colonyflow Level 138

Overview

Level 138 is a Normal five-color stage built around a mushroom picture — a purple and yellow mushroom on green grass. Yellow covers half the board, followed by green and orange in the middle layers, with gray and purple as the smaller accent colors and tiny trace colors scattered on top. The tiles are stacked in layers, so the clearing follows the mushroom from the outside in: yellow leaves first, then gray, then green, then purple, and orange finishes at the bottom. With yellow dominating the board, queue discipline is the whole challenge.

• Difficulty: Regular (Normal)
• Estimated moves: 20–30 taps

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Open with yellow. Yellow is the outermost background layer and covers half the board, so nothing underneath it can be carried away until the backdrop tiles are gone. Tap the yellow tile and let the ants begin the very long background clear.
2. Move to gray next. Gray is the mushroom spots and was covered by the yellow, so it only becomes reachable now. Clear gray in one push.
3. Work the green phase. Green is the grass and was covered by the outer colors, so it only becomes reachable in the middle of the level. Clear green in one continuous push and use the 2x speed-up button to shorten the wait.
4. Work purple next. Purple is the mushroom cap and was covered by the brighter colors, so it only becomes reachable now. Clear purple in one push.
5. Clear the trace colors (cyan, pink, red, blue, brown, black) as they are exposed. These small accents hide inside the mushroom, and the efficient play is to spend free queue slots on them immediately so they never block a slot during the long yellow push.
6. Finish with orange. Orange is the mushroom stem and the bottom layer of the picture, so it only becomes reachable at the very end. Sweep it in bulk; since it is the final color, it is safe to fill the queue with orange and let the ants finish the board. The mushroom disappears completely and the level-complete overlay with five white input slots appears.

Strategy & Reasoning

The removal order is dictated by the layer geometry: yellow covers the backdrop, gray sits on the mushroom spots, and orange is the bottom stem, so the sequence yellow → gray → green → purple → orange keeps the ants on reachable tiles. Yellow is the strategic bottleneck — it is half the board, and the correct play is to give it a long uninterrupted run while using spare queue slots for the small trace colors. Running yellow and green at the same time fills the five slots and stalls the ants. The speed-up button should stay active for the whole yellow phase, and tools like Magnet and Lightning exist only to rescue a jammed queue.

Tips & Common Mistakes

• Running yellow and green at the same time jams the five slots and stalls the board. Finish the backdrop before starting the grass.
• Ignoring the small trace colors until the queue is full leaves an unmatchable tile blocking the line. Clear every exposed accent immediately with a free slot.
• Forgetting the speed-up button on the long yellow phase wastes time. Keep the 2x speed active for the whole background clear.

Key Frames