Your 5-step guide to mastering Raiders of Maraqua

     Have you ever thought about getting the Raiders of Maraqua (ROM) avatar, tried and failed to learn the game on your own, gone looking for a guide, only to find that all the existing ones out there are just… inadequate?

     I found myself in that situation not too long ago when I was trying to get the ROM avatar. Many of the existing ROM guides merely provided a suggested solution for each level, either as a static diagram or an animated diagram, accompanied by a long chunk of text describing what you should do on each level. There may also be a few sentences about making sure you defeat enemies and collect bonus points to boost your score.

     The problem with these guides is that they all assume that:

     1. You will be able to easily refer to guide in another tab/window while playing the game.

     2. You will have time during the game to look at the diagram, read a long paragraph of text, process the information, and then execute the instructions at your leisure.

     3. You will have no problems avoiding and defeating enemies and getting bonus points.

     And as anyone who has ever played ROM will know, none of these are remotely possible for a beginner at the game.

     ROM is a fast-paced, changeable game. The majority of the game involves level after level with plenty of enemies. Enemies spawn all the time in random spots. They also move around, pushing bubbles and rocks, and some even like to follow you around. You cannot pause the game on levels with enemies. And if you take your eyes off the game for even a few seconds, there is a risk that an enemy will come and get you and you will lose one of your precious lives, or worse, get a Game Over and have to start all over again!

     Because of the nature of the game, you will usually NOT have time to refer to the level-by-level solutions as you play the game.

     What all these other guides did not do is to teach beginners how to master the game in a step-by-step fashion. But fret no further, for this guide will teach you how to master the game in 5 steps, and soon you will be well on your way to earning an avatar-worthy score!

     Note that this guide does not provide level solutions. This guide is meant to supplement guides that only provide level solutions, with the ultimate goal that you will learn how to master the game more quickly and get the avatar more easily!

     First, let’s start with some ROM basics…

     ROM is a puzzle game. Each level is essentially a puzzle that you must solve. The goal is to get the treasure pieces into the treasure chest. You have to push bubbles, rocks and even the treasure itself around until you get all the treasure into the chest.

     The treasure pieces are either round blue-and-white diamonds or rounded gold pieces emblazoned with an M. They are the same size as the bubbles and rocks, and there can be just one or a few in each level.

     In addition to the treasure pieces, small diamond-shaped gold gems also appear randomly throughout the game. Collecting the gold gems gives you bonus points.

     You start with 4 lives and can get extra lives by collecting the Red Crosses that appear randomly throughout the game. Red Crosses are relatively rare, but collecting them will count towards your life total even if you already have 4 lives. You can also get an extra life by typing the code 1morekarpohplease. However, do this only when you have 3 lives (or less) left, otherwise the extra life will not count towards your life total and you will have wasted the code.

     As mentioned earlier, most levels also have enemies. Enemies spawn randomly, move around popping bubbles, pushing things, and generally causing chaos. If any of the enemies touch you or push something into you, you will lose a life. You can defeat enemies for bonus points.

     The game is not timed so you can take as long (or as short) a time as you need for each level. However, you cannot practise later levels without passing the earlier levels first. This means that if you get a Game Over on one of the later levels, you will need to replay the entire game from the beginning to get to the same point again.

     And now, here’s how to master ROM in 5 steps…

     The steps are set out in the order that you should master them. It is recommended that you master one step before moving on to the next to minimise frustration with learning the game.

     STEP 1 – learn how to solve the levels without dying

     Forget about getting bonuses, defeating maximum enemies, or getting a high score. The first and most important thing you must do is to learn how to solve each level without dying. Your ONLY goal at this stage is to learn how to push the treasure pieces into the chest. You can pick up the bonus gold gems or defeat the enemies but only if it is convenient, otherwise ignore and avoid them. Remember, your core focus should be on working out how to solve as many levels as possible without losing a life or getting a Game Over.

     You can refer to other ROM guides for suggested level solutions, but remember that these suggested solutions are only a guide. There is usually more than one possible solution for each level. In levels with enemies randomly spawning and moving things around, you may need to vary the suggested solution to suit the circumstances of the particular game you are playing. You may even figure out a better solution than the one in the guide.

     Collect any Red Crosses you see for an extra life, unless it is located in an extremely inconvenient or impossible place. Once you are down to 3 lives (or less), you can use the code 1morekarpohplease once to get an extra life (practise typing that fast in case you need to use it in a pinch). Extra lives are very useful when you are trying to learn how to solve a level because if you lose all your lives you will have to restart the game from the beginning. Extra lives give you more chances of practicing a difficult level before you have to restart the entire game.

     Once you have got the hang of the solution for that level and can remember it, MOVE ON TO THE NEXT LEVEL and repeat this step. Yes, move on to the next level even if you haven’t collected all the gold gems or defeated all the enemies yet! Remember your goal at this stage is to learn how to solve as many levels as you can without dying. You cannot learn the next level if you keep dying before you get there. In addition, sometimes you will be forced to restart a level because it is impossible to complete due to circumstances beyond your control. This will use up one of your lives, or mean Game Over if you have no lives left. Your lives are very precious. Do not waste your lives chasing enemies and bonuses! We will deal with enemies and bonus points later when you have mastered this step.

     Once you have learnt at least 10 level solutions by heart (the more the better), you are ready to move on to Step 2.

     STEP 2 – collect bonus gold gems for points

     Now that you have learnt how to solve a good number of levels by heart, it is time to learn how to get more points per level! There are 3 different ways of doing this, and this guide will take you through them one by one.

     The first way to get bonus points is also the easiest – collect all the gold gems whenever they appear. When the level starts, you will usually have a couple of seconds before the first enemy spawns. Use this time to quickly scan the entire game window for the gold gems and make a plan on how to get there while avoiding the enemies. Sometimes the gems are tucked away in a corner and you can miss them, especially if you are distracted by an enemy.

     Occasionally, the gems will be in a place that is impossible to reach and you will not be able to collect it. If that happens, don’t fret, just collect the others (if any) and move on.

     Once you have mastered spotting and collecting the gems, move on to Step 3.

     STEP 3 – defeat maximum enemies for points without dying

     The second way of getting more points per level is to defeat enemies. For this step, your goal is to learn how to defeat the maximum number of enemies per level without dying. You must defeat the maximum number of enemies before you push the last treasure into the chest. It goes without saying that you should avoid contact with all the enemies at all times – if any one of them touches you, or pushes a rock or bubble into you, you will lose a life!

     The maximum number of enemies you can defeat is slightly different for each level (usually 1, 3 or 5). There is no correlation between the level number and enemy number. Luckily, you don’t have to memorise these numbers! Most ROM guides will list the maximum number of enemies you can defeat on each level. Write down the maximum enemy numbers for each level on a piece of paper and keep that piece of paper next to your keyboard as you play. That way, whenever you start a new level, you can quickly refer to the enemy number without having to switch tabs/windows and risk losing a life.

     There are 4 types of enemies: the Jetsam, the Slorg, the Ghoti (red stingray), and the Slugawoo (brown slug monster). The Jetsam, Ghoti, and Slorg move rather quickly while the Slugawoo moves more slowly. All of them can pop and push bubbles, and push rocks or treasure. Some of them seem to prefer to pop bubbles while others prefer to push things around. The Slugawoo can also create bubbles, which can be helpful if you need more bubbles.

     The 4 enemies also have slightly different movement patterns. Some like to move in straight lines, some like to move in loops, some like to move back and forth in the same area, some like to stop in a corner before moving again, and some like to go all over the place! The Slorg in particular likes to follow you around, so watch out!

     You can defeat enemies by pushing a bubble or rock (or even treasure) into them for 5 points each. An enemy can also defeat another enemy by pushing something into them. If that happens, you will get 1 point. If the enemies are in the right place at the right time, you can defeat several enemies with one shot, which will give you more points – 5 points for the first, 10 points for the second, 15 for the third and so on.

     After an enemy is defeated, a random new enemy (any 1 of the 4) will spawn in a random bubble.

     Be wary and patient when dealing with enemies. There will likely be a lot of dodging and waiting around for enemies to be in the right spot. Pay attention to the different enemies’ behaviour and movement. Once you are familiar with their typical pattern, it becomes slightly easier to avoid and defeat them. Try to defeat more than one enemy at once if you can, but if you can’t, just defeat them one at a time.

     Keep count as you defeat the enemies. Once you have got rid of the maximum number, move on to the next level before the enemies wreak more havoc.

     Remember, your goal for this step is to learn how to defeat the maximum number of enemies on as many levels as possible without dying. Do not waste your lives chasing the bonuses from Step 4 and Step 5 until you have mastered Step 3. You need to be confident of defeating the usual enemies first. Like in Step 1, you cannot practise defeating enemies in the later levels if you keep dying before getting there.

     Once you can confidently defeat the maximum number of enemies without dying up to Level 14, you can move on to Step 4.

     STEP 4 – collect bonus bubbles for additional points

     Now that you are confident of solving each level AND getting rid of enemies for maximum points, it’s time to learn the third way of getting additional points – collecting bonus bubbles.

     What are bonus bubbles? Well, occasionally, when you defeat an enemy, it will trigger the release of a bonus bubble. The bonus bubble is different from the other light blue bubbles on the screen that you can pop and push around. It is smaller, more transparent, and always floats from the bottom of the screen to the top in a zig-zag pattern. It can be quite easy to miss the bonus bubble if you are looking elsewhere in the game window or are distracted by enemies.

     Some older ROM guides may refer to this bubble as a “floating ten”. That’s because in old versions of the game, the bonus bubble used to have a number 10 on it. Nowadays, it is just a transparent bubble with no number.

     To collect a bonus bubble, simply move towards it and touch it. The bubble will burst/disappear and points will be added to your score. Collecting a bonus bubble will give you 5 times the points of the current level number you are on. If you are on Level 10, it will give you 10 x 5 or 50 points per bubble, but if you are on Level 2, it will only give you 2 x 5 or 10 points per bubble.

     These bonus bubbles are key to getting the avatar score because merely finishing the basic game and defeating all the enemies will NOT give you enough points for the avatar. Why then have I told you to ignore bonus bubbles until after you master Steps 1 to 3? That’s because bonus bubbles are worth a lot more points on the later levels than the earlier ones. If a bonus bubble happens to appear on the earlier levels, you can still collect it for some points, but it will help your score a lot more if you collect bonus bubbles on the later levels. To do that, you first need to master the game sufficiently so that you can confidently get to the later levels to collect them.

     Practise navigating the levels to collect bonus bubbles without losing a life. If a bonus bubble is too far away or there are too many obstacles or enemies in the way, LET IT GO. It is NOT worth losing a life over a bonus bubble, especially if you are still in the early levels. Remember, ROM is a long game with many levels and your lives are precious. Even if you are an expert at dodging enemies, you can still lose a life if you are forced to restart a level that is impossible to complete. You want to preserve your lives as much as possible and not lose them unnecessarily by chasing low-point bonuses.

     Once you get the hang of spotting and collecting bonus bubbles without dying, you can move on to Step 5.

     STEP 5 – get as many bonus bubbles as you can

     Now that you have mastered Steps 1 to 4, it is time to learn the final step for getting the avatar score! For this step, your goal is to grind the game to get as many bonus bubbles as you can in order to really rack up the points.

     How do you do this? Well, in every level of the game, after you have defeated the maximum number of enemies for points, you can wait for the enemies to re-spawn and continue to defeat them. Even though you will not get any more points for defeating these enemies, it may still trigger the release of a bonus bubble, which you can collect. Be patient – you may have to defeat enemies many more times before another bonus bubble appears.

     It is more worthwhile to grind for bonus bubbles in later levels where the bonus bubbles are worth more points. It is also a lot easier to do so on levels where there are less enemies so that you do not have to worry about too many enemies at once. Levels with lots of bubbles and only 1 or 2 enemies are ideal for this. You can also try to do this on levels with 3 or 4 enemies if you are lucky enough and happen to get 2 or 3 of the slow-moving Slugawoos. Do not defeat the Slugawoos, but instead go after the 3rd and 4th enemy repeatedly and hope bonus bubbles are released.

     Many players like to grind for bonus bubbles on Level 10 or Level 13 as these levels have a good number of bubbles and not that many enemies. You can also try to grind on Levels 12 and 14. Take note that Level 14 is likely to be the last level that you can grind for bonus bubbles as Levels 15 to 18 are pure puzzle levels with no enemies. Level 19 has enemies once more but with 4 of them, it makes it very difficult to grind for bonus bubbles. More often than not, you will get a Game Over on Level 19.

     You need a minimum of 765 points by the end of Level 14 if you want to get the avatar score of 800+ by the end of Level 18. However, I would recommend that you aim to finish Level 14 with as close to 800 points as you can, or with more than 800 points if you can manage it (which will get you the avatar!). The reason is because you might have bad luck on Levels 15 to 18, be forced to restart levels and run out of lives before you can get enough points for the avatar score. If that happens, you will have to restart the game from the beginning and go through the entire grind again.

     The last level of the game is Level 20. If you actually manage to make it to this level (I haven’t), congratulations! There is no treasure on Level 20, and you should already have more than enough points for the avatar score by this point. All there is left to do is to defeat enemies and grind for bonus bubbles to your heart’s content, or until you run out of lives and the game ends.

     In summary, the 5 steps to mastering ROM are:

     1. Learn at least 10 level solutions by heart (the more the better). MOVE ON to the next level once you have learnt the solution, even if you haven't collected all bonuses or defeated the maximum number of enemies.

     2. After you have mastered Step 1, work on collecting all the bonus gold gems on every level (especially those in corners that you might miss out on).

     3. Practise defeating the maximum number of enemies per level before moving on to the next level. Practise until you are confident in doing this up to Level 14.

     4. Work on collecting bonus bubbles whenever you can (but do not lose a life in the process!).

     5. Once you master Steps 1 to 4, grind for bonus bubbles in a later level of your choice (one with many bubbles and few enemies).

     And that’s it – those are the 5 steps to mastering the game and getting the ROM avatar. Keep practising, mastering one step at a time, and you will get the ROM avatar in no time!