What each HUD element decides
The match screen is the whole economy of a wave. Learn it before you chase a second bird.
| Element | What it shows | Decision it should change |
|---|---|---|
| WAVE | Current wave, and on an early beach stage a total such as 1/5 | A higher number is a harder pack, not a score. |
| UNITS ALIVE | Pigs still on the path | Do not skip while this number is climbing. |
| Health | Defense left. A fresh defense is 100/100. | A falling bar means a leak, not a reason to speed up. |
| Gold | Currency for placing towers in this match | Red costs 150. Other place prices are not published. |
| Speed | 1X, 2X, 3X, 5X, 7X | Start at 1X. There is no 4X or 6X button in the reported set. |
| SKIP TO NEXT WAVE | A vote to call the next pack early | Solo can show 0/1. Co-op counts player votes. |
| Towers | Tower menu | Use it to pick a role you are missing. |
| Settings | Options | Not a placement tool. |
| Red house | Return to the home area | Leave only after the wave is stable. |
Green arrows on the ground are pig travel direction. Place beside that flow. A range circle that sits on empty ground is a wasted 150 Gold.
When to change speed
- Stay on 1X while you are learning a bend or placing the first Red.
- Use 2X or 3X once Red is down and UNITS ALIVE is falling between waves.
- Use 5X only on a line you have already cleared at low speed.
- Use 7X only when the same line has stayed clean. If health drops, go back to 1X and fix the leak tile before you raise speed again.
Dying faster does not award more chapter experience. The experience comes from finishing the chapter.
When a skip is safe
Skip only if every answer is yes:
- UNITS ALIVE is low and falling.
- Health is not already collapsing.
- The entry stretch already has a tower on it.
- You still have Gold for a repair tower, or the path is already covered.
- In co-op, nobody is mid-placement. One player calling the vote while another is dropping Bomb is how overlapping waves start.
If any answer is no, let the wave finish. The early beach Minion Pig report of 26 HP is a sense of the opener, not a promise that later pigs share that health.
After a leak
Stand at the tile where pigs walked through and ask which missing job would have stopped them: more time-on-target for Red, pierce for a line, splash for a clump, knockback near the eggs, or a heavy hit on one tough body. Adding a random tower on the opposite side of the map does not answer that question.
The same checklist is the one to reuse when Cornucopia Woods or Bird Village becomes selectable. Path shape will change. WAVE, Gold, health, and the skip vote will not.