Gummy Garrison: levels 349 - 354

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 350: 22 fire in 25 moves (4JC.) With only 4 colors in play, it's so easy to make special jewels on this one! This is a lock and chain level (L&C) with crates, wooden walls, and black jewels. There are 5 locked areas with fire in them. You have to unlock them and extinguish all the fire. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the ones in the bottom corners, so I'm not sure what I did to open them. They have no color on them...do they belong to the locks above them, to the side of them...or both? Or maybe either one will open them? Hmmm... Guess I'll watch more closely next time I play, lol! But if you know the answer, please post!



Additional black jewels fall in as you play (or perhaps it only seemed that way?) I passed this on my first attempt, so I didn't get a chance to investigate. I started by trying to push back the fire and break the crates, so that I could increase my board space to make more special jewels. Also to have more jewels in the colors needed to open the L&C (I tried to concentrate on the colors marked "60" on their locks.) When you get to the bottom, the wooden walls form little "pockets" that trap your special jewels, making it hard to detonate/combine them. I ended up using a diamond + bomb to clear lots of jewels, lots of blasters and bombs on their own to clear even more jewels (including black ones,) and 2 blaster + bomb combos--the 2nd was my very last move (see screenshot below.)



Just a reminder about the blaster + bomb combo, and how the direction you swipe is the direction of the blast. In the photo above, I swiped the purple blaster down towards the bomb, and so the 3rd row that got blasted was the one under the bomb (down/under the two special jewel rows.) If I had swiped the bomb up towards the blaster, the blast would've been directed up, and missed one of the flames. Anyway, the moves on this were a tight squeeze; I used every one. So I'm thinking I got lucky, getting the right jewels at the right time! I really enjoyed this level, and look forward to playing again (only got one star, so I'll definitely be back to improve that!) Prob the next time I'm hatin' on a timed level and need a break, lol!

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 351: Dig 10 meters in 70 moves (5JC.) This is a digging level with super dirt, crates, windows, unbreakable/stone jewels, and ice/white blocks. That's a lot of "stuff" to impede your digging!





Played this twice so far, and there are a couple areas it's easy to get stuck on. 70 moves seems like a lot, but it doesn't go as far as you'd like, since there are some tough areas, like where the window is with super dirt on either side. I found it hard to make the right special jewels to get through this (you need vertical blasters or bombs to make a dent in it.) Though one round I swapped 2 diamonds in that area--hope that happens again! The stone jewels didn't really get in my way, although I didn't make it close to the bottom yet, either. And don't forget about the ice/white blocks--they'll turn into super dirt if you clear super dirt next to them (onscreen!) I totally forgot about this on my last digging level. I'm awaiting energy... Next time I play I'll hopefully get a better feel for the level, & form a better strategy. I need it...not getting anywhere so far! smh...

[Phaedrakiki]

Whew! Finally got thru late last night. You really have to make the right move choices on 351. Can't make every blaster that comes along--only those that are going to be useful (and it's hard to tell, sometimes.) The window area, with the 2-layer super dirt on each side, is tough. You need vertical blasters to "make a hole" (then you can use a row blaster to blast from the sides if needed.) It's difficult to get the vertical/column blasters in the right spots though, too. Most blasters are made towards the center of the board, so if you want to blast column 1 or 2, you have to move the blaster. Of course, a good ol' blaster/bomb combo will punch through nicely, as well! Anyway, luck has a lot to do with it...you have to have the opportunities to make those "right" jewels/moves at the right times. I eventually passed using a couple blaster + bomb combos, as well as a diamond + blaster. I also had lots of diamonds that last round, 3 really close together one time, but I couldn't get them right next to each other to swap. Fun level...will be back some time to 3-star!

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 352: 28 glass in 1:25 (4JC.) Timed glass level, with windows that isolate 2 jewels out to each side (making special jewels a requirement to break the double-glass.) There are cutouts on the board also, that make the upper- & lower-most jewels difficult to reach.



Horizontal/row blasters are great for getting the jewels out to the sides, but diamonds are your best friend here, if you can get them. The closest I got so far was a round with a diamond + bomb followed by two blaster + bomb combos. But I still had 2 pesky glass left in one of the upper corners. The timer on this is super-short. You have to move really fast, but be smart, too (uh-oh, I'm finished!) Otherwise you might overlook a good move. Only 4 colors makes it easy to make special jewels, but it seems like vertical/column blasters aren't particularly helpful on this level. Unless you can move them to the edge, though not much time to attempt that, OR combine with 'em with a bomb or diamond.

I'm still working on this level...it'll probably take me quite awhile (that clock feels insanely short to me!) But I'm going to keep trying. I'll watch the top & bottom corners, blast the jewels out to the sides, and move fast, making lots of special jewels & combos. Hope it works!

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 353: Dig 32 meters in 55 moves (3JC.) This level--Wow! It's a long way to dig, yes. But with only 3 colors...makes for some crazy jewel-matching, that's for sure. Lots of super dirt and some restricted jewels, and the digging path is basically a bunch of narrow squares, that angle right then back to the left as you dig down. You won't believe the special jewels & combos. There's a lot of self matching, too...so it takes a while for the jewels to "settle" after nearly every move!










You'll have to make lots of choices, like should I go for the blaster + bomb here, or the diamond + blaster? The blaster + bomb is pretty much always the best choice with all the super dirt (just make sure the super dirt is actually in your blast range--otherwise go for the diamond + blaster. And make sure to swipe the right way to get maximum blast! ) There's also lots of swapping 2 diamonds, if you "dare" to waste a move on a diamond, lol. I didn't actually make diamonds much in my attempts...unless 1. I already had one (they make themselves alot!,) and I could make another that would land next to it. Or 2., if it was the only "good" move. Sometimes there's not many choices on your screen. You have to make a best guess, and hope that whatever's coming down the pike will go well with the choice you made! This was such a fun level, I ended up with well over 600K points, and was still only in "4th place" (2 stars.) Will def come back for 3 stars, or just for enjoyment! It's still a challenge, though. You cannot waste a single move. I only had 4 left when I finally passed, but most other times came up way short...

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 354: Dig 22 meters in 55 moves (4JC.) This is a different take on a super dirt digging level, similar to what they did on some of the Skyward Chariot levels. There are lock and chain (L&C) areas in each of the 3 digging "regions;" they have to be unlocked & completely cleared before you can scroll to the next one. There are also some embedded ice/white blocks, as well as some windows here & there to add to the difficulty. The L&C "target" color will be different each round, but it's just one color all the way through to the goal. The #amounts on the locks are always the same: 15 at the top, 85 in the middle, and 135 & 165 in the bottom region.








I tried to focus on the L&C color the entire time...clearing that color & making lots of special jewels. You need some big combos in this level to clear out lots of jewels at once (hopefully getting many of your "target" color.) Blaster + bomb/diamond + blaster are the best, cuz they take out the super dirt, too. Diamond + bomb is awesome for clearing lots of jewels (but not super dirt, lol.)

I was a little confused the first time I saw one of these types of levels, but I soon realized how they work. One thing bothered me, though. If I made a diamond in one region, and then the screen scrolled...my diamond would get left behind. But then I noticed the game often starts with "uncleared matches" (3 or more same-color jewels in a row/column) in the lower regions; you can see them as the screen scrolls before the round begins. When you clear a region, if you have some of these matches below, they will clear just as you begin to scroll down. This causes some of the jewels in the region you just finished to scroll down with you. If you want, you can try to maneuver the jewels a bit before you make your last move, so you can take certain "special jewels" with you. You wouldn't want to waste a bunch of moves on this, but it worked in my favor during my "winning" round...

The moves are pretty tight on this one. After a few attempts, though, they raised the moves to 70 (hurray! That's why both screenshots are included above.) You still have to be careful, but the increase definitely helped me to pass. Prior to that, I was coming up WAY short each time. I still had only 3 moves left when I finally passed (with only 1 star.) Will def be coming back to play this again...for fun and to get a better score. This is a very fun & challenging level!

[Phaedrakiki]

What a dummy! I was so distracted trying to get the last level pasted together, I forgot I'm off to a new island! Yippee...off to Crepe Cafe...!

[Phaedrakiki]

Level 350: 22 fire in 25 moves (4JC.) With (...)crates, wooden walls, and black jewels. There are 5 locked areas with fire (...) I didn't pay attention to the ones in the bottom corners, so I'm not sure what I did to open them. They have no color on them...do they belong to the locks above them, to the side of them...or both? Or maybe either one will open them? (...)

They've actually added 5 more moves to this since I played before (30-nice!) I didn't take a new screenshot, since it's just for reference (the 1st photo is from my earlier post--being lazy, lol.) The next two screenshots are from a different (loser!) round. At least I finally paid attention to those side L&C's. I wanted to know what causes those corner boxes to open (the chained areas without an actual "lock" shown in pics 1 & 2.) The answer: those "no lock" areas will open when you unlock both of the side L&C's (the lock and chain areas w/yellow & aqua-colored locks in the 1st photo.) You can see this happen in the 3rd photo.

Additional black jewels fall in as you play (or perhaps it only seemed that way?) (...)(only got one star, so I'll definitely be back to improve that!) Prob the next time I'm hatin' on a timed level and need a break, lol!

I came back to this level to improve my score (and did.) But mostly, I needed a break from the nightmare timed doom jewel/fire level I'm on (358.) Ugh, it's awful (imho, at least.) But it was fun coming back to play this one. A nice challenge--without the stress! I paid better attention this time, and yes--the black jewels do continue to fall in, but not very many. Not a big problem at all...

[limonepledge]

There are 5 locked areas with fire in them. You have to unlock them and extinguish all the fire. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the ones in the bottom corners, so I'm not sure what I did to open them. They have no color on them...do they belong to the locks above them, to the side of them...or both? Or maybe either one will open them? Hmmm... Guess I'll watch more closely next time I play, lol! But if you know the answer, please post!

The bottom corners open when you unlock the sides. I would have never paid attention had I not read this before starting. Thanks for always posting the pics and giving your tips. It's super helpful!

[limonepledge]

And nevermind. I didnt scroll to the bottomg and see you posted anything (: