Microsoft Bubble is a bubble shooter in the style of the puzzle games that shipped with Windows and its browser: clean artwork, plain rules, no story to sit through.
The rules take one line. Fire a bubble, three of a colour pop, anything left hanging falls. What makes it worth more than one sitting is that the second rule, the falling, is where nearly all the scoring lives, and most players never play for it.
How to play Microsoft Bubble
- Aim the launcher with the mouse or your finger.
- Fire a bubble into the cluster above.
- Three or more of the same colour, touching, pop.
- Bubbles no longer connected to the ceiling fall as well.
- Clear the board, or survive as the ceiling descends.
Two ways to remove a bubble
Popping and dropping are separate mechanisms, and dropping is by far the cheaper of the two. A pop removes exactly the group you matched. A drop removes everything that group was holding up, and costs the same single shot.
That is the whole strategic content of the game, and it is why aiming high beats aiming at the nearest match.
Tips and strategy
Find the anchors
Look along the top of the cluster for the bubbles actually touching the ceiling. Everything else in the cluster is hanging from those. A group of three anchors that pops can take a third of the board with it.
Shot selection
- Prefer a shot that breaks a connection over a shot that clears a colour.
- If two shots are equal, take the one further from the bottom.
- A colour you cannot use goes against the wall, out of the way, not into the middle where it will become somebody's problem later.
Using the walls
The rebound is exact: the bubble leaves the wall at the angle it arrived. Bubbles under an overhang can only be reached this way, and those are usually the anchors.
Reading the queue
The next bubble is shown before you fire the current one. Using that turns each shot from a reaction into a two step plan, and it is the difference between a board that opens up and a board that thickens.
Errors that end rounds
- Filling gaps with unmatched colours because there was nothing better to do.
- Popping the easiest group instead of the highest one.
- Panicking when the ceiling drops, which produces exactly the scattered shots that make the next row worse.
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Frequently asked questions
How do you score highly in Microsoft Bubble?
By dropping rather than popping. Break the bubbles holding a section to the ceiling and everything below falls for the cost of one shot.
Can shots bounce off the walls?
Yes, at the same angle they arrive. That is the only way to reach bubbles tucked under an overhang, which are often the ones worth hitting.
Do I get to see the next bubble?
Yes. Planning two shots instead of one is the fastest improvement available to most players.
When does a round end?
When the cluster reaches the bottom of the play area, or when you clear the board, depending on the mode.
Is Microsoft Bubble free?
Yes. Free in the browser, nothing to install and no account.