Dogzilla City - Levels 493 - 498 (Region 83)

[Phaedrakiki]

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http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/400%20up%20-%20JMD/078b68d0-31a8-415a-a35c-8b2491aeec9d_zps89defcdd.png

No "island" posts on the TL Blog (http://blog.teamlava.com/) lately, and no pictures on 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) yet for these "higher-numbered" islands. So these are screenshots from my phone:


http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag81/Beadsbykat/400%20up%20-%20JMD/df808b79-e1a0-4573-8b09-921b5533c45e_zps7af6e270.png

Awesome, fun artwork (as usual!) Have fun on this island of Jewel Mania (https://www.facebook.com/JewelManiaGame)!


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Note: Screenshots are from Jewel Mania Christmas (version 1.2.3.)

[limonepledge]

Level 493: Break 51 glass squares in 1:50 (4JC). The center has 4 L&Cs with restricted glass inside. The upper left is 40 count, lower left is 60, upper right is 80 and lower right is 110. There's also some cut outs and both double and single glass. Try to make matches lower on the board to you'll get some free ones up top. Also try to focus on whatever color has the 110 count L&C because that one should take the longest. The time is a little tight so you might have to swipe like crazy.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/image4.png

[limonepledge]

Level 494: Dig 14 meters in 80 moves. (4JC) The board is split diagonally from the top right to bottom left by cut outs. The right side alternates between backward L shaped sections of super dirt and regular dirt with a wooden bar. The left side is all ice blocks and black jewels. Ice blocks also fall in as you play.

I'd try to start with a match right up against the ice to clear up a little more space to make blasters. Because no jewels touch any dirt when you start you will need special jewels and lots of them, but the black and ice jewels make that hard. Anytime I got a vertical blaster that wasn't going to clear any dirt I tried to use it right away to clear black jewels and ice as well as to get new jewels. When you make it down to the bottom it's hard to make horizontal blasters because of the layout so I just tried to make as many vertical ones so that I could make a match after that would just drop the super dirt down beyond the goal line.


http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/90e7b4d6-9fd3-4ef6-9d37-88b950e7b3cf.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/6cf58d6f-aa1c-4aa5-9e19-1f716b0497db.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/c6613646-6648-4a5b-af9a-fbefa205d37a.jpg

[limonepledge]

Level 495: Clear 48 glass squares in 3:45 (5JC). This is one of the hardest levels I've seen in a long time. The board is t-shaped with plenty of wood barriers scattered around (side note: I still think they should make these like in Candy Blast where the go away eventually). About half the jewels already on the screen are unbreakable ones and the who board is double glass. Aso :40 doom jewels fall in.

The unbreakable jewels really start getting in the way unless you can make specials, but that's hard with the 5 colors used. I anticipate this one taking a while. The other problem is that because it's hard to make moves it refreshes a lot and if you have any doom jewels around they could end up somewhere surrounded by unbreakables making it unreachable. I've only played this once and that's how I loss.


http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/photo1-8.png

[limonepledge]

Level 496: Dig 24 meters in 95 moves (5JC). The first row is entirely super dirt with a 15-count red (always) L&C sitting on top with 1-count doom jewels. I haven't figured out how exactly these work, but I wouldn't worry about them. I'd say 95% of the time they just make a diamond so don't worry about opening it even if you've blasted away dirt below. Twice all the single doom jewels ended up falling down, but I'm not sure why. One of those times I used a diamond+blaster combo, but who knows if that had anything to do with it. Anyway, don't worry about it. Below that are 4 single snake heads dirt, a few crates and ice blocks. Then further down there's some super dirt restricted yellow jewels and a few ice blocks. Even further down there's more super dirt, crates, restricted yellow, red and ice jewels and more single snake heads. The moves are kind of tight.

The entire dirt/digging area is always the exact same colors and everything.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/0d2a287e-2994-40b2-a9df-72c2ce1edd14.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/59ba58d8-63af-4307-92e0-acdbc86fd11f.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/d72bf4d3-f3ef-4fdc-8096-568c05f43b1c.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/d9ae4169-e3bc-4c21-8290-c1148ed786db.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/2e0c3591-d662-4cef-9e20-3d6d45ba70cb.jpg

[limonepledge]

Level 497: Extinguish 9 fires in 1:30 (3JC). There's 4 areas on this one each with at least one flame. The bottom left has a 60-count yellow L&C with 2 fires inside. The bottom right has a 60-count red L&C with 2 fires. The colors are always the same. 7 second doom jewels fall in, which remind me of that level a few islands ago with the 3 second ones (except that level seemed easier). Sometimes because of the low jewel count it's easy to get rid of the doom jewels, but if they fall into one of the sections are there aren't any matches you're basically out of luck.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/image-7.png


At first I thought this island was fun, but the longer I'm here the more I don't really like it. At the same time the levels ahead seem super hard so I'm OK with being here. Plus, 500 is coming up!

[limonepledge]

Return of the 3 second doom jewels! (that's what this level should be called)

Level 298: Extinguish 12 fires in 2:00 (4JC). Can I just start of by saying I hate this level? Three second doom jewels again? Really?

Anyway, There's a giant 2 headed snake (top head always blue and bottom yellow) that block most of the board. You start out with access to basically only three columns and there's some fire. The rest of the board is either cut out, snake, or L&C. There's a column L&C on the far left with a 70-count (always red) with alternating red and yellow 3 second doom jewels. 7 in all. Along the bottom (below the snake) is another L&C with a 100-count lock (always yellow) with fire. And there's fire elsewhere on the board. Oh, and there's also 17 second doom jewels that fall in.

I have absolutely no clue how to beat this. The yellow bottom snake head is easy enough to get rid of but the top one requires some serious luck with special jewels since it doesn't touch any jewels. Then there's the 3 second doom jewels in the L&C that's bound to open because it's count is 30 lower than the flame. Every time I've been ****ed by doom jewels. Most of the time they go off before I can do anything. A couple of times I made matches just as they hit zero and cleared them all , but I still lost. So, when I look at the background as the screen changes to tell me I lost there's no doomies on the board. Why? They're all gone!

I hate this island, but mostly this level.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/tenten199/photo1-9.png

[Phaedrakiki]

Hi limonepledge! Those doomies are awful, huh?! To pass this I made a diamond and kept it ready for when the "doomie L&C" opened. Then quickly use it on one of the colors (red or yellow.) The colors alternate, so when the diamond clears one color, the other color will get lined-up & automatically matched (and will clear, too.) Figured that out by accident, lol. Yeah, the levels are def getting more challenging!

[limonepledge]

To pass this I made a diamond and kept it ready for when the "doomie L&C" opened. Then quickly use it on one of the colors (red or yellow.) The colors alternate, so when the diamond clears one color, the other color will get lined-up & automatically matched (and will clear, too.)

Thank you! That's some of the best advice I've gotten in this game. Sometimes it gets a little hard to hold onto diamonds (and make sure it's always next to a yellow or red jewel), but I passed the first time I tried your advice!


Moving on to Penguin Paradise! (http://forums.storm8.com/showthread.php?64992-Penguin-Paradise-Levels-499-504-(Region-84))

[Phaedrakiki]

Yay! :D

[Phaedrakiki]

Someone in another thread (http://forums.storm8.com/showthread.php?66284-Can-someone-please-help-me-with-Level-495) asked for help with level 495. I barely passed it with one star, but I'm responding here so all the Dogzilla City stuff stays in one place.

Level 495 was particularly difficult for me. In fact, one of the things I had to do was take screenshots, then pause...and go strategize looking at the photo, then continue playing. Another thing: I'd look for boards that had good starting matches, like an unbreakable/stone jewel match in that bottom area (always seems to be where the last glass are left...) If my board didn't have good starting moves, I'd restart the level.

As for the doom jewels, don't waste time--clear 'em as soon as you see them. I got blown up by these several times--irritating! But the level would still be difficult without them--those stone jewels are the real ****ers! Gotta take your time and make smart moves with them. Even though you do have to "rush," you can't hurry too fast...you can miss match opportunities that will turn them into special jewels. Wish I had better help/tips, but that's all I have for now--sorry! Hopefully someone will have more helpful tips...

Good luck!