Freeplay Mode

“	If you manage to beat level (last level of the difficulty you are playing), you can opt to play on in 'free play' mode until you run out of lives.	”
	~ Round 12 in BTD4

“	You cannot save your game once you start playing free play mode.	”
	~ Round 63 in BTD4

“	Freeplay, freeplay, freeplay. Have fun!	”
	~ Round 86's Pre-Round Comment in Bloons TD 5

“	This is free play mode. You get XP more slowly, but you can earn Tokens and get on Leaderboards. Some rounds start to get pretty heavy later on, so you device will start to lag eventually - good luck!	”
	~ Bloons TD 5 Mobile Official Description

“	This is freeplay mode and the rules have changed! Bloons will get faster and stronger the further you go. Keep playing as long as you can!	”
	~ Bloons TD 6 Official Description

Freeplay Mode is a mode that appears since Bloons TD 3, and continues to make appearance in all mainstream games starting from Bloons TD 3 (Bloons TD 4, Bloons TD 5, and Bloons TD 6), player-versus-player spinoffs (Bloons TD Battles and Bloons TD Battles 2), and story-oriented spinoffs (Bloons Monkey City and Bloons Adventure Time TD). When the player completes the final round of any difficulty, the player will be asked if the player wants to continue playing. Upon continuing, the player will enter freeplay mode. The player can't save in Freeplay Mode, unless playing BTD6, the mobile version of BTD3, BTD4 and BTD5, or the Nintendo DSi/3DS version of BTD4. Since BTD4, freeplay lasts indefinitely, except up to the round limit. This compound word can be written with a space or uncapitalized.

Freeplay rules and freeplay rounds are related terms referring to the random spawns and bloon ramping that progressively applies to rounds higher than the target round for the Hard difficulty mode. It is common for the community to refer to freeplay as the portion of the game subject to these special rules even if the game mode requires one to beat such rounds like Impoppable in BTD6. Under freeplay rules, Bloons get stronger every single round. Their speed increases progressively, and starting with BTD5, MOAB-Class Bloons also gain more health progressively. In most games starting with the Bloons TD 5 Generation, Super Ceramics replace normal Ceramics, packing immense health but also preventing ordinary bloons from multiplying. To counteract the large amount of bloons per round, you gain less experience when popping bloons in Freeplay Mode.

Bloons Monkey City and Bloons Adventure Time TD have their own freeplay rules in their respective counterparts of a virtually endless defense mode. In Contested Territory, the player must complete rounds to maximize their score beyond the minimum requirements. Martian Games offers a similar experience.

As a player battles in Bloons TD Battles or Bloons TD Battles 2, freeplay rules begin after a specific round, in order to spice up the aggressive gameplay and avoid passive defense. In BTDB Mobile, Freeplay rules begin on Round 30+ (?), while in BTDB2 it begins in Round 25+ (health ramping) and 30+ (Super Ceramics + extra health ramping).

Having a computer or device with large enough RAM and a strong enough processor is recommended when playing in Freeplay Mode due to progressively more intense bloon sends, hence the availability of mobile versions of Bloons TD games on personal computers (e.g. via Steam) to take advantage of their generally vast processing power.

Bloon Spawns

Most freeplay rounds feature random spawns subject to a RBE budget instead of preset spawns up to the round limit. BTD6 is the first game to feature predetermined freeplay rounds, all within the earlier segment of freeplay.

• BTD3: Rounds 51+ will have random spawns from Blacks to MOABs.
• BTD4: Rounds 76+ will have random spawns from Zebras to BFBs up to the round limit.
• BTD5: Rounds 86+ will have random spawns from Ceramics to ZOMGs. (MOABs to ZOMGs in Mastery Mode, as Ceramics are ranked up to MOABs)
• BTD6: Rounds 141+ will have random spawns from MOABs to BADs, and Rounds 201+ will have random spawns from MOABs to Fortified BADs including DDTs (exceptions of Rounds 163, 200, 263).
  • Starting from Version 25.0, Rounds 101-120 became pre-determined, while in Version 26.0 rounds 121-140 became pre-determined. These changes do not apply to Alternate Bloons Rounds as freeplay becomes random immediately after Round 100.
  • Starting from Version 44.0, Alternate Bloons Rounds received pre-determined bloon spawns for Round 101-140. These rounds are considerably harder than both the standard early freeplay rounds and the prior early random rounds.
• BTDB2: Rounds 91-99 in Bananza will have random spawns from MOABs to BADs (including DDT), Round 100 in Bananza is just same as Round 200 in Bloons TD 6, and Round 101 in Bananza will always spawn 10 Fortified BADs.

Bloons TD 3

The victory message congratulating the player upon beating round 150 on BTD Mobile.

Freeplay starts at Round 51 across all three game difficulties. Thus, freeplay rules start at the same point across all game modes.

During Freeplay Mode, bloons will only give money in 1/3 chance from rounds 51-60, then 1/5 chance from rounds 61+. In addition, bloons will start to speed up further as rounds pass by. Unlike freeplay in subsequent games, freeplay is designed to be finite in BTD3.

If the round is under 150, an amount is calculated from (7 + level - 50) and we go through that amount. We make a random number from 0 to current round number (level), if we are on medium, add 3, and if on hard, add 7. For that number, we pick a random object to spawn by seeing if its over a certain value. (Black - 6, White - 16, Rainbow - 29, Ceramic - 39, Moab - 47) If its anything under those, use lead. For anything under Rainbows spawn 10 of them. For Rainbows, spawn (level - 40) amounts of them. For ceramics, spawn (level - 42) amounts of them. For Moabs, spawn round((level-50)/3) amounts of them.

BTD3 Freeplay bloon speed scaling formula: Speed Bonus = (current round - 50) / 15

Beating Round 150 will end the game and send the player to a special congratulatory screen.

Bloons TD 4

Freeplay mode in BTD4

Freeplay starts at:

• Round 51 Easy
• Round 61 Medium
• Round 76 Hard

Freeplay rules apply from Round 76 and onwards. Round 250 is the round limit, where 9999 BFBs spawn, with all subsequent rounds completely devoid of bloons. There is also a hard limit at Round 255.

Bloons TD 5

Freeplay starts at:

• Round 51 Easy
• Round 66 Medium
• Round 86 Hard and Impoppable

Freeplay rules apply from Round 86 and onwards. Round 500 is formerly the round limit, where ZOMGs spawn indefinitely.

Bloons Monkey City

Bloons Monkey City offers Freeplay via Contested Territory. Super Ceramics only appear in the Flash version. More info...

Bloons TD Battles

Bloons TD Battles begins Freeplay on Round ???, every round increasing blimp health by +???% and +???% speed. More info...

Bloons TD 6

Main article: Late Game and Freeplay (BTD6 Era)

Freeplay rules apply effective from Round 81. Clearing Impoppable, CHIMPS, and the fourth and fifth tier of Boss Bloons require clearing rounds subject to freeplay rules. The term freeplay rounds conventionally apply to rounds after Round 100. There are also isolated special rounds amidst random freeplay rounds.

The round limit is Round 10000, the point where the bloon spawning is likely designed for testing purposes only.

For more information about Rounds 81+ and especially beyond Round 100, see Late Game and Freeplay (BTD6 Era).

Bloons Adventure Time TD

Bloons Adventure Time TD offers Freeplay via Martian Games. More info...

Bloons TD Battles 2

Freeplay rules begin after starting Round 25. Health and speed ramping for MOAB-class bloons gradually increases from that round onwards, every round increasing blimp health by +20% and blimp speed by +10%. Starting from Round 31, the health ramping per round is bumped up to +40% blimp health, blimp speed continues to increase +10% per round, Super Ceramics begin, and bloons below Ceramic release one child each.

During Rounds 41-50, the health ramping per round is increased to +80% blimp health, and starting from Round 51 (Bananza only), health ramping is decreased to +60%.

As the maximum possible round is Round 101 (only accessible via Bananza), the maximum possible ramping is 44.2x health and 8.7x speed.

Strategies

Game over in Freeplay Mode. Cannot continue the game no matter what.

Main article: Freeplay Mode/Strategies

Click Freeplay Mode/Strategies for a list of strategies for playing levels in Freeplay Mode. This only applies to Rounds 85+, regardless of difficulty. For BTD6 Freeplay Strategies, visit BTD6 Freeplay Mode/Strategies

Trivia

• In Bloons TD Mobile and Bloons TD 3, the very last round in these two games is round 150. After completing this round, the game displays a congratulations message and automatically ends, and the "Freeplay" button is replaced with "Play again" instead of continuing onwards.
• On Bloons TD 5 and on newer versions of Bloons TD 4, the game displays a message about lag. When it lags, turning the fast-forward off may help speed your game up. On round 71 in Bloons TD 4, a freeplay round if on easy or medium, the Pre-Round Comment is You might think the game is lagging by now but it really is your mind speeding up. Think of it as like bullet time in the Matrix.
• In Bloons TD 4, there are 9999 BFBs (999 in some earlier versions) in round 250 (the very last round) making it extremely difficult to legitimately beat unless filled with Monkey Aces, as they use up no space. This is not true in the mobile version, as the round is still randomized; additionally, Bloons will still spawn after said round.
• However, filling the map with Sun Gods can beat it, as long as they’re place bottom to top to fit more of them and Monkey Beacons are place afterwards else the Sun Gods won’t get buffed.
• Bloons in Bloons TD 5 begin to speed up in Round 103 of freeplay, so by round 400, the player has a Z.O.M.G. going nearly as fast as a Pink Bloon.
• The amount of money for each popped bloon also decreases as time goes by in freeplay. (It will be a constant 2% in Bloons TD 6, whether Round 121 or 500)
• In Freeplay Mode of Bloons TD 5, Ceramic Bloons require 38 hits to break open, revealing only 1 Rainbow Bloon. These are known as "Super Ceramics." Subsequent bloons also only reveal one descendant (Lead Bloons reveal only one Black Bloon) instead of two upon popping. (Zebra bloons will only spawn one white bloon when popped)
  • This is noticable when getting past Round 85, Round 50/65/85/throughout the game (depending on the mode; Apopalypse and Deflation modes have this effect from the start) in BTD5 Mobile/Steam, and Round 30 in Bloons Monkey City (Contested Territory only)
  • In Bloons TD 6, the "Super Ceramics" now require 60 hits to break open (120 if fortified).
• If the player wants to get to very high rounds without lag, the January 19, 2013 daily challenge is a good way. This challenge replaces all bloons (except for Black Bloons, White Bloons, Leads, and Ceramics) with Zebra Bloons.
  • The January 27, 2014 daily challenge can also accomplish this, as all MOAB-Class Bloons are Red Bloons.
• Originally in BTD5, when the player reached round 500 in this mode, the round would give an endless stream of ZOMGs that are close to impossible to damage due to moving at extreme speed, showing a Freeplay Mode limit. This was removed as of the Brick Wall update.
• The highest legitimate round ever to be achieved in Freeplay Mode in BTD5 is 1098 by Demonic Sin Ex. Video is attached.
• In Bloons TD 5 Mobile/Steam, far greater rounds are possible. The highest known score is round 4114, by Bass Man Matteo. This is due to a few factors. One being that you have access to the Bloonchipper tower. Another one is that due to a glitch, you can place temples right next to each other with Support Chinook, which can also be used to farm millions of lives. The third one is that speed and health changes take longer to take effect.