Circuit guide: how to score more in Flash Rush

1. Triangles beat long lines

A loop only needs 3 nodes. A tight triangle around two or three coins pays those coins at double value, adds 180 bonus points and gives back 2 seconds of charge. A long chain across the whole arena earns less and is far more likely to be hit by a surge. Only draw a loop around coins, though: an empty loop pays nothing and gives back no charge.

2. Keep the chain alive, not long

The chain multiplier grows by 25% with every coin and tops out at ×3 after 8 coins. It survives closed loops and resets only when the chain breaks. After you close a loop your tether starts again from the closing node, so keep linking and the multiplier stays.

A chain discharges 2.6 seconds after your last link. If you’re waiting for a coin to drift into place, make a small link somewhere nearby to reset the timer.

3. Read the orange ring

An overheating node pulses orange for 1.4 seconds and then locks for 3.6. If that node is part of your chain when it locks, the whole chain burns out. When you see orange on your chain, close a loop right away or accept the loss and start again elsewhere.

Don’t tap red nodes. Each tap on a locked node costs 2 seconds of charge, which is more than one ordinary coin gives back.

4. Draw behind the surge, not in front of it

A surge heads for one node at a time and then picks another, so its route is short and easy to read. Draw your links behind it, where it has just been, rather than across the space it is moving into. After a short circuit you get 2 seconds of safety, which is long enough to rebuild quickly.

5. On a phone, swipe

Swiping across nodes links them in order, so a triangle is one flick. Start on a node and finish on the one you started from. The hit area around each node is larger for touch than for a mouse, so you don’t need to be exact.

6. Bank charge early

You start with 30 seconds and can hold up to 36. At level 1 there are 4 coins on screen and one surge. By level 6 the network runs at ×1.60 speed with 2 surges. Use the calm first minute to fill the tank, because later that charge buys you room to think. Staying alive pays on its own too: every level you clear is +300 points, so a two-minute round banks 3,600 points before a single coin.

7. Chase gold, but not at any cost

About one coin in 13 is gold: 500 points and 4 seconds of charge. Late in a chain, with the multiplier at ×3, a gold coin is worth 1,500 points, or 3,000 inside a loop. It still isn’t worth crossing a surge for.

8. Short links last longer

Nodes drift the whole time, and a link snaps when its two ends move past 130% of your reach. Links between near neighbours survive the drift. Links stretched to the very edge of your range can snap a moment later, taking the multiplier with them. Flash Time raises the speed by 12% every 10 seconds, so this matters more the longer you last.