colonyflow Level 20

Overview

Level 20 is the first Super Hard stage in the set: a strawberry cream cake built from an enormous pink background and cream layer (by far the most numerous color), a red strawberry and cake body, a yellow bottom cake layer, a brown chocolate outline, a green leaf on top, and a purple blueberry accent. The real challenge here is queue management — pink tiles cover everything and come in such large batches that the five-slot queue fills with pink almost immediately, leaving no room for the small upper colors. The correct strategy is to clear every small upper color first, then methodically work through the pink background in multiple passes, always keeping one or two slots free.

• Difficulty: Hard (Super Hard)
• Estimated moves: 60–90 taps

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Start by tapping the green tile. Green is the strawberry leaf on top of the cake — the smallest color in the whole level — and it sits on the very top layer. Clear it first so it never gets buried under the pink cream.
2. Next, tap the purple tile. Purple is the blueberry accent next to the strawberry; it is also small and standalone. Clear it immediately after the leaf.
3. Now tap the brown tile. Brown forms the chocolate outline around the cake and covers the red and yellow layers underneath, so it must be removed before either of those colors is touched. Clear brown in one continuous push and use the 2x speed-up button in the top-right corner.
4. When brown is mostly gone, tap the red tile. Red is the strawberry and upper cake body; it was covered by the brown outline, so it only becomes reachable now. Clear red in one push, keeping an eye on the queue.
5. Next, tap the yellow tile. Yellow is the bottom cake layer and is exposed only after red finishes. Sweep yellow in a moderate push, keeping spare slots free.
6. Now for the pink — this is the long final stretch. Pink covers the whole background and cream layer, so it must be worked in multiple passes. Tap pink once, then immediately tap any small remaining color to finish it instantly, keeping 1–2 slots free. Repeat this cycle until the pink background is gone.
7. Throughout the pink stretch, never fill all five slots with pink. The moment a slot opens, push pink, then push a small color to free it again. If the queue does jam, use the Magnet tool to pull the offending color, or the Lightning tool to clear a small area, and reserve the Eraser for a single stuck tile.

Strategy & Reasoning

The level is designed around the queue bottleneck: pink is so numerous that tapping it early would fill all five slots for a full carry, leaving no way to clear the small leaf, blueberry and outline tiles that are still reachable. The removal order measured in the solution video is green, purple, brown, red, yellow, pink, which matches the geometry of the cake exactly. Clearing the small upper colors first is not just cosmetic — it frees the queue so that when the long pink sweep begins, there are no buried small tiles blocking slots. The 2x speed-up button should be active for the brown, red and pink carries, since those account for most of the level's waiting time. The key habit to build here is alternating a large color with a finishable small color, so the ants are almost never idle and a slot is always available.

Tips & Common Mistakes

• Tapping pink early is the classic Super Hard failure: it fills all five slots with a long pink carry, and the leaf, blueberry and outline tiles get buried and stall the board. Clear every small upper color first.
• Filling all five slots with pink at once leaves no room for small colors. Always keep 1–2 slots free and alternate pink with a finishable small color.
• Forgetting the bottom tools in a jam. When the queue is blocked, use the Magnet on the stuck color first — it pulls every tile of that color and frees slots instantly; Lightning is the backup for a messy cluster.

Key Frames