Skip to main content

Game Modes

By ScotUpdated Sources checked

Tactical Quick Answer

Tricky Towers has three modes and each rewards a different priority. Race asks you to build tall enough to cross the finish line first, Survival asks you to reach a brick target or outlast everyone on three hearts, and Puzzle asks you to stack as many bricks as you can below a horizontal laser. They share a common stability toolkit, but the priority you optimize for changes completely between them.

Tricky Towers tests your building skills across three game modes, each played at Easy, Normal or Special difficulty. The underlying physics never changes, and the spells that stabilize a tower work everywhere. What changes is what you are optimizing for: height per second in Race, brick retention in Survival, and horizontal packing in Puzzle.

This guide breaks down the rules for each mode and the tactics you need to win.

The Nine Variations​

Difficulty is not a numeric slider. Each setting changes the rules, and knowing which one you are in matters more than any individual tactic.

ModeEasyNormalSpecial
RaceShort race, light magic onlyLight and dark magicLight and dark magic, constant wind, higher finish line
PuzzleUndo is the only spell, solid groundIvy is the only spell, divided groundNo spells at all, narrow base, bricks must be nudged in
SurvivalLight magic, first to 33 bricksLight and dark magic, first to 66Light magic, waves of dark magic hitting everyone, first to 66

Winning an online game in all nine unlocks Mode master.

Race Mode​

The objective in Race mode is simple. Build a tower tall enough to cross the finish line before your opponents.

Crossing is not instant. Your tower has to stand for about three seconds after it reaches the line, so a stack that arrives first and then topples hands the win to somebody else. Multiplayer Race runs no clock, which means the only pressure is the other players.

Speed is critical, but reckless speed kills. If your tower falls, the time you lose rebuilding is almost impossible to recover against skilled opponents.

  • Go wide early. Spend your first few pieces on a broad foundation. It costs seconds now and saves you from a collapse near the line.
  • Use light magic when your stack is about to go, not on a schedule. Piling bricks high and then locking the pile in with Petrify or Tower Piece right before it falls is the strongest use of a spell in this mode. That trigger is a wobble, not a distance from the finish line.
  • Dropping a brick costs you nothing here. Race has no hearts and no penalty for losing bricks, so hesitating to avoid a drop is worse than the drop. This is the mode where caution is the mistake.
  • Time dark magic to a precarious placement. A tall, leaning tower is the target. Be careful with Large in particular, because an opponent holding Petrify can turn your giant brick into a wide, solid foundation.

Race Special and the Wind​

Race on Special difficulty blows a constant wind from one direction for the whole match. It does not arrive partway through and it does not build, so there is no moment to wait for. Both other Race difficulties have no wind at all.

The wind only pushes the bricks facing it. Everything behind the leading edge is sheltered, so a tower can look sturdy in profile and still go over. Build your tower to lean slightly into the wind, and place a stable brick on the windward side first so the rest of the layer sits behind it.

Survival Mode​

Survival has two ways to win, and players routinely overlook the second. You win by outlasting everyone, or by being first to the brick target, which is 33 bricks on Easy and 66 on Normal and Special. Against good players Survival often turns into a race, so treating it as pure attrition will lose you matches you were winning.

You start with three hearts. Losing bricks off your tower costs hearts, and you are eliminated at zero.

The penalty is gentler than it sounds. A collapse that dumps several bricks at once costs one heart, not one per brick. That is a real tactic and not a consolation: when you are near the target and holding hearts you no longer need, you can deliberately dump an awkward stack and trade a heart for time.

Hearts are also not strictly one-way. The light spell Extra Life restores one, so a heart is a resource you can sometimes get back, not a countdown.

  • Counterweight everything. If you are forced to place a piece hanging off one side, put weight on the other side immediately.
  • The Petrify save. If a section of your tower starts to slide, Petrify freezes it. It spends a spell and saves a heart, which is usually the right trade.
  • Seat bricks with the nudge. Nudging a brick into a gap so the surrounding pieces grip it is how you repair a messy layer. Note that gaps are not universally bad, and in Race and Puzzle deliberately leaving holes is a standard technique.

Survival Special and Waves​

A wave is a burst of dark magic that lands on every player at once, not a wave of enemies. They arrive in stages, and on Special difficulty they are the whole gimmick, since you cannot cast dark magic yourself there.

Survival Special is not endless. It ends the same way as the other Survival difficulties, at 66 bricks or last player standing. The endless one is the separate single-player Endless Survival Challenge, which runs until your last heart goes.

That distinction explains the Survivor achievement, which asks you to reach the 8th wave. Go for it in Endless Survival. In Survival Special the match is usually over well before wave 8, because somebody hits the brick target or gets knocked out first.

Puzzle Mode​

Puzzle mode has no timer. You face a horizontal laser overhead, and the player with the most bricks stacked underneath it wins. Touching the laser starts a three count and then locks your score in.

The game's own achievement text calls this laser the zapper, which is worth knowing if you go looking for Save some room. Everything else, including the game's Endless description, calls it the laser or the beam.

What Actually Happens When You Lose a Brick​

Losing a brick in multiplayer Puzzle raises the ground beneath you, which squeezes your remaining space from below. The laser does not move.

This is worth being precise about, because the laser does rise in one place: in the single-player Endless Puzzle Challenge, clearing every brick in the current group lifts the laser and starts a new stage. That is a reward for finishing a set, not a penalty for dropping one. The common belief that a rising laser is a punishment gets these two backwards.

  • Save the straights. Reserve the lowest slots for long "I" pieces. You cannot hold a piece, since the sequence is fixed, so the technique is to park awkward shapes higher up and keep those bottom slots open until a straight arrives. Capping a low straight with a square is the classic way to wall yourself in.
  • Leave slots open, do not flatten the top. This is the opposite of the instinct most players bring from other block games. A smooth, sealed surface gives you nowhere to insert the next brick, and expanding sideways is how you score. Aim to leave roughly two blocks of clearance above your straights so you can keep extending outward.
  • Restart freely in trials. Piece order in a trial is identical every attempt, so retrying with small adjustments is the intended method and not an admission of failure. This applies to trials only. You cannot restart a multiplayer round.

In practice you have about seven blocks of height between the base and the limit, so the mode is played sideways instead of upward.

Frequently Asked Questions​

What are the three game modes in Tricky Towers?

Race, Survival, and Puzzle, each playable at Easy, Normal, or Special difficulty. Race is about crossing the finish line first, Survival is about reaching a brick target or outlasting everyone on three hearts, and Puzzle is about stacking the most bricks below a horizontal laser.

How many hearts do you get in Survival mode?

Three. Losing bricks costs hearts and you are eliminated at zero, but a collapse that dumps several bricks at once costs one heart, not one per brick. The light spell Extra Life can also restore one.

How do you win Survival mode in Tricky Towers?

Two ways. Be the last player standing, or be first to the brick target, which is 33 bricks on Easy and 66 on Normal and Special. Against good players Survival often becomes a race, so playing it as pure attrition will cost you matches.

Does wave 8 end Survival Special mode?

No, but Survival Special is not endless either. It finishes at 66 bricks or last player standing, usually before wave 8 arrives. The endless one is the separate single-player Endless Survival Challenge, which is where you should chase the Survivor achievement.

What happens when you drop a brick in Puzzle mode?

The ground beneath you rises, squeezing your space from below. The laser itself does not move as a penalty. It only rises in the single-player Endless Puzzle Challenge, where clearing a full group of bricks lifts it and starts a new stage.

Should I flatten the top of my tower in Puzzle mode?

No, and this is the opposite of the instinct most players bring from other block games. A sealed flat surface leaves nowhere to insert the next brick. Keep slots open, leave roughly two blocks of clearance above your straight pieces, and expand sideways instead of upward.

Is there wind in Tricky Towers?

Only in Race on Special difficulty, where it blows constantly from one direction for the whole match. It does not pick up partway through, and it does not appear in Puzzle, Survival, or the other two Race difficulties. It pushes only the bricks facing it, so everything behind the leading edge is sheltered.