CookieRun: Kingdom – Guardian of the Rift: Full Strategy & Top 1% Hard Mode Guide

Cookie Run Kingdom Guardians of the Rift is a special limited-time tower defense event officially introduced in the Hope for Freedom update, where players can earn more rewards! This event also has a special reward system for the Top 1% players, giving them exclusive prizes. So, if you want to grab more rewards and reach the Top 1%, this guide has everything you need, from how to play the event to the best strategies to score more points. Don’t wait, jump in to get top strategies and become a high scorer before the event ends!

 

What is the Cookie Run Kingdom Guardians of the Rift?

Cookie Run Kingdom: Guardians of the Rift is a limited-time tower defense event from the Hope for Freedom update, officially confirmed in the October 2025 developer announcement to run until November 19, 2025.

As described in the official event overview, you’ll face multiple waves of enemies during this event, and you must summon cookie defenders and manage your team to defeat them. The gameplay includes special summoning and attacking mechanics that make it different from normal battles. Also, this event has two difficulty modes as Easy and Hard. Clearing each wave gives you points, and players who earn the highest scores will receive special rewards at the end of the event. Let’s break down how to play this mode and explore its key features!

Why Aim for the Top 1% in Hard Mode?

In the Cookie Run Kingdom: Guardians of the Rift event, players who score the highest before the event ends can earn special rewards that are usually hard to get, especially for free-to-play (F2P) players. That’s why many players are trying to reach the Top 1% in Hard Mode.

How to Reach the Top 1%: To reach the Top 1% in Hard Mode, you’ll need to score approximately 7.5 million points, based on the current leaderboard data shared in the official CRK notice. Keep in mind that this number may increase as more players join and improve their scores.

Top 1% Rewards:

• Iron Radiant Biscuit Dough ×300

• Crystals ×500

• Rainbow Cubes ×1500

 

These rewards are very valuable, so players are working hard to earn higher scores. If you’re also aiming for these rare prizes, here’s how you can do it!

How to Do Guardian of The Rift Cookie Run Effectively?

Before aiming for the Top 1% in Hard Mode, you need to learn the basics of Cookie Run Kingdom Guardians of the Rift. So, here’s a simple Cookie run kingdom guardians of the rift walkthrough to help you play effectively and score higher in the event:

Tower Structure

 

In Guardians of the Rift, monsters come in continuous waves that loop around the tower. The waves start and end at the same point, and your goal is to defeat them before they reach it. Clearing more waves gives you better rewards.

Build Your Cookie Team

You have specific Cookie Run Kingdom Guardians of the Rift characters for this event. You can summon these characters to build your team during the event. By defeating monsters, you earn special tokens, which you can use to summon more cookies and strengthen your team.

Upgrade System

You can upgrade your cookies to make them stronger during the Cookie Run Kingdom Guardians of the Rift battles. The upgrades include:

• ATK for increases damage dealt

• ATK Speed to make your cookies attack faster

• Summon Level to increase the chance of summoning higher-rarity cookies

Each upgrade can be leveled up to 10 for maximum effect.

Understand the Merging System

Managing your tower guardian cookies is important. You can merge cookies to get stronger ones. There are four rarities in this event:

• Normal

• Rare

• Elite

• Hero

Merging works like this:

• 2 Normal → 1 Random Rare

• 2 Rare → 1 Random Elite

• Hero Cookies need special Guardian of the Rift CRK bonds to merge

Use merging wisely to create stronger cookies and clear waves more easily.

Set Your Tower Defense Type

Your tower in the center has a special attacking system that can deal damage and help clear waves. There are five defense types, each with unique effects. Choose the best one for your strategy to clear waves more effectively.

Cookie Run Kingdom: Guardians of the Rift Bonds

In Guardians of the Rift, some cookies have special Guardian of the Rift CRK hidden bonds that activate when you pair them together in battle. These bonds give extra advantages for clearing waves and defending the tower.

 

Cookie Run Kingdom Guardian of the Rift bonds are especially for the Hero rarity cookies. These are the Hero Rarity cookies from the CookieRun: Kingdom tier list that can form bonds include:

• Frost Queen Cookie

• Hollyberry Cookie

• Dark Cacao Cookie

• Stormbringer Cookie

• Burning Spice Cookie

Make sure to include these cookies in your team to get the most advantage during battles.

Strategies for Become Top 1% Rank in Guardian of the Rift CRK

Now you know the basics of playing Cookie Run Kingdom: Guardians of the Rift successfully. But if you want to reach Top 1% in Hard Mode, you need to be extra careful and strategic. So, here are simple strategies to help you score more points:

 

Preparing Phase

• Before starting Hard Mode, make sure to level up your cookies to the maximum level (10).

• You can get upgrade materials by playing Normal Mode.

• Also, set your Tower Defense to Core of Fire or Core of Poison for the best advantage in Hard Mode.

Early Game Strategy (Waves 1-10)

• Summon around 3-4 cookies with your starting coins.

• Don’t worry too much in the beginning, the tower will help clear the waves.

• Focus on upgrading the Summoning Level first before anything else. Upgrade it to about level 6-7 in the early game.

• If you have extra coins, upgrade ATK and ATK Speed to level 3-4.

• Use the remaining coins to summon more cookies to get higher rarity units.

Reaching to Wave 10: When Wave 10 clears you will get a chance to get a cookie for your team. Choose the option to get a Rare Random Unit. 

Hero Cookie Tip: If you get a Hero Cookie early, max out Summon Level right away to increase your chance of pulling another Hero faster

Mid Game Strategy (Waves 11-30)

• Focus on upgrading Summoning Level to the maximum first.

• Summon cookies to fill all slots for attacking.

• Upgrade ATK and ATK Speed to level 6–7.

• Always check your summoned Elite Cookies, look for them if they are needed for Hero Bond requirements before merging or recalling them for coins.

• If you have Elite Cookies not needed for merging, keep them temporarily and recall them later to get coins again.

Main Goal in Mid Game: Aim of obtaining all the 5 Hero Cookies to create the highest synergy bonds between them.

Reach Wave 20: You get a chance to summon a Random Elite Cookie. If you’re lucky, you might get stronger cookies like Wildberry or Raspberry Cookie, which are needed to merge Hero Cookies.

End Game Strategy (Waves 30-40)

Reach Wave 30: You get a special chance to summon a Random Hero Rarity Cookie if you are lucky.

• Keep merging and summoning to complete your five Hero Cookie lineup.

• Always move your Hero manually by dragging them to chase the boss or remaining enemies.

• Upgrade your ATK and ATK Speed to the maximum level before Wave 33 or 34.

• Place your Cookies smartly to save time and deal damage more efficiently.

 

Follow these strategies to score more points effectively in Cookie Run Kingdom: Guardians of the Rift Hard Mode. Results still depend on luck because this event is RNG-based, but using these strategies can help you reach the top 1%.

People Also Ask

What is Cookie Run Kingdom Guardians of the Rift?

It’s a limited-time tower defense event in Cookie Run Kingdom where you summon cookies, fight enemy waves, and earn points and rewards.

How to Reach the Top 1% in Hard Mode?

You need to score around 7,500,000 points or more, upgrade your cookies, summon high-rarity units, and use Hero Cookie bonds wisely. All these details are included in our guide.

Which Cookies have Special Bonds in Guardians of the Rift?

Special bonds only between Hero Rarity cookies. Like, Frost Queen, Hollyberry, Dark Cacao, Stormbringer, and Burning Spice Cookies.

Conclusion

That’s the end of our Cookie Run Kingdom Guardians of the Rift guide. By using these strategies, you can play Hard Mode more effectively, score higher points, and have a chance to become a Top 1% player to earn exclusive prizes. Follow these strategies smartly to get more chances of earning rewards after the event ends. Also don’t miss the Cookie Run Kingdom Guardians of the Rift codes to earn more freebies.

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