colonyflow Level 78

Overview

Level 78 is one of the longer Normal stages, built around a cute pixel-art penguin picture — a blue penguin with a white face set against a bright pink framed background. Pink is the largest area of the picture, followed by cyan, orange, yellow and red in the middle layers, with blue and gray as the smaller accent colors and tiny trace colors scattered on top. The tiles are stacked in layers, so the clearing follows the penguin from the outside in: pink leaves first, then cyan, orange, yellow and red, then blue, and gray finishes at the bottom. With seven colors and a three-plus-minute run, queue discipline and the speed-up button matter more than anywhere else.

• Difficulty: Regular (Normal)
• Estimated moves: 35–50 taps

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Open with pink. Pink is the outermost background layer of the whole penguin picture, so nothing underneath it can be carried away until the backdrop tiles are gone. Tap the pink tile and let the ants begin the long background clear.
2. Move to cyan next. Cyan forms the penguin's body and sits just inside the pink layer. Clear it in one long push, use the 2x speed-up button, and keep the queue from filling with any second color while the ants run.
3. Work the orange and yellow phases. Orange and yellow form the feet and shading and were covered by the outer colors, so they only become reachable now. Clear them one after another in continuous pushes.
4. Clear red and the trace colors (brown, black, green) as they are exposed. These small accents hide inside the picture, and the efficient play is to spend free queue slots on them immediately so they never block a slot during the long main pushes.
5. Work blue next. Blue tiles were covered by the brighter colors, so they only become reachable in the late game. Clear blue in one push and keep an eye on the queue.
6. Finish with gray. Gray is the bottom outline 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 and let the ants finish the board. The penguin disappears completely and the level-complete overlay with five white input slots appears.

Strategy & Reasoning

The removal order is dictated by the layer geometry: pink covers the backdrop, cyan and orange sit on the middle layers, and gray is the bottom layer, so the sequence pink → cyan → orange → yellow → red → blue → gray keeps the ants on reachable tiles. Pink and cyan are the strategic bottlenecks — they are the two largest areas, and the correct play is to give each a long uninterrupted run while using spare queue slots for the small trace colors. With seven colors and only five queue slots, the worst mistake is pushing two large colors at once, which leaves no room for small colors and forces waiting. Because the level runs over three minutes, the speed-up button should stay active for the whole duration, and tools like Magnet and Lightning exist only to rescue a jammed queue.

Tips & Common Mistakes

• Running pink and cyan at the same time jams the five slots and stalls the board. Finish the outer layers before starting the body color.
• 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 such a long level wastes minutes. Keep the 2x speed active for the whole pink and cyan phases.

Key Frames