Board 60: Silver Isles

This picture is a number of tiny desert islands, all connected to each other by a series of purple bridges.

Level 1 (Clear 25 red pegs from 100 total - Pro target 425k)

This design is just made up of individual round pegs scattered over the sea and clouds. These designs tend to give a very hard to read 'bagatelle effect' so catches, particularly early ones can be very tricky.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 589,010 

• I made steady progress through this first level. I picked off the obvious red pegs off the side wall first, plus I got lucky with two or three of them. I deliberately attempted an angle off each of them that would hit the red peg then bounce across the screen in the hope of picking up a distance bonus, and I got two or three of them. I also picked up a few fortunate catches in the first few balls. After that I just picked up rebounds off purple pegs as and when the opportunities arose.

Level 2 (Clear 30 red pegs from 111 total - Pro target 675k)

This design is lots of curves with ovals representing the islands with more curves connecting them.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 588,450

• The arrangement of curves tends to funnel balls into the centre where catches are hardest, so picking up early catches was tricky. Also, because the pegs go quite high up the side walls, rebound bonuses are tricky to get. As a result, I was struggling for points towards the end. I still thought I was in with a chance though as catches were getting easier. However, I caught an awkward bounce off the bucket rim and took out the last red peg before I was ready, so despite falling in the 100k bonus bucket, I was still nearly 90k short of the target.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 337,440

• I think I made one catch there. Nothing seemed to go right at all. Awful!

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 749,680 

• I found a particularly good first ball which will be worth remembering for next time this layout comes up. It took out 35 pegs and scored over 265k. I still had to be careful after that to make sure I didn't waste too many balls, but it certainly made life a lot easier.

Level 3 (Clear 30 red pegs from 96 total - Pro target 525k)

This design has curves for the islands and the clouds, and individual round pegs for the bridges and the horizon.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 533,980 

• I struggled a bit for points to start with and ended up having to keep the last couple of balls going for quite a few shots. I took a few chances that paid off and got me to within, I thought, 25k of the target. then I took out the last red peg in the hope of avoiding the 10k buckets. Unfortunately, I had got the Pro target wrong in my head, so I was actually 125k short. As it happened, though, I picked up a 25k crucial bounce bonus, and a 100k final bucket to reach the Pro target anyway.

Level 4 (Clear 25 red pegs from 93 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 450k)

This design consists entirely of individual pegs - some diamond-shaped, some rectangular, and some round. One of the rows of rectangular pegs is moving left to right.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 430,940

• Not far off, but I missed an awkward catch at the end off a high purple peg that was in the way of the last three red pegs.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 487,640 

• I struggled for points early on, but a couple of big bonuses in the mid-game put me back in with a chance. I had to hang on to the last couple of balls for quite a while, but I got there.

Level 5 (Clear 25 red pegs from 98 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 475k)

Curves for the bridges in this design, with a variety of single and double pegs scattered around.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 336,270

• I only had one red peg left, but I couldn't accumulate the points I needed to be able to finish. The high diamond pegs are tricky to catch off and they get in the way.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 412,040

• Closer that time. I had two red pegs left and went for the slightly tougher catch to leave a good chance of a deflection into the 100k off the other peg. Missed the catch though.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 391,830

• Same old story. I seemed to get a bit of luck early on, but still ran out of balls before I could finish. I'll have one more go before I resort to a laser ball.

Attempt #4 - No power ups. Score: 360,120

• Finished before I was ready that time. The last ball ricoched all over the place and took out the last four red pegs. That one ball scored over 250k on its own, but it still left me over 100k short of the target.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball. Score: 501,290 

• Even with the laser ball it was still touch and go towards the end, but I made it despite only getting a 10k final bonus.

Level 6 (Clear 45 red pegs from 100 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 650k)

The same design as level 1, but 20 more red pegs, one less ball and another 225k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 395,340

• I failed to make a single catch, which was a shame as I was picking up plenty of bonuses for rebounds and distance. The ball just refused to go in the bucket.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 555,080

• I tried to hang on to the last ball to finish off all the reds, but it would have required a superhuman effort. As it was I picked off about 9 or 10 before I eventually missed a catch. I only had three red pegs left at the end but it could have been a lot worse.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 556,420

• On a layout like this one it would be reasonable to expect a few reasonable ricochets, but the balls in this go seemed unerringly to find outrageously narrow gaps between pegs and disappear off the bottom having only taken out three or four pegs. I started well enough, finding a route through to the yellow peg with the first ball, then catching a reasonable extra rim bounce with the laser ball. But it all went downhill from there.
  

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 531,660

• Five red pegs left. I think I'll need to add another power up.
  

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 989,580 

• Well that went very well indeed. I found a route to the yellow peg with the first ball then scored nearly 250k with the laser ball. I took out the green peg with the next ball and then scored a whopping 300k with the Big Bounce. So after 4 balls used I had over 550k scored, only 9 red pegs left out of 14 total and 10 balls remaining, which is one more than I started with. I went on to take an easy total clearance.
  

Level 7 (Score 600k with 40 red pegs and 71 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 800k)

The same design as level 2, but 10 more red pegs, one less ball and 125k on the pro target. I made nearly 750k on level 2 on the third attempt, and that was without boosts. With a laser ball, this shouldn't be too hard.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 878,510 

• I used the same first ball that worked so well on level 2 and that took out 36 pegs and scored just over 300k. It then took me another three balls to get through to the yellow peg, but there was still a cluster in the bottom left that I could aim the laser ball at so I still scored 70k for it. That left me 11 red pegs and 7 balls from which to score just over 300k, but there were plenty of opportunities for bonus so it wasn't too hard to do.
  

Level 8 (Clear 40 red pegs from 96 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 575k)

The same design as level 3, but 10 more red pegs, one less ball and 50k more on the pro target. This doesn't seem like much of an increase in difficulty and I did it first go last time, so I'll try it without boosts to start with.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 394,020

• Not the best of efforts. I only made three catches so I still had five or six red pegs left at the end. I can do better than that though.
  

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 363,780

• Only 2 catches this time so even further away. I'll have one more go without power ups as I do feel this can be done with a little bit of luck.
  

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 551,270

• I got the extra bit of luck that I was missing on the previous couple of goes, but I pushed it just a little too far. I got down to the last red peg, still 40k or so short, but I took it out hoping to avoid the 10k bucket but didn't and finished about 25k light.
  

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 623,290

• No problem with score this time, having used a laser ball, but a lack of catches again meant I didn't get through the red pegs. The yellow peg was awkwardly placed though so that didn't help.
  

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball. Score: 345,150

• I got the yellow peg first time, but the laser seemed to stutter as it launched and it missed the first bounce on the bucket. I think maybe my mouse button stuck slightly. Whatever the cause, it ruined the attempt. I failed to make a single catch and left a lot of red pegs untouched at the end.
  

Attempt #6 - Laser Ball. Score: 447,600

• Another one where the yellow peg was awkwardly placed. Plus a familiar lack of catches. I did well to get down to just three reds left and only 130k or so short.
  

Attempt #7 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 635,740 

• After six failed attempts, I threw another power up at it and that seemed to do the trick. It was still very much touch and go towards the end though. I had to take a couple of chances at the end but they came off.
  

Level 9 (Clear 45 red pegs from 98 total, with only 8 balls - Pro target 675k)

The same design as level 5, but 20 more red pegs, one less ball and 200k on the pro target. Level 5 required a laser ball to get past so I'm sure this will need at least the same again.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 371,090

• Not a good effort. It took nearly all of my shots to get through to the yellow peg, and I didn't make anywhere near enough catches to come back from that.
  

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 777,450 

• Much better this time. The yellow peg was front and centre which was useful, and I got a good rim bounce with the laser ball. I still had to make a few catches at the end to make sure of the pro score, and then a 100k final bonus made it all look a bit easier than it actually was.
  

Level 10 (Clear 50 red pegs from 93 total, with only 8 balls - Pro target 675k)

The same design as level 4, but double the number of red pegs, meaning there are now more red pegs than blue ones. Also one less ball and 225k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 445,290

• A couple of disastrous early shots which took out one peg than disappeared, coupled with an awkward yellow peg that took too long to get to, plus only three catches, all combined to make this a pretty poor effort. 10 red pegs left at the end.
  

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 427,430

• Again, the yellow peg was tricky to get to. I need to get a chance with it on top somewhere before I resort to a second power up.
  

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 502,940

• Yet again, the yellow peg was right down in the bottom left hand corner and it took about 4 or 5 balls to get to it.
  

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 792,870

• The yellow peg was in the middle, but I did manage to find an angle to take it out with the first ball. As a result, I was much closer. I had more than enough points, and only had two red pegs left at the end. I think I will add another power up though.
  

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 773,110 

• I think the extra boost probably made the difference. The yellow peg was in the moving row, so I could pick it off with the first ball. I got a decent rim bounce with the laser ball, which I also caught (always a bonus). I managed to leave the green peg until about half the pegs had been removed giving the Big Bounce room to move about the screen. All in all a comfortable victory.
  

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	25	100	Reds	10	-	425k	1	589,010	589,010
2	30	111	Reds	10	-	675k	3	749,680	558,523
3	30	96	Reds	10	-	525k	1	533,980	533,980
4	25	93	Reds	9	-	450k	2	487,640	459,290
5	25	98	Reds	9	-	475k	5	501,290	400,310
6	45	100	Reds	9	-	650k	5	989,580	605,616
7	40	111	600k	9	-	800k	1	878,510	878,510
8	40	96	Reds	9	-	575k	7	635,740	480,121
9	45	98	Reds	8	-	675k	2	777,450	574,270
10	50	93	Reds	8	-	675k	5	792,870	588,328