Quick Reference
The build at a glance
Race is a speedrun mode. The goal is to finish round 100 as fast as possible, not optimally. You can let bloons leak if you can skip rounds you can't pop (round skip mechanic).
Best strategy: Sniper + Village + Spike Factory for fast, low-maintenance defense. Use Round Skip to skip rounds like 60, 76, 95, 98 if you're tight on time.
Step by step
Pick a fast map. Lotus Island or Logs are the fastest. Avoid 2-path maps.
Place Sniper (0-0-0) by round 3. Get to 1-0-0 by round 10. Don't waste time on early upgrades.
Skip round 23 if you can. Place Village (0-0-0) by round 25.
Sniper to 2-0-0 (Shrapnel). Skip round 40 if needed.
Skip round 60. Sniper to 4-0-0 by round 65. Place Spike Factory.
Skip rounds 76, 80, 84, 89, 95 — these are slow rounds with no payoff. Sniper to 4-0-2.
Skip 98. Survive round 100 BAD with your maxed Sniper + Village buff. End the race.
Round Skip costs $200 of your end-of-round cash. It skips the next round entirely. Use it on:
- Rounds that are slow but easy (you're not in danger)
- Heavy bloon rounds where you can't pop them all (60, 76, 95, 98)
Don't use it on rounds you can already pop easily — every skip costs time, and $200 isn't nothing.
Common mistakes
- Trying to pop every round. The optimal Race strategy skips 5-10 rounds.
- Picking a complex map. Lotus Island is the fastest.
- Slow-playing the BAD. Race ends when you clear round 100, not when the BAD dies.