Bubble Trap

Each single-screen level is full of platforms and roaming enemies. Fire a bubble to trap a foe inside, then bump into the floating bubble to pop it and turn the enemy into fruit you can collect. Clear every enemy from the screen to advance to the next stage.

• Shoot a bubble at an enemy to capture it before it touches you.
• Pop a captured bubble quickly, a trapped enemy can break free if you wait too long.
• Collect the fruit that pops out for points, and clear all foes to finish the level.

• Desktop: Player 1 moves with A/D or arrows, jumps with Space/W/Up, and fires with F or Shift; Player 2 (co-op) uses arrows, Up to jump, and / to fire. Keyboard recommended.
• Phone & tablet: keyboard play recommended for precise jumps and aiming.

• 1 player, clear the levels solo.
• 2 players, co-op on one keyboard.

• Trap several enemies, then pop them in a chain for bonus fruit.
• Use bubbles as temporary stepping stones to reach high platforms.
• Don't sit next to a captured enemy, pop it promptly before it escapes angrier.

Bubble Trap recreates Bubble Bobble, released by Taito in 1986, in which two dragons work through a hundred single-screen stages armed only with the ability to blow bubbles.

The key decision is that trapping and defeating are separate acts. An enemy caught in a bubble is not finished, only held, and if you leave it too long it breaks out faster and angrier than before. Pop several bubbles in one go and the fruit that falls is worth far more than popping them one at a time. So the game constantly asks you to leave danger floating around a little longer than feels comfortable, and nearly everything players remember about it grows from that.

Bubble Trap is an original take on the trap-and-pop single-screen platform arcade genre, free to play in your browser solo or in co-op.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.