Board 23: Jurassic Vale

This picture shows a couple of giant dinosaurs grazing on the vegetation. A tall sheer cliff face can be seen in the background.

Level 1 (Clear 25 red pegs from 101 total - Pro target 350k)

The first design follows some of the lines in the picture around the two dinosaurs. Plus there are a scattering of loose round pegs across the background.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 445,900 

• Not too difficult a start. No doubt I could have done that better, but the pro target was quite low and I did just enough.

Level 2 (Clear 25 red pegs from 109 total - Pro target 425k)

The second design looks like four giant dinosaur footprints, plus a scattering of single round pegs.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 201,790

• I didn't pick up many catches here. Nothing much else to say about it. Try again.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 414,070

• I lost my patience that time. I was waiting for a particular blue peg to turn purple, but it was stubbornly refusing to. Every other blue peg must have been purple two or three times when I tried to pick one or two of them off. Inevitably I missed a catch and the game ended.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 532,220 

• I probably got a bit luckier with the red peg placement, and I had to make some catches in the endgame to boost my score, but I had a few extra balls still by that stage so it wasn't a big problem.

Level 3 (Clear 30 red pegs from 112 total - Pro target 350k)

The third design consists entirely of single round pegs, arranged mainly in lines around the outside of the two dinosaurs in the picture.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 464,900 

• Bonuses are quite hard to come by here, so it isn't an easy level. But I'm quite good at judging catches off round pegs and these pegs are all round, so by stretching the game out to 42 shots, I managed to cling on long enough to reach the pro target before I had to take the final red peg.

Level 4 (Clear 30 red pegs from 109 total - Pro target 350k)

The fourth design also follows the lines of the picture, but the lines in the background. That's the cliff, trees and other plants, with round pegs scattered over the dinosaurs.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 388,450

• I struggled to get to all the red pegs. Catches are hard to come by. I still had four left at the end, I think.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 389,580

• I thought I had that one in the bag. I thought I had a guaranteed ricochet from one red peg onto the other, and just in case I misjudged the angle and put the bucket in the right place for a catch. Unfortunately the ball sailed straight through the narrowest of gaps between the two pegs and I got neither the pegs or the catch.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 281,900

• A bit more of a struggle that time. I still had a couple of red pegs left at the end that I couldn’t get through to. One more go before I dust off the laser ball.

Attempt #4 - No power ups. Score: 283,570

• Three red pegs left that time. Clearly it's possible without power ups, as I should have done it two goes ago, but I'll get the laser ball out anyway.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball. Score: 649,300 

• The yellow peg was tricky to get to and it took several balls. The laser ball worked well, though, and I was left with mostly high pegs. I played quite a few catches but the points were in the bag already really, and I was only biding my time before I had to take the remaining red pegs.

Level 5 (Clear 35 red pegs from 108 total - Pro target 475k)

The fifth design is a massive speckled egg, cracked into two halves.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 648,920 

• I may have got a little lucky with some of the catches I made, but it didn't seem too hard really. It's quite easy to get sweep shots that take out the curves of the shell, after that the catches weren't too bad.

Level 6 (Score 300k with 30 red pegs and 71 blue - Pro target 425k)

The same design as level 1, but with 5 more red pegs, 75k on the pro target, but just a score now to go for.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 372,720

• I wasn't far off the pro target, which seems quite low. I just need to make three or four more catches and I should be there.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 304,620

• Not as good as last time. I made less catches rather than more. I'll give it one more attempt before I go for a laser ball.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 606,330 

• I got a bit more luck with the early catches that time, although the red pegs didn't seem particularly well placed for bonuses. Catches then got easier as the sea of pegs started to clear. I didn't take the last red peg, although I could have done, but then I didn't need to as it was only a points target.

Level 7 (Clear 40 red pegs from 109 total - Pro target 550k)

The same design as level 4, but with 10 more red pegs and 200k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 1,004,020 

• I was going for a clearance but left one peg behind, but only because the last red peg went off a deflection. I had several balls in hand still. The catches seemed to go my way, and I picked up plenty of bonuses so the pro score never really looked in doubt.

Level 8 (Score 400k with 35 red pegs and 73 blue - Pro target 550k)

The same design as level 5, but with 75k on the pro target and just a score to go for.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 455,400

• I could have done better with the early sweeps, and some of the catching as well. There's definitely room for improvementso it's worth another try.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 615,790 

• I picked up more bonuses that time, mainly down to one or two particularly lucky shots, but they all count.

Level 9 (Clear 45 red pegs from 112 total - Pro target 550k)

The same design as level 3, but with 15 more red pegs and 200k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 588,550

• My catching could have been better, as some of the angles took me by surprise. I only missed a couple of red pegs, and I had enough points for pro.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 909,150 

• I got the yellow peg off the side wall with the first ball, but it took out quite a few other pegs on the left-hand side in the process so I concentrated the laser ball on the opposite side. In doing so, I found a rather marvellous path for it which enjoyed a double rim bounce and took out 44 pegs for just over 340k. I still had 23 red pegs left afterwards and 11 balls to get them with, and of course some of those were blocked off by blue pegs, but it wasn't too tall an order.

Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 84 blue - Pro target 575k)

The same design as level 2, but with 150k on the pro target and a total clearance now required.

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

• A 95% clearance, but there's certainly room for improvement. I could have certainly made more catches than I did, and it took a few shots to get to the yellow peg.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 584,680

• A 94% clearance that time, so very similar to the previous go. I'll give it one more try before I add a Big Bounce.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 683,160

• Just one peg missed that time, so a big improvement. My catching was improved that time. It must have been because the laser ball didn't work as well. Since I was so close, I'll give it one more go with just the laser ball.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 361,630

• That was a pretty poor effort. A 94% clearance, but the score didn't seem to be going anywhere as the bonuses just weren't coming. I'll add a Big Bounce.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 490,890

• The yellow peg was in a dreadful position, low down to the left, and I ended up getting the green peg first, which is never good. Despite all that, I still was in with a shot at the end, but my catching in the last few shots was pretty awful and I only got a 96% clearance.

Attempt #6 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 631,290

• Another tricky yellow peg position put into trouble early on. A 94% clearance after some battling in the endgame.

Attempt #7 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 1,180,610 

• The yellow peg didn't look ideally placed, but I got it with the second ball. I then got a Triple Bucket bonus with the laser ball and caught it for lots of points. The Big Bounce worked particularly well as well. All in all a pretty good attempt.

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	25	101	Reds	10	-	350k	1	445,900	445,900
2	25	109	Reds	10	-	425k	3	532,220	382,693
3	30	112	Reds	10	-	350k	1	464,900	464,900
4	30	109	Reds	10	-	350k	5	649,300	398,560
5	35	108	Reds	10	-	475k	1	648,920	648,920
6	30	101	300k	10	-	425k	3	606,330	427,890
7	40	109	Reds	10	-	550k	1	1,004,020	1,004,020
8	35	108	400k	10	-	550k	2	615,790	535,595
9	45	112	Reds	10	-	550k	2	909,150	748,850
10	25	109	All	10	-	575k	7	1,180,610	648,495