timberr007@aol.com
timberr007@aol.com
Poppit!™ strategy guide
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A CHEAT PROGRAM!
This guide was created to assist all you loyal Poppit!™ fans. It’s tried, tested, and true, based on my own Poppit!™ experience and expertise. It gives you all the tips and strategies you need to know in order to score big every single time you play! But don’t think the magic will happen right away. It will take some practice, but I promise that if you follow these simple guidelines, you too will be able to get 5 or less balloons almost every single game, even on the hardest levels! Thanks for your support, good luck, and Happy Popping!
I. General tips
1. Levels
- Make sure you pick the right level. By this I mean to make sure you pick a level where you KNOW you can pop out all the ‘x’s on just about every single game. The reason for this is simply that it’s better to end a game with at least some points, than with none at all, even if the point total is only in the 30’s or 40’s. Don’t be afraid to start off on level 1because the fact of the matter is, no matter what level you’re playing on, you still get the same # of points for getting 5 or less balloons. The scale goes something like this:
no balloons left = 1000 pts. + icon score
1 balloon left = 750 pts. + icon score
2 balloons left = 600 pts. + icon score
3 balloons left = 500 pts. + icon score
4 balloons left = 400 pts. + icon score
5 balloons left = 300 pts. + icon score
all ‘x’s gone = icon score
NOTE: there are some cases where you might have 1,2,3,4, or 5 balloons left, but you haven’t cleared all the ‘x’s. you MUST clear all the x’s in order to get the extra points, otherwise you’ll end up with nothing!
As far as the icon scores go, level one is usually between 30 - 50, level two can be anywhere from 80 - 120, and level three around 150 - 250. these vary of course, since you get more points per icon the higher up in the column the icon is.
2.Take your time!
- There is no time limit to the game, so why rush it? of course, when you’re playing to score big in a short period of time, sure you might want to move a little faster, but my suggestion to you is that when you’re starting out using these tips, don’t worry if it takes you 30 minutes to finish a game. It will help you out in the long run, believe me. It still takes me anywhere from 5 - 15 minutes per game, but even the longer ones pay off, especially when you get what you were trying for. It’s more rewarding as far a s points go, but also psychologically in knowing that you can beat the stupid game!
3. The first pop
- I like to start off on the left side, since it seems so natural, like when you read. I tend to work left to right. It makes it easier for me to plan ahead. Regardless of where you start, simply make sure you are comfortable there.
- In Poppit™, whether it be your first pop or your tenth, it is generally more beneficial to start high up in the column, since this can line up more pops for you lower down. If you can pop the top two balloons in a starting column, then go for it! Of course, this is not always possible, as the generator may set it up so that there are very few pops (sometimes even none at all) in a row. My suggestion in this case would be to move to a different column, and try to work your way back. But in general, the higher you are, the better you are.
- Think vertical, more than horizontal. It is important to recognize both directions in Poppit™, but I find it easier if I plan moves using a vertical mentality. Maybe this seems obvious, but I just want to cover all aspects of the game for players of all skill levels. Since the balloons move up and down more than right or left, I think it’s simpler to think of them in columns as opposed to rows.
4. Planning ahead
- The second most valuable tip you should take from this whole guide is to PLAN AHEAD! I cannot stress this enough. While Poppit™ at first appears a sort of childish game, it takes the concentration of a chess player to become a master. Planning ahead is how this is achieved.
- One way of planning ahead can be picking a color you will try to eliminate from a chain. for instance, if there are a lot of B’s G’s and Y’s, and only 2 R’s in the first three or four columns, try to eliminate the R’s as soon a possible, so they dont come back to haunt you later.
- Secondly, you shouldn’t go around popping any old pair of balloons, just ‘cuz you like the color or shape of the cluster. Pop balloons that will line up as many other pairs as you can. I try to go as much as 3-4 moves in advance, but this takes some getting used to. Do as best as you can, but don’t get discouraged since it will pay off in the long run. Plus, if you think you made a mistake, you can always go back and fix it later, which is my next topic.....
5. undo, Undo, UNDO!
- This is, far and away, the most valuable thing you should know about Poppit™. It is a great feature to the game, and saves you tons of time and effort, as well as make it so you can score big every time. If there is anything I can tell you to help you play the game better, it is this. NEVER BE AFRAID TO UNDO! I use it at least 10 times every game, and here’s exactly why: It’s a lot better to play one game for thirty minutes and end up with 500+ points than it is to play 5 games at ten minutes each and wind up with 300. It will save you time in the long run, even thought it will make the time you play each individual game longer. But trust me when I say that it is a good thing - you’ll be thanking me when you can knock down 2500 points in a half hour!
- Don’t get me wrong, it’s gonna take practice before you know which moves you’ll want to undo and which you want to leave alone. And there will be times that you are so far into the game that undo is either so frustrating or time consuming that you will not want to do it - hey, that’s fine! I’m not going to tell you that you’ll win EVERY game with 5 or less, or even that you’ll win every game! But I can tell you that your win ration will be around 90% within a week of practice. Hey, I’ve had situations where I’ve played a game for 45 minutes, and popped all balloons but one, but it just so happens that that one balloon is on the top row with an ‘X’ still in it!!!!! Hell yeah it can be frustrating - when is seems that no matter how many times you undo, you still can’t get all of them. If that’s the case, then simply start a new game, take a quick break, and stick to the strategy. Losing one game ain’t the end of the world, ‘ya know.
CAUTION: Once you have removed all the ‘x’s from the balloons, it is impossible to Undo! So tread lightly, brave warrior! in these cases, planning ahead can mean all the difference between 100 points and 750! but hey, even if you still only got that dreaded 6 balloons left (I hate that crap!) look on the bright side - at least you still got the points for the icons.
Know this about undo though - the more you practice, the more you’ll know right away which moves were bad and which were great. The next little section is a walkthrough for the first few moves of a game. It covers only the first four columns, just because the rest is up to you. But it will give a good example of what i’m talking about. It’s a good starting point for the scenario, and it covers all the points I’ve told you about up ‘til now, as well as a few advanced ones I’ll talk about a little later. But know that I had to undo around 4 times to get it the way I wanted it, so don’t think I’m able to do all of it just by looking at a screen - ‘ya gotta do some testing to figure out which way is the best. All right, here it goes - oh yeah,
r = red balloon
g = green balloon
p = purple balloon
y = yellow balloon
b = blue balloon
x = no balloon
You’ll notice that I don’t even mention which rows the ‘x’s are in - that’s because I don’t care! A skilled Poppit™ player tries to eliminate whole columns first, then worry about the ‘x’s a little later. I’ll tell you though, it is level three, but remember that by eliminating an entire column, you’ll in turn eliminate all the ‘x’s, no matter how high up they might be. Ok, so here it is:
fresh game, with
p g r r
b r g r
y y r b
r b r p
p r r g
y g r g
p p r y
g y b g
p g g r
y y y g
popping the italicized colors, you get
p g r r
b r g r
y y r b
r b r p
p r r g
y g r g
p p r y
g y b g
p g g r
x x x g
then
p g b b
b r r p
y y r g
r b r g
p r r y
y g r g
p p b r
g y g g
p g x x
---------------------
p g g b________p r r b
b r r p________b b r g
r b r g________r r r g
p r r g________p g r g
y g r y________y p r y
p p r g________p y b g
g y b r________g g g r
p g g g________p x x g
---------------------
p b b b________p b b b
b g g p________b g g p
p p x g________g g x g
p g x g________p x x g
g x x y________x x x y
p x x g________x x x g
x x x r________x x x r
x x x g________x x x g
---------------------
p g g p
b g x g
g x x g
p x x y
x x x g
x x x r
x x x g
---------------------
then, you ultimately get
p p________p p________b y
b g________b y________p g
g g________p g________x r
p y________x r________x g
x g________x g
x r
x g
With these few moves, I was able to eliminate all the balloons from the first 3 columns except for 2 (blue and purple). Additionally, I set myself up for some good moves in the future. I realize that this is a poor attempt at visualizing how this series of moves really works, but if you’d like to study it, it’s right there for you. This leads me to my next and last topic:
II. Advanced strategies
Once you get the hang of popping the balloons and narrowing down your choices, there are a few final things you need to know before you can get 5 or less every time. These are basically the things you can do when you get stuck , and ways in which you can help insure yourself that you wont get into a tight spot.
1. Save your balloons.
- THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT. Probably the third most valuable tip I can give you, but it fits hand in hand with planning ahead. There will be times during a game where you know you have a pop that will clear a column. you might have a couple of clusters that are the butt end of 5 or six columns, if you play your game right. Here’s the thing - rather than popping the ones you know can be popped no matter what, save them. Especially if one of those clusters has an x in it. There are two reasons for doing this
A. By saving an x, you’ll always have a way to undo up until the very end. This way you can eliminate the problem of having to think way too far ahead. It gives you a way to experiment with different arrangements of balloons towards the end, so that you can pop as many as you can and leave as few as possible.
B. Even if you can’t save an x, you can still save a game. Sometimes those balloons can carry over until the very end, and match up with unsuspecting pairs. There’s no need to think 14 pops ahead if you don’t have to, but it doesn’t hurt to assure that if you get into a bind, there just might be another valuable pop you can make. I’ve found that more times than not, this strategy really pays off.
2. Eliminate entire columns to make other pairs.
- Again, another part of planning ahead. By eliminating an entire column, you make it possible to pop other pairs that you may not have noticed before. It also solves the problem of having isolated columns of say 5 or 6 balloons two columns away from the next full one. You know what I’m talking about - those annoying rows of single balloons of varying colors along the top - that’s because you didn’t plan ahead well. An example of this can be seen in the previous walkthrough on the very first move. Rather than start at the very top like I said before, I knocked out the bottom three yellows. I did this since I didn’t know whether or not I would have that yellow to match up with when I was close to clearing the column. I got that out of the way, then I could concentrate on popping some of the ones on the chain much higher up. Take note though - the only reason I knew to do that was through experimentation with the undo button.
3. Don’t be afraid to break up large groups.
-I know it’s real tempting to pop that huge cluster of 13 balloons. But lots of times, the only way to win is to break it up into smaller groups. Doing it this way gives you more options later on, especially when you see an alternating color pattern in a single column, like rgrgp or ybygy. in some cases you can break up that huge cluster of balloons to help pop out all of those greens/reds or yellows.
4. Jump around a little.
-No, not with your legs! I’m just saying that you don’t always have to concentrate all your efforts on one column. Sometimes by working the right and left side, it will actually make it easier to clear columns. Plus it will help with the problem I mentioned before of having that single balloon that is isolating a long string of varying colors. Furthermore, sometimes you might notice that lonesome blue in a sea of green red yellow and purple. Sometimes there’s not another blue around for 4 or 5 columns. It can be tough, but by planning ahead and trying to eliminate all those other colors, you might be able to get it out of there and make some other matches. It works in conjunction with saving your balloons and another topic I will discuss ; flip flopping.
5. Flip- flop.
- When I play strictly left to right, there comes a point when I can’t get all the balloons in the last column. So, what i do to fix this is, sometime around when there are about 4 or so full columns left, I switch to the other side and start to play right to left. It helps more often than it hurts, and it also give you a fairly reasonable marker at which you can undo back to. Typically its a waste of time to undo from 2 columns left all the way back to 12 columns left. but most of the time, you’ll still be able to get 5 or less balloons with 4 or 5 columns left, so long as you’ve taken all the advice I previously mentioned. (saving balloons clusters and ‘x’s mostly)
III. Conclusion
There are a few last things I should say about the game before I go. The first being that every single game of Poppit ™ that you play is solvable. Some are more obvious than others, but there is a way to get 5 or less balloons every single time, otherwise there would be no way any of those cheat programs could work right. Of course, if solving a tough one is the difference between going all the way back to the start on the same game, sometimes you might be better off just trying a new one - who knows, you might get a really easy one.
Guesswork is always a part of the game. While there is a lot of strategy involved, there is also a lot of experimentation. sometimes its gonna be necessary for you to go with your gut, pop a bunch, and hope you get lucky. Sometimes you will, sometimes you won’t. But I will tell you one thing. Follow these tips, and your game will be better, more enjoyable, and more rewarding very soon. People will think you’re cheating when you keep saying 168/750, 245/1000, 188/600 .......but you’ll know better and be able to laugh. Last but not least, here’s something fun you can do -
Click on the “tokens” button above the list of the names of the people in the room a couple of times. It will change the display - it starts out in alphabetical order, but you can change it so that it is in order of # of tokens, ascending or descending. Check out the person who has the most tokens higher than you do - there is a chance they’ll have theirs set the same way you do. Beat the game until you pass them. If they’re watching, they’ll see your score jumping by the thousands every 5 minutes or so. Then just see how long it takes before they leave the room you’re in. You’d be surprised!
Well, that just about does it. I hope this has been informative for you, as well as not too difficult to understand. Hey, if you have any questions, simply email me at
timberr007@aol.com
and I‘ll get back to you ASAP. also, be sure to put “poppit” in the subject line, otherwise I’ll delete it (I get way too much junk mail) Good luck and once again, happy popping.
©2002 Travis Lyon