New: this game comes with the next update of the app.
Colour Gulp guide
How to play Colour Gulp
Colour Gulp is a colour puzzle with a hungry slime. Tap a colour and the slime swallows every field of that colour it touches. Swallow the whole board in as few moves as you can. No timer, no luck, just a little planning.
Colour Gulp rules
The rules in one minute
A slime monster sits in the corner of a board full of coloured fields. Every tap on a colour makes it bigger, and the board is done once it is all slime.
- Tap a colour. Every colour has its own monster button below the board. The slime in the corner takes the colour you tap.
- It swallows what touches it. Every field of that colour that touches the slime is swallowed, and the next one behind it, as long as the colour goes on.
- Rocks stay rocks. The grey rocks are never swallowed. The slime has to flow around them.
- Swallow the whole board. When every field is slime, the level is done. Fewer moves, more stars.
The slime only ever grows: it never gives a field back. Every level in Beasties has a target, and that target is always the shortest possible way, found by a computer search over every move.
How to play
Colour Gulp in Beasties, step by step
The board in the middle, one monster button per colour below it, and your monster peeking over the top edge.
- Pick a colour. Colours that would swallow nothing right now are dimmed. Tap one anyway and nothing happens, Gnatz just hops.
- Every tap is a move. Under the stars you see your moves so far and how many are left until the next star falls.
- Undo is free, but the move still counts. Undo takes back your last move. The counter keeps going, so think before you tap.
- Restart: all stars back. Restart puts the same level back to the start, with no moves and all three stars.
The first time you open Colour Gulp, a short tutorial on Chill level 1 shows you the first taps. You can replay it any time from the game’s start screen.
Stars and moves
Three stars at stake in every level
Every level has a target: the fewest moves it can be done in. Stay within it and all three stars are yours. There is no timer.
- Three stars for the shortest way. This level can be done in 4 moves. Up to that, all three stars stay yours.
- Then a star falls every few moves. Here one falls every 2 moves. Wasted taps add up fast.
- No stars left: level lost. After the third star the level is lost, too many moves. Try again and find a shorter way.
- Solve it, keep them. Finish within the target and the stars you have left fly into your counter.
Undo is free, but the move still counts. Restart is free too and brings all three stars back. Above the target you get two stars, then one, and after that the level is lost.
Sleeping monsters
Wake the sleepers, skip the rest
From Normal on, some levels are not about the whole board. Sleeping monsters lie on it, and the level is done as soon as the slime reaches every one of them.
- Some monsters are asleep. From Normal on, some levels have sleeping monsters on the board. This one has 3.
- Reach them all. As soon as the slime swallows a sleeper’s field, it wakes up. The row above the colours keeps count.
- The rest can stay. With the last sleeper awake the level is done, even with 24 fields left. Head straight for them.
Tip: in these levels every field you swallow on the way is only a means to an end. Look for the colours that lead towards the sleepers, not the ones with the most fields.
Two slimes
From Tricky on, two slimes at once
A second slime starts in the opposite corner. Both take every colour you tap, and once they touch, they are one.
- Two slimes, two corners. From Tricky on, a second slime waits in the opposite corner.
- One tap, both take it. Every colour you tap goes to both slimes, and each swallows what touches it.
- When they touch, they merge. Here the two meet in move 9 and become one big slime.
- Plan for both sides. A colour that helps one slime may do nothing for the other. Look for taps that feed both.
Before the first tap the two slimes can have different colours. Your first colour already counts for both, so check what it does in each corner.
Difficulty levels
Four difficulties to choose from
The boards below are level 1 of each difficulty. Each step down brings a bigger board, more colours or more rocks, and less room for spare moves.
Chill
6×6 · 4 colours · 4–10 moves
One slime, four colours. Perfect to warm up.
Normal
7×7 · 5 colours · 4–14 moves
Rocks in the way and sleepy monsters to wake.
Tricky
8×8 · 5 colours · 4–13 moves
Two slimes that always take the same colour.
Devilish
8×8 · 6 colours · 4–14 moves
Six colours, two slimes, hardly a spare move.
Chill, Normal and Tricky have 150 free levels each. You unlock the rest for free with the stars you win, or all at once with Pro. Every player gets the same boards in the same order, so the solutions on this site match your app.
Colour Gulp tips
Fewer moves, more stars
Two ideas that save moves in every difficulty. Both examples come from real levels of the app.
Tip 1
Look one move ahead
The colour that swallows the most right now is not always the best. Ask what the next tap can reach after it. A small gulp that opens a big area often wins.
- The biggest gulp is tempting. Blue swallows 10 fields at once. But then the board still needs 4 moves: 7 in all, and the target is 6.
- Look one move further. Yellow takes only 3 fields, but it opens the way to the big areas behind.
- Target reached. From there it takes 3 more moves. The level is done in 6, with all three stars.
Tip 2
Wipe out a colour
When only a few fields of a colour are left, swallow them all. The colour is then gone for good and you have one less to think about.
- Look for a colour that is almost gone. Only 5 fields of Green are left on the board, all of them touching the slime.
- Swallow the last of it. Once its last field is slime, the colour is gone for good. Its button stays dim from now on.
- One colour fewer. Only 5 colours are left to choose from. Fewer choices, easier planning.
Tip: grow towards the middle of the board early. From there the slime touches more colours at once, and every tap has more to swallow.
Solutions
Stuck on a level?
Every level has its own solution page, free and Pro. Play the board yourself right there, or watch the shortest way one colour at a time.
FAQ
Colour Gulp questions, short answers
What are the rules of Colour Gulp?
Tap a colour. The slime takes it and swallows every field of that colour it touches, and on through fields of that colour. When the whole board is slime, the level is done.
What happens to the rocks?
Nothing. Rocks are never swallowed and never count. The slime has to flow around them, and the board is done when every other field is slime.
Why are some colour buttons dimmed?
A dimmed colour touches the slime nowhere right now, so it would swallow nothing. Tapping it does not cost a move.
Can I lose a level?
Yes. Above the target a star falls every few moves, and after the third the level is lost. Restart the same level and try a shorter way.
What does Undo do?
It takes back your last move for free, but the move still counts towards your stars. Restart puts the level back to the start with all three stars.
What are the sleeping monsters?
From Normal on, some levels have sleepers on the board. Wake them all by reaching their fields with the slime, and the level is done, even with fields left.
How do two slimes work?
From Tricky on, a second slime starts in the opposite corner. Every colour you tap goes to both, and when they touch they become one slime.
Is the target really the shortest way?
Yes. Every level was checked by a computer search over all possible moves. No level can be done in fewer moves than its target.
Can I look up the rules during a round?
Yes. Tap the gear at the top left of the round: Settings open, and their Game guide row takes you straight to the rules of this game and how the stars work.
Is there a timer?
No. Colour Gulp has no clock and no luck. Take as long as you like, offline and without ads.