Every couple has a different starting line. What feels adventurous for one pair is Tuesday for another. Smush's spice level system exists because a game that treats every couple the same will either bore half its users or overwhelm the other half.
The dial has four settings: soft, playful, hot and wild. Here's how to think about each one and how to use them together.
Soft
Soft is where most couples should start, and there's no asterisk on that recommendation. It doesn't matter how long you've been together or how adventurous you consider yourselves. Starting at soft builds a foundation that makes everything else work better.
It's the gentlest of the four levels, which makes it the right setting for a first night and for any night when one of you walked in the door already tired.
Soft is not a warm-up level you rush past to get to the real content. It's the level where couples remember why they like each other. For relationships that have been running on autopilot, soft is where the repair happens.
Playful
The shift from soft to playful is meaningful. Each step up the dial asks a little more openness of both of you than the one before it. If the step feels awkward or charged, stay at soft until it doesn't. Comfort at one level is what earns access to the next. Not elapsed time. Not a sense of obligation.
The most common mistake couples make is climbing the dial because soft feels "too easy." Easy isn't the point. If you're genuinely connecting at soft, fully present, actually surprised by some of the answers, then you're getting exactly what that level is designed to give.
Hot and Wild
Hot and wild are the two most intense settings, and wild is as far as the dial goes. This is where games built for adventurous couples go furthest.
Wild is not where you should be on your first session. It's an option for couples who have built enough trust and communication through the lower levels that the most intense setting feels like a natural extension of where they already are.
If you arrive at wild and something doesn't feel right, dial it back. That's not a failure. That's the system working exactly as intended.
How to Choose Together
Smush asks for a spice level once, during onboarding, and saves it as your default for later sessions. In Truth or Dare, Spice Dice and Never Have I Ever, a spice sheet on the game screen lets you switch it mid-game. Where you sit on that dial should still be a joint decision, made without pressure. Here's how to handle it.
Talk about it plainly. "What level feels right for tonight?" is all you need to say. No justification required from either side. No negotiation. If one partner wants playful and the other wants soft, you play at soft. Always default to the lower comfort level.
Revisit it regularly. Your comfort zone isn't static. What felt like a stretch three months ago might feel easy now. What sounds appealing on a Saturday evening might not on a Wednesday after a long week. Check in before each session.
Don't treat it as a scoreboard. Higher is not better. Some of the most connected nights my wife and I have had with Smush were at soft, asking each other questions we'd never thought to ask after thirty years. The spice level controls content intensity, not relationship quality.
Respect the dial in both directions. If your partner wants to go higher, don't dismiss it. If they want to stay lower, don't push. The dial works because both people trust that it will be honored.
Why the System Matters
Most adult games for couples offer one mode. You open the box and you get whatever's inside. If it's too tame, you're bored. If it's too much, someone is uncomfortable and the game goes back in the closet.
The spice level system respects the reality that intimacy is not linear and couples are not uniform. The same couple can be in different places on different nights. A system that adjusts to that reality creates more connection than one that assumes every couple is ready for the same experience.
Trust is built in small steps. The spice dial gives you control over the size of each step. Use it.