Comet's Guide to Faerie Bubbles

     Hey, it's comet_rider2000, but you can call me Comet. Those who know me know that I used bubble-like portals to manipulate space and time! Well, one of the ways I keep my bubble abilities sharp is a game called Faerie Bubbles. It is a fun, but challenging game to play. I've gotten pretty good at it... I mean, all things considered, so I thought I would write a guide to help those who are struggling.

     The game itself is a basic group shooter, meaning you try to match the color bubble in your cannon with bubbles of similar color on screen. If you get a group of three together, they disappear and fall off the screen. You move your cannon left and right using the arrow keys on your keyboard, center said cannon by hitting the up arrow, and fire bubbles by hitting the space bar. Fortunately, there is a unique twist.

     There are six different types of element-based bubbles in the game, each of which react uniquely when combined in groups of four or more(or a combo) with their like elements. They can be categorized as follows:

     Always Safe :

     Water bubbles are my personal favorite combo. When activated, they make all other water bubbles, even ones not in the combo, fall of the screen.

     Fire bubbles are a close second, as they burn up all bubbles touching any of the fire bubbles in the combo, except water bubbles.

     Occasionally Risky

     Light bubbles are similar to fire bubbles, as they affect those around them. However, rather than getting rid of them, the surrounding bubbles get changed to a random color. This can occasionally create clumps of earth, air, or even inconvenient dark bubbles that can mess you up. However, they can also get rid of those bad combos if you're lucky.

     Dark bubbles aren't usually that bad if they're in small combos, like four or five, and are early on in the game. They can cause issues like making your cannon randomize bubbles that you don't need and forcing you to fall behind. Just get them early and they should be fine.

     Troublemakers

     Air bubbles could almost be in occasionally risky, but they can be really problematic. For lack of a better way of describing it, when you make an air combo all blank space to the left and right of that combo will be filled with random bubbles. In the case of there being no space on the left or right(when the air combo is a row/part of a row) then nothing will happen.

     Earth bubbles are the real reason for this section. Especially later in the level, earth combos can really mess you up. Create a combo, and they create a random layer of bubbles at the top of the screen, which can cause a game over if you've got some decent size layers going, or cause even more bad combos to appear. One earth combo isn't too miserable, but they always seem to multiply and cause me misery.

     If any of this is still confusing, I highly recommend playing the tutorial provided on the main menu!

     Tips and Tricks

     These tips and tricks can work for any level. They're more general things to look out for than anything. Faerie Bubbles can be a difficult game, but the more and more you practice, the more naturally these habits will come.

     1. There are three "cheat" codes for the game. You can enter them at any time during a level by typing them in.

     - Slumberberry resets the bubbles back to the top

     - Faerieland replaces top bubble in cannon with a rainbow bubble

     - stardust replaces top bubble with a nova bubble

     - bubbles turns all the bubbles on screen into a single random bubble

     2. If they can't otherwise be avoided make earth, dark, and air combos early. If you can optimally or easily remove them with either fire or light combos, then just make them and try to deal with the aftermath quickly.

     3. Try to only change two bubbles per group of bubbles when using a light combo. You don't want to accidentally create a bad combo with your light combos!

     4. In this game, angles are everything! learn how the bubbles bounce off walls, and how the occasionally seem to randomly stick when fired at certain places. In particular, if you fire a bubble straight up, it will go to the left every time, unless you gently tap it to the right a little bit.

     5. Don't just think about the bubbles you can add, but the bubbles you can remove

     6. Have a water combo on screen but two water bubbles in your cannon? Put one in safekeeping somewhere on the screen, and use the second one to make the combo in order to prevent waste.

     7. The avatar can be yours, just send a score of 2,000+ points! You will usually get this score by beating the 19th level, as long as you follow the guide below.

     Level Guide

     We're trying to maximize points, and the easiest way to do that is by shooting your cannon as few times as possible. Keep that in mind, and make combos (particularly water and fire!) whenever you can.

     Level One: The most important part of this level is to remember that you can restart until you get something favorable! Begin with either the mostly fire (most common) or mostly water. Then just play! This level is a great way to figure out the game. Also, if the bubbles don't randomize in your favor, restart!

     Level Two: I would also consider this a restart point, especially if you get an earth based one. The most common one is dark-based, so I'll tell you my strategy for that. I shoot any bubble that isn't fire to stack up on the far right fire bubble, so they can be eliminated by popping the two dark bubbles with another dark. All fire bubbles, I put towards making a combo to get rid of the darks in the middle, but consequently also the darks on the left. Put your first fire bubble to the right of the one on the far left, then put the next one between the sets of two. This will get rid of all the bubbles besides

     Level Three: The most common variation with this one is light based. I usually make towers on either the left or right, and get rid of the light bubble between the two earth bubbles, get rid of the earth bubbles, then getting rid of the two light combos on either side. I've found this to be the quickest strategy.

     Level Four: If you get the most common, dark-based one, just like level two, make a fire combo.

     Level Five: Most common for this is two earth, four fire, four water, and two light bubbles. For this one, be smart with the process of elimination based on your cannon. For example, if your cannon is showing a fire bubble, then an earth bubble, put the fire bubble in between the closest two water bubbles, get rid of the earth bubbles, then get rid of the fire bubbles later.

     Level Six and Seven: Nothing much to say about these two, except once you've gotten rid of a color, but it comes up in your cannon, stack it on the element color you'll be rid of next. For example, say you just got rid of all the fire bubbles on screen but you have a fire bubble in your cannon, followed by a water one. Rest the fire bubble on the water bubbles on screen, then get rid of all four at once by grouping the water bubbles together.

     Level Eight: This level is the bane of most casual Faerie Bubbles players, particularly if you get one of the more nasty options. For the most common option, which is water, light, fire, and dark combos (in that order), here are direct tips. Get rid of the water combos asap, and until you get rid of them stack light bubbles to the left, where they'll be out of trouble. Put your fire bubbles to get rid of the two dark combos, by firing one just to the left of the single fire bubble to the right of the second dark combo, then firing another two spaces to that one, and finishing off the burning combo with a final fire bubble between them. This will prevent any crazy shenanigans on the part of the dark combos. Do the light combos at any time once the water combos are gone. This strategy, for me personally, has always been foolproof.

     Level Nine: The important part of this level is to work from the middle out. Especially if you have two fire bubbles on either side of a bubble in the middle, if you get rid of that bubble you can create a screen-clearing fire combo. However, other than that combo, focus on just getting rid of the bubbles in threes, as there are many combos to get rid of (unless you can make a water bubble combo).

     Level Ten: This is another level where I have a foolproof strategy for the most common scenario, and just deal with the others possibilities as them come. The most common will have four earth bubbles in the middle, surrounded by two stacks of three water bubbles and surrounded by three fire bubbles. First, get rid of the water bubbles. If you get a fire bubble, stack it on one of the sides of water bubbles. Earth or dark bubbles, put them on the sides with the lonely dark bubbles. After getting rid of the waters, make two fire combos on either side of the earth bubbles, and that will get rid of the rest of the bubbles!

     Level Eleven: This level is intimidating, but depending on your luck it's either extremely easy or extremely difficult. In the most common scenario, with two fire combos on either side of a light and air combo, perform the two fire combos first(stacking extra bubbles in the corners as needed), then perform a water combo to get rid of all the water bubbles.

     Level Twelve: Keep your fingers crossed for both this level and thirteen, cause you can get some really bad luck. For the most common one, a row of water, light, and earth bubbles, I avoid making the earth combo and try to make a water combo to make all the bubbles fall as quickly as possible. Sometimes your first bubble is unfortunately earth, but just roll with it. If you can, getting a water combo in that scenario is still optimal, as the light bubbles could turn the water bubbles into an undesirable combo.

     Level Thirteen: Pretty much the exact thing as before. Most common is a row of light, air, and dark bubbles with a fire in the top middle. I usually try to burn through the dark combo with a fire combo, but it's no big deal if you just do the dark combo, because usually there will be a randomized air bubble that will let you make that combo and knock all the bubbles except the light and final fire ones off. From there I try to get rid of the fire first, so I can finish it off with one big light combo, but just roll with what the cannon gives you, as randomization can often mess this plan up.

     Level Fourteen: Begin the level by typing in stardust, a cheat that will give you a nova bubble as the first bubble in your cannon. Fire it right away to decimate the center of the rows on screen. From there, just make sets of three until you're done. Be careful, though, with bubble optimization, especially towards the end. Get rid of unhelpful bubbles by placing them on bubbles that are ready to get off the screen.

     Level Fifteen: This is the second level with cheats, and this time we'll use two (unless you're really lucky!). Begin by typing in bubbles, which will turn all onscreen bubbles a single color. Next, check the first bubble in your cannon. If it matches, lucky you! You can use the next cheat later on in an emergency. If it doesn't, use the Faerieland cheat to turn the first bubble into a rainbow bubble, then fire that bubble to end what could have been a miserable level.

     NOTE: Unfortunately, you can get all dark bubbles from the bubbles cheat, which is the worst. You can either reset or continue to play the game, but it's unlikely you'll have the points needed to get the avatar by the end. Also, the bubbles can turn into all nova or rainbow bubbles. That's totally fine, just fire your rainbow bubble as normal and they will all fall.

     Level Sixteen: Fire as high up on the W as you can, either at the top bubbles or second to the top, and be careful about piling bubbles in the middle. Try to get one side of the W (a "V") to fall, and your job gets a lot easier.

     Level Seventeen: This level, I try to fire right between the similar bubbles to get rid of them. Otherwise, working right to left is best, and stacking bubbles you can't use on the far left stack works for me. This one is a level where practice is best.

     Level Eighteen: Where all great runs get demolished! Basically, you can only get bubbles anywhere by rebounding them off the right wall, which is something even I am still practicing. If you're lucky enough to get the highest or second highest bubble color first, try turning your cannon so the top of the left wing is touching the top of the red bar above it. Or use a protractor. I wish you good luck.

     Level Nineteen: The avatar level! All you have to do is beat this level, and you're nearly guaranteed the avatar! I've only had a few times in my life where I've gotten below score, so let's hunker down and beat this! The key to this level is sort of like a more evil version of level sixteen's W. You still want to try to get as high as you can, and you can safely get to the third bubble down on each far side, or second bubble down if you're highly practiced. That's the trick for the sides. As for the middle, focus on getting rid of as much of it as quickly as you can, but also as safely as you can. If you've gotten rid of the sides all ready, rebound shots off the side walls are your best bet for getting the top bubble holding them all up, otherwise go for the two right below it. Almost there!

     Level Twenty: Congratulations! You have reached the promised land! Boy, doesn't it look like absolute insanity? You should only need to beat this level if you're going for a trophy, as just making it to this level will give you a 250 point bonus once you get a game over. Strategy wise, just get rid of the bubbles as efficiently and quickly as possible. There's no real gimmick to this one, other than as usual it's best to work from the middle out.

     All in all, practice really does make perfect with this game. Intuition on knowing how to handle unique situations can't be taught, but I hope this at least helps a little! Thank you for taking the time to read through my faerie bubbles guide! I hope you achieve your avatar or trophy, and most importantly, good luck!