In this guide What Bubble Painter is Controls Rules that shape a level Winning, losing and stars Paint bomb and Chill mode Tips Questions and answers
What Bubble Painter is
Bubble Painter is a turn-based flood puzzle. Each level starts with a few colored bubbles on a grid of empty cells, and every tap makes one color grow outward by a single ring. The level is solved when every open cell is painted and you have not run out of taps.
There are 16 handcrafted levels, from First Splash to Masterpiece, unlocked one after another. Nothing is timed. The pressure comes from the tap budget and from colors competing for the same space.
Controls
Tap any bubble that is already painted. That whole color region spreads by one ring, filling the empty cells directly next to it. The counter at the top shows taps used out of the level's budget, and every tap spends budget, even one that paints nothing. The Undo button takes back the last tap and Reset restarts the level. Both are at the bottom of the screen and can be used at any time.
Rules that shape a level
- First color in holds. A painted cell never changes color, so the order of your taps decides who wins a contested corridor.
- Walls are not paintable and force colors to go around.
- Locked cells take two waves. The first wave to reach a lock cracks it and the next one paints it. Any color can deliver either hit.
- Quota levels show color chips above the board. Each chip is a minimum: that color must own at least that many cells when the board is full.
Winning, losing and stars
You win by painting every cell within the budget with all quotas met. Stars come from the tap count: three stars at par, two for a near-par solve and one for any solve inside the budget. Pars and budgets were set from machine-found best solutions, so three stars means you matched the best known line.
You fail if the budget runs out with cells still empty, or if the board fills while a quota is short. A fail costs nothing. Undo still takes back the last tap after a fail, and Retry restarts the level at once. Stars and your best tap count for each level are saved on your device.
Paint bomb and Chill mode
Every three levels you finish with three stars earn a PAINT BOMB. You can hold one at a time, and extra bombs wait in the bank. Tap the BOMB button inside a level, then tap any empty patch: the whole connected run of empty cells is painted in one go, locks included, and it costs no taps.
The CHILL switch on the level screen turns off the tap budget and the quotas for any level you open, so you can simply fill the board at your own pace. Chill solves award no stars, so switch it off when you want to push for them.
Tips
- Tap the color with the widest front. One tap paints the whole edge of a region, so a wide front fills more cells per tap than a narrow one.
- On quota levels, grow the quota color first. Once rival colors seal it in, no later tap can win those cells back.
- Crack locks with a color you do not need there. The second wave paints the cell, so send the color you want to arrive second.
- Before tapping, check that the color can still grow. A region with no empty neighbors wastes a tap from the budget.
- Use Undo to test a line. It reverses exactly one tap, which is enough to compare two candidate moves.
- Save the paint bomb for a level where one awkward pocket costs several taps, since the bomb fills it for free.
- Learn a hard level in Chill mode first, then replay it with the budget on for the stars.
Questions and answers
Does a tap that paints nothing still count?
Yes. Every tap spends budget, whether or not any cell changes.
Can a color take over cells another color already painted?
No. The first color to reach a cell keeps it for the rest of the level.
How do I earn a paint bomb?
Finish three levels with three stars. Each further set of three earns another, and you can hold one at a time.
Do Chill mode solves count toward stars?
No. Chill removes the budget and quotas and awards no stars.