Color Thief Guide: Colours, Platforms, Power-Ups and Skins
A complete guide to Color Thief: the six colours, how doors and the goal portal work, every platform type, the three power-ups, and what each skin costs.
On this page
Color Thief is easy to start and gets tricky quickly. This guide explains the rules the game does not spell out.
The one rule that matters
In campaign levels, the goal portal only opens after you have passed through every colour door in the level. Reaching the end is not enough. If the portal is shut, you have missed a door, and it is behind you.
Colours
Your runner starts in neutral white. There are five colours to steal: red, blue, yellow, green and purple.
- Touch or run through a glowing object to take its colour.
- You can only hold one colour. Taking a new one replaces the old one.
- A barrier lets you through only if you match it. Arriving in the wrong colour simply blocks you.
Because a new colour replaces the old one, the order matters. A common trap is a colour object placed right before a door of a different colour: run through it by accident and you are locked out until you go back.
Platform types
| Platform | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Solid | Ordinary ground |
| Grass | Ordinary ground with a different look |
| Bounce pad | Launches you upward; needed for wide chasms |
| Crumbling | Breaks away after you land on it, so keep moving |
| Moving | Travels along a set path; time your jump to it |
Platforms are solid from every side. You cannot jump up through one from below.
Jumps
- Tap jump for a short hop and hold it for a full-height jump.
- The high jump (Shift or X on a keyboard, a double tap on the right side of a touch screen) goes noticeably higher, but you move sideways more slowly while doing it. Use it for tall ledges, not for long gaps.
Hazards
- Spikes end the attempt on contact.
- Chasms end it if you fall in.
Power-ups
Some levels contain one of three power-ups:
- Speed makes you run 60% faster.
- Invincible lets you pass through barriers of any colour while it lasts.
- Magnet pulls in nearby coins.
Stars and coins
Each level has stars to collect, and your best star count for the level is saved. Coins collected in levels are your currency for skins.
Skins
| Skin | Cost |
|---|---|
| Classic Thief | Free |
| Shadow Phantom | 40 coins |
| Cyber Runner | 80 coins |
| Cosmic Voyager | 120 coins |
| Golden Champion | 200 coins |
Skins change how your runner and its trail look. They do not change how the game plays.
Endless Color Rush
The second mode has no goal portal and no door rule. You run for as long as you can with three chances.
If you are stuck
Press the lightbulb in the top bar. The hint replays a complete route through the level that is known to work, so you can see which colour to take first and where the awkward jump is.
End of guide
Stay a moment to bank your XP.
Guide completed. It is now marked as read on your player card.
Color Thief
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