Snowmuncher: the Close Up

Munch, munch, munch! Dieter is a polarchuck who likes to eat snow when he’s hungry. It’s almost amazing how much he eats for such a little critter, and it’s your job to get him to the bottom of each level without making his tummy ache too much. Make sure not to let the snow blocks crush him either!

When starting out, make sure you know the basics of the game:

-You have exactly 3 lives before you get game over.

-Dieter can only travel up and down a block one at a time; however, if you hold down the right or left arrows (on keyboard) he will race the direction you chose, moving quickly.

-Your bloat percentage (on the upper right hand corner) can only go up to 100! After that you lose a life. ):

-You can have the game paused the game at any time to take a break by simply pressing the pause button.

-If you’d like to turn off the music but keep the sound so you know when you’re running out of time, make sure to do so before starting!

-There are few types of blocks:

1) Regular Blocks – Worth one point each.

2) Green Gems – Worth 100 points each!

3) Frozen items – Worth 50 points each!

4) Purple Gems – Worth 200 points each!

5) Frozen Clocks – Give you extra time!

-Bloat-Be-Gones lower your bloat by 50 percent and add 1 point to your score!

-Each bite you take bumps up your bloat by 5 percent!

-You start out with 90 seconds per round.

-If four of the same colored blocks fall down together or on top of each other, they are demolished! (:

Here are some tips, tricks, and strategies to help you reach your goal! You might want to read through and experiment with which ones you’re good at, and perhaps practice some.

At the beginning:

When starting each level, there will be an upside-down pyramid with each row being the same color. You might think to simply eat down the pyramid, but there’s a way you can save bloat and time! Take a bite in the first row, then jump off to either the right or the left side, and scoot close to the bottom of the upside-down pyramid. Take a bit of the bottom row, then hold down left or right (depending on where you can go) to get to the edge of the screen. This way, you’ve only given yourself 10 percent bloat, gotten a lot of points, and have efficiently made it down closer to the bottom without wasting time.

Next, if you can’t already see the bloat-be-gone, look for a column of 2-3 of the same color block. Then position Dieter on top of them, and make him take a big bite! Then look for how far away the bloat-be-gone is to your row. If it’s right next to your row, continue down. If it’s far away, make yourself go left or right closer to it. Doing this prevents you from wasting bloat because you might be going down the wrong column!

Level one: the level in which you should be able to get at least 700 points. If you don’t get this the first time, try to restart the game. In level one, you should get ALL of the green gems; it’s a fairly short and easy level, and therefore you should try to do your best. Try to eat many of the same colored blocks attached to each other, and if a gem is far away from your bloat-be-gone, look for the shortest route to your gem that you can make using the least bites you can. If you can’t get it, try knocking down the column it’s in every time you go lower. You need all the gems you can get in the first level.

Here are more strategies you can use even after level one:

When you get to level two, you should still have three lives and 700 or more points. If you don’t, you might want to start over. The same goes for this level as the first, try to get as many PURPLE gems as you possibly can. However, at level two, don’t get a green gem that’s way out of your way.

Try to get the purple and green gems in the levels above second too, and remember not to go out of your way unless you’re going to be able to make it to the bloat be gone with 65 percent or less. You should practice Snowmuncher until you can beat at least the fourth or fifth level. The higher level you can go, the more likely it is you’ll get the avatar.

If you’re just a block away (left or right) from getting to a gem or bloat-be-gone, but there’s a whole column of blocks on top of the block that’s keeping you from the gem or bloat-be gone, you can make it there with wasting only ONE bite. However, in order to be able to perform this, you have to be quick and steady. Bite into the block that’s biting, get to the gem, and rush back to your original spot. Most people can already see this, but it’s quite hard if you’re not doing it properly. Instead of holding down your arrow keys, tap them fast. For example, if you have the gem you have to get to is on the right: bite into the block on the right, tap your right arrow key twice and then tap your left arrow key to get out. Remember that this must be done quickly, for the blocks fall very quickly!

The most common strategy I use to get to a something I need is the one you’ll probably need the most! Let’s say you need to get to a bloat-be-gone on the far right side, but it’s unlikely you’ll get there. Look for two of the same colored blocks attached that are above you. If there’s maybe one below you, go down to a level below it, or if you need to knock a block into place to get the two to attach, do so. All you need to do is munch straight across until you get under the block. The secret is to leave a block to your left or right under it. If one of the blocks can’t fall, the two attached can’t fall. This way, you have a covering for yourself and don’t have to worry about getting across or other blocks crushing you. You can also use this to keep the wurms away from you in desperate times by munching a block down, and the block next to you supporting the two covering you. If you’ve munched down, you’ve got a new supporter and have locked away the wurm because the blocks surrounding you protect you, and the two blocks on top of you keep them from coming down for you!

If you have too much bloat, and it’s unlikely you’ll make it down all the way, use the strategy you used in the first level while looking for bloat-be-gone! If you can already see the bloat, look for a pathway of large amounts of the same colored blocks as you can to get to the bloat-be-gone.

If you’re not going to be able to make it to the bloat-be-gone anyway, go for all the gems and try to use the least number of bites you can getting the most same colored snow blocks you can. When you have 100 percent bloat, and you can’t make it on, don’t die of too much bloat. Instead, lose a life to running out of time. You can then redo the level and you won’t have to go on a harder one where you’re less likely to get as many points.

Here are extra tips; use these in order to help yourself get more chances of saving lives!

Only use bloat-be-gones when you have 50 percent bloating! If you don’t have 50 percent bloating when you reach one, have Dieter chunk off the most he can left and right until you get to 50 percent, THEN use your bloat-be-gone. Remember that if you have him eat off a large mass of the same colored blocks put together, it still only counts as one bite, and you can get more points!

Get as many purple gems as you possibly can! A good way to keep you from getting eaten by the wurms is to be two blocks under and to the left or right of the gem that is guarded. Then munch down the two blocks under it. The wurm should die, and you have the gem all to yourself. Also notice this only works if there is a single block that’s not connected to any others the same color as itself. The block MUST fall on the wurms to eliminate them; if there are any blocks it can attach to, don’t go for it unless you know you can make it to the bloat-be-gone with 65 percent bloat or less by the time you reach it.

Finally, remember to just keep practicing and using strategies to get the avatar. After a bit of practicing and understanding the game better, you’ll eventually get your goal. Good luck and have fun!