Are there any tactics for Bejeweled Blitz?

Question

I average a score of ~60,000 on Bejeweled Blitz for iPhone, yet I see a lot of my friends posting scores of over 250,000.

Are there any tactics for achieving such a high score, or is it really just down to finger speed, and/or luck?

Asked by Chris

Answer

The primary answer here is speed, but there's more to it than that.

• Keep your speed up, making matches, so you'll continue to recieve an ever increasing speed bonus. Your goal here is to get to the x1000 speed bonus where every match creates an explosion (and the gems flash) - but any speed is better than no speed at all.
• Make matches from the bottom up, there's more chance of a cascade
• Be aware of the multiplier gems - a match has to cause a cascade that removes 12 tiles (and more than 10s apart from the previous muliplier gem). So, make those cascades and grab the multiplier gems early.
• Don't plan out your next move too much. This is Blitz, remember? 60s is not enough time to ponder the inner-workings of cascades.
• Do look for more matches ASAP. That is, as soon as you locate a match and begin to drag it, start too look for the next.
• Remember that you have a Hint button - but that it takes a few seconds to locate, move to it, and click.
• Do purchase power-ups. With one of the lastest updates, you can purchase powerups like multipliers in the field as you start, gem-swappers, and extra time. In my personal experience, the gem-swapping and extra-time are the most valuable to my score.
• If/when you do create a 5-in-a-row match and obtain a HyperCube, you should use it ASAP, on the color that you see the most of. This should create many cascades, up your speed bonus, and with fewer colors on the map, it should be easier to create your next match. (Remember that 5-in-a-row is the most valuable, so don't waste the opportunity on anything else).

Don't forget that if you really want to be a bejeweled-blitz-master, you'll need to do the following:

• Practice practice practice
• Watch Youtubes
• Read up other guides

Answered by rlb.usa

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How do I achieve the top score playing drums (solo) in Rock Band 2?

Question

I've found that even if I hit 100% on expert playing drums (solo) in Rock Band 2, I don't have the highest score. How do I figure out how to maximize my score (in general, not for a specific song)?

Asked by n/a

Answer

One more thing is required to maximize your score (in addition to 100% accuracy and optimal overdrive pathing that the other posters mentioned) -- you need to squeeze. Squeezing has essentially two methods that allow you to get credit for an additional drum hit.

• Play the 'hidden note' underneath the overdrive activation (green pad). Well, it's not actually hidden ... it's the note that would normally be charted in that spot if there was no overdrive activation sequence. So one plays the green overdrive activation note slightly early (but still within the timing window) and then immediately play the note (or notes/bass) sequence that would normally be charted (quickly! it needs to be within that same timing window) ... and you get the usual credit for that hit (25 * #pads * multiplier). This works for all overdrive sequences.
• Exploit the timing window around overdrive. Essentially you start the overdrive as late as possible in the overdrive activation window - and then if there's a note would usually be just past the overdrive window, you now have a brief opportunity to play the note slightly early (but still within the activation zone). Voila ... credit for one additional note. Think of it as exploiting a rounding error. Note that this is dependent on the charting of the song .. there needs to a note in the correct place for this to work, so not all overdrives can squezee a note here.

These techniques don't earn many points (essentially one extra note or notes each squeeze) and can be quite intricate to time ... but are essentialy to earn the very maximum score (greater than merely 100% FC and optimum overdrive usage). Note that a similar tactic is usable on guitar/bass, and is also useful in Guitar Hero as well as Rock Band.

Answered by didi

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How can I get a high score greater than 150,000 in Tiny Wings?

Question

I can't get past ~150.000 points, is there any magic trick or it's just getting long fever times?

Answer

With a x26 multiplier, your goal should be around 25k per island. You need to keep fever for the entirety of the first island and before landing on island 2 you should be nearly 30k. Try your hardest to touch the clouds as often as possible during fever as well, it will be over a thousand points each.

There isn't much more to say other than keep your fevers as long as possible. If you're less than 75k after reaching the 4th island, just restart. You'll have the first couple islands memorized quickly (until the next day). Might take a couple days, but you'll get there.

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What's the trick to earning enough points in Mayhem activities?

Question

Among activities wherein you must achieve a particular score within a time limit, there exists a continuum of freneticity. On the hyperactive side are things like Tank Mayhem, where you are basically guaranteed to succeed as long as you're pushing buttons. Insurance Fraud is further toward the middle; it's pretty easy to succeed, but you have to actively pursue moving traffic to have any success.

Mayhem is on the opposite, slow side. I can barely scrape by, and then only on the easiest ones. I've been upgrading my weapons, but it still seems like I can't do enough damage consecutively in such a way as to actually build up a multiplier that's worth anything.

How can I improve my score at Mayhem?

Answer

In the Mayhem levels, the trick is to get a high multiplier and keep it there. You get credit for destroying almost EVERYTHING, so driving/running down the street and firing a RPG or the tank cannon repeatedly into the sidewalk is a good way to go. If you can find a roadside cafe, a street market, or a line of fences, you're golden. Alleyways are positively littered with things that explode for cash.

It's relatively easy to hit 30-50+ multiplier in non-Tank Mayhem, which means you'll be racking up the score in no time. If your multiplier is super high, target expensive cars to get a huge points bonus.

The most important thing though, is just keep shooting. You should be firing off rounds as fast as you possibly can, and blowing absolutely everything in sight to kingdom come.

It helps to move into a target-rich area, like a suburban street where fences and small items litter the scenery. You're almost better running (or stealing a car) and driving to a better part of town than staying where there's not much to shoot at. The time you lose is far outweighed by the extra multiplier you will gain. I haven't extensively scouted the map to find the best place yet, but you might want to take a minute to drive around and look at object placement before you start a level, so you can plan your route better.

Don't bother with guns in this mode - if you have a RPG, great, but watch for splash damage that can knock you down and end your streak. Alternatively, use thrown weapons (like grenades, for example) which can take a whole area out. You can generally throw these super fast, and your throwing distance is generally far enough that you won't be in the blast radius when they go off. Run down the street and just huck them in random directions towards sidewalks, cars, etc.

Mayhem is my second favorite activity, after Insurance Fraud. Enjoy it! :)

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How is it possible to get a score of 2 billion in Cut the Rope?

Question

I just played through the first box (cardboard) in Cut the Rope, aiming for the fastest times and therefore highest score. It seems like the absolute highest score you can get for a level is around 6,000 (I got just over 5,900 for essentially an 'instant solve').

So when I'd finished I amassed 139,800 points (avg ~5,600 per level). Imagine my surprise when I logged onto the game center only to find the top score for Cardboard Box is 2,298,946,210!!!

As far as I can tell, it only takes the highest score for each level, so playing through levels again doesn't keep adding to your score. Are all these users cheating in some way? Or is there another way to improve scores?

Answer

Yes, I'm nearly certain they're cheating. Generally, you'll find the value 2,147,483,647 as a high score, because this is the highest value kids people can input using their cheat programs. (highest value a signed int can store)

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Are there any specific tactics or strategies I should use to improve my score at Fruit Ninja?

Question

Obviously, I can just "miss fewer fruit" and "avoid more bombs".

But when I compare my score to the high scores, I suspect there's a specific approach more specifc than "go study with fruit monks in Tibet".

Answer

1. Make sure you are using sound. The bombs will make a sound before they are launched which helps some.
2. Don't be afraid to use the pause button. Once you pause/unpause, you can't pause again for a second or two, but it can be useful when all hell breaks loose.
3. Remember that for every 100 fruit, an X will disappear (i.e. when your score crosses 100,200,300,etc).

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How are points calculated in Orcs Must Die?

Question

I am playing the demo of Orcs Must Die! and trying to understand how points are calculated and how to increase the points I get when I finish a mission.

Just to make an example, I reached about 26K points in the first mission The Hallway, but looking at the overall leaderboards plenty of players went over 40K.

In which points category should I concentrate more?

Answer

• If a trap kills an orc, you get 100 points.
• If you kill an orc, you get 50 points.
• If a combination of traps kills an orc (tar trap + clockwork mace, for example), the kill is worth 3 times what it would have been.
• You get 100 points for every rift point remaining.
• You get a bonus of 10,000 if nothing makes it to the rift.
• Each time you kill 5 or more orcs at once (thus getting a kill streak), you get a small bonus for that kill streak. The score at the end adds these bonuses up.

Focus on combos. If you start lining up awesome combos (tar trap + clockwork mace), you'll rack up tons of combos and this will naturally lead to lots of kill streaks around 10x. These add up. On maps where the above combo was favorable, I've gotten near the top 1,000 on the leaderboard. Each level will have different ideal combos, so you'll have to experiment to really optimize your score.

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Starred Score in Super Mario World

Question

When your save file reaches a score of 96 in Super Mario World, the score becomes *96, with a little star on it. What does this mean? Is it possible to get a higher score than 96? Or get multiple stars?

Answer

There are 96 exits in Super Mario World. The star signifies that you have done all of the levels.

More recent Mario games (like New Super Mario Bros. DS, and Super Mario Bros. Wii) have multiple stars available for completing different goals (beating the game. collecting all the coins, finding all the exits...), but Super Mario World only has one star.

Interesting fact:
In the Japanese Super Mario Bros. the number of completed levels is written in Japanese, unless you get to 96. At 96, it just displays the number "96" in our number system. (no star)

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How to separate the challenge penguins in Slay on 640x480?

Question

I'm playing Sean O'Connor's Slay on screen with max resolution 640x480, which makes my penguins stack so that I can't see my highscore on all levels. How can I find the score out? Is there a readable data file somewhere, or a trick to make the window larger than the desktop?

Answer

Unfortunately it doesn't look as though there is an easy way to read HighScores.dat, and while you can shrink the game window, you can't expand it beyond its initial size. You can, however, download a hex editor, and it does seem as though there is a pattern from which you can calculate your high scores:

• Columns 04 and 0C are the ones to look at. The score for level 1 seems to be stored in 00000004 (row 00000000, offset 04), level 2 in 0000000C, and so on.
• A level you haven't played will be stored as E7. One on which you've lost will be preceded by FF FF FF FF.
• A level you have played will be stored as one less than your number of turns, in hex, so completing a level in 17 turns will show up as 10; 26 will show up as 19; etc.

You've probably already tried the other themes (Penguins seems to be the only one that wouldn't cause everything to stack, not just the levels you've completed). You might try an alternate theme - there are plenty of them here on his site, but unfortunately there isn't a preview for any of them.

If you can wait for a bit, it sounds like he's planning to rewrite the game again with more modern graphics (although if you're constrained to 640x480, that may not help you much): from his games' page on Facebook:

I think it's about time I re-wrote Windows Slay from scratch using DirectX for some smoother graphics. The AI could do with a re-write too as it's not changed since 1994 and computers have got just a bit more powerful since then!

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Getting high scores in Tiny Wings

Question

I can't get past ~150.000 points, is there any magic trick or it's just getting long fever times?

Answer

With a x26 multiplier, your goal should be around 25k per island. You need to keep fever for the entirety of the first island and before landing on island 2 you should be nearly 30k. Try your hardest to touch the clouds as often as possible during fever as well, it will be over a thousand points each.

There isn't much more to say other than keep your fevers as long as possible. If you're less than 75k after reaching the 4th island, just restart. You'll have the first couple islands memorized quickly (until the next day). Might take a couple days, but you'll get there.

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