Mystic Grotto - Levels 373 - 378 (Region 63)

[Phaedrakiki]

Didn't see this on[/url] the [URL="http://blog.teamlava.com/"]TL Blog (http), so I borrowed this photo from the JM Regions Master thread (http://forums.storm8.com/showthread.php?51491-Jewel-Mania-Regions-Master-Thread-(Updated-8-1-13)&p=727413&viewfull=1#post727413):


http://i.imgur.com/l3PIGcx.png

Not sure what we'll find in this mystical cave, but it's sure to be lots of fun. This pretty scene alone makes me want to find out more about this enchanted island of Jewel Mania (https://www.facebook.com/JewelManiaGame)!


~*~*~

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 373: 14 fire in :50 (5JC.) Wow, this is fast--the clock is over very quickly! The board has some cutouts that make it pretty much impossible to get direct access to the fire. There are 4 black jewels at the start, between the regular jewels and the fire.

http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/4b7b2551-3c8e-4791-8531-643569420f16_zps40124717.jpg

Normally on a level with exposed fire, I try to start pushing it back immediately, to clear a larger area to work with/make special jewels, etc. The black jewels are in the way on this level, though...although if you wait long, the fire will just start eating them, lol. The time is gone in an instant, so I'm not sure how I'm ever going to be able to pass this. The fire keeps taking over, and the board starts reshuffling cuz there aren't any moves. I've made a few special jewels here and there, but no combos yet. A diamond + blaster (with lots of jewels the blaster's color) might work well on this. Otherwise, you'd need to clear the middle area to get a blaster + bomb closer to the bottom. Or you might be able to get away with a blaster + bomb higher up on the board, but you'd have to do one on each side. I'm going to have to get much faster...and even then, I'm not sure this is possible for me! :eek:

Energies go very quickly on this one (awaiting recharge...)

[Phaedrakiki]

Wow, I actually passed 373 with a bunch of blasters! I was just moving as fast as I could, making row blasters & making matches to put out the fire. I made a bomb, then it dropped & instantly detonated...setting off my blasters. And poof, the fire was out. :D

I did this last night, shortly after my last post. I'd decided to try it one more time before I went to sleep--good thing I did, lol! :)

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 374: Dig 10 meters in 60 moves (5JC.) This digging level has lots & lots of snakes! There's also a few super dirt squares, as well as some windows/cutouts here & there to raise the difficulty.

http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/f596ced5-4068-4f67-ad8e-deb20843966b_zps27ef94a0.jpg
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/e37547c6-8962-44a1-a922-458af777350c_zps77d49ae9.jpg
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/8369e3ea-564d-4349-9803-ee2932b6fab1_zps740f95ab.jpg

This level was fun. You can make tons of special jewels, but you have to use your moves carefully. (Choose which specials you make "wisely.") I was able to swap 2 diamonds on a couple different rounds (so cool--they take out all the snakes, as well as dirt/super dirt, etc. Love it!) Used blaster + bomb combos where I could, and sometimes diamond + blaster. Plus tons of regular blasters & bombs on their own. Played so many times, not sure which combos finally helped me pass. But I know that as I got near the goal line, I only had a few moves left. I had taken out the final snakes, and had a horizontal blaster I was hoping to use on the last row to blast the super dirt. I didn't think I'd be able to "place it" in so few moves, though. I made a match in the center, and some bonus matching occurred...digging beneath the goal line. My row blaster fell down there, along with like-colors to detonate it! So I blasted underneath the goal, which lowered the super dirt. I passed w/just 2 moves left over! :D

This level was quite challenging, but so much fun. One of my favorites lately! ('Course, I really dig those snakes, lol... ;) )

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 375: 46 glass in 2:05 (6JC.) This level has a lot going on! All 6 colors in play, and a 4-headed snake covers the entire bottom width of the board. The rows are staggered...every other one is wide (8 wide, 4 wide, 8 wide, etc....) The long rows have triple-boarded crates separating the jewels at the ends from the main board. Some of the glass is double, but luckily not those 8 edge jewels... (ty, TL!) ;)

http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/effbc093-8bf0-4ce5-bc1a-430622665bd4_zps976bb48b.jpg

Tried this a few times, and it's gonna take awhile to get the hang of/pass. The timer's pretty short (with all you have to accomplish, anyway.) So you have to move very fast, and make as many matches as you can against the crates (to clear them, and get access to the edges.) There's glass under the everything--crates and the entire snake body. I tried to focus on the edges, since those areas are hardest to reach. After each of my attempts, I had remaining glass at some of the edges and under the snake. Guess I need to move faster, and hopefully I'll be able to do more combos (c'mon blaster + bomb, diamond + bomb...or just lots of diamonds!) ;)

[Phaedrakiki]

Oops, got a bit behind posting again. If I don't do it right away I forget (unless I make notes, which I forget to do sometimes, lol. ;) But not this time... :) )

Level 376: 12 fire in 25 moves (4JC.) This level has windows/cutouts that separate the fire from the rest of the board. The bottom row is all flames, and they continue up the right & left columns--cut off by triple-boarded crates. There are also doom jewels that drop in occasionally, as well as black jewels (not too many of either, though.) With only 4 colors on the board, it's easy to make special jewels (so fun!)

http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/adbe096e-aab9-49d8-97f4-769d89693236_zpse15f5285.jpg

My strategy on this was to start breaking the crates in the middle area (more board space,) while making special jewels & combos. I wasn't sure I wanted to break the crates on the sides, which would unleash the fire. (Pro: direct access to fire; Con: fire can get out of control, and "taming it" takes moves away from clearing doomies & making special jewels.) So I kept making lots of special jewels, planning to blast into the bottom row and hopefully get a horizontal/row blaster down there, or jewels I could match, etc.

But I ended up passing after just 2 or 3 tries using several combos. I used a blaster + bomb, and then a diamond + bomb, which got me down to 2 flames on the right side. I had a diamond + blaster in the bottom row, so I activated that...but I wasn't sure it would reach the flames (hard to reach on the other side of the "window.") While the blasters from the combo were still activating, I saw a blaster & bomb next to each other at the bottom of that middle area (just above the window.) I quickly swapped them, knowing the remaining 2 flames would be right in the combo's blast range. Ta-dah! Fire snuffed... ;)

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 377: 40 glass in 30 moves (5JC.) This glass board has a "Z"-shape, which gives it some difficult corners & other hard-to-reach areas. There's also a few ice/white blocks that drop in from time to time, but it's very straightforward.

http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/5961bf0b-193d-464c-b553-5b1b984c6f74_zps47d5e56d.jpg

I really enjoyed this--good fun, no stress (lovin' these moves levels!) I passed on my 2nd try, but got a pitiful score, lol. I used a blaster + bomb at the bottom, and used other specials to take out most of the glass. I used a diamond on a color that was plentiful, and in the more difficult corners. Finally I was down to two glass left--plus a blaster--all in the same column. I only had one move left, though. There was no match to activate the blaster, so I just made one above it and hoped. Sure enough, the jewels that fell activated the blaster, which blasted those 2 glass. :D Only 1 star, but I'll be more than happy to play again to improve that! :D

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 378: Dig 12 meters in 40 moves (4JC.) Lots of special jewels & combos on this one, but you need them to get through all the barriers. There are windows/cutouts, black jewels, ice/white blocks, restricted jewels, and of course, plenty of super dirt...

http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/1083f908-9b72-409f-a078-7b11b201c230_zpsae0eace5.jpg
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/2a352d1a-9fa5-4ce2-9a9c-3a985f4f87e3_zpsace04ff0.jpg
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/38378fc4-c880-475f-8092-9eb332c4e36f_zpsef1090cd.jpg
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/355%20up%20-%20JMD/4ebf741c-4289-4a3f-934a-5b73b31f6f67_zps3d70a9c9.jpg


This one took me many turns to pass, but every time was a pleasure! Lots of blasters & bombs, diamonds & blasters, and even 2-diamond swaps. It's a long way to dig in only 40 moves, though, esp. w/all the super dirt...and those tricky windows/cutouts in the way.

My passing round: I had used a couple diamond + blaster & 2 or 3 blaster + bomb combos. I scrolled and saw the goal line was in view, but only had 3 moves left (so I didn't think I'd pass.) I had 2 diamonds, on opposite sides of the screen. But no blasters near them (or matches to create them.) And I hadn't broken through the super dirt at the bottom at all, so I needed a big combo. So I just made a match near one of the diamonds, hoping I'd get a blaster-making move. Instead, I got a diamond-making move...which was gonna land right next to my diamond. However, these plans don't work out sometimes, on levels like this with very few colors (so much self- & bonus-matching going on, "helping" you when you don't want it, lol.) But this time, it worked! Swapped the 2 diamonds, and it cleared everything, taking me right over that goal line. Whew!

Still had one last move, so I made a blaster. And it was weird...I had a pretty good "finale" considering I only had the one blaster & another diamond (created during the 2-diamond swap.) The jewels just kept matching, again & again. Finally, they stopped. But after all that, I only got one star. Hmmm...I really don't "get" the scoring on these levels sometimes! Oh well, I'll def come back to play this again. I'll raise that score somehow! Now I'm heading over to Forest of Spirits (http://forums.storm8.com/showthread.php?58946-Forest-of-Spirits-Levels-379-384-(Region-64)) (even though I'm afraid of ghosts!) ;)

Btw: I already cropped my screenshots, but there's an anti-venom boost for sale at the bottom of the screen (inside the level.) Wonder why...mistake? Or maybe there was originally a snake on this level & it was later taken out? Anyway, it would def be a waste of gold, lol! ;) Hope a dev or mod sees this... (I'll give it a few days, then I guess I could note it in Bug & Issues...?)