How to play Bramble Birds

Everything the game teaches you in its tutorial, and the mechanics it only lets you discover by playing.

Controls

One control, nothing else: tap the screen to flap. There’s no aiming, no swiping and no dragging during a run — the bird bounces back and forth between two walls of thorns on its own.

Bounces and spikes

Spikes grow on the wall the bird is heading for — time the flap to bounce off cleanly. Touching a spike costs one heart. Run out of hearts and the run ends.

Auto-fire

The bird never needs aiming: it fires feathers on its own at the nearest enemy. The closer that enemy is, the more accurate the shot — on long shots feathers can drift a little off target. An enemy flashing red is about to attack, so get clear.

Waves and maps

Every map runs five waves: four timed ones and a fifth that is always the boss fight. The big number in the middle of the screen counts down the seconds left in the current wave — in the boss wave it reads BOSS instead, and only ends when the boss falls.

See every map in detail

Shop and nest

Between every wave the bird lands at a market stall with three cards for sale, plus the nest to heal. There are no chests, no branching paths, no elites and no mystery events — just this same stop, every time.

See every shop item and synergy

Coins vs. gems

• Coins come from bouncing between the spike walls; a streak of 5 bounces without taking damage raises the coin multiplier, up to ×4.
• A bounce that clears a spike by a hair triggers a Close Call for a small coin bonus.
• Clearing a wave pays gems too — up to 4 per wave plus a 20-gem win bonus in Story and the Daily Challenge, or 3 gems per wave in Endless — and every level-up adds 10 more.
• The Daily Challenge adds 15 gems the first time you finish it each day, and each Daily Mission finished pays 40 gems.
• Gems are the only currency for a bird's growth past level 5: 100 gems wake its special move there, and 300 more upgrade it to mastery at level 10.
• Experience comes from every run (more from a harder difficulty) and feeds the bird you flew with; a maxed-out bird stops earning it.

Levels, awakening and mastery

Every run earns experience for the bird you flew (harder difficulties pay more), up to its maximum level, 10. A bird’s special move stays asleep until level 5, where 100 gems wake it up — skip the payment and the bird simply stops leveling, waiting there. 300 more gems at level 10 upgrade it to mastery.

Streak and Close Call

Five clean bounces in a row, with no damage taken, raise the coin multiplier one notch, up to ×4; getting hit resets it. Bouncing back a hair’s width from a spike without touching it triggers a Close Call, worth a small coin bonus on top.

Game modes

Story

Five maps, five waves each plus a boss, across four difficulties from Easy to Hell.

Endless

Beat a map's boss once and Endless unlocks for it: the same boss returns every 5 waves, tougher each time, with no final wave.

Daily Challenge

One seeded run shared by every player that day — same bird (boosted to level 5), the same two extra rules and the same starting item — scored and compared.

Daily Missions

3 small goals that change every day and add up run after run; each one finished pays 40 gems. For example: “Defeat 40 worker bees”, “Defeat 80 enemies”, “Clear 8 waves”.

Difficulties and Hell

Hell opens for all five maps at once, the moment every one of them is won on Hard.

Achievements

24 achievements, each paying between 15 and 45 gems the moment it’s earned.

See all achievements

• First Flight — Clear your first wave. +15 gems
• Hunter — Defeat 100 enemies. +15 gems
• Pest Control — Defeat 1,000 enemies. +30 gems
• Queen Dethroned — Defeat the Queen Bee. +15 gems
• Till Dawn — Defeat this map's hidden boss. +30 gems
• Lord of the River — Defeat this map's hidden boss. +30 gems
• Snake Charmer — Defeat this map's hidden boss. +30 gems
• Icebreaker — Defeat this map's hidden boss. +30 gems
• Globetrotter — Win on all five maps. +30 gems
• Untouchable — Clear wave 4 without taking a single hit. +15 gems
• Golden Streak — Reach a x4 streak multiplier. +15 gems
• By a Whisker — Pull off 10 Close Calls in one run. +15 gems
• Collector — Discover 12 items. +15 gems
• Alchemist — Discover 3 synergies. +15 gems
• Swimming in Gold — Hold 150 coins at once. +15 gems
• The Whole Flock — Unlock every bird. +30 gems
• Veteran — Level a bird up to 10. +30 gems
• Thorny — Win on Medium difficulty. +15 gems
• At Hell's Gates — Win all five maps on Hard. +30 gems
• Lord of the Brambles — Win on Hell difficulty. +45 gems
• Early Bird — Complete 3 Daily Challenges. +15 gems
• Never-Ending — Reach wave 10 in Endless mode. +30 gems
• Lucky Find — Buy a legendary item in the shop. +15 gems
• Dedicated Player — Play 25 runs. +15 gems

In-game tutorial

The first real run launches a short tutorial automatically — it can be skipped with a button, and never shows up again after that:

1. Tap the screen to flap. Keep tapping so you don't drop into the spikes.
2. Bounce off the walls — every bounce earns coins, to spend in the shop between waves.
3. Spikes grow on the wall you're heading for: dodge them. Each hit costs a heart.
4. Your feathers fire on their own at the nearest enemy — the closer it is, the better your aim. An enemy glowing RED is about to attack: get clear.
5. A run is paced in waves: survive until the wave ends. The big number in the middle counts down the time left.
6. Between waves, the shop opens: spend coins on upgrades, and the nest heals you if you're hurt.
7. Each map's last wave is a boss: beat it to win the map. Every boss attacks differently, so watch for its tells.

Pause

A button in the corner pauses any wave at any time — except during the tutorial itself.

Keep exploring: the 14 birds·all 44 skins