Official Rules

1. Sponsor

The High Tide Arcade Weekly Challenge (the "Challenge") is sponsored by High Tide Play, support@hightideplay.com ("Sponsor"). Apple Inc. is not a sponsor of, and is not involved in, this Challenge in any way. Google is not a sponsor either.

2. Free to enter and play

The Challenge is completely free. There is no entry fee, nothing to buy, and nothing for sale in the app. You cannot pay to enter, to get extra lives, or to improve your score or your chances of winning. Watching ads is optional.

3. A game of skill

Winners are decided only by score, never by a random drawing. The Challenge is a skill-based competition, not a lottery or sweepstakes.

4. Who can enter

Anyone may download and play High Tide Arcade, but only legal residents of the 50 United States and D.C. who are 13 or older at the time of entry are eligible to win prizes. Players under 13 may play but cannot win. A winner who is 13 to 17 must have a parent or legal guardian claim the prize on their behalf: the parent or guardian agrees to these rules for the winner, and the prize is delivered to the parent or guardian's email address. Players outside the U.S. may appear on the leaderboards but are skipped when prizes are awarded. Eligibility is based on the country of the player's App Store account and is verified before any prize is delivered. Employees of Sponsor and their immediate family and household members are not eligible. Void where prohibited.

5. Challenge period

Each weekly Challenge starts Friday at 10:00 PM ET and ends the following Friday at 10:00 PM ET. Sponsor's server clock is the official timekeeper. A new Challenge begins right after the previous one ends.

6. How to enter

Download High Tide Arcade for free and play any of its games (Tide Tower, Orbit, Tide Racer, Cube Lines, Cube Clear and Rising Tide). Every completed game played during the Challenge period with an internet connection is automatically entered.

7. How scores count

• Each Challenge can have a Featured Game (the "Game of the Week"), shown in the app and on the leaderboard before that Challenge starts. In a Challenge with a Featured Game, your weekly score is your single highest score in the Featured Game that week. In a Challenge without one, your weekly score is your weekly total: your single highest score in each High Tide Arcade game that week, added together.
• Tide Tower: a block slides side to side above your tower. Tap to drop it. Any part that hangs over the block below is cut off, so the tower gets narrower. Each block placed is worth 10 points. A "Perfect" drop (lined up with the block below) keeps the full width and adds a bonus of 5 points, growing by 5 for each Perfect drop in a row, up to 25; from 3 Perfect drops in a row, each Perfect also widens the block a little. The blocks slide faster as the tower grows, and after your first block the tide rises from below. The game ends when a block misses the tower completely or the tide reaches the top of the tower.
• Orbit: your ship circles a planet. Tap to launch it in a straight line, and land inside the next planet's ring to keep going. Each new planet reached is worth 10 points. A "Smooth" landing (coming in along the ring instead of straight at the planet) adds a bonus of 5 points, growing by 5 for each Smooth landing in a row, up to 25. The orbit speeds up as you go, and later planets drift side to side. The game ends when your ship flies off into space.
• Tide Racer: drag left and right to steer your boat across 4 lanes, and flick up to jump. Rocks, buoys, logs and sandbars can be jumped; other boats and ferries cannot. If your boat hits something, the game ends (unless a Shield protects it). You get 10 points a second at the starting speed, and more as the water gets faster. Changing lanes less than 0.35 seconds before a hazard reaches you is a near miss (+50). Riding in another boat's wake gives 30 points a second and extra speed. Each starfish is worth 25 points, plus 5 more for each starfish caught in a row (up to +50); the streak ends if you go 1.5 seconds without catching one. Jumping something is +30, a ramp is +100, and smashing something with Turbo is +25. Every 12 seconds the tide turns (+100) and the water gets faster. At 3,000 points the storm starts and the water gets faster and busier. Power-ups: Turbo (3 seconds, faster and smashes rocks, buoys, logs and boats), Shield (blocks one hit), Magnet (7 seconds, also collects starfish in the next lane) and Hydrofoil (5 seconds, floats over anything that can be jumped).
• Cube Lines: each puzzle is a grid of squares with a green start dot and a gold end dot. Drag one line from the green dot through every open square exactly once, ending on the gold dot. Each puzzle solved is worth 10 points for every square in it plus 20 points times the puzzle's level. The game starts with 90 seconds, and each puzzle solved adds 4 seconds, up to 60 extra seconds per game. The game ends when the clock runs out.
• Cube Clear: drag blocks from the tray onto an 8x8 board; blocks can't be rotated. Every full row or column clears. Each square placed is worth 10 points, and each move that clears lines earns a bonus of 100 points times the number of lines squared, which grows with a combo (clearing again within 3 moves). The game starts with 90 seconds; each clear adds 2 seconds per line plus 3 more for 2 or more lines or a combo, up to 60 extra seconds per game. The game ends when the clock runs out or no block in the tray fits.
• Rising Tide: rows of letters rise every few seconds, faster as the game goes on, and the game ends when a full column reaches the top. Points come from letter values and word length, with bonuses for quick words in a row, clearing the whole board, and calling a wave early.
• Untimed play: in a Challenge with a Featured Game, the other games are played untimed. Cube Clear has no clock and ends when no block in the tray fits. In Cube Lines each puzzle has its own timer (by default 25 seconds for a 4x4 grid, 35 for 5x5 and 45 for 6x6) and the game ends when one runs out. The other games play the same as always. Untimed games are not part of the Challenge: their scores appear on that game's weekly and All-Time leaderboards but do not count toward any weekly score or Power Hour, and win no prizes. A game played during a live Power Hour for that game is always timed.
• You can add up to 2 extra lives per game, earned by watching an optional rewarded ad. Invite reward: if a new player adds you as a friend before playing their first game, you get 7 ad-free days (no banner ads and no ads between games). Extra lives still require watching an ad. It is still at most 2 extra lives per game. In Tide Tower: an extra life widens the top block of your tower, lowers the tide, and gives you a new block to drop. In Orbit: an extra life puts your ship back on the last planet you were on. In Tide Racer: an extra life clears everything on screen and keeps your boat safe for 2 seconds. In Cube Lines an extra life adds 30 seconds (15 seconds on the current puzzle in an untimed game). In Cube Clear an extra life adds 30 seconds if time ran out, or gives three small blocks that fit if you ran out of moves (always three small blocks in an untimed game). In Rising Tide an extra life pulls the tide back.
• If you leave the app during a timed game (go to your home screen, switch apps, lock your phone or take a call), that game ends immediately. The score you had at that moment counts. Untimed games pause instead and continue when you come back.
• Screenshots and screen recordings of timed games are blocked. Taking a screenshot during a timed game ends that game immediately. The score you had at that moment counts.
• Games must be played on the official High Tide Arcade app with an internet connection so the score can be recorded and checked. Every game is replayed by Sponsor's server, and only scores that check out count.
• One account per person. Multiple accounts will be disqualified.

8. Cheating and fair play

Using hacks, modified apps, bots, scripts, word-finding or puzzle-solving tools, emulators, glitches, or anyone else playing on your account is not allowed. Sponsor checks every winning score and may remove any score or disqualify any player it believes did not play fairly. Sponsor's decisions are final.

9. Winners and ties

The eligible players with the three highest verified weekly scores (see section 7) when the Challenge ends win 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Ineligible players are skipped, so a prize goes to the next highest eligible player. If two or more players tie, the player who reached that score first ranks higher. One win per person per 4 weeks.

10. Prizes

Three cash prizes per week, paid in U.S. dollars through PayPal or Venmo (winner's choice): 1st place $50, 2nd place $25, 3rd place $10. Total value per week: $85. Prize amounts for each Challenge are the ones shown in the app when that Challenge starts; Sponsor may change prize amounts for future Challenges. Prizes are sent to the PayPal account of the email address, or the Venmo account of the U.S. mobile number, given when claiming; for winners under 18, the prize is sent to the parent or guardian's PayPal or Venmo account. A valid PayPal or Venmo account is required to receive a prize (a Venmo recipient without an account will get a text message inviting them to create one). Any fees charged by PayPal or Venmo to send or receive the payment are the winner's responsibility and may be deducted from the prize amount, so the amount received may be slightly less than the prize value. Prizes cannot be transferred. Sponsor may substitute a prize of equal or greater value. PayPal and Venmo are not sponsors of this Challenge. Taxes, if any, are the winner's responsibility; winners receiving $600 or more in prizes in a calendar year must provide tax information (such as IRS Form W-9) before further prizes are paid.

11. How winners are notified

Winners are notified by a push notification (if notifications are turned on) and by a message in the app the next time they open it. Sponsor is not responsible for notifications that are turned off, delayed or not received.

12. Claiming a prize: 24 hours

Winners must claim their prize in the app within 24 hours after the Challenge ends (by Saturday 10:00 PM ET). To claim, confirm with Sign in with Apple, tap Claim prize and choose PayPal (enter the email address of a PayPal account) or Venmo (enter the U.S. mobile number of a Venmo account). Winners 13 to 17 must have a parent or guardian complete the claim with the parent or guardian's PayPal email address or Venmo mobile number. Prizes not claimed within 24 hours are forfeited and will not be awarded to anyone else. Sponsor may ask a winner, or a minor winner's parent or guardian, to confirm age and eligibility before delivering the prize, and will send the prize by the winner's chosen method within 7 days after the winner is verified. If a prize cannot be delivered because the PayPal email or Venmo number is wrong or the account cannot receive payments, and the winner does not provide working PayPal or Venmo details within 7 days of being contacted, the prize is forfeited.

13. Your information

The email or mobile number entered to claim a prize (for winners under 18, the parent or guardian's) is used only to verify the winner and send the prize through PayPal or Venmo. Sponsor does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Your player name and scores appear on public leaderboards. See the High Tide Arcade Privacy Policy at https://hightideplay.com/high-tide-arcade/privacy for details.

14. Leaderboard names

Pick a name that isn't offensive and doesn't pretend to be someone else, or Sponsor may change or remove it. Sponsor may show winners' player names in the app.

15. General

Sponsor is not responsible for lost connections, crashes, or technical problems that affect a game. If a problem affects the fairness of a Challenge, Sponsor may cancel or change that week's Challenge. Sponsor may update these rules; the version in the app at the start of a Challenge applies to that Challenge. These rules are governed by the laws of the State of Florida.

16. Power Hour bonus contests

From time to time Sponsor may run a Power Hour: a short bonus contest in one game (Tide Tower, Orbit, Tide Racer, Cube Lines, Cube Clear or Rising Tide). Each Power Hour is announced in the app, and by push notification to players who allow them, before or when it starts. The app shows the game, the cash prize and the start and end times (Eastern). The highest single verified score in that game, from a game started during the Power Hour, wins the stated prize. Games that end up to 3 minutes after it closes still count. Ties go to the player who reached the score first. Power Hour games also count toward the Weekly Challenge as usual. The eligibility, verification, Sign in with Apple, payment and 24-hour claim rules above all apply; the 24 hours start when the Power Hour ends. If no eligible player scores, no prize is awarded. Sponsor may cancel a Power Hour before it starts.

17. Holiday promotion: Win $50, Give $50

From Friday, November 27, 2026 at 10:00 PM ET through Friday, January 1, 2027 at 10:00 PM ET (the five Challenges that end December 4, 11, 18 and 25, 2026 and January 1, 2027), the 1st place winner of each Challenge also gets a $50 gift to give to one friend. 2nd and 3rd place prizes don't change. After claiming their own prize, the 1st place winner picks one friend from their in-app friends list within 24 hours; if no friend is picked in time, the gift is forfeited. The friend must have been on the winner's friends list before that Challenge started, must have played at least 3 games that Challenge week, and must not use the winner's device or the winner's PayPal or Venmo account. The friend must meet the eligibility rules in section 4 and claims the gift in the app like a prize (section 12), within 24 hours after it is sent; gifts not claimed in time are forfeited and are not given to anyone else. The gift is paid in U.S. dollars through PayPal or Venmo, and sections 8, 10 and 12 apply to it. Sponsor may end or change this promotion for future Challenges at any time.

18. Questions and winners list

Contact support@hightideplay.com. To request the names of a week's winners, email support@hightideplay.com within 30 days after that Challenge ends.