Juice to Survive: A Complete Guide to Trouble Juice

Posted on the 04 November 2025 by Mejoress

Last Updated on 4 November, 2025

Trouble Juice is a fast-paced, 2D side-scrolling roguelite shooter where you are a contestant fighting for survival. This game is chaotic, challenging, and built on a single, brilliant mechanic: your Juice is your life. This resource is your health bar, your ammunition, and your special ability meter all in one. Every shot you fire literally costs you a sliver of your life, forcing you to balance aggression with survival.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through every critical system, from the Juice meter to the permanent unlock system. We will provide strategies for conquering the game’s brutal, procedurally generated planets and defeating the champions who stand in your way.

Quick Fact: Trouble Juice was created by dietzribi, a studio of two brothers (Gonen and Ori Gutholtz) who are also known for their 2D puzzle-platformer, Toodee and Topdee.

Table of Contents

Part 1: The Core Mechanic (The Juice Meter)

You cannot win until you master the Juice meter. This single bar at the botttom of your screen dictates your every action. It is your health, your ammo, and your special ability power, all in one.

How the Juice Meter Works

Think of the Juice meter as your total life force.

  1. Health: When an enemy projectile or attack hits you, your Juice meter takes a large chunk of damage. If the meter ever empties, your run is over.
  2. Ammo: Every single shot you fire from your weapon depletes a small amount of your Juice meter. This means holding down the fire button is a form of self-damage. You must be accurate.
  3. Special: Your powerful special ability also consumes a large portion of your Juice meter.

The Regenerating Loop

Here is the core gameplay loop you must master:

  1. Regeneration: Your Juice meter regenerates slowly on its own. If you are low, you must stop shooting and focus entirely on dodging.
  2. Refills: Defeated enemies drop green Juice orbs. Collecting these instantly refills a portion of your meter.

This creates a fantastic risk-versus-reward cycle. You are low on Juice and must stop shooting to regenerate, but this lets enemies fill the screen, so you must spend Juice (shoot) to kill an enemy, which in turn gives you more Juice (orbs). You cannot play passively and must be aggressive to survive.

Practical Tip: The Minigun has the highest damage output, but it will drain your entire Juice meter (your health) in just a few seconds. If you use it, fire in extremely short, controlled bursts.

Part 2: Movement and Survival (Dash, Jump, and Karma)

Your movement is your primary defensive tool. You are a fast, agile contestant.

  1. Jump and Double Jump: You have a standard jump and a double jump. You use these to navigate platforms and avoid ground-based enemies or low projectiles.
  2. Dash: You have a fast dash with a short cooldown. This dash grants invincibility frames. This is your most important survival skill. You can dash through enemies and projectiles without taking damage. Mastering the timing of this dash is mandatory.
  3. Special Ability: Each character has a unique special move that consumes a large amount of Juice. This is your “panic button” or “boss killer.” Using it can clear a room or deal a burst of damage, but it will leave you with very little Juice, so use it wisely.
  4. The Karma System: As you explore, you will encounter small, passive, non-aggressive creatures. If you shoot these creatures, you will gain “Bad Karma.” If you spare them, you will gain “Good Karma.” This choice primarily affects certain achievements and unlocks on your Bingo card.

Heads-Up: You can shoot the Juice Guy NPC instead of picking one of his perks. He will explode into a shower of green Juice orbs, which can be a lifesaver if you are low on health. However, he will remember that you did this on his next visit.

Part 3: Permanent Power (The Achievement Bingo Card)

How do you get stronger between runs? Trouble Juice has no currency or XP. Your only form of permanent meta-progression is the Achievement Bingo card. This is the most important part of the game for long-term success.

How the Bingo Card Works

From the main menu, you can access your Bingo card. This is a 5×5 grid. Each square on the grid represents a specific in-game challenge.

Examples of challenges include:

  1. “Defeat the Ramhead.”
  2. “Kill 20 enemies with the Shotgun.”
  3. “Defeat a boss without taking damage.”
  4. “Have 5 temporary Juice power-ups at once.”

Unlocking Your Power

When you complete a challenge, its square on the card is marked off. When you complete a full line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal), you unlock a new item.

This is how you unlock everything:

  1. New Weapons: This adds new guns (like the Minigun or Laser Rifle) to the item pool, allowing them to appear in chests during your runs.
  2. New Juice Perks: This adds new temporary power-ups to the item pool.
  3. New Characters: Completing specific, difficult lines will unlock new playable characters.

Your primary goal in your first few runs is not necessarily to win. It is to complete Bingo squares. If a square requires you to use the Shotgun, you should grab the Shotgun every time you see it. Use the Bingo card as your guide for what to do on each run.

Resource Note: The Achievement Bingo card is your only form of permanent progression. Completing a row, column, or diagonal on this card is how you unlock all new playable characters, weapons, and perks for future runs.

Part 4: In-Run Power (Characters, Weapons, and Juice Perks)

Your permanent power comes from the Bingo card, but your in-run power comes from the items you find.

Playable Characters

You start as Shlomo, the all-arounder. By completing Bingo challenges, you unlock more characters, each with a different starting weapon and special ability.

  1. Shlomo (Default):
    • Weapon: Blaster
    • Special: Fires a massive, screen-wide laser beam.
  2. Dasha (Unlockable):
    • Weapon: Uzi (Rapid-Fire)
    • Special: A fast-firing “bullet storm” burst.
  3. H.Copten (Unlockable):
    • Weapon: Grenade Launcher
    • Special: Launches a barrage of homing missiles.
  4. Surtun (Unlockable):
    • Weapon: Shotgun
    • Special: A powerful, close-range knockback blast.
  5. Prototype0 (Unlockable):
    • Weapon: Laser Rifle
    • Special: Creates a time-slowing bubble.

Weapon Pickups

These are temporary for your current run. You will find weapon chests that offer you a new gun.

  1. Blaster: Your default. A reliable, all-purpose pistol.
  2. Shotgun: Fires a wide spread. It is incredible for clearing weak enemies up close but terrible at long range.
  3. Minigun: A rapid-fire weapon. It absolutely shreds your Juice meter but deals insane damage. This is a high-risk, high-reward weapon.
  4. Grenade Launcher: Fires an arcing explosive that deals area-of-effect (AoE) damage. Great for clusters of enemies but hard to aim.
  5. Laser Rifle: Fires a continuous beam that pierces through enemies.

Juice Perks (Temporary Power-Ups)

As you clear rooms, the “Juice Guy” NPC will appear and offer you one of three random temporary perks. These stack, and you can have many at once.

  1. Wings: Grants infinite flight. This is one of the best perks, as it completely changes how you navigate rooms.
  2. Low Gravity: Makes you jump higher and fall slower.
  3. Bouncy Bullets: Your shots will ricochet off walls.
  4. Faster Regen: Your Juice meter regenerates faster. This is a top-tier perk.
  5. Damage Up: Your shots deal more damage, making you more Juice-efficient.
  6. …and many more: There are dozens of perks that add poison, fire, or explosive effects to your shots.

Quick Reminder: Your Juice meter is your health and your ammo. Every single shot you fire drains the meter. You must stop firing to let it regenerate, or kill enemies to collect the green Juice orbs they drop.

Part 5: Boss Guide (Ramhead, Wizard, Demon King, and More)

The levels are procedurally generated, but the bosses are fixed. Here is how to beat the main champions of the tournament.

Ramhead

  • Description: A large, brutish enemy with giant horns. He is the first major skill check.
  • Attacks:
    1. Charge: He will lower his head and dash straight across the screen.
    2. Projectile: He fires a simple, slow-moving projectile.
  • Strategy: This fight teaches you to use your invincible dash. You cannot just jump over his charge; you must dash through him. Wait for him to charge, dash through him, turn, and fire at his back. Manage your Juice, and do not get greedy.

Fly

  • Description: A small, fast, and incredibly annoying flying boss.
  • Attacks:
    1. Dart: Moves erratically around the screen.
    2. Spread Shot: Fires a wide spread of small projectiles.
  • Strategy: This boss tests your aim. A standard Blaster can be difficult. The Shotgun is a fantastic choice here, as its wide spread can hit the fast-moving target easily. The key is to stay mobile and lead your shots.

Wizard

  • Description: A floating magic-user who teleports.
  • Attacks:
    1. Teleport: Disappears and reappears in a puff of smoke.
    2. Magic Bolts: Fires homing magic projectiles.
    3. Pattern: Summons complex “bullet hell” patterns of energy orbs.
  • Strategy: This is a pure “bullet hell” fight. Your top priority is dodging. Do not stop moving. Use your dash’s i-frames to pass through the energy patterns. Only shoot at the Wizard in the brief windows between his teleports.

Stone Blob

  • Description: A massive, slow-moving slime.
  • Attacks:
    1. Slam: Slams the ground, sending a shockwave.
    2. Lob: Lobs bouncing projectiles.
    3. Split: When defeated, it splits into two smaller Stone Blobs.
  • Strategy: This is a crowd-control fight. Focus all your fire on the main blob. When it splits, immediately switch your focus to one of the smaller blobs. Kill it, then kill the next one. Trying to damage both at once will get you overwhelmed.

Worm

  • Description: A very large, segmented worm that burrows in and out of the walls and ceiling.
  • Attacks:
    1. Emerge: Bursts from a wall.
    2. Projectile Stream: Fires a stream of projectiles from its head.
    3. Body Block: Crawls across the screen, creating a long obstacle.
  • Strategy: This fight tests your spatial awareness and i-frame timing. Its head is its only weak point. You must dash through its body segments to avoid damage and get in position.

Final Boss: Demon King

  • Description: The Champion. A humanoid-sized boss who is fast, agile, and uses multiple weapons.
  • Attacks:
    1. Gunplay: He will dash and shoot at you, similar to your own character.
    2. Sword Dash: A fast melee attack across the screen.
    3. Special Moves: At low health, he will begin using his own special attacks, filling the screen with projectiles.
  • Strategy: This is a pure duel. You must out-maneuver him. Use your special ability (like Shlomo’s Laser Beam) when he is stationary. The “Wings” perk is invaluable here, as it lets you stay above him. Stay calm, manage your Juice, and use your dash invincibility to survive his final, desperate attacks.

Quest Tip: To unlock the character Surtun (who starts with the Shotgun), you must complete the “Defeat 1000 Enemies” square on the Achievement Bingo card.

Part 6: Pro-Tips for Victory

  1. Stop Holding the Trigger: This is the most common mistake. Every shot costs you health. Fire in controlled bursts. Aim your shots.
  2. Prioritize the Bingo Card: On your first 10-20 runs, your only goal is to unlock new items. Focus on completing Bingo challenges.
  3. Dash Through Danger: Your dash makes you invincible. Do not dash away from a wall of bullets. Dash directly through it to safety.
  4. Learn to Love the Blaster: While the Minigun is flashy, the default Blaster is the most Juice-efficient weapon. A run with a fully upgraded Blaster is often safer and more reliable.
  5. Clear the Adds: In boss fights, minions are always your first priority. You cannot focus on a boss when you are being swarmed.
  6. Use Your Special: Your Special meter fills very quickly from orbs. Use it. It is not something to save for the entire run. Use it to clear a difficult room or to get a burst of damage on a boss.

Boss Tip: The final boss, the Demon King, is a pure duel. His most dangerous attack is a fast sword dash. You must dash through him as he attacks, then immediately turn and fire at his back while he is vulnerable.

Conclusion: Becoming a Champion

Trouble Juice is a masterclass in elegant design. It takes a simple concept, “Health is Ammo,” and builds an entire game of high-speed, strategic action around it. You have to learn to be aggressive to survive, to spend your life to get it back. By focusing on the Achievement Bingo card, you will build a permanent arsenal of power. By mastering the dash, you will overcome any challenge.

You have the tools. You have the guide. Now get back to the tournament and show them what you are made of.