Board 103: Frozen Temple

This picture is of an icy cavern with a huge ice statue of a seated deity at the far end.

Level 1 (Clear 25 red pegs from 141 total - Pro target 450k)

This design is based around the lines in the picture, and it uses a lot of them as it looks pretty crowded. Indeed, at 141 pegs, it's one of the busiest levels I've blogged.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 219,120

• I made one catch, I think. All those blue pegs completely get in the way, preventing catches, bonuses, and getting through to the red pegs. I'll have to use a laser ball.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 538,220 

• It took me several balls to break through to the yellow peg. I then had to pick a path for the laser ball that concentrated on the left-hand side as most of the pegs on the other side had gone. I still got a got rim bounce with it, though. I still had to make quite a few catches to finish it off, though, but with most of the blue pegs gone, they were much easier to do.

Level 2 (Clear 25 red pegs from 92 total - Pro target 575k)

This design is two sets of four straight lines each making a house shape, one inside the other, then three concentric curves inside them.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 1,281,380 

• This one was really quite easy. I picked off the vertical walls first, where it was easy to make catches off the side wall for decent bonuses. Then I picked off enough of the roof on one side to allow me to get through to the outermost curve. I managed to do all this without breaking up any of the curves, so once I could get to them, I could take them (nearly) all out in a single ball for a big bonus. I was going for a really big score, but annoyingly, a stray ricochet off the second-to-last blue peg hit the last red peg and so curtailed the game one peg too early. Even so, this may well be a record score without power ups. My previous best, at least since the blog began, was 1,216,310 on The Nether Stairs #10.

Level 3 (Clear 20 red pegs from 124 total - Pro target 425k)

This design features two six-pointed stars, plus a couple of horizontal lines. Only 20 red pegs, but they might get lost among all those blues. This may need a laser, but I'll try without one first.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 138,770

• I made no catches at all, earned very few bonuses, and came nowhere near clearing the red pegs. This is definitely going to need a laser ball.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 673,470 

• Not too much of a problem using the laser ball. I missed the yellow peg with my first shot, but got it with my second. I did quite well with the laser ball, getting a decent rim bounce. After that it was just picking off the few red pegs that were left.

Level 4 (Clear 20 red pegs from 130 total - Pro target 450k)

This design features a big circle containing lots of pointers, so that it looks like a big compass. It's another design with lots of blue pegs and not many red ones, so it will probably need a laser ball, but I'll try without first.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 584,050 

• I'm not sure if I got lucky there, or if it was just easier than it looked. I did get a few lucky catches towards the end, but the game was already effectively won by then. Well, whatever, I'll take it and move on.

Level 5 (Clear 20 red pegs from 140 total - Pro target 450k)

This design is entirely made up of diamond-shaped pegs. They are arranged into two big crystalline structures. At 140 pegs, it's another peg-heavy level. I've not worked out the stats yet, but surely this board must have more pegs than any other to date.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 280,110

• Nowhere near the pro score, and I still had four or five red pegs to get. This level is going to need a power up.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 1,093,160 

• The yellow peg was quite easy to get to on the first ball, and then the laser ball took out a massive 88 pegs for an enormous score. The bonus for it alone was over half a million points, taking me well over the pro target of 450k. After that I could just shoot at the purple peg until I got too low on balls and had to finish it off.

Level 6 (Clear 35 red pegs from 124 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 600k)

The same design as level 3, but with 15 more red pegs, one less ball, and 175k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 464,710

• Four red pegs left. The yellow peg was nicely on top at the start, but I didn't get a rim bounce with the laser ball, at least not one that scored anything. I may need to add a big bounce, but not quite yet.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 680,840 

• The yellow peg was not easy to get to, but I got quite lucky with quite a few early catches. By the time I'd activated the laser ball, there weren't many pegs left on the right-hand side, so I concentrated it on the left and got a good rim bounce as well. That still left me quite a few points to get, but hardly any red pegs and plenty of balls, so I could concentrate on the purple peg until I had enough points to clear the remaining reds.

Level 7 (Clear 40 red pegs from 141 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 775k)

The same design as level 1, but with 15 more red pegs, one less ball, and 225k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 719,000

• I missed a few catches towards the end that I probably should have made. Shame, as it was looking quite good for most of it.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 626,070

• Another narrow miss. Not as good a start as last time, but I kept it going for longer in the endgame. I was getting there, but I couldn't quite keep it going long enough.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 944,830 

• The yellow ball was available directly with the first ball, so that was a bonus. I then get a particularly good rim bounce with the laser ball for quite a big score. After that I quickly got into the position of having as many balls left as there were red pegs remaining which gave me a certain amount of security, so I could take a few risks to score somoe extra points.

Level 8 (Score 500k with 25 red pegs and 105 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 700k)

The same design as level 4, but with 5 more red pegs, one less ball, 250k on the pro target, but only a points target this time.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 763,640 

• I wasn't sure of the merits of the laser ball on this level as it would clearly ruin any chances of a big sweep round the circle. However, it worked like a dream, picking up two good rim bounces for lots of extra points. It meant I had lots of balls left at the end and I could comfortably pick off pegs one at a time until I had enough points to finish.

Level 9 (Clear 30 red pegs from 140 total, with only 8 balls - Pro target 650k)

The same design as level 5, but with 10 more red pegs, two less balls, and 200k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 1,246,910 

• I triggered the laser ball with the first shot, then shot a perfect line with it, getting a beautiful rim bounce that popped up back through a load more pegs before landing back in the bucket. It also took out the white peg for a double score bonus, netting a cool 971,660, putting me over a million after just two shots. That left me just 8 red pegs and 10 balls to get them with. I probably should have scored more, but I missed a few catches. I did enough though.

Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 67 blue, with only 6 balls and a 3s shot-clock - Pro target 800k)

The same design as level 2, but with four less balls, 325k on the pro target, and a three second shot-clock.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 626,710

• It doesn't look like the score will be a problem, but clearing all the pegs with just six balls may well be. I managed only a 68% clearance there which was pretty poor. Maybe attempting it without a laser ball was a little overly optimistic!

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 589,450

• I got the clearance up to 87% with the laser ball, but the score wasn't as high. I think I need to concentrate on getting through to the curves as soon as possible, then triggering the laser ball.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 635,590

• a much better effort. Only two pegs missed this time, despite making a bit of a hash of the laser ball. If I had cleared, I may well not have made enough points, but I would have given myself a chance.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 910,190 

• I added a Big Bounce, although in truth I may well have got there without it. I didn't activate it until quite near the end, and the remaining pegs were vertical rectangles by then so quite easy to catch off. The main improvement this time was getting a good laser ball which picked up a x2 multiplier. Having got that I just needed to make sure I didn't mess up the clearance.

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	25	141	Reds	10	-	450k	2	538,220	378,670
2	25	92	Reds	10	-	575k	1	1,281,380	1,281,380
3	20	124	Reds	10	-	425k	2	673,470	406,120
4	20	130	Reds	10	-	450k	1	584,050	584,050
5	20	140	Reds	10	-	450k	2	1,093,160	686,635
6	35	124	Reds	9	-	600k	2	680,840	572,775
7	40	141	Reds	9	-	775k	3	944,830	763,300
8	25	130	500k	9	-	700k	1	763,640	763,640
9	30	140	Reds	8	-	650k	1	1,246,910	1,246,910
10	25	92	All	6	3s	800k	4	910,190	690,485