colonyflow Level 22

Overview

Level 22 is a Normal six-color stage whose target picture is a pixel-art cupcake with purple frosting: a red paper wrapper (about 33% of tiles), yellow candle on top (about 19%), pink decoration (about 18%), purple frosting (about 17%), gray shading (about 8%), and orange outline (about 6%), with tiny blue, black 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 purple frosting must leave first, then the red wrapper, with the orange outline finishing as the bottom layer.

• Difficulty: Regular (Normal)
• Estimated moves: 25–40 taps

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Start by tapping the purple tile. Purple forms the frosting on top of the cupcake and sits on the outer layer, so it is reachable immediately. Tap it and let the ants march to the frosting and begin carrying the purple squares away.
2. Next, tap the red tile. Red is the paper wrapper of the cupcake — the largest single area on the board — so this is the long stretch of the level. Keep the queue pointed at red in one continuous push and use the 2x speed-up button in the top-right corner to shorten the wait.
3. While the red carry is running, clear the tiny blue, black and brown trace tiles opportunistically. They become reachable as the wrapper comes off; tapping them whenever a slot opens keeps the ants busy without blocking a slot.
4. When red is mostly gone, tap the yellow tile. Yellow is the candle on top of the cupcake and was covered by the frosting, so it only becomes reachable now. Clear yellow in one short push.
5. Next, tap the pink tile. Pink is the decoration on the cupcake and is exposed only after yellow finishes. Sweep pink in a moderate push, keeping spare slots free.
6. Then tap the gray tile. Gray forms the shading on the cupcake; it becomes reachable once pink is gone. Clear gray in small batches.
7. Finish with the orange tile. Orange is the thin outline around the cupcake — the bottom layer — so it is the last color to be exposed. Because it is final, the queue can safely be filled with orange 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 purple, red, yellow, pink, gray, orange, which matches the geometry of the cupcake. Clearing purple before red matters because the frosting sits on top; tapping red first would leave that small tile buried. The queue is the bottleneck — six main colors share only five slots, and the worst mistake is pushing red and pink at the same time, which leaves no room for the small traces and forces waiting. The efficient play is to alternate the large red carry with the small yellow, pink, gray and trace colors so the ants are almost never idle. The 2x speed-up button should be active for the long red wrapper 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 red wrapper before the purple frosting is gone is the classic mistake. The wrapper tiles are still covered, so the ants have no path to them; always clear purple first.
• Running red and pink at the same time jams the five-slot queue and strands the small traces. Finish red completely before starting pink.
• Ignoring the tiny blue, black 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