Mechanics 29

How BONK! works, one rule per page: the automatic BONK, chains, the Audience, Momentum, elements, unlocks and every mode.

Name	Description
BONK (automatic strike)	The hammer's hit. When a row reaches the strike line, the hammer BONKs the hole of its column by itself.
Chain	Every BONK caused by one strike. Longer chains pay more and win the Audience back.
Audience	Your life bar (0-100). Escapes cost Audience, chains win it back. At 0 the show is over.
Escape	A mole that passes the strike line without being BONKed escapes: it costs Audience and Momentum.
Momentum	A meter with four tiers, CALM, HOT, WILD and FEVER, that multiplies the score.
Golden	A golden mole pays much more; golden chains spread the gold.
Special mole	A mole you added to your build (up to 4). It fires its own effect when it is BONKed.
Shells (helmet and stone)	Overlays on normal moles: a helmet needs two BONKs, a stone only breaks under your own hammer.
Late risers	Moles that pop up in empty holes just before the strike, marked three rows ahead.
Elements (Wet, Oil, Burning)	Element statuses on holes and moles: water conducts electricity, oil carries fire, water puts fire out.
Clock marks	The Clock and the Clockwork Head do not slow time any more: they put a MARK on moles (TEAL or GOLD) that lasts 8 rows.
Families	Every piece pays under one of nine families: electric, explosive, fire, gold, normals, projectile, wave, echo or fair (the fair-rule prizes).
Unlocks and milestones	Each fair opens the next pack of pieces in four milestones: pass arc 1, pass arc 2, reach the boss, win.
Mutations	A piece at Level 2 picks a final form: mutation A, mutation B, or a chemistry recipe.
Chemistry	A curated recipe between two pieces you own. It adds a new behaviour, never a plain percentage.
Resonance	When both members of a chemistry recipe are mutated, the recipe gets its extra Resonance effect.
Fair rules	Every fair but the Sunny Fairground has ONE strong rule that changes how you play the whole show.
Draft (level up)	When the XP bar fills you pick 1 of 3 cards: a new piece or a level for one you own.
Arcs	A show has 3 arcs. The machine starts with 4 columns; arc 1 widens it to 5 and arc 2 to 6. Every arc opens a prize pick; then the boss.
Boss fight	Every fair ends with a boss beaten through a mechanic on the board, with no health bar and no bullets.
Heat	Difficulty levels 1 to 5 per fair, unlocked by winning the level below on that fair.
Daily challenge and medals	One seeded run per day with a rule and bronze, silver and gold goals; on Sundays the Grand Fair adds a second rule.
Short show	A shorter campaign run (about 10 minutes): arcs at rows 65, 145 and 230, boss at 315.
Endless (ENCORE)	A post-game mode with no boss: the rule rotates every 40 rows and the machine grows to 7 and 8 columns.
Boss Marathon	The six bosses in a row, unlocked after winning every show.
Guest Star	A giant celebrity mole that visits about a third of the runs (34 %); chain BONKs knock its stars off for a gift.
Mastery	A visual level 0-5 per piece, earned only by winning with it.
Game speed	x1, x2 or x3: the world runs 1, 1.6 or 2.2 times faster; your controls stay real time.
Seeds (ENTER SEED)	The Daily screen has an ENTER SEED field: type a seed number or a share code to replay that exact run.