colonyflow Level 13

Overview

Level 13 is a Normal six-color stage whose target picture is a pixel-art pitcher of lemonade with a lemon slice on the rim: orange juice inside (about 36% of tiles), a cyan glass body (about 22%), blue outline and handle (about 13%), red decoration (about 13%), a yellow lemon slice on top (about 11%), and a gray base (about 5%), with tiny black, pink and brown trace accents. The goal is to clear every tile by tapping the number tiles at the bottom so ants carry each color away. Because the tiles are stacked, the blue outline must leave first, then the orange juice and cyan glass, with the yellow lemon and gray base finishing as the bottom layers.

• Difficulty: Regular (Normal)
• Estimated moves: 30–45 taps

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Start by tapping the blue tile. Blue forms the outline and handle of the pitcher and sits on the outer layer, so it is reachable immediately. Tap it and let the ants march to the edge and begin carrying the blue squares away.
2. Next, tap the orange tile. Orange is the juice inside the pitcher — the largest single area on the board — so this is the long stretch of the level. Keep the queue pointed at orange in one continuous push and use the 2x speed-up button in the top-right corner to shorten the wait.
3. While the orange carry is running, clear the tiny black, pink and brown trace tiles opportunistically. They become reachable as the outline comes off; tapping them whenever a slot opens keeps the ants busy without blocking a slot.
4. When orange is mostly gone, tap the cyan tile. Cyan is the glass body of the pitcher and was covered by the juice, so it only becomes reachable now. Clear cyan in one continuous push and keep an eye on the queue.
5. Next, tap the red tile. Red forms the small decoration on the pitcher and is exposed only after cyan finishes. Sweep red in a short bulk push, keeping spare slots free.
6. Then tap the yellow tile. Yellow is the lemon slice on the rim of the pitcher; it becomes reachable once the red decoration is gone. Clear yellow in small batches.
7. Finish with the gray tile. Gray is the base of the pitcher — the bottom layer — so it is the last color to be exposed. Because it is final, the queue can safely be filled with gray to speed up the finish.
8. Keep the five-slot queue under active control: with six main colors sharing five slots, push one main color plus at most one small color at a time, finish a color before starting the next, and never jam all five slots with mixed colors.

Strategy & Reasoning

The level is built around the layered-stacking rule: a color that covers others must be carried away first, and the removal order measured in the solution video is blue, orange, cyan, red, yellow, gray, which matches the geometry of the pitcher. Clearing the blue outline before orange matters because it sits on the outer edge; tapping orange first would leave that outline buried. The queue is the bottleneck — six main colors share only five slots, and the worst mistake is pushing orange and cyan at the same time, which leaves no room for the small traces and forces waiting. The efficient play is to alternate the large orange carry with the small red, yellow and trace colors so the ants are almost never idle. The 2x speed-up button should be active for the long orange juice carry, since that single step accounts for most of the level's waiting time. If the queue jams, the Magnet tool pulls one whole color out of the line, while the Eraser is reserved for a single stuck tile.

Tips & Common Mistakes

• Tapping the cyan glass before the blue outline and orange juice are gone is the classic mistake. The glass tiles are still covered, so the ants have no path to them; always clear the upper colors first.
• Running orange and cyan at the same time jams the five-slot queue and strands the small traces. Finish orange completely before starting cyan.
• Ignoring the tiny black, pink and brown traces leaves slots blocked for no reason. Clear them opportunistically whenever a slot is free, instead of saving them all to the end.

Key Frames