Hungry Shark World Guide (2021 Update): Tips, Tricks & Strategies to Become an Apex Predator

Ah, the beach — sun, sand, fun. Snacks all around, and even plenty more to eat. Join your friends for a swim and eat while you float in the waves without worrying about getting cramps. Seafood and Vitamin Sea are the best… especially if you’re a shark!

That’s right, folks, sharks; nature’s deadly, hungry, killing machines. While some sharks aren’t at all dangerous, many of them are predatory in nature and will attack anything that bleeds in their immediate vicinity. If you’ve clicked this article, it’s certainly because you’re playing Hungry Shark World and you want to know how to reach the top of the food chain.

Hungry Shark World, from Ubisoft, is the sequel to Hungry Shark Evolution. The goal of the game is simple: you are a shark and you have to eat to survive. There will be traps, enemies, rival sharks, and more trying to keep you from partaking of this buffet for one (your buffet, of course), but with enough skill and through enough practice, you will become the ruler of the sea with every school of fish and gaggle of divers and swimmers quivering in your wake. It will be bloody, brutal, and difficult, hence the existence of this guide.

If you’re ready to work your way up from being a bottom feeder to becoming an apex predator, look no further because you’ve struck gold with our Hungry Shark World guide below!

1. Maneuver Your Shark With Finesse

A shark swims underwater as though a plane soars through the clouds. Its maneuverability is not quite where it is able to turn around so easily. It will have to move its entire body all the way around if it wants to go the other direction. This is where finesse in the control of your shark will come in handy.

This type of finesse we speak of will allow you to squeeze through mines, jellyfish, or even get through a barrage of fishing spears. You might be wondering: how would a shark gain so much agility while under pressure? The answer is quite simple: boost in bursts.

It’s a newbie mistake to boost your shark all the way when the bar is full, making you think that eating things faster will make you score more points. In fact, having an empty boost gauge is quite dangerous. You will have no means to escape larger predators, you won’t be able to dodge projectiles, and you might not make that bite that will save your shark from starvation and death.

To boost in bursts, simply remember this rule: boost only when you need to give chase or dodge something. Turning around while boosting is quite difficult, so let go of the boost button when you missed the fish you were after or if you’re trying to navigate the shark through a bunch of sea mines or jellyfish. Though, boosting is something you don’t need to think much of during a Gold Rush.

Speaking of sea mines and jellyfish, let’s tackle those next…

2. Avoid Hazards And Hostile Sealife

Picture this: you’re enjoying your lunch, you’re chasing after dessert, and the locals at the beach are screaming in terror as you make your approach. Suddenly, a pair of uniformed men step forth, pistols drawn and they open fire. This is an injury that you could narrowly escape or completely succumb to. The police officers are among the many hazards of the game.

Leaky toxic barrels, sea mines, jellyfish, pufferfish, ravenous seals, armed divers, military submarines, other sharks — these are some of the things that threaten your very existence and it goes without saying to avoid each and every one of them.

But if things get hairy and you need to squeeze through them where you can, that’s where the previous bullet can come in handy. What you should know is that the longer you stay alive, the more these hazards pop up and it’s your duty to keep your shark from dying out so quickly.

You’d think that it might be lucrative and safe to stay in just one region. But truth be told, you are endangering yourself that way.

3. Never Stay In One Place

While it would somehow make sense to remain in one place and make it your territory, doing this could potentially endanger your shark.

As the game goes on and the longer you survive, you will soon notice that hostile sealife pop up more often. This might include jellyfish, angler fish, barracudas, other sharks, divers, and military submarines. You might even encounter more things that your shark might not be able to eat. This is why it’s quite important to constantly move about.

If you notice that your surroundings have started to change, get out of there. In other waters, you might be able to find smaller fish to eat and sharks your size that you can bully. On the surface, you should be able to find people to sink your teeth in. Just be careful as some of them might be armed with guns or fishing spears.

When you’re on the run, it’s best to keep up a high combo count. The game rewards you for surviving longer and thus, taking advantage of large amounts of food is important as time goes by.

4. Keep Your Combo Up

As you continuously devour schools of fish or groups of crab, you’ll notice a number popping up on the upper-left portion of the screen. This is your combo multiplier.

Basically speaking, the combo multiplier increases your score times the original values of the different fish that you eat. For example, eating a fish that scores 100 on a 20x combo multiplier should net you 2000 points.

Now imagine if that fish was a part of a school. That amount of points alone should give your shark a massive leap in progress. Points level up your shark, which are integral to accessing more sharks in the future.

Eat more and more of these poor little morsels and you end up activating the Gold Rush. This is a moment wherein your shark is temporarily invulnerable and that you gain even more gold from eating your prey. Aside from temporary invulnerability, your shark will also gain infinite boost, allowing it to zip through meat like a combine harvester going through crops.

There’s a greater form of Gold Rush, however, that turns your shark into a creature of pure, unstoppable strength.

5. Take Advantage Of The Mega Gold Rush

Just when you thought that the Gold Rush was already impressive. This is the Mega Gold Rush where nothing should stand in your way (save for barriers that require a shark of a specific size to break them).

When the pink bar below the yellow Gold Rush bar fills, your shark becomes even more unstoppable, being able to eat things several times its size, things that you assumed were otherwise inedible, and the like.

You’ll be able to devour whales, sea mines of varying sizes, swarms upon swarms of jellyfish, sharks that are much bigger than you, and many more. The Mega Gold Rush is a moment not to be taken for granted since your opportunities for combos and gaining gold are much more effective in its duration.

The Mega Gold Rush activates sooner with every Gold Rush you complete and lasts longer than a regular Gold Rush. You’d think that a feature so powerful would be so scarce but there is a way you can start your run with a Mega Gold Rush and that’s by watching ads. Do note that this can only be done thrice a day. That’s three Mega Gold Rushes for three different runs in a day.

Should your shark die during a run where your Mega Gold Rush powerup is equipped and you happen to revive your shark with gems or otherwise, they will once again start with a Mega Gold Rush. Exploiting this trick will surely gain you tons of gold and points.

With all the gold you’ve earned thus far, how do you think you should spend it?

6. Primarily Save Gold For Sharks

Your puny black-tipped reef shark isn’t the biggest fish in the pond… err… sea. So it’s going to struggle and often find itself in sticky situations when push comes to shove. This is where buying bigger, badder sharks should come in.

Larger sharks are often sought after in this game. They have a wider variety of prey and some of them could even eat the unimaginable without the need of a Mega Gold Rush. Be sure to observe a shark’s stats before purchasing them as each stat greatly affects the way a shark behaves (we’ll talk about stats soon).

With a larger shark, you’ll be able to survive longer, eat more, and complete quests faster than you used to. Striving to buy these beasts should be your priority since many of these can go on for a long time without upgrading any of their stats. In other words, the large sum of money you spend buying a shark out is always an excellent investment.

If the grind gets too tough, however, especially in the later parts of the game (especially when you have the L sharks onwards), you might want to upgrade the shark’s stats.

7. Upgrade Your Shark To Smoothen The Grind

You’ve gotten that one shark you wanted but you soon find that it seems to be underperforming in certain circumstances.

Perhaps it isn’t devouring its prey fast enough, it isn’t giving enough chase, or it just feels completely sluggish. Pouring your gold into any of these upgrades can help but we only recommend that you do this if you feel the grind getting to you. Otherwise, it’s better to save your gold for a better shark. With that said, let’s talk about the stats of a shark in detail:

Bite – Bite refers to the speed of which the shark devours its prey. Some sharks appear to be more aggressive than others, and thus, their bite stat is much higher. Examples of sharks with high bite stats are the Sand Shark, the Bull Shark, the Tiger Shark, the Great White Shark, and the Megalodon.

Speed – Speed refers to the regular speed at which your shark moves. This includes how quickly it can turn around or how easy it is to maneuver. Examples of sharks with high speed stats are the Black-Tipped Reef Shark, the Blue Shark, the Thresher Shark, and the Mako.

Boost – Boost refers to how much longer a shark can increase their speed. This is important if you’re planning to abuse its boost in order to chase prey down or get away from larger, more powerful sea creatures that try to come after it. Examples of sharks with high boost stats are the Heidi, the Mako, the Great Hammerhead, and the Great White Shark.

These stats can be increased before setting off for a run and each upgrade increases in gold cost. We cannot stress this enough, but only perform these upgrades if you feel like the game is slowing you down and you want your shark to perform better.

You know what can help your shark in performing better? Maybe for free, even?

8. Dress For Success, Bring Your Pets

This may sound ridiculous, but yes, you can dress your shark up.

The clothes that a shark wears may improve certain stats or grant it some bonuses when it wears them. For example, anything related to cooking or being a chef (pictured above), will increase the amount points you get every time you eat something. Other bonuses may affect boost refill, boost speed, gold gain, life drain, and more. Aside from dressing your shark in crazy, outlandish outfits, they can also bring pets with them.

Sharks and pets? Yes, they get along well. The pets you can bring to a run depend on the size of the shark and many pets behave much differently from each other. Some pets will allow you to safely detonate sea mines, some eat jellyfish, some latch onto your enemies or protect you from them, while others may even eat more efficiently on land.

Bringing all kinds of pets for different costumes is a part of strategizing in this game since each pet can suit your needs depending on what you’re after in a run. Naturally, experimentation is a must.

Pets and costumes can be gained by progressing through the Season Pass. Such rewards are exclusive, but you can also buy off some of them using gems. While the occasional Gem Fish is a good find, there is a way you can also earn these more efficiently.

9. Complete Daily Quests And Challenges

Just like in every other mobile game out there, Hungry Shark World also has a quest feature. This feature guides the player to accomplish different goals with varying prizes.

Such prizes may include gems, gold, or even event-only items. As we’ve explained earlier, gold is quite integral to your progress in the game. Completing these quests may help you get that next upgrade to your shark’s stats or, better yet, a newer shark. Other than that, these quests keep your gaming experience from becoming a mindless grind where you only strive for gold and nothing but.

Challenges, on the other hand, put an interesting twist to your shark-ing skills. For instance, in certain maps, the game will request you to attempt certain challenges with a certain size of shark. This makes everything more difficult since smaller sharks, as we’ve briefly tackled earlier, have a limited list of prey. Fancy yourself a bit of a dare? Good luck!

Should death come for your shark at any given moment, never pass up the chance to watch an ad.

10. Watch Ads For Higher Scores

You’re rushing into a school of fish when suddenly, you didn’t see that large sea mine pop out from nowhere. Your shark explodes! Or you’re busy trying to fight off a frenzy* of bull sharks but a trio of pesky divers decide to fill your shark full of holes. Or you’re minding your own business trying to terrorize a herd of whales, when suddenly your shark is shot down by a stray torpedo… There are many ways to die in Hungry Shark World.

Don’t worry about death, however. You’ll have a few more chances to make your run better and that’s through watching ads after your shark has perished (be sure to tap it quickly or you’ll end the run for sure). Sure, ads aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but take our advice here: bringing your shark back to life could get you a higher score than you’ve ever had.

Take advantage of this especially if you’ve earned a Mega Gold Rush via gems or ad watches. You’ll put it to waste if you die once and not use it again right after your shark returns from the dead.

At the end of the day, your goal should be to gain more gold and points in order to get through the game, so don’t be afraid of the ads. They’re actually here to help you, not hinder you.

*Frenzy – This refers to a group of sharks. Groups of sharks can also be referred to as gams, herds, pods, or collages.

And there you have it, folks! A guide to becoming the most fearsome apex predator of the seven seas! It’s a shark-eat-shark world, out there (Hungry Shark World, even!) and it’s up to you to own it. Strive for better sharks, upgrade when you feel the grind, swim with finesse and style, and you’ll see yourself at the top of the food chain in no time.

Do you have other tips and tricks that can help your fellow sharks chew through the ocean? If so, be sure to leave them in the comment box below!