Board 59: Seminary of the Clouds

This picture is of a grand pagoda sitting presumably atop a high mountain peak, as it appears to be perched on the clouds. Other craggy mountain tops can be seen poking through the clouds around it.

Level 1 (Clear 30 red pegs from 108 total - Pro target 500k)

This first design is of three pairs of curves that come together in points, like the rooftops of the pagoda.It ought to make for a few sweeping bonuses if I can get a ball to run along them.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 606,160 

• I didn't make many sweeping bonuses but I did pick up quite a few distance bonuses as I got the ball to bounce around between the various sections. In the end it was a comfortable victory with about five balls left over.

Level 2 (Clear 35 red pegs from 110 total - Pro target 450k)

This design consists entirely of individual round pegs, arranged mainly closely together in lines.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 441,690

• I thought I had that one under control, but the last red peg was hidden. I tried to find an angle onto it with my last ball, knowing I had enough points for the pro target, but I missed it. Never mind, I'll get it next time.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 522,650

• No problem with the score that time, but all the catches I attempted seemed to go awry. Layouts with lots of tightly packed round pegs are always a nightmare to take catches off.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 271,470

• That one went horribly wrong. I created a gap in the centre with the first couple of balls, and thereafter every subsequent ball seemed to hit one peg then disappear through the gap. One more try before I bring out the laser ball.

Attempt #4 - No power ups. Score: 485,820 

• Well, I managed to get the Pro score on the fourth attempt without having to resort to power ups. I needed to hang to the last ball for 7 seven shots though, so lots of pressure catching was happening at the end. As it was I had to hope I avoided the 10k buckets at the end.

Level 3 (Clear 35 red pegs from 107 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 450k)

This design is mainly made up of straight diagonal lines, intersecting at diagonal pegs, plus a few single round pegs.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 466,010

• Got this one first time thanks to a couple of big bonuses in the middle, but I forgot to start the recorder so no video. It seemed like quite an easy level though, as I didn't seem to get a great deal of luck other than the odd bonus or two, but still made the pro target.

Level 4 (Clear 30 red pegs from 91 total - Pro target 500k)

The design has one huge curve that runs from top left to bottom right. There are also several more lines of single round pegs. The round pegs could make catches awkward, but there is clearly the opportunity of a big sweeping bonus with the first ball if it can be landed right at the top of the slope.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 599,290 

• Got a reasonable sweep to start with but was fairly hit and miss after that. I had to scrabble around for points a bit in the middle, but towards the end I was concentrating on making catches as I had a lot more red pegs left than I had balls in hand.

Level 5 (Clear 25 red pegs from 83 total - Pro target 425k)

This design features half a dozen squares, four of which are interlocking, plus a few single round pegs. The total number of pegs here is low, but breaking into the left hand side might be tricky.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 194,320

• As I suspected, breaking into the interlocking squares is nigh on impossible. But all those pegs clustered so tightly together invites the laser ball, so I'll go straight for one of those.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 297,280

• Even with the laser ball taking out most of the left hand design on the second ball, I was still struggling to remove all the red pegs, or indeed get near the pro target. I'm going to need a good slice of luck.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 393,450

• I can't work these angles out at all. I got the yellow peg with the first ball, then took out a good chunk with the laser ball, but I only made three catches in total and failed to clear the red pegs. I shall have to add another power up.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 384,260

• I could have taken the last red peg, but I wasn't confident of getting to the 100k bucket from it, which is what I would have needed. I tried to take the peg next to it first which would have cleared the way to the 100k but just missed the catch.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 515,240 

• Got it at the fifth attempt. I think the red pegs were slightly more fortuitously arranged this time, and I picked up a few distance bonuses. I've got a feeling this could be tricky when it comes round again.

Level 6 (Clear 45 red pegs from 107 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 725k)

The same design as level 3, but 10 more red pegs and 275k more on the pro target. Unusually, the number of balls is the same.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 768,970

• I started off well enough here, and getting a pro score wasn't a problem as there were bonus chances opportunities all over the place. Catches were awkward but not impossible, and I think it might just be a matter of getting familiar with the angles.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 517,040

• Only two red pegs left, so closer, but catches are still a problem. I'll use a laser ball.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 452,230

• I messed up the laser ball. I thought I'd triggered it with the first ball, but hadn't. So I shot the second ball as if it was the laser and, of course, it just took out a few pegs that would have been better off saved for the laser. I tried to keep going at the end, but I had left myself too much to do.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 536,790

• A better effort, but still not quite there. I'll add another power up.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 755,740 

• I was going for the total clearance, and when I missed the catch off the second last blue peg and it ricoched around to take out the last red and fall in the 10k bucket, I thought I'd blown it, but luckily I had enough balls in hand to get me over the finish line.

Level 7 (Clear 35 red pegs from 91 total, with only 8 balls - Pro target 725k)

The same design as level 4, but 5 more red pegs, 2 fewer balls and 225k more on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 384,500

• Getting rid of the big curve is easy enough, but all those individual round pegs are a major problem.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 678,800

• I was going quite well there but messed up the catch off the penultimate red. The yellow peg was awkward to get to and I'm still trying to find the best angle to take out the bug curve with ball one.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 484,130

• I found quite a good first ball for the curve, but the route for the laser could probably be improved. I struggled to make catches again.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 620,570

• That one was pretty close. I got down to the last red peg but wasn't quite close enough to the pro target to allow to take it. A clumsy shot off the side wall which missed everything was probably my undoing. It happened in the endgame when balls were at their most valuable.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball. Score: 738,330 

• I needed a lot of catches to get this one, taking 30 shots in total, and a lot of those catches weere more than a little fortunate. But then, I was always going to need some luck to get through this one.

Level 8 (Score 500k with 40 red pegs and 68 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 700k)

The same design as level 1, but 10 more red pegs, one less ball and 200k on the pro target. It's purely score we're going for this time, and it doesn't look too tough.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 188,700

• I got a dreadful first shot that bounced about destoying all the curves without actually running along any of them. After that I got very few catches, and even fewer bonuses. Not good.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 335,430

• Better than the previous attempt, but a long way from victory, let alone pro score. I'll add a laser ball.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 689,600

• I didn't know what to do for the best at the end there. I only needed about 15k for the pro target, but neither of the last two reds could be taken off the side wall, and all the easy catches had been taken. In the end I waited for a ages for a particular blue peg to become purple, then tried to hit it off the side wall. I missed it, hit a blue peg instead, and failed to catch the ball.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 643,180

• Again, I ran out of balls as I was closing in on the Pro target. I didn't need to make many more catches after the one I failed on.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball. Score: 317,320

• I took both upper curves before I triggered the laser ball and then made a mess of the laser ball itself. It left me far too much to do with the few balls I had left.

Attempt #6 - Laser Ball. Score: 910,170 

• It took six attempts, but when I got there, I did it in style! I took out the top two curves first, deliberately triggering the laser ball with the second of these. Then I played the laser ball high so it would take out the maximum number of pegs on its first pass across the screen, despite knowing that it would follow the same path coming back and wouldn't be caught. With these more awkward pegs out of the way, I could concentrate on taking lots of catches, using the purple peg when I could, and red pegs otherwise. There were a few lucky catches along the way, but I gradually worked my way through all the remaining pegs for a total clearance.

Level 9 (Clear 35 red pegs from 83 total, with only 8 balls - Pro target 550k)

The same design as level 5, but 10 more red pegs, two less balls, and 125k more on the pro target. Level 5 was hard enough as it was, so this could be a challenge.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 662,970 

• Well, considering level 5 took 5 attempts and a total of 6 power ups, I certainly didn't expect to get this harder version first time! I got a few early lucky catches which always helps. I also found a pretty good path for the laser ball which took out a good chunk of the awkward left-hand design, and then the grenade ball took out most of what remained there. After that it was just a matter of picking off pegs one by one and building a pro score.

Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 85 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 700k)

The same design as level 2, but 10 less red pegs, one less ball and 250k on the pro target, and, of course, all pegs are now needed for victory.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 607,210

• Not bad for a first attempt. Just seven pegs left at the end. I started well enough, but missed a few too many catches in the endgame.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 369,420

• Nowhere near as close this time. Truth is, I got quite lucky last time, but still couldn't finish it. I'll add a Big Bounce and see if that helps.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 569,560

• Only two pegs left, so much closer. I got quite a lot from the Big Bounce, despite hitting it on the first ball. I thought it would get hemmed in at the bottom, but it managed to avoid that.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 730,030 

• Got it at the fourth attempt. I needed to avoid getting two 10k bonuses at the end, but anything better than that would be enough. So as soon as the first ball dropped in the 50k bucket I knew I was OK. There were few lucky catches, and oner particularly fortunate ricochet towards the end that took out most of the remaining pegs.

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	30	108	Reds	10	-	500k	1	606,160	606,160
2	35	110	Reds	10	-	450k	4	522,650	430,407
3	35	107	Reds	9	-	450k	1	466,010	466,010
4	30	91	Reds	10	-	500k	1	599,290	599,290
5	25	83	Reds	10	-	425k	5	515,240	356,910
6	45	107	Reds	9	-	725k	5	768,970	606,154
7	35	91	Reds	8	-	725k	5	738,330	581,266
8	40	108	500k	9	-	700k	6	910,170	514,066
9	35	83	Reds	8	-	550k	1	662,970	662,970
10	25	110	All	9	-	700k	4	730,030	569,055