colonyflow Level 87

Overview

Level 87 is one of the longest Normal stages, built around a white pixel-art dog wearing an orange spiky crown, set against a bright cyan background. Cyan covers nearly half the board as the background, red is the second layer, orange forms the crown and body accents, and brown and blue are the smaller outline colors, with tiny trace colors scattered on top. The tiles are stacked in layers, so the clearing follows the character from the outside in: cyan leaves first, then red, then orange, then brown, and blue finishes at the bottom. With a four-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 cyan. Cyan is the outermost background layer of the whole character picture, so nothing underneath it can be carried away until the backdrop tiles are gone. Tap the cyan tile and let the ants begin the long background clear.
2. Move to red next. Red sits just inside the cyan layer, and clearing it exposes the middle of the character. Keep the queue on one color at a time so the small tiles below do not get stuck.
3. Work the orange phase. Orange forms the crown and body accents and was covered by the outer colors, so it only becomes reachable now. Clear orange in one continuous push and use the 2x speed-up button to shorten the wait.
4. Work brown next. Brown tiles were covered by the brighter colors, so they only become reachable in the middle of the level. Clear brown in one push and keep an eye on the queue.
5. Clear the trace colors (gray, yellow, black, pink) as they are exposed. These small accents hide inside the character, and the efficient play is to spend free queue slots on them immediately so they never block a slot during the long main pushes.
6. Finish with blue. Blue is 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 and let the ants finish the board. The character disappears completely and the level-complete overlay with five white input slots appears.

Strategy & Reasoning

The removal order is dictated by the layer geometry: cyan covers the backdrop, red and orange sit on the middle layers, and blue is the bottom layer, so the sequence cyan → red → orange → brown → blue keeps the ants on reachable tiles. Cyan is the strategic bottleneck — it is nearly half the picture, and the correct play is to give it a long uninterrupted run while using spare queue slots for the small trace colors. Running cyan and red at the same time fills the five slots and stalls the ants. Because the level runs over four 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 cyan and red at the same time jams the five slots and stalls the board. Finish the background 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 cyan phase.

Key Frames