Board 66: Lunar Vine

This picture shows an enormous vine stretching upwards into the night sky. Is moon is prominent in the sky and a farmhouse can be seen on a hill in the background. It's all very Jack and the Beanstalk.

Level 1 (Clear 25 red pegs from 105 total - Pro target 475k)

We have several vertical columns of individual round pegs, and a number of swirling vine-like curves that contain six portals that teleport balls to a single high central receiver.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 237,460

• I found this quite tricky. I generally find the first level pretty straightforward, even without power ups, but the angles and the portals in this one combine to make catches very hard to judge.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 302,590

• Two red pegs left. It was a better effort, but I think it was just down to luck rather than skill. I think I'll need a power up.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 474,170

• I was trying to build a score at the end. To be honest, if I'd just taken the last red peg off the side wall at the end, I would have had enough. Instead I took the purple peg off the side wall and would have made the catch if a portal hadn't got in the way.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 289,840

• I'm still getting nowhere with this level. It's just blue pegs and portals everywhere, making ricochets nigh on impopssible to judge. I'm sure I don't remember it being this hard first time round.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 636,070 

• Got there eventually, although I had to add a second power up to do it. I tried a different route with the laser ball which failed totally, but the trampoline worked well and I got an unexpected total clearance at the end which also boosted the score.

Level 2 (Clear 25 red pegs from 97 total - Pro target 500k)

This design is very patchy, containing a couple of lines round half the moon, and the horizon to the right of the vine. Otherwise there a 4 patches of indivual round pegs covering the clouds in the picture. This should make catches easier, but it will also mean less ricochets that take out lots of pegs.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 550,090 

• This one was a lot more straightforward than the previous one. No real problems, but, annoyingly, I forgot to record it, so there's no video for this one.
  
  Coming back to do the video much later, I found it really quite easy, taking a total clearance for 895,700.

Level 3 (Clear 25 red pegs from 104 total - Pro target 550k)

This design shows the base of the beanstalk with the magic beans underneath. It doesn't look too bad at first glance.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 450,660

• I cleared the reds, but needed another 100k for the pro target. I probably could have done better.

Level 4 (Clear 25 red pegs from 88 total - Pro target 500k)

A series of roughly parallel wavy lines with a few loose pegs down the bottom. There ought to be some sweeping bonuses available here.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 603,920 

• I get through this one quite easily with some accurate side-wall shooting. I started by shooting the curves that I could see, but the balls didn't stay on the slopes for long enough to earn any bonuses.

Level 5 (Clear 25 red pegs from 93 total - Pro target 475k)

A design based on the vine in the picture, so it's another combination of curves and individual round pegs. Again, this looks like there could be some sweeping bonuses.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 217,170

• The bonuses didn't seem to come very freely this time. I made a few catches, but a lot of the shots I went for didn't work.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 292,430

• Again, the bonuses seemed hard to come by. I could have finished that time, but I tried to push the score a bit more off the purple pegs. I made plenty of catches (15) and cleared a good deal of the pegs (88%) but it wasn't enough. Time for a laser, I think. That should do the trick.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 450,430

• Almost. I had the final red available for several balls. In truth it was always about the score, not the red pegs. I played one purple peg too many and just caught the bucket rim instead of making the catch. If I'd taken the red I probably would have made the pro target, especially if I'd taken it off the side wall.

Attempt #4 - Big Bounce. Score: 308,740

• Another one where the last red was easily available. But I'm going for Pro scores here, so there's no point deliberately finishing when the Pro target is out of reach. I tried swapping the laser for the trampoline as I'm not sure the laser is that well suited to this layout, but I may switch back again.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball. Score: 497,320

• I only lost that one due to a clumsy shot right at the end. I had a relatively simple catch on the second last red having done all the hard work, and muffed it up.

Attempt #6 - Laser Ball. Score: 535,810 

• Got it that time. I seemed to get a slightly better score with the laser ball. It's hard to know why it took six attempts. The pegs are quite well placed for catches, so it ought to be quite an easy level.

Level 6 (Clear 45 red pegs from 104 total - Pro target 825k)

The same design as level 3. I'll give it a quick go without power ups first, but that pro target is the highest of the board, and I haven't made a pro score on level 3 yet, so that may be an over-ambitious decision.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 229,620

• Yes, this is going to need a power up (or two). Those vertical lines really cut down your chances to go side wall first, and I normally play them a lot. I only made 2 catches and cleared less than three quarters of the pegs.
  

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 833,440 

• There are probably better angles for the laser ball than the one I used here, as the score from it was a little disappointing. I needed to make quite a few catches (some of them rather lucky) and get a total clearance to scrape over the line.
  

Level 7 (Score 475k with 40 red pegs and 48 blue - Pro target 650k)

The same design as level 4, which I got first time with a score not far short of the pro target here. In view of this I'll try it without power ups first.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 574,990

• Not bad for a first attempt. I missed everything with one ball and lost it, then managed to play the exact same shot again and lost another ball. Pretty stupid! Despite this I got 92% clearance and only 75k short of pro target, so this is clearly doable without power ups.
  

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 505,530

• Not quite as good as the last one, but last time I got a decent sweep off the first ball, and this time I didn't. I'm still not far off though, so I don't want to add a power up.
  

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 546,920

• I messed up the first ball again. The main problem was the lack of catches, though. I made just one. Still got a decent score despite that.
  

Attempt #4 - No power ups. Score: 756,390 

• I'm not quite sure how I got this one. I seemed to make loads of badly judged catch attempts. I did pick up a number of fortuitous bonuses which kept my score heading in the right direction. I had to hang on to the last ball for a few shots to take out the last three of four pegs, but at least the score was already in the bag,
  

Level 8 (Score 475k with 30 red pegs and 75 blue - Pro target 675k)

The same design as level 1, which I eventually needed two power ups to get through, and even then I didn't manage this pro target. This could be tricky, but I'll be optimistic and just use the laser ball to start with.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 681,050 

• I thought I was falling well short of the pro target there, when I got down to the last red peg with only three balls left and still nearly 275k left to score. Indeed I still needed just over 200k when I got down to the last ball. I went for a catch off the purple peg only to see the ball disappear through a portal, hit the last red for a 75k Crazy Distance bonus and fly at an unlikely angle straight into the 100k bucket. Still, I'm not complaining.
  

Level 9 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 72 blue - Pro target 700k)

The same design as level 2 which wasn't too bad, but then this one requires a total clearance.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 649,840

• Only 87% clearance. I failed to catch many of the first few balls and found myself left with hardly any shots left still with a stack of pegs to remove. I started taking them out one at a time, and kept it up for a while, but to finish like that was always a tall order.
  

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 297,220

• The yellow peg was tucked away in the bottom left of the upper left cluster of pegs, and it must have taken about 6 or 7 pegs to get through to it. Of course, by the time I had hit it, the were precious few big clusters of pegs to aim at, hardly any shots remaining, and far too many points to go to the pro target. I could see after the first shot that the yellow peg was going to take way too long to get to, and that the attempt was almost certainly going to be a write-off.
  

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 862,900 

• Everything went right this time. The yellow peg was ideally situated in the curve of the moon so I could take it as part of my standard first ball. I did well with the laser ball, getting an extra bounce off the rim. I made lots of catches, stretching the game out to 23 balls, and I still had four balls left at the end.
  

Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - red and 0 blue, with only ball and a shot-clock - Pro target 675k)



Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 786,810 

• I started slowly. It took a while to get the yellow peg, so by the time I'd triggered the laser ball, there was precious little left to aim at. Despite that, I made lots of catches, picking off the remaining pegs one or two at a time and eventually made the pro target.
  

Level 3 (Clear 25 red pegs from 104 total - Pro target 550k)

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 546,370

• The score was always looking low early on, but I made catch after catch towards the end, spinning it out to 29 shots, but I got down to three blue pegs, none of which I fancied taking catches off, so I took the last red peg off the side all in the hope that I'd avoid the 10k bucket. It didn't and it wasn't quite enough.
  

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 316,820

• Didn't get particularly close that time. I needed more catches earlier on, or at least to clear some more of the high pegs than I did because getting rid of them becomes really important later on when you're trying to make catches.
  

Attempt #4 - No power ups. Score: 403,000

• Three red pegs left at the end, and a very similar story to the previous attempt. I didn't make enough points or clear enough high pegs with the first half a dozen balls.
  

Attempt #5 - No power ups. Score: 131,770

• A dreadful effort. Two catches, I think, and hardly any bonuses. I guess I'd better give in and add a power up.
  

Attempt #6 - Laser Ball. Score: 652,100 

• Much easier with the laser ball. I triggered it with the first ball and took out quite a lot of pegs with it. It made subsequent catches much easier to judge. The end came as a bit of a surprise - I went for the second to last red peg, caught the bucket rim, flicked onto the last red peg and straight into the 100k bucket, although any bucket would have done.
  

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	25	105	Reds	10	-	475k	5	636,070	388,026
2	25	97	Reds	10	-	500k	1	550,090	550,090
3	25	104	Reds	10	-	550k	6	652,100	416,786
4	25	88	Reds	10	-	500k	1	603,920	603,920
5	25	93	Reds	10	-	475k	6	535,810	383,650
6	45	104	Reds	10	-	825k	2	833,440	531,530
7	40	88	475k	10	-	650k	4	756,390	595,957
8	30	105	475k	10	-	675k	1	681,050	681,050
9	25	97	All	10	-	700k	3	862,900	603,320
10	25	93	All	10	-	675k	1	786,810	786,810