As of 1.0.17 (2026-10-15)
This guide gathers only what a new player needs to know in the first 10 matches. The numbers are based on the game data and may change slightly as the game is updated.
1. Basic controls
| What you want to do | How |
|---|---|
| Place a crew member | Tap one of the 3 cards at the bottom and it lands on an empty base. You can also drag it to the base you want. |
| Merge | Drag and overlap identical crew of the same ★ level to raise the ★ level (up to ★3). Dragging a card onto the same crew member also merges them the moment you buy. While you drag, crew you can merge with glow with a golden outline. |
| Swap places | Drag onto a crew member you can't merge with and the two swap places (free). |
| Sell | Tap a crew member to open its info, then sell it there. You get back half of the Bubbles you spent. |
| Refresh cards | Spend 1 Bubble to redraw the 3 cards. |
| Start the battle | The battle starts when placement time ends or when you tap Ready. Placement time is 40 seconds in single-player modes such as Stages, and 20 seconds in the Arena. |
| Speed | Each tap on the speed button cycles through ×1.5, ×2, ×1. |
| Rage | The gauge fills as you defeat enemies or hit bosses. When it is full, tap the Reef Keeper to use Coral Rage (some skills trigger automatically, depending on the skill type). |
2. How a match flows
- Placement (40 seconds): 3 cards appear. Buy them with Bubbles, place them on the 9 bases, and merge.
- Battle: enemies run along the sandy channel toward the coral. Your crew attack automatically. The turn ends when all enemies are gone.
- Next turn: Bubble income arrives and new cards appear. Leftover Bubbles carry over.
- A boss appears on the last turn, and if you hold out to the end before the Coral HP reaches 0, you clear the stage.
By the numbers:
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Coral HP | 100 (+10 for every 300 Sea Route trophies, up to +100) |
| Match length | Step 1: 6 turns · Step 2: 8 turns · Step 3: 10 turns (a mini-boss on the middle turn, a boss on the last turn) |
| Bubble income | 10 on turn 1, then +1 each turn (11 on turn 2, 12 on turn 3 ...) |
| Card prices | 3-Cost = 3 Bubbles, 5-Cost = 5 Bubbles, 8-Cost = 8 Bubbles |
| Card odds (Stage 1) | Turn 1: 3-Cost 70% · 5-Cost 30% · 8-Cost 0% → Turn 4: 56% · 38% · 6% → Turn 7: 44% · 44% · 12% → Turn 10: 34% · 49% · 17%. The deeper the stage, the more likely 8-Cost cards are to appear |
| Note | Only crew in your deck appear as cards. If a deck slot is empty, that Cost won't appear |
3. Building your deck (the most important part!)
- A deck is 3 3-Cost + 3 5-Cost + 3 8-Cost = 9 cards. You can save up to 3 decks.
- The 7 crew types you start with:
- 3-Cost: Mud Crab (area), Hermit Crab (rapid fire), Barnacle (mine)
- 5-Cost: Thief Crab (Bubble steal), Seahorse (adjacent ATK speed +35%), Pufferfish (spike burst)
- 8-Cost: Mantis Shrimp (lightning punch, ignores armor)
- New crew are automatically placed in an empty deck slot the moment you get them. If your deck is full, you need to swap them in yourself.
- Early recommended combo: put the Seahorse down and place attack crew on both sides of it to raise their attack speed. Once you get the Anemone, try placing Hermit Crab + Anemone side by side (the Hermit Crab's rapid fire gets poison and the Anemone's ATK speed rises +30%). If you get the Clownfish from the Sea Route, Clownfish + Anemone is also a good pair.
4. Enemies and weaknesses
- A weakness badge (Pierce · Poison · Area · Boss) appears above an enemy's head. Crew of the same type deal 1.5× damage.
- The first enemies you meet: Crown-of-Thorns (weak to poison, regenerates), Sea Urchin (weak to pierce, armored), Jellyfish and Sea Slater (weak to area, come fast in swarms), Lionfish (weak to pierce, immune to poison).
- Mini-bosses and bosses show a warning on the ground before they attack. Bosses have the "Boss" type, so boss-focused crew such as the Horseshoe Crab, Sea Otter and Anglerfish work well.
- From Step 2 of a stage, Elites (red outline glow, 4× HP) appear (1 per turn in Step 2, 2 in Step 3, 2 in Hard). How to handle each type: Rush: slow it; Shield: use Pierce; Regen: use Poison; Split: use Area; Submerge: use Area or mines; Bomber: defeat it from far away; Frost and Command: defeat them first.
5. Recommended order for your first 10 matches
| Match | What to do |
|---|---|
| Matches 1-3 (1-1) | Follow the tutorial. Tap cards to place them, put them next to the Seahorse, drag identical crew together to make ★2, and at the end tap the Reef Keeper to try out Rage. You get the first-clear reward (Pearls and Shells). |
| Matches 4-6 (1-2, 1-3) | Clearing 1-1 unlocks 1-2 and 1-3. You need to clear all 3 steps of a stage to unlock the next one. Also go for the 3-star challenge (Stage 1: keep 90% or more Coral HP). |
| Around match 7 | Entering Stage 2 requires Power 1,180 (the starting deck has 1,140). Level up a crew member once or twice in the Codex to get there (Lv1→2 costs 4 crew cards + 100 Shells). |
| Matches 7-10 (2-1 onward) | From Stage 2, each step has its own unique rule (Swarm, Regen Current, Rapids, Hard Shell and so on). The rule is shown at the start of the battle. |
Tip: Power is the total of the levels of the 9 cards in your deck. For the same level-up, an 8-Cost (base 300) raises Power more than a 5-Cost (180) or a 3-Cost (100).
What the Sea Route (trophies) unlocks
Winning matches builds up Reef Sea Route trophies, and each slot unlocks a feature or crew. The trophies for a won match are 6 + stars × 2 + new stars × 5 (27 with 3 stars in your first match).
| Trophies | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| 20 | Farm (Shells pile up even when you're away) |
| 40 | Anemone |
| 66 | Clownfish |
| 95 | Breeding Lab |
| 141 | Tide Gifts (pick 1 of 3 on turns 4 and 7) |
| 168 | Cleaner Shrimp |
| 186 | Deep-Sea Pass |
| 213 | Hard difficulty |
| 248 | Boss Rush |
6. The order for spending currency
The game has three currencies: Shells (basic money), Pearls (precious money) and crew cards (level-up materials).
- Grab the free stuff first: the Free Daily Chest in the Shop (100 Shells + 3 cards), daily check-in, Daily Missions, Farm harvests, and the Shell Egg and Chest that are free the first time. You can use these every day.
- Spend Shells on level-ups: the level-up costs rise gradually: Lv1→2 is 4 cards and 100 Shells, Lv2→3 is 7 cards and 100 Shells, Lv3→4 is 12 cards and 200 Shells, and Lv4→5 is 20 cards and 300 Shells. The safe approach is to raise all 9 cards in your deck evenly to Lv3-4 first. (Special effects unlock at Lv5, 8, 9 and 10.)
- Save your Pearls: they are best spent on the Deep-Sea Chest (120 Pearls), which guarantees 1 crew type you don't own yet, the 8-Cost card bundle (60 Pearls), and Breeding and eggs. The first Chest is free and guarantees a Hammerhead Shark.
- Take your time with limited offers: the 48-hour limited offers that appear after clearing a stage may come back even if you miss them. There's no need to buy in a hurry.
- Ads and bonuses: rewards from rewarded ads (the ONE store version grants them instantly with no ads) are limited to 5 times a day.
7. Common mistakes
- An empty deck: if you start with a new crew member that didn't go into a deck slot, fewer cards appear. Check your deck in the Codex.
- Not merging when you can: merging up to ★3 raises attack power a lot (about 2.3× at ★2 and about 5.8× at ★3). Different crew, or crew of different ★ levels, can't merge with each other.
- Ignoring the position of the Seahorse, Cleaner Shrimp and Giant Clam: these crew strongly boost their adjacent neighbors. Don't leave them alone; place them between attack crew.
- Not checking the weakness badge: having a poison crew against an enemy weak to poison makes a big difference.
- Challenging with too little Power: if your Power is below the requirement, entry is blocked. Level up in the Codex first.
- The Quit button: if you quit right after starting, you get no participation rewards such as crew cards, trophies or match counts. You only receive Shells and Pass XP for the turns you survived.
- Elite Bombers: when they fall, they stun the crew around them. Don't take them out up close; defeat them from far away.
- Overusing Refresh: a refresh costs 1 Bubble. If the card you need isn't there, use it only once or twice.