colonyflow Level 1

Overview

Level 1 is the tutorial level of Colony Flow, and it teaches the single most important rule of the game: remove colors from the outside in. The target picture is a five-pointed starfish made of three nested layers — an orange outer outline (number tiles 12 and 14), a yellow middle body (number tile 15, three copies), and a white 3×4 center block (number tile 4, three copies). The goal is to clear every tile off the board by tapping the number tiles at the bottom, which sends ants out to carry the matching color away. With only three colors and a very short solution video, the level is relaxed, but it establishes the layered-stacking mechanic that every later level builds on.

• Difficulty: Easy (tutorial)
• Estimated moves: 8–10 taps

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Tap the orange tile labeled 12 first. The orange pieces form the outermost outline of the starfish, and because they sit on top of everything else they are the only tiles the ants can reach at the start. Watch the ants march to the outer edge and begin carrying the orange squares away.
2. When the first batch of orange has mostly cleared, tap the orange tile labeled 14. Orange comes in two batches — 12 and 14 — and this second tap finishes the outer ring. Do not move on to the yellow center until every orange piece is gone; any leftover orange keeps covering the inner layers and blocks the ants.
3. Next, tap the yellow tile labeled 15. With the outer ring gone, the yellow body of the starfish is now exposed. Tap it and keep the queue pointed at yellow while the ants strip the middle layer. At this point the game shows a "Use Speed Up to make auto go faster!" prompt — tap the 2x button in the top-right corner to double the ants' speed and cut the waiting time roughly in half.
4. Finally, tap the white tile labeled 4 three times. The white 3×4 center is the innermost layer, so it is always cleared last. As each white tap emptes another section of the center, the board opens up further; when the last white tile is carried away, the level completes and the board is fully cleared.
5. Throughout the level, keep an eye on the five-slot queue at the bottom of the screen. With three colors the queue never jams, but the habit to build here is to finish one color before starting the next, so the ants always have a clear single target and no slot ever gets blocked.

Strategy & Reasoning

Colony Flow stacks tiles in layers: an outer tile physically covers the tiles underneath it, so ants can only ever reach the topmost layer first. That is why the removal order must follow the geometry of the picture — outermost color first, innermost color last. Tapping the white center at the start would simply do nothing useful, because the orange and yellow layers would still be covering it and the ants would have no open path to the inner tiles. Working outside-in also keeps the queue small: because each color is finished completely before the next begins, the five slots never fill with mixed colors, and there is never a moment where an unremovable tile blocks a slot. The speed-up button is worth using the moment it appears: the ants' carrying time is pure waiting, and doubling it on a tutorial level makes the whole stage finish in well under half a minute.

Tips & Common Mistakes

• Tapping the inner white center first is the classic mistake on this level. The white tiles are buried under two layers, so the ants cannot reach them; always clear orange and yellow before touching white.
• Starting a new color while the previous one is still in the queue splits the ants' attention and can block slots later on. Finish orange and yellow completely before tapping white.
• Forgetting the 2x speed-up prompt wastes time. Tap it as soon as the ants start their first long carry; it costs nothing and speeds up the entire level.

Key Frames