Serpent Temple - Levels 415 - 420 (Region 70)

Nothing on the TL Blog about this island, and it hasn't been added to the JM Regions Master thread yet, either. So these are just screenshots from my phone:

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0dd07253.jpg

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps681eeab7.jpg

Whether you're fond of snakes or not, you'll love the fun adventure that awaits you on this island of Jewel Mania!

~*~*~

Note: I'm using the Halloween version of Jewel Mania (in case you're wondering why there's a pumpkin in the 1st pic, or why Bean Dog looks like Elvis!) ;)

Level 415: Dig 10 meters in 55 moves (5JC.) This super dirt level has lots of snakes! There are also some small windows/cutouts, which create some narrow and hard-to-reach areas. This makes it impossible to do "around the head" matches for some of the snakes, so you'll have to use special jewels.

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5d119f77.jpg
https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps819986a2.jpg
https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps240184e0.jpg

With all the little windows at the bottom, it's a good thing you don't have to **** all the snakes at the end! I just cleared all the dirt below the goal line, and passed. Only 1 star, but this was fun (so I'm happy to 'play more to get more!) Next time I'll **** more snakes for a higher score. This screenshot was taken just as I got the "goal achieved" notice, though I still had a few snakes/bodies on board.

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...pse66f04a4.jpg

Level 416 Dig 10 meters in 2:00 (5JC.) I thought the snakes were interesting on this super dirt level. They're have a repeating color pattern, and it's the same in every round (blue, yellow, red, yellow, blue...for each "set" of snakes.) The other 2 jewel colors change from round-to-round, but not the snakes...

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psc3091a16.jpg
https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps497ff7a1.jpg
https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps55bdc923.jpg

Took me awhile to pass this, since there's not a lot of time. But it's pretty straightforward, and not too bad as timed levels go (just wish for more time, of course... ;)) I don't remember much else about it...I'm actually a couple islands ahead right now (Forgotten Shrine, lvl 430...)

Level 417: 28 glass in 35 moves (5JC.) This level has lots of wooden walls, as well as crates and black jewels. There are also little windows and cutouts, which completely separate the top & bottom boards. Some really hard-to-reach spots on this one!

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6a093ad1.jpg

This one took lots of tries. There aren't many move choices, so you'll probably get some reshuffling of the board. The walls make it really hard to find matches and combine jewels. It's important to get the crates cleared quickly...to open up the board, and to give yourself more room to make special jewels/combos. I tried to only play boards that had visible matches in a hard-to-reach area. I also watched for crate-clearing moves or matches in the bottom section (to pull jewels down, and hopefully create new matches.) I'd restart if I didn't have a couple good moves to begin with, because the moves are really tight on this--a head start helps! I had some heart-breaking rounds, like this one:

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps20b29c45.jpg

The hardest areas to clear seem to be where the blaster/last glass is...that entire column, actually. I also had trouble with the top right corner of the board. Finally passed this with back-to-back combos (didn't get a lot of diamonds on this level...)

Level 418 18 fire in 1:20 (5JC.) This fire level has lots of little windows, which make it really tough to get direct access to the flames. Special jewels are the best option. They're required for the fire in the bottom corners, which is completely separated from the rest of the board.

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psc1bcfb90.jpg

This is pretty straightforward...push the fire back, and try to get some blasters or a combo down to the bottom to clear the fire. Easier said than done, though--especially with the short timer. I finally got a round with a couple diamonds. I couldn't combo them, so I used 'em on random colors, which detonated blasters and put out most of the fire. One of those was a row blaster at the bottom, that I created using the good ol' "vertical blaster used in a horizontal blaster match." (A favorite move--puts the horiz./row blaster at the lowest row.) After that, I only had two flames left (in the upper section, easy to put out.) So I passed (yay!) with barely a second to spare. Oh-SO happy! ;)

Level 419: 14 fire in 50 moves (5JC.) Obstacles on this level are snakes, crates, and little windows/cutouts.

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psfbaf6380.jpg

Extinguish the flames at the top, then try to **** the snakes quickly to get access to the fire at the bottom. Gotta bust through the crates first, of course. Took me 2 or 3 tries to pass this, but it came down to my very last move. I got a diamond, and had like 6 moves left, with fire in 2 spots. Tried to choose the color that would put out the most fire. Swapped the diamond with it, and it extinguished all but one flame. A couple quick matches took care of that--Yay! Fun level! ;)

Level 420 Dig 13 meters in 65 moves (5JC.) This level is pretty straightforward, with super dirt and snakes. There are cutouts along the edges of the board, which make it difficult to access the snakes for "around-the-head" matches.

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psb6ce3b50.jpg
https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...pse00a336c.jpg
https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psffffcdf4.jpg

I can't remember how long it took me to pass this, but I was happy as I used a double-bomb combo to take me across the goal line. :D

https://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7e3b6f67.jpg

I had fun with this level, in fact, I really enjoyed this entire island. I particularly like snakes, so this was perfect. The next island--Terrace Town--has lots of timed levels with doom jewels (didn't like it nearly as much--putting it mildly, lol!)

Updates:

Level 415: Increased 10 moves to 65. Also there's no longer super dirt in the first row, which I assume makes it easier to get started digging.

Level 416: Now is 2:15, up 15 seconds.

Level 417: At 45, 10 more moves.

Level 418: 25 more seconds to 1:45.

Level 419: Has 60 moves, an increase of 10.

Level 420: Now has 80 moves, up 15.