Gummy Mob hard levels explained: what changes on every 5th level

You tap PLAY, and the button says HARD in red. The road looks the same, the gates look the same, and yet the castle refuses to fall. This guide explains how Gummy Mob hard levels work: what the badge changes, what you are walking into and what you get for clearing one.

Which levels are hard levels?

The rule is simple: a level that ends in 5 is a HARD level. That means 5, 15, 25, 35 and onwards. Levels that end in 0 are boss levels instead, and the level after each boss is a BONUS level with gummy rain and no enemies.

You can spot a hard level in three places before it catches you out:

• On the PLAY button. A red HARD badge sits next to the level number on the home screen.
• On the Candy Road map. Hard stops carry the same red label, so you can see the next one coming.
• At the start of the level. The words HARD LEVEL flash in red, and the level pill in the top corner keeps the badge while you play.

The first time you reach one, at level 5, the game shows a NEW! card that sums it up in two short lines: a tougher castle, a bigger reward.

What changes on a hard level

Three things are different. None of them is a new rule, so everything you already know still works.

1. The castle is tougher. It has more hit points in total than the castles on the levels just before it. On level 15 it is also one row taller than on level 14, four rows of candy blocks instead of three.
2. Every wave has one more enemy. Each group of jelly on the road is a little bigger than on a normal level.
3. More guards wait at the end. From level 15, an extra enemy joins the last wave in front of the castle.

What does not change: the gates, the pickups and the number of colours. Level 5 still mixes only 2 colours in the castle. Level 15 mixes 3, and from level 16 all 4 are in play, so level 25 is the first hard level with every colour.

There is also no boss on a hard level. The Jelly King and the Mega Worm only appear on levels that end in 0. If you want to prepare for those, read how to beat the Jelly King.

The bigger reward

The NEW! card promises a bigger reward, and it means coins. A hard level pays a clearly larger level reward than the normal levels next to it, with an extra coin bonus added on top when the castle falls. Your win streak bonus still counts as usual.

There is a quieter reward too. Every win fills the Next skin bar on the level clear card, and a hard level fills it more than a normal level does.

If coins are what you are after, our guide to earning coins faster lists every free source in the game.

How to get ready before you tap PLAY

A hard level is mostly won on the screens before it. Here is a short routine for level 4, 14 or 24, when you can see the red badge coming next.

1. Open the Upgrades card after your win. You spend coins there on start crowd, fire rate and bear power.
2. Put coins into bear power or fire rate first. Both raise the damage you push into a castle, and the castle is the tough part of a hard level.
3. Add start crowd if early waves knock you out. More bears from the first second helps you survive the bigger waves.
4. Think about a boost. From level 3 the home screen offers two boosts before each level, such as Start giant, a bigger starting crowd, Lucky box or Rainbow start. A hard level is a sensible place to use one you already own.
5. Do not spend everything. The level after a hard one is gentler, so you will not need a second round of upgrades straight away.

The FREE tags and the film icons are optional reward videos. You never have to watch one to play a hard level.

How to play the level itself

Once the level starts, the plan is the same as always, just with less room for a wasted gate.

1. Look at the castle first. Its colours show what your bears need to match. Matching bears hit 3 times harder, which matters most against a tough castle. Our colour gates guide explains how to choose.
2. Take number gates early. Multiply and add gates grow your crowd before the bigger waves arrive.
3. Clear each wave with the whole stream. Keep holding to fire, and steer so the stream meets the enemies instead of slipping past them.
4. Save a star or a rainbow for the end if you can. Giant bears and rainbow bears are worth most against the last guards and the castle.
5. Use the last pair of gates well. The final pair before the castle is always a x2 gate and a colour gate. If your colour already matches most of the castle, take x2. If it does not, switch.
6. Watch for shadows from level 8. The castle throws jelly blobs. Steer your launcher away from the round shadow on the road.

What to do if you lose one

Losing a hard level is normal. The card that appears tells you how close you were and what reached your launcher.

Try again restarts the level for free. The gates change their numbers on each try, so a second run is not a copy of the first. Continue, with the film icon, is a reward video and is always your choice.

If the card says you had only a block or two left, the fix is usually at the very end of the level. Our guide to clearing a castle with one block left covers that case. If you were knocked out halfway down the road, go back to the Upgrades card and add start crowd.