Board 14: Acropolis Heights

This picture shows an acropolis standing on a raised stone plateau at night.

Level 1 (Clear 25 red pegs from 109 total - Pro target 350k)

The first design consists of a solid line across the top of the acropolis, and three more solid lines across the steps at the bottom. These three are all touching so it becomes one thick line. Columns of single round pegs cover the columns of the structure, and more are scattered across the rest of the picture.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 345,060

• The last red peg went off an accidental ricochet when I still had a couple of balls in hand, and a 10k final bucket meant I missed out on a pro score by just under 5k.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 327,070

• I was getting no luck there at all. Nothing was going in the bucket.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 816,070 

• I picked up a lot more catches that time. In fact I went all the way to a total clearance.

Level 2 (Clear 25 red pegs from 106 total - Pro target 375k)

The second design is a pattern slightly reminiscent of mosaic tiles. It has two horizontal lines of staggered rectangular pegs, and between the two there is a meandering path of round pegs. There is another line of round pegs across the bottom and half a dozen more at the top.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 296,700

• I still had a couple of red pegs left at the end. But not too bad for a first attempt.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 406,490 

• That one went a little better, well enough to get me over the line.

Level 3 (Clear 30 red pegs from 70 total - Pro target 400k)

The third design shows two constellations - Orion & Taurus. There are round pegs for the stars and rectangular pegs connecting them together.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 168,350

• A dreadful effort. The ball just didn't want to go in the bucket.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 866,730 

• That was a lot better. I really got my eye in for catches in the endgame. I got down to three red pegs left among 23 in total, and three balls to get them with, but rather than just take out the reds, I picked off the purple one each time, and took out all 23 pegs for the total clearance for the loss of only one more ball.

Level 4 (Clear 35 red pegs from 103 total - Pro target 450k)

The fourth design has an upright line on each side of the acropolis, and five rows of round pegs between them. Two long curved lines lie underneath with a few extra rectangular blocks sitting on top of the curves.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 362,520

• I kept the last ball going for a while, but it wasn't enough. I was still left with a cluster of four red pegs.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 463,020

• Just one red peg left and a high enough score for pro, so very nearly there.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 533,870 

• Another improvement. I had a few balls to spare at the end so I picked up a few purple extras, although I had to make sure I cleared a path through the final red peg.

Level 5 (Clear 25 red pegs from 112 total - Pro target 425k)

The fifth design is of two pillars with a few loose round pegs between them.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 121,980

• My mind really wasn't on that one. The hour is late and fatigue has caught up with me. Off to bed for me and I shall try again tomorrow.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 300,970

• A much better effort than the last one, but still a way to go. I'll give it one more try.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 500,790 

• I got lucky at the end there. I didn't think there was a path through to the final red, so I played towards it, thinking the ball would take out a blue that was in front of it. Only it missed the blue and hit the red. I thought that meant I would finish short of the pro target, but the ball managed to escape the corner and finish in the 100k bucket.

Level 6 (Clear 45 red pegs from 109 total - Pro target 500k)

The same design as level 1, but with 20 more red pegs and 150k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 947,490 

• I jumped straight in with a laser ball, and got a yellow peg nicely at the top so I could play it straight away. I picked up quite a few lucky catches, and quite a few that were played for as well. I took it all the way to a total clearance.

Level 7 (Clear 55 red pegs from 103 total, with a 5s shot-clock - Pro target 650k)

The same design as level 4, but with 20 more red pegs, 200k on the pro target and a five second shot-clock.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 793,640 

• It took me a few shots to get to the yellow peg, but the laser ball did OK considering the reduced number of pegs by that time. I picked up some lucky catches, but most were played for and I needed to make quite a few to make it all the way to another total clearance.

Level 8 (Clear 45 red pegs from 106 total - Pro target 600k)

The same design as level 2, but with 20 more red pegs, and 225k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 568,680

• That was clumsy. I didn't look at my points before I took the last shot. I thought I had enough, but I didn't. I should have taken another purple or two before I finished it.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 887,100 

• Another total clearance. It took a few shots to get through to the yellow peg, but my catching today is going pretty well, and this was no exception.

Level 9 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 45 blue, with only 7 balls - Pro target 475k)

The same design as level 3, but with 5 less red pegs, three less balls, 75k on the pro target and a total clearance now required.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 185,560

• Only a 73% clearance, so some improvement needed. A new path for the laser ball would be a good start as my standard one doesn't work very well.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 631,280 

• The new path for the laser ball was a big improvement, and my catching was back up to its usual standard.

Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 87 blue - Pro target 600k)

The same design as level 5, but with 175k on the pro target and a total clearance now required.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 891,990 

• The yellow peg was available immediately, and the laser ball worked well. After that it was just a matter of making lots of catches, which I did. Some of them were lucky, of course, but most were intended.

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	25	109	Reds	10	-	350k	3	816,070	496,066
2	25	106	Reds	10	-	375k	2	406,490	351,595
3	30	70	Reds	10	-	400k	2	866,730	517,540
4	35	103	Reds	10	-	450k	3	533,870	453,136
5	25	112	Reds	10	-	425k	3	500,790	307,913
6	45	109	Reds	10	-	500k	1	947,490	947,490
7	55	103	Reds	10	5s	650k	1	793,640	793,640
8	45	106	Reds	10	-	600k	2	887,100	727,890
9	25	70	All	7	-	475k	2	631,280	408,420
10	25	112	All	10	-	600k	1	891,990	891,990