.
What is this bubble shooter?
A bubble shooter gives you a stack of colored bubbles and one bubble at the bottom. You aim, you shoot, and the shot sticks to the stack. If it touches two or more bubbles of the same color, those bubbles pop. In Glass Bubbles the pieces are round sea glass, in aqua, coral, gold, blue, green and lilac, clipped from the same frosted tiles as the other reef games. A small highlight on each bubble is the only thing drawn on top of the glass.
The goal is not to clear every bubble. Otters are drawn inside some of them. Pop the bubble an otter sits in, or drop it, and that otter is free. Free all of them and the level is done. Drops happen when a pop leaves bubbles that no longer touch the ceiling. They fall for extra points, and an otter in a falling bubble counts as freed.
Shots bounce off the left and right walls, so a pair tucked in a corner is still in reach. There is no clock. You spend shots, not seconds. That is the whole game: aim, match, free the otters, then do it again on a slightly harder board.
How to play
- Drag to aim. Put a finger on the glass and drag. A dotted line shows the path, and it sits above your finger so your thumb does not hide the landing spot. On level 1 a tiny looping hint shows the same idea: drag, aim, release. It disappears after the first shot.
- Release to shoot. The bubble flies along the line, bounces off a wall if the line says so, and sticks to the first bubble it meets.
- Match 3. Three or more touching bubbles of one color pop. Two of a color are not enough until your shot joins them.
- Watch what falls. Anything that was hanging from the bubbles you popped, and is no longer connected to the top, drops. Drops score more than a plain pop.
- Free the otters. The counter at the top shows how many otters are out and how many the level holds. Level 1 puts an otter in every pair.
- Swap. The bubble in the dock is the one after this. Tap it to swap. Do that before you shoot if the next color matches a pair you can already see.
Shots, misses and the tide
Each level has a move limit and no timer. A shot that pops and a shot that misses both spend one move. Stars depend on how many moves you have left at the end: a comfortable leftover is three stars, a close finish is one.
A miss sticks where it lands. It does not vanish. On level 1 the first eight misses do not push the stack down at all. After those, a new row comes in from the top only every twelve misses. Level 2 still uses two colors, and the first five misses are free of a push. From level 3 the boards are ordinary striped stacks, a third color appears, and the tide starts after fewer misses. Later levels add a fourth, fifth and sixth color, a few holes, and a shorter gap between pushes.
You lose in two ways only. The stack reaches the red line near the shooter, or you spend your last shot with otters still trapped. Run out of shots and a free button gives you five more. If the stack is already on the line, those five shots also clear the bottom row, because extra shots are useless if the next bubble has nowhere to sit. You can also retry the level. A retry keeps the same board, so you can practice an aim you missed.
Level 1 is pairs, then the reef fills in
Level 1 is built to be cleared by a sloppy aim, not only by a perfect one. The stack is pairs of two colors with a gap between the groups, and an otter sits in every pair. Shoot the color you are holding into a matching pair and that pair pops. You do not have to thread a bounce on the first level, though the walls are there if you want them. A careful player finishes in under a minute. A player who throws about a third of their shots at random still usually clears it, because the early misses do not push a row and there are spare shots.
Level 2 is the same idea with the colors flipped, a slightly shorter grace on misses, and a few fewer spare shots. It is still two colors and still meant to be won while you are learning the aim.
Level 3 is where the real bubble shooter starts. The generator deals stripes of three colors, checks that a solver can free the otters, and then gives you more shots than that solver needed. If a board fails the check, it is rebuilt looser, with fewer colors and no holes, so a level is not a dead end. From there the color count, the number of otters and the push rate climb a step at a time.
Tips that keep the otters coming
- Match the pair you are holding. On the first two levels the winning shot is usually the obvious one: the color in your hand, fired into two of the same color. Swap if the other bubble is the better match.
- Do not fear an early miss. Level 1 ignores the first eight misses. Use them to learn how high the aim line sits above your finger. A stuck bubble low on the board is annoying, not fatal, as long as you go back to matching pairs.
- Drop when you can. A shot that pops a pair and shakes loose the bubbles under it frees more otters than a shot that only pops. On later levels this is how buried otters come out without you clearing all the way up to them.
- Leave the special bubbles for a jam. The bomb pops every bubble it touches. The rainbow turns into the biggest group beside its landing spot and pops that group if the match is big enough. Both are free. Tap the button again if you armed one by mistake.
- Read the red line. The line is the lose condition, not a target. If you are about to touch it, stop firing into the bottom of the stack. Pop something higher, or take the five extra shots, which clear that bottom row when you are already touching the line.
- Retry is a new try at the same puzzle. The board stays. If you liked the layout and only disliked your aim, retry. Your best star rating for the level is kept.
One minute to learn, one hand to play
The hint on level 1 is one line of words, “Drag, aim, release,” and a finger-sized loop that drags up, draws the aim, and lets go. It does not cover the buttons, it does not ask you to tap through a lesson, and it goes away as soon as you have shot once. If you already know bubble shooters, ignore it and play.
Glass Bubbles is built for a phone in portrait, held in one hand. Drag anywhere on the glass. The path is drawn above the finger. Buttons for the bomb, the swap and the rainbow are large enough for a thumb, and the page does not zoom when you double tap. On a tablet or a computer, press, drag and release with the mouse. A wide window just gives the reef more room. The same rules run in both.
Soft ocean waves play under the shots. The speaker button mutes the waves and the little pop sounds together, and the choice is remembered. Nothing is downloaded and nothing is uploaded. Close the tab and the level you were on is saved on the device, along with the highest level you have opened and the stars for each one.
The same reef shows up in two other puzzles. Glass Hexa is a hex sort: drag stacks, match the top color, clear ten. Ocean Merge drops the same sea creatures, otters included, into a jar until they grow into a whale. Both are free in the browser, with no account. If you want the whole set of otter games, they also sit with the animal games and the puzzle games.
Frequently asked questions
Is this bubble shooter free?
Yes. Glass Bubbles is free in your browser on phones, tablets and computers. There is no download and no account.
How many bubbles do I need to match?
Three or more of the same color that touch each other. Your shot can be the third bubble.
Do I have to clear the whole stack?
No. Free every otter. Bubbles with no otter can stay on the board.
Is there a time limit?
No. You can run out of shots, and the stack can reach the red line, but there is no clock.
Can I keep going after I lose?
Yes. Five extra shots are free. If the stack is on the red line, that also clears the bottom row. Retry plays the same level again.