How to get 3 points in level...

[anidor3]

Here's a new thread for those who have solved all the availabe levels and want to go back and get three stars in each level.
I am stuck in level 284 and can't get more than two stars. Any ideas?

[kristanlh]

I'm pretty sure I used a boost to keep my streaks going for 284. But the spiders were the bigger problem for me. Sometimes you waste a lot of coins on boosts thanks to those buggers.

[Lincstrake]

I was able to get three stars in level 284 without using any boosts, but it took many tries, in part because of the randomness of the spiders. My key tip for this level is to not uncover snow from any bubble other than yellow, orange, and red ones - the three colors critical to the level. This will minimize the introduction into the bubble queue of bubbles that are not especially helpful for winning the level. Having done that, if you can make good progress and finish the level with seven or eight bubbles still remaining, that will give you plenty of extra points at the end, and hopefully enough to push you into three star territory. Actually, one slight caveat: it is OK to uncover snow off a non-yellow/orange/red bubble provided that you can quickly, in one of the next several turns, drop it out of the game before the queue is filled with bubbles of that color. A second tip for this level is to activate the yellow bulb bubbles via the upper right yellow switch, rather than the one of the left. Finally, because the spiders can seemingly come out of nowhere and quickly end the game, it is best to give priority to dropping out spiders whenever the chance to do so presents itself.

[kristanlh]

I don't want to be told how to do it (yet) but man, 345 is a beast to get 3 stars on. :(

[Bubbleizer]

I'm not sure we could tell you. Just up to 196 on my 3 star quest. Glad I have some bank built up. How long have you been working on it?

[kristanlh]

How long have I been working on 345 in particular? Hard to say exactly, because I jump around if a certain level is too difficult at that time. (I play for fun, not frustration!) A couple days, I suppose. I know what I need to do (with the assistance of rainbow bubbles) but haven't been able to execute it perfectly. A couple times I got so close I thought I MIGHT have gotten it... You know how the progress bar goes up under the stars, and you can't quite tell how far? But no. Just short. :'(

[Bubbleizer]

That all sounds familiar, especially the "fun not frustration" part. Funny, I decided to look at 345 for kicks and it was one I happened to have 3 stars on. I tried playing it but was totally lost. You know how it takes a few before you figure out what's what, especially with those flip-flops.

[kristanlh]

Lol. Yeah. Sometimes when there's so much flip flopping going on, I actually write down the pattern. The problem with 345 is, the patterns change every time you play.

[Bubbleizer]

Yeah, my wife used to laugh when I would write it down. Then she got that far and I caught doing the same thing. I'll be curious to play those again when/if I get that far going for 3. I actually have 3 on 344 too. Go figure.

[Bubbleizer]

Hey kristan. Wondering if you managed to get 3 on 345? I've been doing pretty well. I'm up to 264, but progress is getting slower. I wish I would have gone for 3 on some of these the first time around. It can take a little bit to figure them out...again.

[kristanlh]

Yep, I did manage to get 345! Took me quite a bit of time/frustration though... o_O

(Every 40 or so levels, I seem to get super stuck on one.)

So far I have 3 stars on levels 1-364, and then 2 stars on everything after that, with some other 3 stars scattered about.

I'm not too proud to use boosts when needed, and yes, haha, as soon as I beat a level, I tend to forget the strategy, so it takes a while to re-figure it out when I go back. (This is also true when people ask for help on the boards and I have to re-play in order to provide tips.)

[Bubbleizer]

Up to 276. I hate 276. I hate spiders. One other thing. I hate spiders.

[kristanlh]

I hate spiders too.

I now have 3 stars through 390, but then I had to skip 391-396 (Raven Mad island) because I couldn't manage 3 stars on any of those, and they weren't very fun to play over and over and over... Obviously I'll try to go back at some point, but for now I'm moving forward. Fortunately 397-402 (Outta Space island) is quite fun!

[Bubbleizer]

I just had my frustrations with Cloudbreak Heights. Lincstrake got 284 with no boosts so I focused on that one first. No luck. Then spent a fortune trying to blast and rainbow bubble my way through the whole island. Again no luck. Then I put it down for awhile. Went back to it and cleared the whole island with 3 stars only buying bombs on 288. Man what a clear head can do. Did you like Haunted Gardens? Pretty simple until the last one and yet that's the only one I got 3 stars.

[anidor3]

Any ideas how to get 3 stars on 316 and 318? I keep playing them over and over and can't get 3 stars there...

[kristanlh]

@Bubbleizer-
Sorry, what levels are in Haunted Gardens? I can't find it just from the icons.

@anidor3-
Level 318 was very difficult for me to get 3 stars on. I think I ended up using bomb boosts, in order to keep the pop streak alive at certain points. Spiders kept ruining it for me in that earliest section.

In Level 316, the key is a combination of maintaining a pop streak and choosing the best colors to eliminate in order. If possible, I'd say eliminate the color holding the lowest level of babies first, that way you can get up to the second star more quickly.

[Lincstrake]

I see that Team Lava seems to be experimenting with including trophies for the levels, in which a certain score or higher is awarded a trophy, which displays above the level number on the screen for each island. I sometimes see these trophies when I launch the game, but sometimes not. It appears that the threshold for being awarded a trophy is higher than that for being awarded three stars on a level, which basically means that the trophies are acting as a fourth star. So I guess the most obsessive of us will have to go back to the start and replay the levels, trying to win a trophy on each. Assuming that at some point Team Lava makes this a permanent feature.

[kristanlh]

Lol. I've seen the trophies occasionally too. I don't think I'm obsessive enough to care about that... but maybe when I have 3 stars on all the levels, I'll change my mind. ;P

[Bubbleizer]

@kristan- Haunted Gardens was level 523-528, but that was so last month. Having fun with Arctic Antics right now. Also been doing well With 3 stars until Mattress Mountain. I was looking forward to Raven Mad until 387,389, and 390 stumped me. So I have 3 through 386 but now am considering skipping to Outta Space and regrouping.

@anidor- I must have lucked into 3 on 316 the first time through. I'm sure I must have used rainbow bubbles to get to that first star because I can't get anywhere trying it right now. I did complete 318 many times before getting 3 stars. I finally concentrated on getting enough pops on the lower sections so I had just enough bubbles left to coincide with the number of bombs they give you. Of course this also depends on the temperament of the spiders.

[Bubbleizer]

I thought I remembered seeing some trophies along the way but going back through I can't find any. As far as turning threes into trophies...ugh! I can't imagine turning 2 into 3 on a lot of these new levels. But yes I will try.

[kristanlh]

I have 17/18 in Raven Mad now. Only one still denying me is level 396.

[Bubbleizer]

Does anyone have 3 stars all the way yet?

[kristanlh]

Not me! Right now I have 3 stars on everything through Level 452, with the exception of Level 434, which keeps thwarting me.

[Lincstrake]

Right now, through level 492 I have 3 stars on all but 20 levels, all of which keep thwarting me. Also, I have yet to complete the newest levels. I'm still stuck on 593. I could really use a few extra bubbles on that level; I only got close twice, when I got lucky with the seedling colors. (Not seeking hints yet.)

[kristanlh]

I only noticed the new island last night when I opened Bubble Mania to answer this post, lol. Only played the first two levels so far, but yeah, the bubble count is really tight.

[mlwsmiles47]

I have worked to get three stars along the way. Never moving past a level until I was able to get it. I am not as far as you all, working on 157, but having difficulty with this one. Any tips?

[Bubbleizer]

I believe this is the first level with firework bubbles. On all levels remember that the fewer targets there are the better the chance the firework will hit the target you need to hit. It also will not target ice bubbles. In other words, eliminate as much as you reasonably can before hitting a firework.

[Bubbleizer]

I can't believe it...three stars all the way!

[Lincstrake]

Impressive.

[kristanlh]

WHOA! Congrats!

[Bubbleizer]

Meant to thank you both for the kind words.

[Lincstrake]

Much deserved. That's quite an accomplishment.

By the way, I meant to mention to you that if you find yourself bored now that you have accomplished that goal, and are looking for a new challenge within the world of Bubble Mania, you can try to obtain a trophy on each level. I mentioned this a while back in a different thread, and have since discovered that the trophies appear only if you launch the game without an internet connection (at least that is how it works on my tablet, but, as I mentioned elsewhere, I am not running the most recent version of the software). I am not sure if the trophies were a concept the game designers were considering and then abandoned, or perhaps are something they plan to formally introduce at some point.

Anyway, just a thought.

[kristanlh]

Hm, I thought the trophies corresponded to having the top score for each level. Is that correct, or do they signify something else?

[Lincstrake]

I have a lot of levels marked with trophies, and I doubt I am the top scorer on all of those levels. I have been assuming that the trophies were kind of like a fourth star, in that you get one when you exceed a certain points threshold, a level which is set somewhat higher than that of the three star threshold. I could be wrong.

If any moderators are listening in, could you let us know what the trophies signify, and if there are any plans to make them a permanent feature of the game? (To repeat what I wrote previously, I only see them when I launch the game without an Internet connection.)

[Bubbleizer]

Yes I have been confused about the trophies too. I seem them pop up sometimes and then the next thing I know they are gone. I never made the Internet connection in regards to why they appear.

[Bubbleizer]

But it would seem to make sense.

[Lincstrake]

Hey, Kristan and Bubbleizer (and anyone else who cares to chime in),

I just had a little discussion with a moderator, and learned that Kristan was right about the trophies: they are used to mark whoever has the top score in a level. More specifically, whoever in your particular leaderboard (that thing at the bottom as you are about to start a level, often hidden behind the goals menu) has the top score. If you have the top score in your leaderboard for a particular level, then a trophy will be displayed above the level number in the island view mode. However, as I have previously noted, on my device the trophies are only displayed when I launch the game without an Internet connection. I am curious if this is the same for the two of you (or anyone else). Do you ever see trophies when you launch the game WITH an Internet connection (for levels in which the leaderboard shows you as the top scorer)? Just curious.

The TeamLava moderator indicated to me that they would take a look at this and fix if needed in a later version, although I said that it's not really a problem for me the way it is now. I was just curious about the function of the trophies, and now I know.

[kristanlh]

Nope, it's the same for me: I only see the trophies when I am without an internet connection.

Thanks for sharing what you've learned!

[Bubbleizer]

Same thing on my end. Thanks for the info Lincstrake.

[kristanlh]

Right now I only have 3 stars through level 452, but Bubbleizer gives me hope/reassurance that I can eventually get them all!

[Bubbleizer]

You will. I'm sure it's just that I play more(way too much)! I keep thinking my obsession with this game will wane but I just keep finding other things to obsess over. First just getting through the levels was enough. Then three stars and now I'm doing goals(up to 300 minus a few). Perhaps the afore mentioned trophies will be next. It's a good thing my wife likes this game too!

[Lincstrake]

I am finally close to getting three stars on every level. Only Level 631 eludes me now. I'd like to get input from other players on this level.

I think the level must have been altered at some point, because my high score on it (which I achieved a long time ago, around the time the level first came out) is over 900,000, but when I play now, I can only get around half of that on my best games, which is not enough for three stars. Apparently the 900,000+ score was not good enough for three stars back at the time I achieved, but would be good enough now, although I can no longer find a way to get such a high score.

It seems to me that the current three-star threshold (which I am estimating is set at around 700,000) is set too high for this level. I just can't see a way to eke out many more points on this level, but I may be missing something. I am willing to play the game with some boosts selected at the start, but since on almost every other level (except about four of them) I was able to get three stars without selecting any boosts at the start, I feel that it should be possible in principle to obtain three stars without boosts, and yet on this level it seems nowhere near possible (again, unless I am missing something).

If anyone has any comment regarding obtaining three stars on this level in its current configuration, I'd be happy to hear about it. If the consensus is that it is set too high, I'll ask Team Lava to lower it.

Cheers.

[shilgey]

Will there ever be new levels??

[kristanlh]

Oh wow, congrats Lincstrake! I don't have any tips for you on that level, but I agree that it should be possible, in principle, to get 3 stars on every level without boosts (even if it's far easier to get 3 stars with a boost).

[Lincstrake]

I figured out how to get three stars on Level 631 using only the rainbow boost, and will share that here for anyone who may be interested.

I had forgotten (or perhaps didn't know) that when trying to color ice, if you throw a single bubble of any color against some ice, and then follow that up with a rainbow bubble that touches the first bubble and the ice, it will color the adjacent ice on that turn. (Normally you would need a three-bubble cluster in order to color ice.) Doing this lets you keep a pop streak going that would otherwise be interrupted by the need to throw three bubbles before the ice is colored. And keeping that pop streak going is enough to get you to a point total good for three stars on this level, provided that you can keep a perfect, uninterrupted pop streak going on the rest of the level, apart from ice coloring.

I wasted a lot of time on that. Glad it's over.

[kristanlh]

Oohh, interesting tip on the rainbow bubble + ice! I don't think I knew that.

But did you mean level 431 or level 631?

[Lincstrake]

Whoops! I meant 631. I went back and edited the post.