Spellseeker: Are You Seeking a High Score?

Introduction

If you’ve played related games such as Word Poker or Word Pyramid, then that will give you a pretty good idea of how this game is set up. In every level you will have a board of tiles that you will be using to score your points. There are three different types of boards that you can have but we will go into depth about these later. All you’ll need to play this game is your mouse. Ready? Let’s go.

Selecting a Type of Game

When you press “Start Game,” you will be given the choice to play a game of Symbols, Numbers or Words.

Symbols: This board will have a bunch of different symbols that you will need to pair up in order to score points. Don’t those symbols look familiar? Of course they do; they are the markings on those much sought after Codestones. :) Anywho, on with the game!

In order to score points, you will need to click on adjoining, matching tiles to make a chain. For instance, let’s say you are trying to make a chain of the symbol of the little man dancing (the symbol on the Eo Codestone, but I always thought it looks like a little man). Click on the first tile and then find an adjacent tile (as long as it’s touching the tile, you will be able to make a chain) to connect it with and continue this pattern until you can’t connect any more matching tiles. Once you have finished your chain, just click on the last tile in your chain and it will submit your score (you can also click on “Submit” if you’d rather do it that way). The more tiles you have in your chain, the higher your score will be! In short, in this mode the aim of the game is to match tiles to make a chain!

Numbers: This board is different from the symbols board in that you are not going to be matching the same numbers; instead you will be following a sequence to make your chains.

In order to know what sequence to follow, you’ll need to look above the board where it says “Increase or decrease number sequence by...__” To start, in the beginning levels you will increase/decrease by 1. This means you can make an increasing sequence of 1,2,3... or a decreasing sequence of 3,2,1... In addition, it is important to note that the numbers do not have to go in order in this mode. As long as you are increasing or decreasing your sequence by 1 (or whatever it may be for the level), the sequence will be valid. An example would be a sequence of: 1,2,3,2,3,2,1,2,3. You will notice that this pattern does not follow a numerical increasing sequence but all numbers either increase or decrease by 1. Knowing this bit of information will help increase your score in no time! There is no limit to how long your sequence can be, so go wild! In later levels you will need to increase/decrease you sequence by 2... then 3... then 4, and so on. Because of this it will get a bit harder to make longer chains but the same rules apply in every level: you don’t need the chains to go in numerical order in order to score. In short, in this mode you will be following a specific sequence for each level using numbers in order to score.

Words: The last mode is very different from the previous two in that you aren’t following any sort of sequence or matching of tiles. Instead, this mode is much like Word Pyramid in that your goal is create words in order to score. The longer the word is, the more points you will score. In my opinion, this is the hardest mode to play in, but it is also a fun one. In short, the aim of this mode is to create words (actual words). Don’t try making words up since TNT has installed a handy dictionary into the game. ;)

Game Play

No matter what mode you choose to play, the aim of each level is the same: fill up the scroll above the board in order to move on to the next level. Each time you complete a chain, gold writing will move left to right across the scroll. You need to “fill up” the scroll each level to complete it. The longer chains that you make the more the scroll will fill up each time. If you have a long enough chain, you can even complete the level in one turn!

When you complete a chain, the tiles you just used will disappear and the board will move down a slot, bringing in new tiles at the top. It is important to also note that there are a few tiles that are different from the rest: a gold tile and a cursed tile (the swampy looking ones). These tiles will appear from the top randomly after you complete a chain.

Gold Tiles: These tiles are great!! If you include them in your sequence they will quadruple your score (multiply it by 4)! It doesn’t matter where in your sequence the gold tile is so just try to include as many as you can wherever you can!

Cursed/Swampy Tiles: These tiles don’t affect your score any differently than normal tiles (as in, they aren’t worth any more or any less than regular tiles) but they will be dangerous if you allow them to drop to the bottom of the board! If you get a cursed tile to the bottom of the board, it will be game over for you. :( The cursed tile will infect every other tile on the board, turning them all cursed, and ending your game. One last important note about these tiles: they will travel to the bottom much quicker than normal tiles. After each sequence is submitted, the cursed tiles will move down one row every time (no matter where they are on the board). Whenever you see one of these on the board... get rid of it by using it in a sequence as soon as you can!

Tips:

Remember that you can’t use any tile twice when creating a chain. This will help you in planning the pathway for your chain.

Take a minute at the beginning of each level (specifically the symbol & number modes) to evaluate which pathway would bring the highest score. If you see a certain symbol more prominent on the screen, go with that path since you’ll be able to connect more.

The levels aren’t timed, so please take your time to create longer chains instead of only making a ton of 3-chain tiles and submitting them. Trust me, your score will be much higher if you take the time to make long chains!

If you are in a bind, don’t forget the Shuffle button! If you click on it, the lovely wizard will shuffle your whole board, opening up new opportunities to score. Beware, though, if you have cursed tiles on the board, they could very easily make their way to the bottom while shuffling. Also, even if you don’t have any cursed tiles on the board, some may appear when using the shuffle button. Use with caution!

Conclusion

Well, there you have it, folks. I hope my walkthrough and tips will help you along in your journey through Spellseeker! Have fun!