NOTE: For historical purposes only
Putting this up as a reference sheet in order to figure out how to get the best score.
Note: The following information has been left 'as is' for archive purposes, and only applies for the old island. See Scoring Mechanics (Kroakatoa) for the mechanics pertaining to the new island.
WARNING: Very technical stuff ahead, and it's a bit long / detailed as well.
For all values mentioned below, this is before the multiplier is calculated.
Basic Matching:
Matched balls are worth 10-130 points each (as in per ball destroyed), depending on how far the red frog meter is filled at the time the ball was launched. (If it's more than three quarters full, it's 130 points.) Matching a time ball will add an additional 100 points. *this is similar to the speed bonus in Bejeweled Blitz
If you're very early in the game or reset and didn't unlock hot frog yet, you only get 10 points per ball since the speed bonus is directly tied to the hog frog meter.
Combo Bonus:
Occurs when a match is made which makes another match (or more) when the balls slide together. The 2nd match made from the 1st gives a bonus of 1000 points, the third 2000, the fourth 3000, and so on. The number of points that would normally be gained from a match (as mentioned above) is also added to this total.
Chain Bonus:
The bonus for the 6th shot in a row would be 200, the 7th would be 210, the 8th would be 220, and so on. (Combo Bonuses do not add to a chain bonus.)
There is a assumption by many people that chains can maximize your score. While this is true in previous Zuma games (after 50x chain it's worth more than a gap shot), you'll need to reach 980x chain in Zuma Blitz to do the same (which is by far impossible in any game).
Gap Bonus:
The Gap bonus ranges from 100 to 10000 points. Score gained is proportional to the gap size in a linear fashion as shown below.
If your first match created a gap and your next shot goes through that gap and makes a match within a second after firing your previous shot, it's almost guaranteed to be 10,000 points, regardless of gap size.
In the event of a double gap (or higher) the gap size / score is determined by the smallest gap the ball went through, and is multiplied by the number of gaps it passed through.
Gap Size Points (in balls) 10+ 100 9 120 8 1320 7 2520 6 3720 5 4920 4 6120 3 7320 2 8520 1.5 9120 (you need to fire the ball at just the right angle!)
Of course, the game doesn't always register each gap shot as one...
Wait, what?
Consolation Bonus:
This occurs if a time bonus ball is matched (due to firing it or combo) after time is called. All balls within a four-ball radius of the time ball are destroyed, and you gain 500 per ball destroyed + 1000 per time ball collected in that game.
This was revised sometime in September 2011 so it does not destroy nearby balls and only awards 5000 points.
Curve Clear Bonus:
This occurs when a curve is completely cleared, in which case balls will (but not always) rapidly come back up. The bonus is 2000 + 100 per second that elapsed from the start of the game when you made the curve clear. (Note: The elapsed time in-game is not visible, so in short, the longer you've been playing in the game, the faster the balls will move, and the more points you get for a clear.)
Fruit Bonus:
The fruit bonus score value is on the right side.
To be more specific, each fruit has a base score value (3,000 when first unlocked, 5,100 at lvl 72+). the 1st fruit you hit is worth 100% of its base value, the 2nd, 150%, the third, 200%, the fourth 250%, and every fruit hit after that is worth 300% of its base value. (max of 137,700 points)
If playing as a Spirit Eagle (via a Monument) the base fruit score is raised by 2,000 (this means 5,000 when first unlocked, 8,500 at lvl 72). Provided that you gather all the multipliers and hit each fruit as it comes out, you should be getting a whopping 229,500 points(!) per fruit by the two minute mark at lvl 80.
Bombs
Any balls destroyed in the blast are worth 10-130 points each depending on how far the red frog meter was filled up, with 130 being a bit over the halfway mark.
Red Frog:
The explosion destroys nearby balls giving a base score of 2000 points plus 100 points per ball destroyed in the blast.
Last Hurrah:
This explodes all powerups on the board + surrounding balls, giving a base score of 1000 points for each explosion plus 100 points per ball destroyed in the last hurrah blasts. These points are doubled with the a Mega Hurrah powerup.
Cannon Shot:
10 points per ball destroyed. Unlike other explosions / matches where the game tells you how many points you earned on that shot, the game doesn't do this when you fire a cannon shot.
If playing as a Spirit Weasel (via a Monument) any balls that cannons destroy are worth 410 points.
Critical Hit:
Critical hit doubles the amount of points that you would make on a single shot. The chance of getting a critical, however, depends on your level (around 10% on Level 80). The September 30, 2011 version of Zuma Blitz had a bug which set the bonus to 1x of a normal shot, but was patched the next board change.
Monuments
Spirit Cat awards 250 per blue ball remaining + 7,500 points from Cat-astrophic Spirit Blast.
Spirit Beetle awards 250 per red ball remaining + 7,500 points from Beetle-ful Spirit Blast.
Spirit Weasel awards 500 per yellow ball remaining + 15,000 points from Weasel-icous Spirit Blast.
Spirit Weasel awards 800 per green ball remaining + 9,500 points from Eagle-tastic Spirit Blast.
Multipliers:
If a match is made containing a multiplier, the multiplier is added, then the score is added factoring in the new multiplier.
(Ball) Curve Speed:
Balls go 66% faster when they are close to the beginning of the curve, and 66% slower when you're in danger of losing. Balls come out at a rate of 3 ball widths per 2 seconds, but speed increases by 50% each minute in the game. * Not a score mechanic but something worth nothing.
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