Lightning Bugs Connect - Free Brain Game

This Lightning Bugs Connect game is colorful and challenging. Link bugs of the same color for points!

Thinking is required to plan ahead so you don't leave lone lightning bugs at the end.

To begin, click the Small, Medium, or Large lin under the picture of the game. This opens the game in a pop-up window.

Lightning Bugs Connect - Instructions

To begin playing, wait for the game to load, then click the START button.

If you like this game, you might enjoy the other free online puzzle games on this site.

HOW TO PLAY. Clear the lightning bugs from the screen by connecting two or more bugs of the same color. To connect a group of bugs, simply click on one of the bugs in the group.

This game might seem trivial, but it's actually a subtle brain game. The reason is you must leave as few "stranded" bugs as possible. This requires planning ahead.

Clicking on a lightning bug of a particular color means you are selecting all bugs of the same color that are connected to that bug. For example, if you click on a blue lightning bug and there are 3 more blue ones linked either horizontally or vertically with that one, then they all disappear with a poof!

To plan ahead, you need to imagine the consequences of each choice. This is similar in a way to the think-a-few-moves-ahead thought process used by expert players in chess and other strategy-based board games.

POTIONS. If you do leave one or two stranded bugs, it usually works out okay. Because for each level, you're given one or more "potions" that you can use to remove left-over lightning bugs.

The potions are displayed under the scoreboard. To use one, just click on the stranded bug you want to remove.

TIMER. The other challenge is time. You can't take forever to make your moves, because the timer on the right side of the game screen is dropping continuously.

The game is over either if you run out of time on a level, or if you leave more stranded bugs than you have potions to remove.

MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS. You can mute the sounds in this Lightning Bugs Connect game by clicking the Music and/or Sound F/X buttons in the lower left of the game screen.

To pause the game, click the Pause button in the lower right.

When bugs are removed, the remaining bugs fall down to fill their places, as if gravity was pulling them down. This is also reminiscent of Tetris when a row of blocks is eliminated at the bottom and the rest of the blocks slide down.

On lower levels, you'll be able to clear the board by randomly clicking on lightning bugs. But the higher levels require more thinking.

If you'd like to share your high score in this game, feel free to post a screen image in the Facebook Comments section below.

Puzzle games like Lightning Bug Connect train important brain skills like problem solving, thinking speed, and mental flexibility. Play this game often for a brain boost!

Published: 05/21/2017
Last Updated: 06/11/2020