Upward guide: number merge tips and strategy

Upward is a drop-and-merge number puzzle. Drop tiles into five columns, let equal numbers double, and climb from 2 Pebble to 512 Orbit before a column overflows. Here is how the rules work and how to score higher.

The board has five columns, each eight tiles tall. Tap a column to drop the piece in hand. It falls to the lowest empty space, and any matching tiles it touches merge into the next rung up. Gravity then settles the board, which can set off another merge, and another. That is a chain reaction.

Merges resolve in pairs. Two matching tiles become one tile of the next value. Three matching tiles double one pair and leave the third behind. Four carry twice, into the rung two steps above.

You can see the piece in hand and the next two pieces before you commit. The run ends if you drop into a column that is already full, and it is won when you build Orbit.

• 01
  Plan three pieces, not one.The preview shows two pieces after the one in hand. Before you drop, decide where all three are going. A drop that looks fine alone can leave the next piece nowhere to go.
• 02
  Give each column a job.Stack your largest tiles in one area and keep a column or two low for small drops. When big tiles are scattered, they block each other and the board fills from the top.
• 03
  Build staircases for chains.A merge that creates a value matching its neighbour merges again. Line up descending values next to each other, 16 beside 8 beside 4, and one small drop can roll all the way up. Each extra link multiplies the score.
• 04
  Watch for leftovers.Odd counts leave a tile behind. Three 4s make an 8 and a 4, not a 12. Count matching tiles before you drop so a stray leftover does not block a column you need.
• 05
  Never fill the last column blindly.Dropping into a full column ends the run on the spot. When the board is tall, check the target column's height before every tap.
• 06
  Use take-backs as a safety net, not a plan.The Daily gives you three. Save them for a genuine misdrop late in the climb rather than spending them early.

Every merge scores more the higher the rung it creates and the more tiles it uses. Merging three or more tiles in one move adds a cluster bonus, and building a new highest tile adds a peak bonus.

Chain reactions are where big scores come from. The merge your drop causes scores at 1×. Each merge that gravity sets off after it scores more: 1.5×, then 2.25×, 3.25×, 4.5× and up to 6×. A deep cascade pays far more than the same merges made one drop at a time.

Reaching Orbit adds a summit bonus, and the bonus is bigger the fewer drops you used. A fast, efficient climb outscores a slow one.

The Climb Path is 16 fixed challenges across four chapters: Trailhead, Ridgecraft, Thin Air and Orbit School. The four Trailhead challenges are free. Every challenge pays XP, and the last Trailhead challenge unlocks a board theme.

An unfinished run is kept under Saved climbs on the home screen, so you can continue it later. Continuing a saved Classic run does not use one of your free starts for the day.

The Daily Climb starts every player with the same seed and 50-drop rules. Later pieces adapt to the board you build, so players can see different sequences after different choices. You get one ranked attempt a day; free and Pro players follow the same rules, with no paid score advantage.

The Daily, Classic and Blitz boards all reset on the same UTC day. Only Classic runs finished without Undo qualify for the Classic board, which keeps your best of your first three Classic runs that day, for free and Pro alike. The Blitz board keeps your best run. Completing the Daily each day builds a streak.

Free includes the ranked Daily Climb and its leaderboard, three Classic runs a day, the Classic board, the four-stage Trailhead, and your 20 most recent results. There are no ads, no lives and nothing you can buy to raise a score.

Pro adds unlimited Classic runs, the Blitz, Chain Hunt and Rising Sky modes, 12 advanced Climb Path challenges, the Blitz leaderboard and friend challenges, one weekly Streak Saver, two years of Daily archive, up to 500 saved results, Daily history sync when signed in, and Pro board themes. Choose the one-time Upward Full Game Unlock or a StackForge Play Pass, which covers Pro across StackForge games.