Level 85 · Liuzhou River Snail Noodles

Liuzhou River Snail Noodles is level 85 of Crumb Colony. The pixel picture has 576 blocks in 10 colors, the tray holds 35 ant boxes, and the difficulty is Hard.

Difficulty

Hard

Pacing

Hard ending

Blocks

576

Colors

10

Ant boxes

35

Mechanics

4 chained pair(s) · Ice · Mystery boxes · 3 noodle(s)

Play level 85

About the dish

Liuzhou luosifen: rice noodles in a fiery river-snail broth with sour bamboo shoots, peanuts and fried tofu skin, famous for its smell.

How the picture comes apart

From the frame to the center the picture is 12 layers deep. The outer ring is mostly mint and grey, the middle band is mostly white and red, and the core is mostly white and 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 white, red and mint.

10% of the blocks are frozen and take two bites each.

3 noodle(s) run through the picture, 137 cells in all. They can only be slurped from their ends, so they act as walls until an end is free and as tunnels after that.

Reading the tray

The tray starts with 35 boxes in 4 columns. At the start 2 of the 4 front boxes can bite right away: black (bites now), brown (has to wait), red (has to wait) and grey (bites now).

Chained pairs start in column 1–2, row 8, column 1–2, row 9, column 2–3, row 7 and column 3–4, row 8.

1 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 31 taps. The chart shows how many boxes were still parked in the 5 slots, waiting for their color, just before each tap.

Opening (taps 1–11): 33% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 2 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

Middle (taps 12–24): 40% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 3 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

Ending (taps 25–31): 27% of the blocks are eaten, with up to 3 of the 5 slots holding a box that is waiting.

Chained pairs are taken at taps 26, 27, 29 and 30.

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 17% of the time, and a look-ahead one that tries each option before committing cleared it 45% of the time. Most of their failed attempts jammed in the ending.

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.

This level tightens toward the end and the last third jams most easily. Don't fill all five slots early; keep room for the inner colors that appear layer by layer at the finish.

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.

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.

Noodles are eaten only from an end with a white dot, never from the middle. Look for ends that are already free or about to be: slurping one opens a tunnel straight into the picture and can uncover inner colours early. A noodle with both ends buried is a wall until you dig to one of its ends.

Strategy guide: reading the tray and keeping the nest clear · Chained boxes · Ice blocks · Noodles · 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 85 questions