Chain Reaction Games

How it works

A chain reaction game gives you very little control and asks you to use it well. The screen fills with drifting dots, orbs or particles. You get one action, usually a single tap, which sets off one explosion. Anything that touches that explosion explodes too, and anything touching those explodes in turn. Then you sit back and watch.

The puzzle is all in the choice of spot and moment. A tap in the thickest crowd is not always best, because the crowd may be a dead end. A tap between two loose groups that are drifting towards each other can catch both. Because everything is moving, the right answer changes from second to second.

Rounds are short, often a few seconds of planning and a few seconds of watching, which makes chain reaction games perfect for a quick break.

What makes a good one

• A clear preview of how big your burst will be.
• Time to think: slow motion or a pause before you commit, so it is not just a reflex test.
• Targets that are reachable, ideally set by a solver rather than by guesswork.
• A few kinds of piece that change the chain, so every field asks a new question.
• Fair rules for touch screens, where your finger can hide the action.

Strategies that help

Lead the crowd. Aim where groups are going to be, not where they are.

Wait before you tap. A second of patience often lines two clusters up.

Find the bridges. One piece between two groups can link them both into the chain.

Learn the special pieces. Bigger bursts, split bursts and pushes all change where the chain will go.

Our take

Our chain reaction game is Wispburst: dandelion wisps on a windy night meadow, one burst per field, and a press-and-hold slow motion with a ring that shows exactly what you will touch. Each field’s Par comes from a solver, and there is a five-field Daily Gust. For more quick thinking games, see our puzzle games.