Scoring Mechanics

For all values mentioned below, this is before the multiplier is calculated.

Basic Matching:

Matched balls are worth 10 points each (as in per ball destroyed). The total points from this category do not show up on the results screen.

After reaching level 4, in addition to the 10 points per ball, an additional 10-120 points are added per ball, 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.) This is known as the Speed Bonus.

Matching a time ball adds an additional 100 points.

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 10,000 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. This tactic is known as double tapping.

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.

Note the gap size refers to ball lengths relative to the track, not absolute distance. 

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!)

There are a few bugs in this system: The game doesn't always register each gap shot as one, and in some cases the game will credit you for more gaps than you would've gotten.


Wait, what?

Consolation Bonus:

This occurs if a time bonus ball is matched (due to either making a match or combo) after time is called, and you gain 2500 + 500 points for each time ball collected that game.

Note consolation bonuses do not occur if time balls are destroyed by last hurrah explosions, spirit blasts, or anything after that.

Curve Clear Bonus:

This occurs when a curve is completely cleared. The bonus is 2000 + 100 per second that elapsed from the start of the game when you made the curve clear.

(Note that 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. 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 3x its base value.

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.

Note: If a bomb powerup is hit that would also make it a combo, points are added to the powers section at the end of the game, as well as speed and combo sections. That causes a point discrepancy of around 10,000 points or so each time it's done at a 9x multiplier when you total up all the sections on the result screen. It's not much but it adds up.

Hot Frog / Cat Fireball:

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 they are worth 100 points.

Chain Blast:

The resulting explosion from a chain blast gives 1000 + 100 points per ball destroyed.

Critical Hit:

Critical hit doubles the amount of points that you would make on a single match. The chance of getting a critical, however, depends on your level (around 10% on Level 80), but this value can artificially raised by future spirit animals.

Only normal matches, gap shots, and combos can receive bonuses from critical hits.

Fun Fact: The critical hit score multiplier is expressed as a floating point number and not an integer. So that means you can have a 2.5x critical, or one with 308 digits in it.

Monuments and Spirit Blasts

When the timer is up, spirit blasts typically award bonus points for a single color left on the board and removes them, laying way for additional combos that might happen.

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-icious Spirit Blast.

Spirit Weasel awards 800 per yellow 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.