Level 21 · Tricolor Dango

Tricolor Dango is level 21 of Crumb Colony. The pixel picture has 572 blocks in 11 colors, the tray holds 40 ant boxes, and the difficulty is Normal.

Difficulty

Normal

Pacing

Hard opening

Blocks

572

Colors

11

Ant boxes

40

Mechanics

None

Like this pixel picture? BitBead can turn it into a printable fuse bead pattern.

Play level 21

About the dish

Three chewy rice dumplings on a skewer, pink, white and green. In Japan this tricolor dango is a springtime cherry-blossom treat.

How the picture comes apart

From the frame to the center the picture is 11 layers deep. The outer ring is mostly cream and light blue, the middle band is mostly dark brown and pink, and the core is mostly white and grey. Ants can only reach the next layer once the one around it is gone, so the core colors are the last to become useful.

By block count the biggest colors are cream, light blue and gold.

Reading the tray

The tray starts with 40 boxes in 4 columns. At the start 3 of the 4 front boxes can bite right away: dark brown (bites now), gold (bites now), gold (bites now) and white (has to wait).

How the verified run plays out

The solution further down was played to the end in the real game, with ants walking and real timing. It takes 40 taps. The chart shows how many boxes were still parked in the 5 slots, waiting for their color, just before each tap.

Opening (taps 1–15): 35% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 3 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

Middle (taps 16–26): 34% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 4 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

Ending (taps 27–40): 31% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 1 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

How hard is it?

Two test players attempted this level many times: a cautious one that only sends colors it can use right away cleared it 97% of the time, and a look-ahead one that tries each option before committing cleared it 100% of the time. Most of their failed attempts jammed in the opening.

Strategy

Check the colors of the first three boxes in each column and compare them with the colors exposed on the outer ring of the picture. Always keep one slot free to catch a color that can't be eaten yet.

The opening is the hardest part here: the outer ring needs several colors at once and the front rows are scrambled. Only send colors that can bite right away during the first taps, even if it feels slow.

Difficulty curves

Step-by-step solution

This order of taps is verified to clear the level. Columns are numbered 1–4 from the left; after each tap, wait until the ants are out before the next one. Two boxes shown together are a chained pair taken in one tap.

Level 21 questions