Level 294 · Date Cake

Date Cake is level 294 of Crumb Colony. The pixel picture has 1296 blocks in 9 colors, the tray holds 91 ant boxes, and the difficulty is Hard.

Difficulty

Hard

Pacing

Hard opening

Blocks

1296

Colors

9

Ant boxes

91

Mechanics

Mystery boxes

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

Play level 294

About the dish

Layers of millet cake and red dates, steamed through and cut into squares; the dates' sweetness soaks into the cake, and the cut face shows stripe after stripe.

How the picture comes apart

From the frame to the center the picture is 18 layers deep. The outer ring is mostly black and white, the middle band is mostly yellow and white, and the core is mostly yellow and dark red. 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 black, white and yellow.

Reading the tray

The tray starts with 91 boxes in 4 columns. At the start 2 of the 4 front boxes can bite right away: yellow (has to wait), yellow (has to wait), black (bites now) and black (bites now).

22 mystery box(es) only show their color when they reach the front.

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 86 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): 33% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 4 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

Middle (taps 18–49): 34% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 4 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

Ending (taps 50–86): 33% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 1 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

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.

Mystery boxes show their color only when they reach the front. When you see one coming, don't fill every slot; leave room for it.

Strategy guide: reading the tray and keeping the nest clear · 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 294 questions