Board 65: Fissure of the Fallen

This picture shows a mountain with a roughly vertical crack running through the centre. Flanking the crack are two vast statues of men

Level 1 (Clear 30 red pegs from 92 total - Pro target 475k)

This design features a bendy line following the fissure in the mountain, then a scattering of loose round pegs over the mountain itself, with voids where the statues are.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 475,630 

• I seemed to be clearing lots of pegs and making lots of catches, but not scoring many bonus points, so the score needed a bit of building towards the end. But that was OK because there was plenty of space to make catches. I got the score to within 20k of the target before I took the last red, knowing that the minimum I'd get would be a 10k bucket with another 10k for the spare ball that I had.

Level 2 (Clear 30 red pegs from 88 total - Pro target 450k)

This is one of those designs that doesn't appear to have any correlation with the picture. It looks a little like a big X, elongated in the middle, with a line of dashes running through the centre. The angles look fairly friendly, and only 88 pegs so I don't see myself having too many problems here.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 552,690 

• I took a similar tactic to the previous level. I used the early balls to clear lots of pegs, then with the later ones I concentrated on taking catches off the purple or red pegs to build my score. This is my most common tactic and it tends to work pretty well.

Level 3 (Clear 30 red pegs from 89 total - Pro target 500k)

Similar to level 1, this design has pegs covering the mountain with voids where the statues are. This time the pegs are in sloping lines alternating between lines and individual pegs.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 437,010

• That seemed to be progressing OK, but I just missed too many catches towards the end and ran out of balls.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 358,760

• The catches just didn't work this time. I only made 4 in total, and that's not enough. The score was building OK but I ran out of balls.
  

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 260,370

• Again, not enough catches made. Only 3 that time. Maybe I need a laser ball to open some more gaps.
  

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 374,630

• I made 9 catches, so I probably should have done better than I did. I'm not entirely sure quite what went wrong there. Perhaps I didn't remove enough pegs with the early balls, or maybe it took too long to trigger the laser ball.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball. Score: 430,750

• No, something is still definitely not working here, and I can't quite put my finger on what it is. I think I'm just being clumsy with my catches, that perhaps combined with a bad run of luck. This will definitely go eventually, and probably sooner rather than later.

Attempt #6 - Laser Ball. Score: 390,660

• The bad run continues. Only 4 catches made. The yellow peg was awkwardly placed and took three balls to get to, and then I failed to catch it. Things can only get better!

Attempt #7 - Laser Ball. Score: 551,490

• Slightly better. Thought I might do it that time, but still the poor catching continues.

Attempt #8 - Laser Ball. Score: 588,360 

• So why did that take me 8 goes? It seemed quite easy that time. I did it with 5 balls to spare.

Level 4 (Clear 30 red pegs from 94 total - Pro target 425k)

A design based on the ornate headgear worn by the statues.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 411,420

• I only had a couple of red pegs left at the end, but I did seem to make quite a few lucky catches, particulaly at the start, so I may not do so well next time.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 493,110 

• I managed to exploit most of the red pegs down the sides to make catches off the side wall, which is always good for a few points and has a good chance of a bucket catch. Then managed to pick off the red pegs in the centre without using up all my balls.

Level 5 (Clear 25 red pegs from 112 total - Pro target 475k)

I think this design id based around the base of one of the statues. It is a mix of curves, straight lines and single round pegs. A reasonably large number of pegs to get through might make it awkward, but the shapes and angles don't look too bad.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 296,580

• I really struggled for catches until I was down to two balls. After that I managed to open a path down the left-hand side for a few catches, but I couldn't keep it going for long enough to finish.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 452,960

• Again, I failed to make the catches early on. I ended up with just one ball left and still three loose reds in the centre. I put them off for as long as I could by taking the easy catches down the sides, but eventually I had to attempt them and I missed the catch.
  

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 241,720

• That was dreadful. I just couldn't seem to get any bonuses. I think the red pegs were quite badly positioned, but I still should have done better than that.
  

Attempt #4 - No power ups. Score: 401,000

• A better effort, but I'm still struggling for catches. I'll add a laser ball and that should make it easy.
  

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball. Score: 424,990

• The yellow peg was awkwardly placed on the side wall beneath an overhang. So it took too long to get through to it. I tried to hang on at the end to build the score up, but the last red peg went off a deflection and I only got 10k for the final bonus and it wasn't enough.
  

Attempt #6 - Laser Ball. Score: 759,710 

• The yellow peg was much easier to hit than on the previous attempt. Although I still didn't earn many points from the laser ball, as it's tricky to find a decent path for it that takes out a lot of pegs. It did enough though. I kept going after I had it beaten to try and get the total clearance, but once I was down to my last ball I finished it.
  

Level 6 (Clear 45 red pegs from 89 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 575k)

The same design as level 3 which took me a lot of attempts, although I'm not entirely sure why. I'll start with a laser ball.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 679,020 

• It was touch and go towards the end whether I could accumulate enough points to make the pro target. The last red peg was low and central, so I tried to come off it fine into the centre bucket, but I couldn't hit it fine enough. Instead I played it high off the side wall for the 25k bonus which was all I needed.
  

Level 7 (Clear 45 red pegs from 88 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 575k)

The same design as level 2 which I got first go with a score pretty close to the pro target here. I'll try without boosts first.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 514,870

• I still had two or three reds left at the end, but I was on target for the pro score. I only made 15 shots, so if my catches had been better I probably would have made it.
  

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 417,130

• I was struggling for points that time. I had to leave the last red peg and try and build my score off the purple pegs. The angles are quite kind for catches in the endgame, so I thought I had a fighting chance at the total clearance, but I missed a catch and it was all over.
  

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 777,070 

• I cleared most of the central pegs early on which cleared the way for a whole series of simple single-peg catches towards the end. I got a total clearance which boosted my final score a bit.
  

Level 8 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 69 blue - Pro target 650k)

The same design as level 4. I think I'll start with a laser as my score before on this design was nowhere near this target. Plus, of course, I'm looking for a total clearance.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 692,070 

• I needed to make quite a lot of catches towards the end, when I was picking off the pegs one or two at a time, but I seemed to be pretty well on target with everything so it wasn't a problem.
  

Level 9 (Clear 35 red pegs from 92 total, with only 7 balls - Pro target 625k)

The same design as level 1. The Pro target seems quite high, so I'll start with a laser ball.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 549,040

• I had to keep building my score, despite having the last couple of reds available. I was running out of simple deflections though when I missed the final catch. I probably should have taken the reds instead at that stage as the points I had would probably have been enough.
  

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 554,050

• Still had 5 red pegs left at the end. The reds that remained after the laser ball were all awkwardly placed. I ended up with a lot of reds down the bottom, and a lot of blues up the top, getting in the way. I was chipping away at them, but there were too many.
  

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 475,660

• Three red pegs left that time. It took a few goes to get through to the yellow peg which didn't help.
  

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 405,350

• Three or four red pegs left again. This seems quite a high pro target. I'm strugging to take the reds while at the same time, accumulating enough posts for the pro target. I'll try adding a Big Bounce.
  

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 624,300

• Oh, for goodness sake! 700 points short of the pro target. It did take a few shots to get through to the yellow peg, but I got a reasonable number of points with it. I missed a few catches later on, which caught me out a bit as I nearly ran out of balls. But I thought I'd done enough.
  

Attempt #6 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 488,780

• That didn't work very well. The Big Bounce got stuck in a corner so didn't gain me much. After that I always seemed to be struggling for points. When I missed a catch at the end, I only had three pegs left, I think, so even if I'd carried on, there was no guarantee that I'd have reached the target.
  

Attempt #7 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 377,070

• I got a great laser ball with a perfect extra rim bounce that took out a whole swathe of low pegs. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to make up for the five or six balls I lost trying to trigger it in the first place.
  

Attempt #8 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 471,510

• I'm really struggling on this one. Both power ups seemed to work quite well, but I only made two catches and I'm never going to hit a pro target like that.
  

Attempt #9 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 542,990

• I was struggling for points most of the way through. I got a few decent bonuses in the last couple of balls, which made the score look a little more respectable, but it wasn't enough.
  

Attempt #10 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 702,150 

• Again I struggled for points, and had to push all the way to the total clearance to make sure of hitting the pro target. I had to stop and think for quite a while when I got down to my last ball with still three pegs left. But I eventually decided that I had a better chance of making catches off the last two blue pegs than I had of ensuring a 50k final bonus.
  

Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 87 blue - Pro target 650k)

The same design as level 5. It took me 6 attempts to get that one, but only two with the laser ball. And when I did get it, I was very close to a total clearance, and may well have got it if I'd had to.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 508,070

• Five pegs left at the end, but the yellow peg was very awkwardly positioned on a side wall under an overhang and it took several balls to get through to it.
  

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 910,690 

• That went pretty well. The yellow peg was once again on the side wall, so it took a few balls to get through to it, but after that the bonuses came thick and fast. It was just a matter of making sure I made enough catches so I didn't run out of balls before I'd cleared all the pegs.
  

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	30	92	Reds	10	-	475k	1	475,630	475,630
2	30	88	Reds	10	-	450k	1	552,690	552,690
3	30	89	Reds	10	-	500k	8	588,360	424,003
4	30	94	Reds	10	-	425k	2	493,110	452,265
5	25	112	Reds	10	-	475k	6	759,710	429,493
6	45	89	Reds	9	-	575k	1	679,020	679,020
7	45	88	Reds	9	-	575k	3	777,070	569,690
8	25	94	All	10	-	650k	1	692,070	692,070
9	35	92	Reds	7	-	625k	10	702,150	519,090
10	25	112	All	10	-	650k	2	910,690	709,380