General
- If the game feels like it is ignoring some of your keystrokes or is very slow, close some programs that run in the tray, like messengers and Realplayer/RealOne/RealJukebox/Gator/etc. The timer runs at the same speed no matter how fast the game runs.
- Avoid the water as much as possible!
- There can only be two enemies/pirates on the board at one time (or, at least, Ive never seen more than two). If something is going to appear below you and there are already two pirates on the board, it is probably going to be something harmless or something you need to get.
- Smash those crates before they self-destruct at any cost. The tiles the box will affect are the same as the pattern on the box. See the diagrams below.
| ↑
X |
||||
| X | ||||
| ß X | X | Plus Crate | X | X |
| X | ||||
| X
↓ |
| X | X | X | ||
| X | Square Crate | X | ||
| X | X | X | ||
- Treasure Bonus = amount of gold divided by 10, rounded up, to a maximum of 10. Do not get chests or coins if you already have 100 gold; your bonus will not increase further.
- Don’t sacrifice time to get a 5-gold coin if your amount of gold is 5, 15, 25, etc. It will not increase your bonus unless you get a third 5-gold coin.
- Treasure is supposed to make up for time. Basically, the game is designed so that the points you lose on the Time Bonus will be made up by the treasure bonus.
- Don’t waste time getting a health flag if you don’t need it!
- The sword does NOT hurt you; it will only destroy the pirates. Do NOT avoid it, you can use it to protect yourself.
- As soon as you get 400 points, you can commit suicide (in the game) to get your dubloon. Don’t forget to click “send score”.
- Although dubloons are not currently given out, they may eventually be reinstated with the addition of the new scoring system. Hopefully, they will be back and we will be able to get them again.
- If you die before getting 400 points, click “Play Again” to try from the same level. You only lose 30 points and this is better than starting all over again. You will also get more experienced at playing that level. However, you can only do this 3 times (according to the notes on the game page).
- START WITH THE PERIMETER (outside) every time and work your way in. You dont want to get trapped in a corner or corridor (narrow path).
Round 1
(10 Time Bonus = 30 seconds)
Level 1
Pretty straightforward. Just turn them all to yellow. Start with the perimeter (outside).
Level 2
Again straightforward. Start with the perimeter (outside).
Level 3
Same thing.
Level 4
Turn the left and right sides yellow first. These are traps and you want to get rid of them before there are any enemies on the board.
Level 5
Youll see why this level is the hardest of the five later on, but for now take care of the perimeter and those raised tiles in the corners first.
Round 2
(10 Time Bonus = 1 minute)
Level 1
Okay, here it begins to get “impossible”, unless you know the secret to Deckswabber: going two forward and one back. (or “two-stepping” J )
A B C D E F G H
1 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
2 Y Y
3 Y Y Y Y
4 Y Y Y Y
5 Y
6 Y Y Y Y
7 Y Y Y
8 Y Y You
(Close-up area)
D E F G H
4 Y Y Y Y
5 Y
6 Y Y Y Y
7 Y Y Y
8 Y Y You
(You can edit the diagrams to keep track of what Im saying; just dont save the document when you exit.) Here you got yourself into a corner by chasing a crate. You want to turn the tiles from F5 to H5 to yellow. Remember: two steps forward, one step back. You move up to H7. This turns that tile brown. You move up again to H6, turning this brown, too. Move backwards (down) to H7, turning it back to yellow. Now move back up twice. You turn H6 back yellow and H5 to yellow. Move left to turn G5 and F5 yellow.
D E F G H
4 Y Y Y Y
5 Y You Y Y
6 Y Y Y Y
7 Y Y Y
8 Y Y Y
Now, you need to turn E4 yellow. Go up to F4, which turns it brown. Now go to E4 to turn it yellow. Go back to F4 to turn it back yellow.
D E F G H
4 Y You Y Y Y
5 Y Y Y Y
6 Y Y Y Y
7 Y Y Y
8 Y Y Y
Now you want to get out of this area and move on. Head down, so you can turn some more tiles yellow on your way out. Go twice down, turning E5 and E6 brown. Now go up one to E5 to turn it back yellow. Now go down all the way, left once, and up all the way to D5 to turn this area into all yellow.
D E F G H
4 Y Y Y Y Y
5 You Y Y Y Y
6 Y Y Y Y Y
7 Y Y Y Y Y
8 Y Y Y Y Y
If you want to go across a large expanse of yellow (more than two tiles) without changing them into brown, you might need to go three steps forward and two steps back. Suppose a crate appears at H4. Youll need to go twice right. This turns E5 and F5 brown. Then go once back to the left to turn E5 back yellow, then three times to the right (turning F5 back to yellow and G5 and H5 brown). Now go back left once, right once, and up. You are now standing on H4 (brown) and surrounded by yellow.
D E F G H
4 Y Y Y Y You
5 Y Y Y Y Y
6 Y Y Y Y Y
7 Y Y Y Y Y
8 Y Y Y Y Y
After this step, youll have to two-step to get to where you want.
This is the last time you will see Level 1.
Level 2
Again, start with the perimeter (outside). You want to have 200 points by the end of this level.
Level 3
Same thing as level 2.
Level 4
Turn the left and right corridors yellow first.
Level 5
Go to an edge, then head towards the nearest corner. Take care the square formed by the raised tile and its surroundings. You are probably surrounded by yellow now. Now two-step to the next corner. Make this area yellow. You should now be able to move normally to the third corner. Do the same thing at the third corner, and then two-step to the fourth corner. Now take care of the center.
Round 3
(10 Time Bonus = 1.5 minutes)
Level 2
Yes, it starts with Level 2 this time!
Start with the perimeter. Now, you want to turn them all blue. Dont two-step to change a brown tile to a yellow tile. You can keep moving normally and the yellow tiles will turn blue. Leave them as blue. Start two-stepping when youre in a blue area and you need to get to a yellow area. This is the last time you will see Level 2. This is also the first time you will see the brown guys, which are much smarter and faster than the other two.
Level 3
Again, start with the perimeter (outside).
Level 4
Turn the left and right sides blue first.
Level 5
Turn the perimeter and corner-raised tiles completely yellow first. You should have four tiles blue. Now change the rest of perimeter to blue. Not much two/three-stepping needed. This should be actually easier than in round 2.
Level 6
This should be the last round you need to put yourself over 400 points. Immediately change the lower portions to the left and right (including the path in/out of the row) to blue. These are really bad deathtraps and you DONT want to be in them surrounded by two pirates and water. Youll probably have one blue tile in the raised portion when you do this correctly.
Round 4
(10 Time Bonus = 2 minutes)
Level 3
See all the other Level 3s. J You may need to double-two-step (forward twice, back once, forward once, back once, forward three times) to rotate the tiles colors more than one stage. Note that you always rotate the colors of two tiles at a time.
Level 4
Same thing!
Level 5
Turn the perimeter blue first like last round. You will need to two-step your second way around. Don’t be fooled by the colors by of the tiles; if you’re standing on brown and the tile ahead is yellow youll just need to two-step the same way even if it looks like you’ll need to do something else. Again, you might need to double-two-step.
I haven’t beaten any levels after this, so I guess I cant give any advice for it! – AySz88