colonyflow Level 97

Overview

Level 97 is a Normal seven-color stage built around a treasure map picture — red treasure chests with gold coins on a tan background. Red is the largest area of the picture, followed by brown and orange in the middle layers, with blue, cyan, yellow and black as the smaller accent colors and tiny trace colors scattered on top. The tiles are stacked in layers, so the clearing follows the chests from the outside in: brown leaves first, then red, then orange and blue, then cyan and yellow, and black finishes at the bottom. With seven colors and a four-minute run, queue discipline and the speed-up button are the whole challenge.

• Difficulty: Regular (Normal)
• Estimated moves: 35–45 taps

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Open with brown. Brown is the outermost outline layer of the treasure chests, so nothing underneath it can be carried away until it is gone. Tap the brown tile and let the ants start the outer clear.
2. Move to red next. Red is the chest bodies and the largest area of the picture, so this is the long stretch of the level. Tap red, use the 2x speed-up button to shorten the repeated waiting, and keep the queue from filling with any second color while the ants run.
3. Work the orange phase. Orange tiles were covered by the outer colors, so they only become reachable now. Clear orange in one continuous push and keep an eye on the queue.
4. Work blue and cyan next. These middle colors were covered by the brighter outer colors, so they become reachable one after another. Clear them one at a time in continuous pushes.
5. Clear the trace colors (gray, pink, purple) as they are exposed. These small accents hide inside the treasure map, and the efficient play is to spend free queue slots on them immediately so they never block a slot during the long red push.
6. Finish with yellow and black. These are the bottom layers of the picture, so they only become reachable at the very end. Sweep them in bulk; since they are the final colors, it is safe to fill the queue and let the ants finish the board. The treasure chests disappear completely and the level-complete overlay with five white input slots appears.

Strategy & Reasoning

The removal order is dictated by the layer geometry: brown and red cover the chests, orange and blue sit on the middle layers, and black is the bottom layer, so the sequence brown → red → orange → blue → cyan → yellow → black keeps the ants on reachable tiles. Red is the strategic bottleneck — it is the largest single area, and the correct play is to give it 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. The efficient play is to alternate a main color with small trace colors so the ants are almost never idle, and to save Magnet and Lightning only for rescuing a jammed queue.

Tips & Common Mistakes

• Running red and orange at the same time jams the five slots and stalls the board. Finish the chest bodies before starting the accent 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 red phase.

Key Frames