Cascade

How to play

You get 30 taps on a 5 by 5 grid of numbered tiles. Each tap adds 1 to a tile, and when a tile climbs past 4 it bursts, resetting to 1 and sending +1 to every neighbor. Bursts can push neighbors over the limit too, and your score is the longest chain of bursts you trigger with a single move. After every tap a random tile also gains a point, so the board never sits still.

Tips

• Load the board with 4s before you pop anything. A primed grid is what makes long chains possible.
• Center tiles feed four neighbors while corners feed only two, so detonate from the middle.
• The random +1 after each move can spring your trap early. Leave a little slack near loaded tiles.
• One long chain beats several short ones. Only your single best cascade counts.

Chain reactions, by design

Cascade is built around a threshold. Every tile holds a number, a tap adds one, and a tile that goes past 4 bursts: it resets to 1 and pushes one point into each of its neighbours. If a neighbour was sitting on 4, it bursts too, and the reaction propagates. Your score is the longest chain any single tap set off, so the game is not about tapping often, it is about arranging the board so that one tap does as much as possible.

You have 30 taps and the board fights back: after every tap a random tile also gains a point. That randomness means a carefully loaded board can burst before you are ready, and reading which tiles are close to the edge is a skill in itself.

Building a bigger chain

• Load the board with 4s before you trigger anything. Every 4 is a tile that will burst the moment a neighbour does.
• Work in a cluster. Adjacent 4s chain; scattered 4s do not.
• Leave the trigger tile at 3, not 4, so the random increment cannot set it off early.
• Corner and edge tiles have fewer neighbours, so they pass on less energy. Build chains through the middle.
• Count your remaining taps. A chain you cannot finish loading is worth less than a smaller one you can.

Common questions

When does a tile burst?

When it goes above 4. It resets to 1 and adds one point to each of its neighbours, which can burst them in turn.

What is my score?

The longest chain of bursts triggered by a single tap during the round, not the total number of bursts.

How many taps do I get?

30. After each one a random tile also gains a point, so the board changes even when you are not touching it.