Daily Dare 2010

[shapu]

Today's game is Sutek's tomb, with a required score of 3500.

Code in spoiler:

typing "pyramibread" will cause the game to highlight a combination you can use. This is usable any number of times.

The game for 2/27 is Hasee Bounce, with a required score of 825.

The game for 2/28 is Spellseeker, with a required score of 100,000.

[Siniri]

Thanks for updating the first post, shapu. For Spellseeker, I recommend numbers mode. You can get a score of 2700 on the first level and 5700 on the second level without going on to the next level (your current combo's score shows at the bottom), which will maximize your chances of getting gold tiles. It's often best to create shorter combos with several gold tiles than a longer one without any; you can compare by putting in a combo and checking its score on the bottom, then selecting a tile outside your combo's range to test another combo.

[Blue]

I agree with Siniri - go with numbers. Strangely enough, before today, I had never really noticed the cylinder(?) above the wizard's head until today. Apparently, clicking on it when it's full will wipe out/clean all of the green/toxic tiles.

[Siniri]

3/1: Today's game is super-easy, if you've ever played it before. You can literally start the game, let it play itself, and still manage both Abi's and Lulu's scores. If you've never played before, there's a decent enough guide here at PPT. The only thing I would add is that if the petpet lands perfectly in a bucket, you'll get double points for it, which will get you to AAA's score that much faster.

Regarding what the guide calls "red" beams (I think of them as wooden), they tilt in the direction following the laws of gravity; to hold them up, you need to hold down the opposite key. So if the petpet is falling from the beam above to the right, make it fall fast so that it will definitely land on the left side of the wooden beam. As soon as it's released from the above beam, mash down on the right arrow key, and when it lands on the wooden beam, keep holding the key down until the container is about halfway past the end of the beam, then release. This should get you a consistent 2x score, once you learn the right spot to release.

3/2: I thought Sophie's Stew seemed easier than last year, and then I realized that AAA's score is a full 100 points less than it was last year. Jellyneo had found a number of prizes before DD began, and there are prizes for 11 games that haven't been given out yet (with previous DD or NGC scores in parentheses where applicable):

Snow Roller (DD3: 2500)
Itchy Invasion (DD1: 800, DD2: 1000, DD3: 900)
Petpet Plunge (DD3: 550)
Shenkuu Tangram (DD3: 2000)
Wicked Wocky Wobble (DD2: 200)
Turmac Roll (DD1: 800, DD2: 900)
Faerie Bubbles (DD1 and 2: 1000, DD3: 900)
Ultimate Bullseye II (DD2: 85, DD3: 70)
Kass Basher (DD1: 450, DD2: 850)
Jumpin' Gem Heist (NGC: 45000, but they've added clocks to the game since)
Extreme Faerie Cloud Racers (NGC: 750)

There's one other prize where the game is not clear (the Tyrannian-looking bone-and-spotted hairbow -- which, judging by the SW, is called "Tyrannian Hair Bow"). This would indicate a Tyrannian game (Destruct-o-Match III, Ugga Smash, Chia Bomber 2, Volcano Run, Petpet Rescue) -- unfortunately, none of the characters from those games are wearing the hairbow in question. I tried doing SW searches with the game names, and I came across Destruct-O-Match Chess Game, which is not listed in JellyNeo's item database. AAA's score for DOM3 was 1700 in DD3 (DOM2 scores were 2500 and 2400, but I don't think scores in the two games are comparable).

Anyway, 12 days left, and 12 very likely games... The only ones I'm worried about are Itchy Invasion (I find it hard to get much above 700) and Jumpin' Gem Heist (I'm scared they'll raise the score to something ridiculous).

3/4: Aarrrgh. I knew it was coming. I've been practicing it for nearly a month. I know all the "tricks." I even managed a 798 in it yesterday. And yet it's still so far, far, far away. AAA, I know you mock me, but I shall play a lot today until I beat you in this Itchy Invasion.

ETA: Woot! Somehow, I managed to eke through the Meowclops level. I was so stoked when I saw that I had a score of 897. I finished the game with a 1041. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought. Wow. This last game, I just really counted all my shots, made sure to aim at the blue petpetpets, used the bomb to kill three rows on the last level, and tried not to let too many petpetpets get by me (I grabbed my green refill from the second row and continued to shoot the first row right before the Meowclops level ended). I didn't even have time to use the pest code.

3/5: Thankfully, a relatively easy one to follow the toughie. And it's a Double Dare, too. DOM3 always reminds me just how much I miss DOM2, though. Why couldn't normal mode be more like the old game? I like the scramble power-up, but I hate that the triple-score power-ups are so infrequent; it makes later levels rely more on luck than skill.

[laurenb]

Wow, I am a complete failure at Faerie Cloud Racers.

Does anyone have any tips? Or is it basically a try, and try again one.

[Siniri]

Wow, I am a complete failure at Faerie Cloud Racers.

Does anyone have any tips? Or is it basically a try, and try again one.

I think it's mostly a try, try again game, but here are a few tips based on how I typically play:

1) Is your browser lagging? If so, try a different one. (I was experiencing lag in FF and to a lesser extent in IE today). If it lags while you press an arrow key, it won't register -- and you'll crash.

2) Take breaks. If your fingers or eyes are getting tired, or you're just feeling frustrated, do something else for a bit (I usually break after every 2 different faeries or so -- usually 6 rounds).

3) Most faeries like to go up first; I tend to go down by one and then glide under their arc, going up the right-hand side for a head-to-head battle. (The later faeries do tend to go down occasionally; if they do I just try to not get too close to them and try to box them in.) I like to pass two rows above my opponent, and as soon as I pass them, jog down to just above their trail -- this creates a smaller area to trap them, and I can just take my time avoiding obstacles until they run out of room (if it works right, you should actually have the entire bottom half of the screen to play around in). Of course I modify this approach based on where the obstacles are.

4) Be prepared for the dark faerie! The speed jumps a lot at this level, but there are fewer obstacles, too. So just try to stay away from her and the walls -- I tend to turn about 3 spaces before any obstacles. She's likely to be kind of stupid and box herself in, so you just have to outlast her. Beating her thrice should get you AAA's score.

ETA: Just did a quick search of youtube and found this video that shows a strategy of how to get the opponent to box themselves in. If I did that many turns, I'd crash, but my strategy is similar -- give them a little box that they'll choose to turn into, which you'll close off on them.