Board 47: Tunnel of Treasures

This picture shows a mine tunnel. A railway track runs along the floor, and the walls give off a rich golden glow.

Level 1 (Clear 30 red pegs from 97 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 475k)

This design features a couple of what look like rough stalactites with a few loose round pegs around them. There are also three small curves over the rocks in the bottom left hand corner.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 567,040

• Only two red pegs left at the end, and an 85% clearance. There were just a few too many blue pegs left at the end to make the catches easy enough. Not far off though.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 395,730

• Only one red peg left that time, but I couldn't take it as I didn't have enough points for pro, but finding easy catches amongst the remaining blues was no easy task.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 615,660 

• I seemed to pick up a few more bonuses that time, and just got a bit more luck in general. I still had to keep going for a bit at the end, looking for more points off the purple peg before I finished the red ones, but I had balls in hand to do it with, so it didn't matter if I missed the odd catch.

Level 2 (Clear 30 red pegs from 111 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 450k)

This design is of a mining cart, so it a few straight lines, a couple of circles for wheels, and lots of loose pegs.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 502,450 

• I could have done with a few more catches, but in the end I'm quite pleased with the way I finished that one. Once I had the pro target pretty much in the bag, I carefully picked the few blue pegs on the right that might get in the way of catches and cleared a path through to one of the two red pegs that were left. Then I played off one onto the other to finish.

Level 3 (Clear 35 red pegs from 109 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 450k)

This design follows the lines in the picture. There are a couple of straight lines on the left where the wood is, curves on the railway lines and one around the tunnel, then lots of loose round pegs scattered around.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 293,470

• Catches are tricky to judge amid all those loose pegs. I took 14 shots and still had a couple of red pegs left. Plus I was over 150k short of the pro target.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 481,780

• Again, early caches were hard to come by, and I still had a lot of pegs left when I got down to my last ball. I then managed to whittle away at those pegs one or two at a time with that last ball, in fact I got through 21 of the remaining 29 pegs this way before I missed a catch. I only had one red peg left at the end. So near and yet so far.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 329,030

• A similar story to before, only without all the final ball catches. I'll use a laser ball.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 553,070 

• It took a few balls to get through to the yellow peg which was low down on the right, but I did OK with the laser ball once I'd got it. There was a point towards the end when I missed a few catches on the trot when I thought I was going to blow it, but I held it together with the last couple of balls and made it over the finish line.

Level 4 (Clear 25 red pegs from 102 total - Pro target 500k)

This design is essentially a railway track looping around three-quarters of the frame.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 586,110 

• A little slow to start with, but the points started to come quicker as the game went on. I might well have been able to get a total clearance had I needed one, but the last red pegs went when I still had about five balls in hand.

Level 5 (Clear 30 red pegs from 105 total - Pro target 450k)

This design is all loose pegs. A spiral of round ones heading down the tunnel, lines of diamond-shaped ones along the bottom and up the left side, and a thick cluster of round ones where the golden rocks are in the bottom left corner.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 634,270

• Two red pegs left at the end which isn't bad for a first attempt, and way over the pro target. Certainly worth another try.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 646,500 

• I got lucky with some early ricochets that took out quite a few red pegs. The points weren't great to start with, but I spent quite a while concentrating on picking off the pegs in the low left cluster, off the wall. By moving the mouse one notch at a time and firing after each movement, it's quite easy to pick off most of those pegs one at a time without losing any balls. Plus it gives a big boost to the score as well.

Level 6 (Clear 45 red pegs from 111 total, with only 8 balls - Pro target 625k)

The same design as level 2, but with 15 more red pegs, one less ball, and 175k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 249,870

• I didn't really get close to that, and yet I didn't feet that I did it particularly badly. I'd better use a laser ball.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 548,070

• The yellow peg was very awkwardly placed in the left hand wheel. It took me a lot of balls to get to it, and I just had too many red pegs left after the laser ball, and not enough balls to get them with. I hung on for quite a long time with the last few balls, but it never looked like it was going to be enough.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 708,610

• The yellow peg was a little easier to get to this time, but it still wasn't easy. Plus I was getting no luck with catches or ricochets towards the end. I'll give it another try, but I may need a second power up.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 985,470 

• I was all over it that time. The yellow was awkwardly placed again, but I didn't lose many balls getting to it, thanks to some lucky catches. I did take out a lot of pegs on the left-hand side though, so picked an alternative path for the laser ball which worked like an absolute dream. It seemed to pick out all the biggest remaining concentrations of pegs and drive straight through the middle of them, even the extra rim bounce took out a chunk around the right wheel. After that the pressure was off and I could make a relaxed total clearance.

Level 7 (Score 450k with 35 red pegs and 62 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 675k)

The same design as level 1, but with 5 more red pegs, 200k on the pro target, but just a score now as the target.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 861,010 

• I got a good start with the yellow peg on the first ball, and a good rim bounce with the laser ball on the second. I still had a lot of points to accrue after that, but some competent catching enabled me push on through the pro target to make a complete clearance.

Level 8 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 74 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 650k)

The same design as level 3, but with 200k more on the pro target, and a complete clearance now required.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 840,860 

• It took a few balls to get to the yellow peg, but I caught some of them so it wasn't too bad. I did well with the laser ball, getting a Double score bonus, a good rim bounce and a catch to round it off. There were a few lucky catches, as well as some skilful ones, and a few decent ricochets.

Level 9 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 67 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 725k)

The same design as level 4, but with 10 more red pegs, one less ball, 225k on the pro target, and a complete clearance now required.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 893,850

• I thought I had that one in the bag, and probably should have done, really. But a disappointing number of missed catches in the endgame left me with three pegs untouched at the end.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 740,080 

• I got it that time. Better catching in the endgame made the difference. It took longer to get to the yellow peg which meant it was touch and go whether I'd score enough points by the end, but I just about made it.

Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 40 red and 65 blue, with only 9 balls - Pro target 700k)

The same design as level 5, but with 10 more red pegs, one less ball, 250k on the pro target, and a total clearance now needed.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 495,520

• Only an 85% clearance, mainly because the laser ball was a nightmare to get to, buried as it was in the cluster of pegs in the bottom left corner.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 1,012,700 

• It's always nice to finish a board with a seven figure score. The yellow peg was nicely on top, and I got a good rim bounce and indeed catch with the laser ball. I still had a lot to do after that though, but some good ricochets kept the number of pegs required per ball figure down to a manageable level.

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	30	97	Reds	9	-	475k	3	615,660	526,143
2	30	111	Reds	9	-	450k	1	502,450	502,450
3	35	109	Reds	9	-	450k	4	553,070	414,337
4	25	102	Reds	10	-	500k	1	586,110	586,110
5	30	105	Reds	10	-	450k	2	646,500	640,385
6	45	111	Reds	8	-	625k	4	985,470	623,005
7	35	97	450k	9	-	675k	1	861,010	861,010
8	35	109	All	9	-	650k	1	840,860	840,860
9	35	102	All	9	-	725k	2	893,850	816,965
10	40	105	All	9	-	700k	2	1,012,700	754,110