Level 24 · Bubble Tea

Bubble Tea is level 24 of Crumb Colony. The pixel picture has 608 blocks in 8 colors, the tray holds 53 ant boxes, and the difficulty is Advanced.

Difficulty

Advanced

Pacing

Hard middle

Blocks

608

Colors

8

Ant boxes

53

Mechanics

3 chained pair(s) · 2 golden key(s) · Ice

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

Play level 24

About the dish

A cup of milk tea with chewy tapioca pearls at the bottom, a foamy top and a wide straw for sipping the pearls.

How the picture comes apart

From the frame to the center the picture is 11 layers deep. The outer ring is mostly light blue and white, the middle band is mostly mint and tan, and the core is mostly tan and deep pink. 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 light blue, white and mint.

The 2 golden key(s) are buried in the outer ring of the picture, so the locks they open come into play early.

8% of the blocks are frozen and take two bites each.

Reading the tray

The tray starts with 53 boxes in 4 columns. At the start 3 of the 4 front boxes can bite right away: light blue (bites now), light blue (bites now), orange (has to wait) and black (bites now).

Chained pairs start in column 1–2, row 7, column 1–2, row 8 and column 2–3, row 6.

Locked boxes start in column 2, row 5 and column 3, row 8.

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 50 taps. The chart shows how many boxes were still parked in the 5 slots, waiting for their color, just before each tap.

Opening (taps 1–17): 34% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 1 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

Middle (taps 18–34): 33% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 1 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

Ending (taps 35–50): 33% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 0 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

A key comes out before tap 5. A key comes out before tap 26. Chained pairs are taken at taps 23, 31 and 32.

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 60% of the time, and a look-ahead one that tries each option before committing cleared it 73% of the time. Most of their failed attempts jammed in the middle.

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 start is easy and the pressure builds in the middle. Use the calm opening to sort out the back rows and try to have two slots free before the middle phase.

Keys are buried in the picture and must be dug out to open the locks in the tray. Prioritize colors that eat around the keys so locked boxes don't block the front row for long.

Ice blocks take two bites, so one block uses two ants. Icy areas are eaten slowly and the matching boxes stay in their slots a little longer.

Chained boxes need both halves in the front row and two free slots. Take the boxes in front of them first and free two neighboring slots in advance.

Chained boxes · Locks and golden keys · Ice blocks · 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 24 questions