How to play Koi Drift
One rule, learned in the first pond: a koi can only leave when its whole path to the edge is clear. Everything below is about reading that path faster than the water changes.
The koi
| Koi | How to read it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Straight koi | Plain body, facing one way. | Swims straight ahead to the edge it is facing. |
| Bend koi jade | Curled body with a jade fin and tail on its right side. | Swims ahead, then turns right and continues to the edge. |
| Mirror koi violet | Curled the other way, violet fin and tail on its left side. | Swims ahead, then turns left. |
| Pause koi | A small pause mark between its eyes. | Swims to its corner and stops there. The mark becomes an arrow; tap it again to send it on. While it waits it takes up a cell like any other koi. |
A koi is blocked when another koi sits anywhere on its path — including the part after a turn. Tapping a blocked koi costs nothing on the early ponds: it bumps, the koi in the way is highlighted, and the route flashes so you can read the board safely. From pond 71 on, repeated blocked taps on the same koi cost a coin.
Predators and lanes
From the second tier a predator settles on a bank and guards the lane in front of it. The lane cycles between two states:
- orange — the predator is calm. A koi may cross.
- red — the predator is hunting. A koi that crosses is struck.
In Currents the predator only warns. From Watchers on it strikes, and a strike costs one heart; you start each pond with two. In Riptide there are three predators and a faster cycle. In the endless Master water there are no hearts at all — one strike ends the run. The lane and the predator are one thing: the predator’s mouth is the only warning you need.
Time and hearts
Every journey pond has a timer. It only runs while the board is yours — it stops whenever a message is on screen. Clearing a pond with time to spare is the aim; clearing it with no hint, no undo and no heart lost is a Clean Drift, and the game notices.
Coins and helpers
Coins are earned by clearing ponds. They buy helpers from the tray under the board; none of them is ever required.
| Helper | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Hint | 18 | Points at a koi that can leave right now, preferring one whose lane is safe. |
| Undo | 15 | Puts the last koi back where it was. |
| +Heart | 40 | One more heart for this pond. |
| Safe Lane | 70 | For this pond, predators warn but never strike. |
The journey, tier by tier
- Stillwater — straight koi only. Learn the read.
- Currents — more koi, some turn left, and a watcher appears on a lane. It only warns here.
- Watchers — the watcher strikes now; each hit costs one of your two hearts. Pause koi appear.
- Hunters — the predator hunts in earnest; timing joins sequence.
- Crosscurrents — denser ponds, more pause koi, predators still hunting.
- Riptide — three predators and a faster cycle.
- Tides — more predators still; hearts carry you, but every warning matters.
- Master — endless, and truly unforgiving. No hearts. The pond remembers.
Every pond is a 7 × 7 grid, so a koi is always the same size on your screen; the difficulty comes entirely from how many koi there are, how they turn, and what guards the lanes.
Cards and Guardians
Reaching a koi’s pond earns its card — 101 in all, the last at pond 1000. Any earned koi can be equipped as your Guardian from the collection. A Guardian grants one run-power: a shield that blocks a strike, an extra heart at the start of each pond, one free hint per pond, or slower predators for the run. After its power saves you, that koi rests for ten ponds, so it pays to build a deep school and rotate them. Cards you have earned can also be saved as pictures.
The Daily and Calm Drift
The Daily is one pond, the same for everyone on that date, with bends and mirrors and no predators. Clear it to see where you rank today and to get a share card of your drift. Calm Drift has no timer, no hearts and no predators; choose Soft (straight koi only, 6–10 koi), Medium (adds bend koi, 12–16) or Vast (bends and mirrors, 17–22). Calm Drift earns coins, not cards.
Three habits that make you better
- Read from the edges in. The koi nearest an edge with nothing in front of it is almost always the first to go.
- Follow the turn. A bend koi’s path is two straight lines. Check both before you tap.
- Wait for orange. A red lane is never worth the gamble. The cycle comes back around; the koi will still be there.