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Didn't see this on the TL Blog, so I borrowed this photo from the JM Regions Master thread:
I'm not sure whether the spirits who live here are benevolent or malevolent, although the one depicted in the artwork looks a little scary! I doubt we have anything to be "frightened of" however, when it comes to the fun games we'll find on this island of Jewel Mania!
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Level 379: 10 fire in 25 moves (5JC.) This fire level has 2 lock and chain areas, unbreakable/stone jewels, doom jewels, gifts, and windows/cutouts. The L&C's are red & green, each has a 15-count lock with a gift & 2 stone jewels inside. The gift boosts are a fire extinguisher & a special jewel activator.
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I got lucky and passed this on my 2nd attempt , so I didn't learn much about it. There were just a few doom jewels, not bad at all. And the L&C opened fast. Special jewels & combos seem to be the way to go here, and you could throw the activator into the mix (I didn't get a chance to try it yet.)
I turned a couple stone jewels into a bomb, and then made a bunch of blasters. I combined a blaster + bomb, which knocked out most of the fire and made a diamond. It also dropped one of my blasters to the bottom row. I used the diamond with a yellow jewel (the color of the bottom row blaster,) which detonated it and left me with only 1 flame left. I still had lots of moves, but the flame was behind the window, and I was afraid it would get away from me (don't like to mess w/fire levels!) So I used my free fire extinguisher boost--fire out! But wow was my score pathetic. Only 1 star, so I'll play again to improve that really soon. Funny, I just wanted to move ahead, and see what the next level's like (then, ironically, I didn't even have enough energy to open it...) ;)
Level 380: Dig 12 meters in 2:30 (5JC.) Lots of barriers to digging on this level: super dirt, cutouts that create little alcoves for gifts, unbreakable/stone jewels, black jewels, and ice/white blocks. There are two gifts: an auto-row blasting boost, and a reshuffle boost.
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Normally, 2:30 would be a decent amount of time for 12 meters...but not on this one! The stone jewels alone really trip you up. I barely made it to the 2nd gift & snapped a screenshot (so I could see what the free boosts are.) I've only made it that far once; every other attempt, I'm lucky to make it to 5 meters (not even reaching the first gift!) I'm sure more practice will help a bit, and a lucky board will help to go even further. But I'm not sure 2:30 is enough time with everything they've thrown into this level. I'm trying to move quickly, and make "smart" matches. And you have to change at least some of those stone jewels, or they just block everything. Ugh, gonna be working this one for a long time...
Level 381: 16 glass in 30 moves (5JC.) This level has lots of tricky stuff: unbreakable/stone jewels, black jewels, and several windows that nearly block access to certain areas. Doom jewels drop in occasionally, though there's usually enough moves to clear them. The board had lots of triple-boarded crates, but no glass underneath. (So you don't have to clear them, although breaking them down does give you easier access to glass on the sides, as well as more space to make special jewels & combos.) There are also 2 gifts (with glass-breaking boosts inside.)
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This took me several attempts (5, 6, 7?) But I finally got a board where I was able to clear some stone jewels, make a few diamonds, and combine a diamond with a blaster. I ended up not having to use my free gift boosts in that round, cuz I got some perfect matches in the hard-to-reach areas (upper left & right sides, near the presents.) In almost every round I had glass left there--the glass in the middle is pretty easy to break while making special jewels & manipulating stone jewels, and the bottom sides was often in the blast range of blasters and combos... This was a fun level! Only 1 star, so I'll be back for more...;)
Level 382: Dig 12 meters in 40 moves (5JC.) Digging level, with super dirt, unbreakable/stone jewels, black jewels, ice/white blocks, and gifts. The gifts are an auto-row blasting boost, and TNT/special jewel activator boost.
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This one took quite a few attempts...at first I couldn't even get close. But I got the feel of the level, and learned what type of special jewels are best where. (You know, for ex., you want vertical blasters to blast down into the super dirt to make a path, then horizontal/row blasters to blast the s.d. from inside the same row.) In the beginning area, any blaster's nice to get rid of the black jewels cluttering up the space, making it hard to make specials. I tried to save the auto-blaster boost for when I really needed it (usually the larger strip of s.d. that comes after the gifts, unless I had a good blaster already lined up.) On the round I won, I got down to the goal line, and had several special jewels, including a diamond. Only one move left. I thought about detonating the diamond, and hoping it would take me past the finish line. Then I remembered my other boost--the TNT activator. I used it, and I got past the goal line--except for one square of super dirt. But I had a 3-match next to it, and with my last move, dropped the super dirt under the goal--yay! Enjoyed this level... :)
Level 383: 18 glass in 1:30 (5JC.) Wow, there's a lot going on here--it's a tough level! There are cutouts that create a divider, which separates the left 2 columns from the rest of the board. Two rows are connected, but they're blocked by triple-boarded crates. The two sides are also connected by portals--in/green on left & out/red on the right. (Clearing jewels in one of the 2 right columns will pull jewels thru from one of the 2 on the left.) The left area is filled with unbreakable/stone jewels & black jewels in a checkerboard pattern, and that's where most of the glass is. The last 2 glass are in a lock and chain area on the bottom right. There are gifts inside, and the L&C is surrounded by triple-boarded crates. The lock requires 45 green jewels to unlock it. Whew!
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Worked on this all day, and it's insane! I tried to start banging away at the crates (esp. around the L&C,) as well as making row blasters--to break glass on the left and clear the black jewels. But as soon as you start making matches in the right columns, the black & stone jewels start working their way into the main board. But that also means you get regular jewels on the left, so you can start clearing glass over there, and sometimes changing the stone jewels into specials. So there's a lot of looking side to side, finding the right move. You also have to get those green jewels cleared, so you can get the L&C open to access the glass inside there. I only got it open once in my gazillion tries so far. At least I know one of the gifts is a glass-breaking boost (didn't get the other one yet, so I don't know what it is...)
Haven't got anywhere close to passing this. It's gonna take awhile to figure out the best approach and get used to the board. It still seems like 1:30 is awfully short for all you have to deal with on this level! While I think it's a pretty cool & unique design, I'm worried that this level might be impossible to complete in the allotted time. (Plus, the "trying" part's no fun, due to the stress of the timer...)
Well, now I know that the 2nd gift for level 383 is a TNT/special jewel activator boost, which detonates all the special jewels on the board. Pretty handy!
Yay! I passed level 383. I was getting so frustrated with this level. But I finally got a round where I was able to make lots of diamonds, a couple using stone jewels. I used the first diamond with a green jewel to help open my L&C faster. Another one got swapped with a blaster, which really cleared a lot of glass. I finally got the L&C open, just before time started blinking. I had a bomb fall down by the gifts, and another diamond on the board. Used the last diamond to explode the bomb, which gave me my gifts. I still had lots of blasters on the board, so I used the TNT boost to activate my remaining jewels--that left me with just 2 glass left. Time ran out, but I could see I was very close, and I hadn't gotten anywhere near that before. So, I pressed the "more time" button. I made a match to clear one of the glass, and used my free glass-breaking boost to clear the other (in the L&C area--a stone jewel had fallen on it. So glad I had that boost!)
Btw, if possible, you might want to leave the crate at the far right above the L&C intact, so that any remaining stone jewels above it don't fall onto the glass. Time is so tight, you don't want to get stuck having to manipulate a stone jewel down there. Of course, the glass-breaking boost is quite handy in that situation!
Level 384: 10 fire in 45 moves (5JC.) This fire level has 3 lock and chain (L&C) areas, each with a 45-count lock on it (the one in the middle always seems to be red.) There are 2 gifts in little "alcoves" in the upper right & left corners, with triple-boarded crates blocking them in. The presents are a fire extinguisher boost, as well as a key boost (unlocks an L&C area--pretty cool, 1st time I used one of these!) The board has quite a few unbreakable/stone jewels; it also has several windows and cutouts, which make it more difficult to directly access fire, etc.
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Passed this level by using a diamond + blaster on my very last move. It put out every flame--I was so excited, lol! Fun level! I got a pitiful score, though (1 star, 6th place...pretty bad!) So I'll be back to play again. I had to use the key boost/L&C unlocker that round to open the red L&C in the middle; it was taking too long & I needed the space. In prev. rounds, it seemed easier to get that one open, so I usually saved the boost for whichever of the bottom L&C was still locked after I opened the other. I espec. tried to use the key boost before using a big combo like blaster + bomb or diamond + blaster, so that it would put more flames out...
Off to Triplet Hills now...