How to Play Aqua Fuse: A Beginner's Guide to RetroRelay's Launch Game

Aqua Fuse is RetroRelay's launch title: a fuse-routing puzzle with an arcade combat layer, inspired by Rocket Mania Deluxe. You rotate fuse tiles on a grid so burning fuses connect lit torches on the left to rockets on the right. When a path is complete, the fuse ignites, rockets launch into the adjacent fish pool, and you score by destroying fish. Reach the target score before the timer hits zero.

The game runs entirely in your browser — no download required.

Getting Started

Visit playretrorelay.com/games/aqua-fuse and click Play.
From the main menu, choose START for a new campaign run.
A short How to Play tutorial appears on your first game. Dismiss it with ESC, SPACE, or the arrow button — the level timer starts after that.

Create a free RetroRelay profile if you want cloud scores and badges.

Controls

Input	Action
Left-click on a tile	Rotate fuse clockwise
Right-click on a tile	Rotate fuse counter-clockwise
Pause button	Pause / resume
Sound button	Toggle audio
ESC (during play)	Pause / resume
ESC or SPACE (tutorial / level summary)	Continue

Notes:

Cross (+) tiles cannot be rotated. Empty tiles also cannot be rotated.
On touch devices, tap a tile to rotate it clockwise.

The Board

Each level uses a 9-row × 6-column fuse grid:

Side	What it is
Left	Torches — all nine rows are always lit
Center	Rotatable fuse tiles — straights, elbows, T-junctions, and fixed crosses
Right	Rockets — one per row
Beside the grid	Fish pool — where your rockets fire

Tile colors show connection status:

Gold — connected to fire from the torches
Red — connected to a rocket
Orange — connected to both fire and a rocket (launch-ready)
Burning — fuse is on fire along the active path
Green — tile has burned and will collapse after the sequence ends

New tiles drop in from the top after burned tiles collapse, so the board keeps changing throughout a level.

The Goal

Reach the target score before time runs out.

The HUD shows level, score, target, coins, fish count, and time remaining. If the timer reaches 0, the run ends with TIME'S UP!

How a Round Plays Out

Build a path — Rotate tiles until torch fire and a rocket connect in the same row.
Ignite — Valid paths ignite automatically; fire spreads and rockets launch toward the fish pool.
Attack fish — Rockets become homing projectiles with area damage. Fish kills are your main score source.
Board refills — Burned tiles collapse, new tiles drop, and chain ignites are normal.

Scoring

Source	Points
Fish kills	Roughly 50–300 depending on fish type
Boss kill	1,500

End-of-level bonuses: +5 per second remaining, +10 per coin held.

Coins on fuse tiles upgrade rockets every 5 coins — higher levels mean more damage and larger blast radius. Launch 2+ rockets in one ignite for bonus coins on the refilled board.

Campaign & Endless Mode

Campaign has 10 levels with rising score targets. Level 10 is a boss fight — defeat one giant fish within 100 seconds to win.

Endless Mode unlocks after beating the campaign. Levels continue from 11 onward; every 10th level is a boss stage.

Tips for New Players

Watch both colors — orange means fire and rocket are linked.
Think in rows — each rocket only cares about its own row.
Upgrade early — coins carry between levels.
Chase multi-rocket ignites — bonus coins and burst damage.
Plan for refills — the board changes after every burn.
Save time for bonuses — extra seconds and coins add end-of-level points.

What Aqua Fuse Is (and Isn't)

Aqua Fuse is a fuse-routing puzzle inspired by Rocket Mania Deluxe, combined with fish-pool combat and rocket upgrades.

Aqua Fuse is not a water-inlet-to-outlet pipe game or a "press Space to start flow" simulator. You reorient existing tiles — you do not place new pipes onto an empty board.

What Comes Next

Read our Strategy Guide for advanced tips, or Endless Mode guide after beating the campaign. Check weekly challenges and the global leaderboard on RetroRelay.

Welcome to Aqua Fuse — light the fuse, clear the pool, and climb the leaderboard.