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Panda Cube Smash Guide: Tips & Cheats To Get All Stars

This article is over 4 years old and may contain outdated information

Panda has made it to the big city and he needs your help to build! Panda Cube Smash is a match-3 puzzle game with idle building elements mixed in. Crush colorful cubes in easy-to-play match-3 levels and earn as many stars as you can!

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When you are done matching cubes, you can take a break and start building up the city. You can build coffee shops, restaurants, and more as you travel the world building up each city one by one.

In our Panda Cube Smash tips and tricks guide, we will go over the match-3 puzzle elements as well as the idle construction stuff too. We will show you how to match like a pro and get lots of gems, so let’s get started with our Panda Cube Smash cheats, tips, and tricks strategy guide to get all stars!

Create the Special Pieces

Much like your typical match-3 puzzle game, Panda Cube Smash has special pieces for you to create when you match a certain number of cubes. Getting these special pieces is the key to winning each level with moves left over!

Fireworks are created when you match five or six cubes. Fireworks will be created facing either horizontally or vertically (the direction is random), and tapping them will launch them in that direction, clearing all of the cubes in that row or column.

TNT is created when you match seven or eight cubes. When you tap on TNT it will detonate, causing a small explosion around it immediately destroying all surrounding cubes.

Spinning Tops are created when you match nine or more cubes. The Tops are created with the color of the cube you made it with, and when you set them off they will match all cubes of the same color on the board, no matter where they are. Tops are helpful for screen clearing!

Special pieces are the key to getting high scores, which are needed in order to get all three stars on each level. Mastery of the special pieces is required if you want to get all of the stars!

Combine Special Pieces for Explosive Effects

If you want even more power from your special pieces, try combining them with each other for some explosive results.

Two Fireworks together will launch Fireworks horizontally and vertically.

Two TNT together will result in a much bigger explosion.

And perhaps the strongest combination of all, two Spinning Tops will create a rainbow Spinning Top which will automatically clear the entire board, obstacles and all. The ultimate combination – this is one you should always try to make!

You can also mix and match special pieces to combine their effects or augment them in some way.

Combining Fireworks and TNT will result in a triple Firework blast in both horizontal and vertical directions, which will clear out a nice chunk of the map.

Fireworks and Spinning Tops will create Fireworks in place of the cubes that are matched, resulting in more points and longer chains.

TNT and Spinning Tops works similarly, with TNT being created in place instead of the Fireworks.

All in all, the best and most efficient way to clear the board is to combine your special pieces. They are great on their own, but they are way better when combined!

Don’t Be Afraid to Use Boosters on Hard Levels

If you are having trouble with a particular level, do not be afraid to call on the help of the various boosters. Boosters are split into two categories in this game: normal boosters and active boosters.

Normal boosters are used before the level even begins. There are three boosters, and they each create a special piece in a random spot on the board. You can use a booster for Fireworks, TNT, and Spinning Tops.

Active boosters are used during the level. There are four boosters:

  • The Mallet will destroy a single cube/obstacle on a spot of your choosing.
  • The Pacman will works like a horizontal Firework and matches an entire row.
  • The Kettlebell works like a vertical Firework and matches an entire column.
  • The Magic Square will scramble the entire board, reshuffling the locations of all cubes.

Sometimes, you are awarded a time-limited free booster from the various chests you get for performing well. These boosters are basically free, but you must use them before the time expires.

If you run out of boosters, do not worry – you can purchase more with some coins. You have nothing else to spend coins on, so go for it!

Unlock New Avatars

Once you pass level 10, you will unlock the ability to earn Drift Bottles. Drift Bottles are a special currency that is awarded whenever you clear a level.

When you get enough Drift Bottles, you will earn a jigsaw puzzle piece. If you manage to complete the entire puzzle, you will unlock a new avatar to use on your profile!

You can also get special pictures this way. Drift Bottle rewards are a great way to show off your collection!

Join a Guild Quickly

You will eventually unlock the ability to join a guild. Guilds are large groups – up to 50 people – of like-minded players who are trying to get through the game.

Even if you are not interested in making friends in the game, joining a guild still has benefits. First off, you are awarded bonus coins for simply joining a guild for the first time.

Second, guild members are able to send each other energy! If you are out of energy, you can send a request to any guild members to have them send you energy, then you can keep playing.

If you play the game often and you are having trouble on certain levels, being in a guild certainly helps you keep at it. Just make sure to return the favor and send energy to your guildmates!

Constructing the City

Panda Cube Smash is two genres in one – there is the main match-3 puzzle game, and then there is also the idle construction game, which can be accessed by tapping the toolkit button at the bottom left corner of the main menu.

When you complete levels in the main game, you earn purple gems in addition to the main coin currency. These purple gems can only be spent during the idle construction mode of the game.

In this mode, your objective is to construct various buildings all over the city. A bus will roll up to the construction site, and a single panda will come out. He will then begin to automatically build on the site.

Your pandas will take the yellow construction materials from the corner of the park and build automatically. It is going to take a long time with just one panda, so you are going to want to upgrade quickly. There are three categories to upgrade:

  • Speed determines how quickly the pandas work.
  • Workers determine how many pandas will work on the site.
  • Earnings determines how many purple gems you will get from the periodic rewards.

The important thing to keep in mind is that your pandas will only work when you are actively in this mode. If you exit out and go back to the match-3 puzzle mode, they will cease working and will resume once you come back.

Every now and then, you will be able to collect purple gems from the box at the top right corner of the screen, though this goes away after a few collections. Your pandas will also generate purple gems every time they place a block down.

If the free gem collections stop and you need more, you can always just play the main match-3 puzzle mode to get more purple gems.

If you are out of lives or you are just done playing the game for the time being, a good thing to do is to come to the city mode and let your pandas work while you are away from the game.

That is all for Panda Cube Smash! If you have any other tips or tricks to share, let us know in the comments below!

Author
Image of Jeremy Kanjanapangka
Jeremy Kanjanapangka
Jeremy is a Content Writer for Touch, Tap, Play, and has been writing in the games journalism industry for almost a decade now. With a degree in English and a passion for games, he loves to talk and write about all kinds of games. While you can find him covering the latest and greatest games, there is a special place in his heart for RPGs, action-adventure games, fighting games, and anything Nintendo related.