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Courtesy of Macrom (imagez (and pluralz) by GooRoo)

These are strategiez used in solving the quest levelz. Very few, if any, will apply to battle levelz. Some of these strategiez are obvious, but presented because I wanted them to be.

As usual, these strategiez are not hard and fast rulez, they are guidelines: techniquez to fall back on when you're stumped with a particular puzzle. There are probably exceptionz to each one.

NOTE: In the discussion below, I refer to things as they are in Rocky Roadz or their first appearance. For instance, when I mention rockz, I mean dice in High Rollerz and sugar cubez in Honey, I Shrunk the Gruntz! I also assume that you know the difference between a hold switch and a one-time switch , and what the effectz of different colored brickz are, etc.

BREAK THINGS

  • You may break brickz , small rockz , and


    giant rockz.
  • You break thingz with gauntletz , bombz , and time-bombz .
  • Sometimez you don't have the proper tool to break something, but are able to acquire one later. In that case, return to the rock and break it.
  • In other casez you won't be able to get the required toolz, but an enemy bomb or time-bomb grunt is nearby. Here, you must lure the enemy grunt to the object you want broken.
  • For an enemy bomb grunt, get between him and your target, move close enough to the grunt to get him to charge you and get out of the way. The grunt will charge until he runz into your target and explodez, also breaking the target object. You only have to get the grunt to explode adjacent to your target, so you could have him run into a wall near the object.
  • For an enemy time-bomb grunt, lure him to the target object and let him attack you while you are next to it. After he placez the time-bomb, get out of the way. The time-bomb will explode and break the object. This method may be repeated as often as desired.
  • Rockz may conceal useful objectz. Objectz include Coinz , Toolz, Toyz, Power-upz, Switchez, and Teleporter triggerz. They may also contain hazardz or other obstaclez, such as Pyramidz . Sometimez the objectz are required to finish the level; other timez they are required to find the secretz or obtain the perfect result.
  • Breaking brickz usually allowz you to progress in the level.
  • There are timez you don't want to break brickz, particularly the colored onez which may destroy your gauntletz or grunt(z) . Other timez, you must sacrifice the gauntletz or grunt to proceed.
  • A rock may be hidden behind a landscape object, such as a tree. Sometimez you may be able to see part of it. Other timez, it will be completely hidden and you must move your cursor over the square to see if something breakable is there.
  • Only a few casez exist where you never have the opportunity to break an object. In those casez, there isn't anything under them anyway. Otherwise, a perfect score would not be possible.

DIG/FILL MOUNDS

  • You can either dig up a mound or fill in a hole by using the shovel.
  • A hole will alwayz turn into a mound when a shovel is used, but a mound can turn into (almost) anything else!
  • A "Magic Shovel" can turn a hole into a mound ... with something in it! So you may want to dig again.
  • Digging a mound can reveal the same thingz as breaking rockz. Therefore, many of the strategiez for breaking thingz apply to moundz.
  • You may be able to lure an enemy digger grunt to a filled mound. He will then proceed to empty the mound. I have never seen a digger grunt fill a hole.
  • If you fill a mound, you won't accidentally fall into it.
  • Teleporter triggerz may be hidden over an empty mound. You must fill the mound (or sacrifice a grunt) to activate the trigger.
  • Be sure to fill an empty mound before you move a grunt onto it to pick up an object.

GIVE TOOLZ TO BARE-HANDED GRUNTZ

  • In general, you should give toolz to a grunt with no tool as giving one to a grunt that already has a tool discardz the previous tool.
  • When all your gruntz have toolz, look ahead in the level to see which grunt you should give it to. Sometimez a checkpoint will make your decision for you. Other timez, upcoming puzzlez (such as moundz, brickz, etc.) will aid your decision. When in doubt, save your game. You can restore later if you made the wrong decision.

GIVE TOYZ TO GRUNTZ ONLY WHEN NECESSARY

  • A toy may be carried by one Grunt, and passed off to another Grunt.
    You can usually wait to distribute a toy to a grunt until you need to.
    This is especially true if the toy is in the resource section of the sidebar.
  • The same strategiez for distributing toolz apply to distributing toyz, that is, give a toy to a Grunt that doez not already have one, as the previous toy will be discarded.
  • A scroll countz as a toy, so do not give a scroll to a grunt carrying a toy!

LOOK AHEAD

  • If you have a choice to make as to the direction to go, or what toolz or toyz to give to gruntz, look ahead to see what you may need. Chancez are, you'll see something important and be able to make better decisionz.

GO AHEAD, SAVE YOUR GAME LIKE A LITTLE BABY

  • Save your game before a difficult puzzle. This letz you retry the puzzle until you solve it. This is especially useful if you have trouble with a particular type of puzzle (e.g., those involving timing).
  • Saving your game makez recovery from simple mistakez much less painful. Simple mistakez include walking into a empty mound and cutting a corner over death tilez.
  • Use a saved game to observe the action of timed pyramidz that you cannot re-activate (e.g., Mini Golf 3).

LOOK FOR UNUSUAL LANDSCAPE

  • This is particularly useful for finding secretz, and can be the most frustrating part of the game. It is also the strategy that is most overlooked.
  • Unusual landscape could be moundz or background art in the shape of an arrow or question mark, or surrounding an empty tile. These scream secret.
  • Look for interactive objectz (especially arrowz) that seem to serve no purpose, they sometimez point you in the right direction.
  • Out of the way areas where there is no reason to send a grunt to can also contain secretz. These include dead-end pathz, small inletz in lakez and the like.

MINIMIZE FLYING TIME

  • Unlike other toolz, wingz are an expendable commodity. Unlike power-upz, you decide how long they may last. You can only use them so long before they fall off.
  • Do not use your wingz unless you must. In some puzzlez, you only have enough flight time to solve the puzzle. If you do any unnecessary flying, you won't be able to solve the puzzle.
  • If you need to fly both horizontally and vertically, fly diagonally instead. Flying diagonally countz as one square, if you flew horizontally, then vertically (or vice versa) it would use two squarez.
  • Sometimez you can eyeball a shortest path to your destination. Other timez, it helpz to trace your path with the cursor and count the squarez to find the shortest path.
  • When looking for a shortest path, be sure to try different take-off and landing squarez.
  • Renewable Wingz? It has been discovered that certain actionz renew the flying time of a Wingz grunt, such as playing with a toy, or consuming Zap Cola. (Likely not intended by the game designerz.)

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

  • When a puzzle involvez timing, watch the action to find the proper path through the danger. A saved game will help if you'd actually like to try sending a grunt through to see what happenz.
  • Some puzzlez (especially secretz) cannot be solved when you first run into them because you don't have the proper toolz. You must move on and then return when you finally get the toolz you need. Take a moment and think of wayz to solve the puzzle with the toolz you have and even toolz you don't have. If you can easily solve the puzzle with a tool you don't have, and it's available later, that may be the solution.
  • Sometimez, however, patience will fail. Certain puzzlez in the game require you to act in a timely manner or you won't be able to solve the puzzle (e.g., the 8-ball on the outer track in Rollerz 4).

LET OTHERS DO THE DIRTY WORK

  • If one of your gruntz can't do what you want, see if you can get an enemy grunt to do it for you. For instance, a bomb grunt may blow up a rock or a shovel grunt may empty a mound.
  • You may need to let a rolling object activate the switch you need or destroy those pesky enemy gruntz.
  • You can get an enemy grunt to move by luring it toward one of your gruntz. Depending on the enemy gruntz' range, you may have to get quite close. You must move outside the grunt's range to get him to stop chasing you.
  • You can also move a grunt with boxing glovez or the sponge gun. Either of these could push the grunt onto a switch, arrow, or teleporter.
  • You can sponge your own gruntz if you target an empty square and then move the grunt to be hit into it before the ball getz there. To target an empty square, activate the gun and click on the empty square. This is useful when you need to move your grunt over an arrow that is pointing in the wrong direction.

THE LEVEL DESIGNERS ARE LAZY

  • Just kidding, but they don't often put thingz in a level that don't have a use.
  • If you see something, chancez are there's a use for it. It could be something that is needed to complete the level, a key to a secret, or just a hint. There are a few casez where this is not true, but I haven't found that many.

SUICIDE BOMBER 'QUIRKZ'

  • The Suicidebomber grunt can run (diagonally) between Pyramidz and other (usually) impassable objectz!
  • Also, he has a short "attention span", and if a toy is placed in his path, he will stop and play with it, and forget to complete his mission.
  • These thingz are true for both enemy gruntz, and your own grunt(z).
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Last modified: January 1, 2024 by GooRoo
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