Ink Bubbles is a bubble shooter drawn on squared paper. Ink bubbles hang from the top of the sheet, and a pen nib at the bottom shoots one bubble at a time. Touch three or more of a colour together and they pop. Anything left hanging by nothing falls and scores extra. Clear the whole page to win it, before the ceiling comes down to the dashed line.
Ink Bubbles rules
- Aim the pen and shoot one bubble at a time. It flies straight, bounces off the side walls, and sticks where it touches another bubble or the ceiling.
- Three or more bubbles of one colour that touch pop together.
- Any bubbles left with nothing holding them up drop, and drops are worth more than pops.
- The next bubble is shown beside the pen, and you can swap it with the one you are about to shoot. Up to page 9 and in Endless swaps are free. From page 10, and on the daily page, you get a set number: the count is beside the waiting bubble and on the Swap button.
- Bubbles only ever come in colours still on the page, so the end of a page cannot get stuck.
- Every few shots without a pop, the ceiling comes down one row and pushes everything with it. On pages 1 to 5, popping something starts the count again. From page 6 a pop wins back only one or two shots, and some later pages start with the ceiling already part way down. In Endless a pop wins back one shot at first, later only holds the count, and late in a run new rows come even while you keep popping.
- If any bubble crosses the dashed line near the bottom, the game ends.
- A blot is a rare bubble of mixed ink. It takes on the colour of whatever it touches first and pops that whole group, however small the group is.
- Some pages hang from paper clips. On those pages only the clips hold the ink up, so a bubble stuck to the bare ceiling simply falls off. Pop a clip's group and everything hanging from that clip falls too.
How to play on this page
- On a phone or tablet, hold your finger on the sheet and drag to aim, then let go to shoot. Changed your mind? Drag back down to the pen or off the sheet and let go there, and no shot is fired. Tap the small waiting bubble to swap it.
- With a mouse, move it to aim and click to shoot. Press, drag off the sheet and let go to take a shot back.
- On a keyboard, use the left and right arrows or A and D to aim, Space to shoot, and S, X or the down arrow to swap.
- Choose 30 pages, Endless or today's page beside the game. Every game of Pages shows your stars for each page.
- Press P, Escape or the Pause button to stop. The game also pauses when you switch to another tab, and a game in progress is saved in this browser, so you can reload and carry on.
Tips for clearing a page
- Look for what holds the most ink up. Popping a small group high on the page can drop far more than a big pop lower down.
- Use the side walls. On the later pages a bank shot is often the only way behind a column, and the dotted line shows the path through the first bounce and rings the spot where the bubble will land.
- Swap your bubble rather than waste a shot. From page 10 swaps are limited, so keep them for when the colour you are holding has nowhere useful to go.
- Save a blot for a stubborn pair or a colour that keeps getting buried.
- On a clipped page, go for the clips. Clearing the group around a clip can bring down a whole bundle in one shot.
- Watch the Drop in count. When it is low, a safe pop now is worth more than a clever shot later.
About this game
Bubble shooters have been a favourite puzzle-arcade idea for decades. Ink Bubbles is our own take on the genre: the 30 pages, the mixed-ink blots, the paper clips and the art are made for this site, and everything is drawn in code on a sheet of squared paper.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Ink Bubbles free?
- Yes. It is free in your browser, with no download, no account and nothing to install.
- How do I shoot on a phone?
- Hold your finger on the sheet and drag to aim. The dotted line shows where the shot will go, through its first bounce, and a ring marks where it will land. Let go to shoot, or drag back to the pen or off the sheet and let go to cancel.
- What happens when bubbles reach the line?
- The game ends. If you are on a page you can try it again straight away, and in Endless your score is saved as a best if it is your highest.
- What is a blot?
- A blot is a bubble of mixed ink. It turns the colour of the first bubble it touches and pops that whole group, even if the group is only one bubble.
- What do the paper clips do?
- On a page with paper clips, only the clips hold the ink up. Pop the group a clip is attached to and everything hanging from that clip falls. A bubble stuck to bare ceiling on these pages falls straight off.
- How do I get three stars?
- Stars are for using few shots. Clear a page in its par number of shots or fewer for three stars, and a little over that for two. Every cleared page earns at least one.
- Is swapping free?
- On pages 1 to 9 and in Endless, yes. From page 10 and on the daily page you get a set number of swaps, and the count is shown beside the waiting bubble and on the Swap button before you use one. A swap is not a shot and does not bring the ceiling closer.
- Can I lose the daily page?
- Yes. If the ink reaches the line the game ends, but you can try the same page again as often as you like. It is the same page for everyone that day, and your result is measured against your own best: the fewest shots you have cleared it in.
- Can I play if I am colour blind?
- Yes. Every colour also has its own mark on the bubble, such as a dot, two lines, a plus, a ring, a cross or a wave, so you do not need to tell the colours apart.
- Is my game saved?
- Yes, in this browser. If you reload or come back later, your game returns paused, along with your stars and best scores. Nothing is sent to a server.