Monument Isle - Levels 193 - 198

[koetsub]

Phaedrakiki, I'm not surprised you breezed through 195. I just checked your profile, and am humbled! You are a true expert, currently at level 520.

Well, I managed to get to 15/18 on 195 once. I frequently get lots of diamonds and blasters and noise.....to end up at 7/18!

Oh well, I'm saving money. I have to buy gold to get between islands as I usually need too many stars to proceed (I'm but a peon compared to you!). If I'm stuck I'm not spending any money

[koetsub]

Hey Kiki, I finally made it through after conscripting my wife into helping me, and buying gold twice at the end. I wanted to get it over with as it was not fun any more.

196 looks very interesting.

[Phaedrakiki]

Hey Kiki, I finally made it through after conscripting my wife into helping me, and buying gold twice at the end. I wanted to get it over with as it was not fun any more.

196 looks very interesting.

Lol! Yeah, sometimes after being on a level awhile, the "fun" fades. At that point, players will do anything to be done with it (been there many times--whew!) Congrats on passing, and hope you enjoy the rest of the island!

Btw, you said you often need more stars to proceed between islands. Wanted to mention you can get more stars from any island--you can replay any level you earned 1 or 2 stars on. So you can go back to level 1 if you want (or the lowest level you have without 3 stars...) You have to have an average of 2 stars per level. So to go to the next island, for example, you'll need a total of 198 x 2, or 396 stars.

[koetsub]

Yes, I have been playing lower levels for more stars, but to get to this island, for example, I needed 43 stars, which would have taken me ages, hence I bought gold.

196 is very difficult, but a number of times I've managed to put out one set of four fires, after wiping out the dooms. No more moves in this level is great as it brings the dooms up. I also found out that the combination of a diamond and blaster is particularly useful here.

[Phaedrakiki]

Sounds promising! Yeah, I remember this level--those doomies are especially tough!

Blaster + bomb combo is really great for level 196, too--maybe even better cuz it's a "sure thing" regarding aiming at the fire/doom jewels. (Unfortunately no control on whether you get vertical blasters in a diamond + blaster combo, and the horizontal ones don't help much with the fire.)

The blaster + bomb gives a 3-column wide blast. If your jewels are side-by-side (in the same row,) be sure to swipe in the direction you want the blast to go--either right or left, depending on where the fire or doom jewels are you're aiming at. The blast will take out the blaster column, the bomb column, and the one to the left or right of the combo, depending on swap direction. (If the blaster & bomb are one above the other/in the same column, the 3 columns will automatically be: the one the combo's in, the 2 on either side of it...)

Good luck!

[koetsub]

Thanks Kiki!

I made it through 196. Very enjoyable level. I made lots of attempts. After I wiped out the doomies I had one blaster/diamond combo that wiped out one set of fires, then after fudging around I got another such combo that wiped out the other set.

One attempt so far on 197, then I ran out of energy. I wiped out the snakes, then got within hissing distance of the end (11/14, I think).

[koetsub]

I made it through 197.

In 198 the short timers on those doomies are insane. I envision myself being here a LOOOONG time!!!

[koetsub]

I envisioned wrong! Made it through 198.

43 stars to get to the next island!

[Phaedrakiki]

(...) 43 stars to get to the next island!

Yeah, unfortunately that's going to happen every time until you bring your "star average" up to 2 per level (or 2/3's of the total stars.) It probably won't take as long as you think. However, if you're super eager to get to the next level & don't mind spending gold --go for it. You could maybe devote an energy or 2 to the easiest levels once a day or something though, if you wanted. They should be much easier to play now that you're "more experienced", lol. And if you get 2 stars with each 3-star attempt, you'll keep earning energy that lets you try for free for quite awhile. I actually find going back to 3-star fun, and do it now & then when I'm stuck on difficult and/or frustrating levels (timed, doom jewels, fire, etc.)

I left some basic "3-starrin'" tips at the Forbidden Headland island thread just yesterday (comment #20,) if that helps.

Congrats on breezing thru the rest of this island so fast! Good luck on whatever comes next, BTW. Oh, and I forgot to mention--loved your "hissing distance" comment yesterday.

(...) get more stars from any island--you can replay any level you earned 1 or 2 stars on. So you can go back to level 1 if you want (or the lowest level you have without 3 stars...) You have to have an average of 2 stars per level. So to go to the next island, for example, you'll need a total of 198 x 2, or 396 stars.

[dayjovu]

Any hints on how to win game 195 in monument isle? 4:39 for 18 levels and 11 levels down is best I have done and it's pricey to use 26 or 33 gold for 15 seconds. I am sick of playing this one over and over and not getting close to winning *sniff*