The original Zuma game was released exactly 7 years ago, on December 2003, and became one of the most popular casual games around. PopCap has created many hits after Zuma, of course, but it remained one of their most famous games.

Following the success of Bejeweled Blitz, PopCap has created Zuma Blitz – a one-minute social game that will take many hours of your spare time.

The purpose of Zuma Blitz is simple – score as many points as you can in one minute. You start out with just a few Lives (represented by hearts), and each time you play – you lose one. When you have finished all your lives, you can wait for them to reload (takes some time) or purchase new ones at the store. This limitation, which doesn’t exist on Bejeweled Blitz, for example, isn’t there because PopCap is worried about your productivity and wasted hours, but because it might tempt you to buy more lives using Facebook coins and/or real money.

Leveling up is meaningful on Zuma Blitz – unlike Bejeweled, where the badges are just for show. When you level up on Zuma Blitz, you get more lives, they recharge faster, you accumulate more Mojo and you get access to more power-ups.

If you need a basic guide for Zuma blitz gameplay, click here. This post is mainly for users who know how to play, and want to better their scores.

Zuma Blitz Tips and High Score Guide

WORK FAST

This may sound obvious, but it isn’t just because you have only one minute on Zuma Blitz. Taking out as many balls as you can, as quickly as you can, will get you the Inferno Frog – 3 shots of balls that blow up, get you many points and give you the bonuses you need (mainly Chrono Balls and Multiplires). Try to get at least two Inferno Frogs in a game.

MULTIPLIERS ARE KEY

Just as they were on Bejeweled Blitz, multipliers are very important on Zuma Blitz, as well. You can get dozens of chains, blow up balls and grab fruit, but if you didn’t catch those multipliers, you won’t get that high score. A good game is usually one when you get at least to X7 or X8. More is the better, of course. If you can get a multiplier without breaking the chain – good. If not, consider braking the chain for it – it’s usually worth it.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

You start out on Zuma Blitz with one minute, but you can substantially extend this time. You do that by taking out Chrono Balls – each one is worth 5 more seconds. When you level up, you can also use the Chrono Ball power up, with which the Chrono Balls give you 6 seconds each. You can easily add 30-40 seconds to your game with the Chrono Balls. A longer game usually means more point.

DON’T LET GREED GET IN THE WAY

Fruit. They are tempting. They look so juicy and pretty, and they can give you a large amount of points. Treasure chests are also very appealing – who knows what kind of bonus you’ll get! Problem is, these fun items may mess up your game – they tend to appear behind ball lines and in many cases you will break chain because of them. Also, they tend to distract you and attract your attention – thus interfering with your concentration and game flow. Take out a fruit or chest only when you are sure you can hit them, and don’t sacrifice the chain for them.

KEEP UP THE CHAIN

With some multipliers, chain score can get very high. Make sure you don’t break the chain and try to get as high as you can – you can get X50 and more when it comes to chains – and that’s a lot of points.

FUCK UP AT THE BEGINNING

A game can start out lamely, but end up in a nice high score. That’s because most of the bigger points are accumulated towards the end of the game – after you got yourself some multipliers and turned on some chains heat. So, if you fuck up or need to sacrifice the chain, do it at the beginning of the game.

A CRISIS IS ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY

You will mess up, of course. We all do. If you missed a ball or hit the wrong spot and broke the chain – use this chance to grab some multipliers and Chrono Balls. Since your chain is gone anyway, the seconds after your mistake can be used to gaining some advantage and maybe salvaging the game.

USE THE POWERS

But sparingly. You don’t want to be dependent on powers for a good game. In fact, I got my best scores without any powers. Still, powers are fun and can help you through the harder boards. There are many possible power combinations, and they change as you level up, too. Mind you – tons of blasts (Canon, Bombs) won’t guarantee high scores on Zuma Blitz – they will most likely break the chain and give you very little in return. Useful (although not as flashy) power-ups include the Multiplier (gives you X2 at the beginning of the game), Chrono Balls (makes your Chrono Balls worth 6 seconds) and Last Hurrah (blows up any remaining bonus balls at the end of the game).

DON’T BE HASTY

Speed is essential, but plowing along without paying attention will get you into trouble. The most common mistake is not failing to compensate for the speed in which the balls move when they close a gap of two same-colored balls. If you aren’t careful, you will miss your next target, because the balls are moving at greater speed, and you might break the chain and lose important points.

CLEAR THE CURVE

Completely clearing a curve will give you many points. Use Inferno Frog or just plain fast work to clear a curve, if you can.

RIGHT CLICK IS YOUR FRIEND

On a perfect game, every ball has a great target and you never break the chain. On an average game, you might not always be happy with your current ball. You can right-click in order to switch to the next ball. It might be very useful – you lose half a second, but you keep the chain and bonuses going. If the balls are the same color, it won’t be very helpful, though.

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Arcades were one of the coolest experiences of our childhood. Those dark, dank and sometimes dubious places provided for hours and hours of fun, money spending and skill acquiring. If you, too, were an Arcade Kid, you might have experienced some of these supreme, elating moments, a focal point in the life of any gamer.

Top 10 Arcade Moments

#10

The Pac-Man Ghost Bug – Avoiding the Pac-Man ghosts is no mean feat. Every now and then, though, the gods of arcade games favored you, and you experienced a wonderful bug. While hitting the evil ghost, it simply went through you instead of killing you. How’s that for sheer, dumb luck?

#9

Seeing Naked Girls - No, no naked girls roamed the arcades of the 80s to the best of our knowledge, but there was at least one game that let you see images of naked Japanese girls – Gal’s Panic. Advancing through the levels, you gradually undressed the girls on the screen by killing evil enemies, and eventually you got to the two things you really wanted to see: TITTIES!

#8

Kicking the Shit out of your Friend – Since we couldn’t REALLY beat the shit out of anyone, arcade games were a good substitute. Disassembling your best friend on Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat was one of the most satisfying things around.

#7

Learning From the Pros - You know those games that ate up all your money and you could hardly advance a few levels in them? Those could be really frustrating, but luckily, there was always an ace player around. The best way to learn was to stalk the pro-gamer while he was playing your favorite hard game, hover over his shoulder and watch him find all the secret items, kill all the bosses and avoid all the traps. After such a thorough lesson, you got to be a pro, too. Well, some of the time, anyway.

#6

Perfect Galaga – Getting a perfect bonus level on Galaga. Ah, sweet music to our ears!

#5

Getting it Pinned – After finishing a pinball game, there’s this little raffle thing going on – some numbers scroll on the screen, and if they match, you get a free game. Free! No need to insert coins and shit. Winning that mini game is about as likely as winning the lottery, so it counts as golden moment in our book.

#4

One Coin Legend – Finishing an arcade game on just one coin. Nuff said.

#3

Carving your Initials – Much sweat, blood and aching wrists after starting a game, you finally hit a Hi-Score. That’s truly a sweet moment – writing your meaningless initials on the hi-score list. The day after  you have to do it all over again, because some dumbass turned the machine off or simply got a higher score.

#2

Getting a Free Ride – When some space cadet stops playing and leaves the machine, without realizing he’s just left you an unplayed credit.

#1

Becoming the Center of Attention: Admiration is a wonderful, addictive thing. You don’t easily get the admiration of hardcore gamers, but when it happens, it’s a moment to remember. Imagine yourself playing your favorite game, the one that you really have mastered, and a crowd of dozens of other gamers slowly gathers behind you, whispering, oohing and ahhing, cheering you along and clapping when you finish the game as the true master you really are. That is a rare moment of respect in an arcade, and only the luckiest among us get to experience it.

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