Reef Jar
Drop sea creatures into the jar. Two alike make a bigger one.
A drop-and-merge puzzle in a tall jar of sea water. Choose where each creature falls; it rolls and settles among the others with real weight. When two of the same kind touch they merge into the next creature up a ladder of eleven, from a tiny pearl through a starfish, a pufferfish and an octopus to a whale, and every merge scores the value of the creature it makes. The run ends when the pile stays above the line for a few seconds. Three levels, from a wide, slow jar to a narrow one with bigger pieces to drop, and a Daily jar that hands everyone the same creatures in the same order.
- Category
- Arcade
- Modes
- Easy · Medium · Hard · Daily
- Controls
- Mouse · Touch · Keyboard
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How to play
Move your finger or the mouse along the top of the jar to aim the creature in hand; the dotted guide shows where it will fall, and the creature after it waits at the top right of the panel. Let go, click or press Space to drop it. Two creatures of the same kind that touch merge into the next one up the ladder, and the new one can merge again in a chain. A merge scores the value of the creature it makes: 4 for an urchin, doubling on every step, up to 2048 for a whale. Two whales that meet leave the jar together for 4096. Keep the pile under the dashed line: if a creature stays above it for a few seconds, the jar overflows and the run ends. On a keyboard, the arrow keys or A and D aim, and Space, Enter or the down arrow drops.
What is Reef Jar?
Reef Jar is a drop-and-merge puzzle in a tall glass jar of sea water. You hold one sea creature above the jar and choose where to let it go. It falls, rolls off whatever it lands on and settles into the pile with real weight, so every drop shifts the creatures around it a little.
Two creatures of the same kind that touch merge into the next one up a ladder of eleven: pearl, sea urchin, scallop, starfish, hermit crab, pufferfish, jellyfish, sea turtle, octopus, seal and, at the very top, the whale. The new creature can touch its twin and merge again straight away, so one good drop can set off a whole chain. The ladder under the jar lights up as you climb it.
How to play Reef Jar
Move your finger or the mouse along the top of the jar to aim, then let go (or click) to drop.
- Aiming. The dotted guide under the creature in hand shows where it will fall, and a faint ring shows where it will first touch the pile. The creature after it waits in the panel, next to your score.
- Merging. Two of a kind that touch become the next creature up. A merge scores that creature's value: 4 for a sea urchin, doubling on every step, up to 2048 for a whale.
- Two whales. If two whales ever meet, they leave the jar together, scoring 4096 and freeing a lot of room.
- The line. Keep the pile under the dashed line near the top. When a creature stays above it, the line turns red and a countdown starts; if it is still there when the countdown runs out, the jar overflows and the run ends. A creature you have just dropped gets a moment to fall before it counts.
- Levels. Easy has the widest jar, the slowest fall and hands you only the three smallest creatures, Medium is the standard jar, and Hard has a narrow jar, a quicker fall, a shorter countdown and hands you creatures up to the hermit crab instead of the starfish.
- On a keyboard the arrow keys or A and D aim, and Space, Enter or the down arrow drops.
Tips and strategy
- Keep the big ones in a corner. Build your largest creatures against one wall and the bottom, and let the small ones land on the open side. A big creature stranded in the middle splits the jar in two.
- Grow in order. A row that runs from big to small along the bottom lets each merge roll straight into the next one, which is how chains happen.
- Watch the next creature. You always know what comes after the one in hand. If it matches something on top of the pile, save a spot for it.
- Do not bury small creatures. A pearl trapped under an octopus will not see its twin again for a long time, and it takes space all the while.
- Use the roll. Creatures slide off round tops. Dropping just beside a creature, not on top of it, nudges it toward its twin.
Frequently asked questions
Is Reef Jar free?
Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account.
How is my score worked out?
Every merge adds the value of the creature it makes: 4 for a sea urchin, 8 for a scallop, and so on, doubling each step up to 2048 for a whale. Two whales that meet add 4096. Dropping a creature scores nothing on its own.
Which creatures can I be handed?
On Easy, a pearl, a sea urchin or a scallop. On Medium, anything from a pearl to a starfish. On Hard, anything from a pearl to a hermit crab. Everything bigger has to be made by merging.
What is the Daily jar?
Every day everyone gets the same creatures in the same order in the Medium jar, so scores compare directly on the leaderboard.
Why did my run end while a creature was still falling?
It did not: a creature that has just been dropped is not counted above the line until it has had a moment to fall. The run ends only when the pile itself stays above the line for the whole countdown.
