Grow a Garden: The Ultimate Early-Game Leveling Strategy with Ruby Squid

Every major update in Grow a Garden introduces at least one pet that quietly reshapes how the game is played. Sometimes it’s raw stats. Sometimes it’s a utility. And sometimes—very rarely—it’s a mechanic so flexible that it completely rewrites early-game progression.

The Ruby Squid is exactly that kind of pet.

At first glance, Ruby Squid doesn’t look overpowered. It doesn’t nuke enemies, generate absurd resources on its own, or instantly trivialize content. But once you understand how its skill works—and more importantly, how it interacts with zero cooldown pets—it becomes one of the strongest early-game leveling tools Grow a Garden Items has ever seen.

When combined correctly, seven Ruby Squids plus a single no-cooldown pet can outperform setups that normally require rare or “huge” pets. And best of all, this strategy is affordable, accessible, and scalable for new and mid-game players.

Let’s break down exactly why this works, how to set it up correctly, and how to avoid the common mistakes that can silently kill your progress.

Understanding Ruby Squid: A New Kind of Pet

Ruby Squid is a brand-new pet introduced in the latest update, and its defining feature is its unique copy skill.

Instead of triggering its own independent ability, Ruby Squid copies the ability of another pet—with one critical condition:

The copied pet must have ZERO cooldown on its ability.

This restriction is the balancing factor, but it’s also what makes Ruby Squid so powerful. Zero-cooldown pets in Grow a Garden are designed to trigger constantly, often providing passive benefits like experience gain, growth acceleration, or resource generation.

Ruby Squid doesn’t just imitate these abilities once—it mirrors them continuously, effectively multiplying their impact.

And here’s the real kicker:

Multiple Ruby Squids can copy the same pet simultaneously.

That’s how the “seven Ruby Squid” strategy is born.

Why Zero Cooldown Pets Are the Key

Not every pet qualifies for Ruby Squid’s copy effect. Cooldown-based pets—no matter how strong—are completely incompatible. The pet being copied must have an ability that is always active, with no timer, no trigger delay, and no internal cooldown.

Some of the most common zero cooldown pets include:

Koi

Bronosaurus

Seal

Starfish

And several other passive-effect pets

Each of these pets provides a constant benefit, but normally, you’re limited to just one instance of that effect. Ruby Squid breaks that limitation by duplicating it—over and over.

The result is exponential value from a single supporting pet.

Starfish: The Best Pet to Copy Early Game

While multiple zero cooldown pets work with Ruby Squid, Starfish stands far above the rest for early-game progression.

Starfish is widely known as one of the fastest self-leveling pets in Grow a Garden. Its passive effect accelerates leveling at a pace that already feels strong on its own—but when copied by Ruby Squids, it becomes absurd.

Why Starfish Is the Top Recommendation

Extremely fast self-leveling

Affordable compared to “huge” pets

Zero cooldown ability (perfect for Ruby Squid)

Scales smoothly into mid-game

When you place one Starfish and then surround it with seven Ruby Squids, each Ruby Squid copies Starfish’s leveling effect. Instead of leveling at normal speed, your garden essentially runs eight Starfish effects at once.

For early players, this is unmatched efficiency.

The Seven Ruby Squid Setup Explained

The core strategy is simple:

7× Ruby Squids

1× No Cooldown Pet (Starfish recommended)

This setup creates a massive leveling engine that requires no micromanagement once properly placed.

Why Seven Ruby Squids?

Seven is currently the sweet spot for cost-to-benefit efficiency. Each additional Ruby Squid stacks another copied effect, but seven provides an optimal balance between power and affordability for most players.

Unless you already own ultra-rare pets like Huge Capy Bara or Huge Rainbow Dilophosaurus, this setup will outperform almost every other early-game option.

Proper Placement Order: The Most Important Rule

This is where many players mess up—and it’s critical.

Ruby Squid ONLY works if the pet you want to copy is placed in the garden FIRST.

Correct Order:

Place your Starfish (or other zero cooldown pet) in the garden

Place your Ruby Squids AFTER the Starfish

If you do this correctly, the Ruby Squids will immediately copy the ability.

How to Confirm It Worked

When the copy is successful, you’ll see an in-game message confirming that Ruby Squid has copied the ability. If you don’t see that message, the copy did not activate.

No message = no effect.

Team Swapping Can Break the Effect

Another hidden pitfall: team swapping.

If you change teams, rearrange pets, or redeploy without paying attention to placement order, the copy effect can silently fail.

When this happens:

Ruby Squids may remain active visually

But they are no longer copying the intended ability

Best Practice:

Always place the copied pet first

Then place Ruby Squids afterward

After any team swap, re-check for the in-game copy message

This single habit can save hours of lost progression.

Why This Strategy Dominates Early Game

Early game in Grow a Garden is all about efficient leveling with minimal cost. Most powerful setups require rare pets, high investment, or late-game access.

The Ruby Squid + Starfish combo breaks that pattern.

Key Advantages:

Extremely fast leveling

Affordable compared to huge pets

Scales smoothly into mid-game

Low maintenance

Works passively over time

For players without access to Huge Capy Bara or Huge Rainbow Dilophosaurus, this is hands-down the best alternative.

Comparison to Huge Pets

Let’s be clear: huge pets are still stronger at the absolute top end.

Huge Capy Bara

Huge Rainbow Dilophosaurus

If you own these, they will outperform Ruby Squid setups in raw power.

However, most players don’t have them.

That’s what makes Ruby Squid special—it bridges the gap between budget players and endgame owners, offering elite performance without elite cost.

When to Transition Away from Ruby Squid

Ruby Squid is strongest in:

Early game

Early mid-game

Budget-conscious progression

Once you acquire multiple huge pets or unlock high-tier scaling mechanics, you may eventually phase it out.

But until then, Ruby Squid remains one of the most efficient pets you can run.

Many players even keep it longer than expected because of how reliable and hands-off the strategy is.

Final Tips for Maximum Efficiency

Before you lock in your setup, remember these key points:

Ruby Squid only copies zero cooldown pets

The copied pet must be placed first

Always look for the confirmation message

Team swapping can break the effect

Starfish is the best early-game target

Seven Ruby Squids is the optimal count for most players

If all of these conditions are met, your garden will level faster than almost anything else in its tier buy Grow a Garden Items.

Final Thoughts

The Ruby Squid update didn’t just add another pet—it introduced a new system of scaling that rewards understanding over raw power.

By leveraging zero cooldown mechanics and correct placement order, players can create a leveling engine that rivals pets many times more expensive.

For early-game players, the Ruby Squid + Starfish combo is not just good—it’s game-changing.

If you’re looking for the fastest, most affordable way to level your garden without relying on ultra-rare pets, this is the strategy you should be using right now.

And as Grow a Garden continues to evolve, Ruby Squid may very well remain one of the most cleverly designed pets the game has ever seen.