Remember The Colours
This is not just a set-collection game. Each colour has an ability, and different abilities are more helpful at different times in the game.
At the beginning of the game, Yellow and Purple sets are best because they get rid of the gray bubbles from your area. The purple bubbles are ideal because their power will help you, and hinder your enemy if you choose to send them a gray bubble! Just remember: Purple and yellow only send over UNCOVERED bubbles, so you need your gray bubble open to get rid of it!
Blue is good anytime, as it sends bubbles from your opponent's sky to their area, and this can mess with their sets at any point of the game. However, to get the best use of Blue, try to keep gray bubbles on your opponent's side of the bubble choosing area. That way, you can send them a hindrance, not something they can turn into a lot of points later on. If you keep the gray on your opponent's sky, you also prevent them from sending gray to you when THEY get blue!
Red is best mid-and-end game, when your opponent's board is starting to get filled. You can prevent or hinder set collection in this way. Red's are wasted when your opponent has no bubbles to swap! If a red swap happens to you, still build on your set in the hopes you will get green and fix the mess.
Green is best for you mid-to-end game. They are a helpful remedy to fix your board after an opponent messed it up with red. Depending on the board layout, you may be able to use green power to swap and score two different colours.
You can collect above the board.
Exceeding the board without a match will lose you the game. However, if you exceed the board to create a match, you get the match first. The bubble that was above your board will fall into place. This may make you score two colors. For instance: you have two purple stacked, and two red are stacked on top. You choose a stack of two bubbles: red is in your sky, purple in your opponents. If you chose the red and purple BOTH initially are above your scoring area. But the three red will match, and you will score. Then the purple will drop down and create a second set of three. You will score once again.
Beware Gray
Remember, Gray has no powers, and will not score when you have three in a row. Do not willingly add gray to your board. Try to keep it out of your sky, and send it to your opponent's sky so that it will not be sent to you if your opponent gets three blue bubbles.
Keep an eye on what your opponent is doing
Look at what sets your opponent is trying to build. If your opponent is looking for a set of a particular colour, you may want to put that colour on your side, and one square away from them. That will take two turns for them to complete a set- and they probably will not go for it Sometimes you may take a set of two colours that are not exactly what you are looking for, but it will prevent your opponent from scoring. If you have a choice of two equally good options for you, but option B will make your opponent's life more difficult, choose option B.
You are not limited to collecting sets of three.
You can collect in vertical or horizontal lines of three. However, if for some reason your set of 4, where two are on top of each other, your fifth bubble attached to the set will be the one that scores. This will give you more points, but you will still use the power only one time. Because you can collect sets of 4 or 5, sometimes having a T shape or two bubbles, an empty space, and one bubble, can be beneficial as you will score more points once the bubbles are actually collected.
Use the sky strategically.
Look at what is on the board. If there is an empty vertical line in which you are placing bubbles, and your opponent's sky has the colour you just drew beside the blank space, place the bubble in your sky. That way, when you swap the bubbles you will get a pair of the same colour in a vertical line that will drop down. If you put it in your opponent's sky, you have given them a horizontal pair of the same colour, and they may score three or more points with it!
If what you need is already set up in the sky, don't skip the swap action. Look at what your opponent is trying to do, and swap to mess them up.
Do your best to keep the gray in your opponent's sky.
