Bamboo Break... Instructions, Strategies, Combined member tips and tricks UPDATED 1/9 2:00pm KT BEGINNER TIPS ADDED! UPDATE: Trophy NOT KP or Sellable!

[twinmom1998]

Bamboo Break is a Tetris clone so those of you who are familiar with Tetris will have a head start on this game. Tetris was the game that first hooked me on PC games and I used to play it for HOURS at a time. I have a version for my PC, my Palm, my phone, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS (can you tell I like this game LOL). There is a RANDOM chance of winning a trophy at the end of the game (12 levels). Williamson_39 has a wonderful thread that explains this and ALL random trophies in Webkinz World: http://www.webkinzinsider.com/forum/...z-t169118.html. WI Member Jillion has provided an in-depth statistical analysis of the odds of winning and average length of game completions to win this trophy in this post on that thread http://www.webkinzinsider.com/forum/...&postcount=293

It seems that at this time that only one trophy can be won per account.

UPDATE FROM WILDHUNT:

Originally Posted by wildhunt

Said "Sorry, This item cannot be sold" and not sure on the other question [CAN YOU WIN MORE THAN ONCE?].... will have to try to get another one..... ideally I want 3, 2 for my asian room and 1 for my trophy room... maybe when I have the time and am not "Tetris'd-Out"

As suggested by EXOTERIC, I will try to put a video up on YouTube so others can see the strategy I use in placing pieces.

Congrats to WI member Gauda for being the first to win the trophy! Here is her thread with a picture of the trophy winning screen and the trophy next to the Cash Cow one for comparison. Gauda let us know that the trophy can NOT be kinzposted or traded in the trade room -->http://www.webkinzinsider.com/forum/...k-t452395.html<--

Mootoyou suggested that we e-mail Ganz and protest that the trophy isn't able to send via Kinzpost. It worked with the competition trophies so let's see if we can't get them to change the Bamboo Break trophy!!!

Originally Posted by mootooyou

to send an email about it go to customer

• support,
• comments and suggestions,
• our questions does not appear above (then there is a form you can fill out)

fill it out about the treasures of the sea and the bamboo break trophies not being kinzpostable!!

Tips and tricks combined from other WI members follow the pictures below...



Here are the "In-Game Instructions" :







OBJECT OF THE GAME:

The object of the game is to clear rows of blocks by completing a row with no "holes" in it using the pieces falling from the top. Thanks to WILDHUNT for letting us know that there are 12 levels at the game. See the picture at the bottom of this post for Wildhunt's "end of game" picture!

GENERAL TIPS:
You can move and rotate the blocks using your arrow keys or the number keypad as shown in the picture above. The up arrow rotates your piece. Left and right arrows shift the piece the the right to left. The space bar will put the piece currently falling into the "HOLD" box. Only one piece at a time can be on hold. Hitting the space bar again takes the piece out of the hold box and starts it at the top of the "well." This can be handy in higher levels since it gives you a slight amount of extra time to place the piece and when the pieces are coming fast and furious every second counts! One advantage to using the number keypad instead of the arrows is that you can choose the direction your piece will rotate! The up arrow key will only rotate clockwise, but on the number keypad you use the "1" to rotate counter-clockwise and the "3" to rotate clockwise. If you're good enough at using those two instead of the up arrow it might be helpful in higher levels where you don't have much time to change the orientation of your piece!

The most important general rule to follow when playing is to plan where you will put the next piece, while the current piece is falling. If you aren't watching what pieces come next (the pieces pictured on the left of the screen) on lower levels, you won't be able to play effectively on the lower levels, and the pieces will fall too fast on the higher levels for you to play at all. On the fastest levels, if you wait until the next piece is on the screen, it's often too late to place it where you want it.

The more lines you clear at one time, the more points you get.

There are "challenges" that that award various "prizes." I have seen 4 types of prizes so far: More points in your game, less lines to complete (indicated by "Bamboo Left"), lines erased from the "well," and Bonus Tokens awarded. Bonus Tokens give you a greater chance of winning the trophy when you pass level 12 (the end of the game). There are different strategies to use for the different challenges. See the Challenge section below for more.

There is a "ghost piece" at the bottom of the well to show you where the falling piece is going to land. Use that "ghost" to help you maneuver your piece to the right spot.

Once your piece is positioned, you can use the down arrow to drop it into place without having to wait for it to "float" down. I suspect (but haven't had time to confirm) that, like Tetris, if you drop the piece down instead of waiting for it to fall by itself you will get higher points. I will test this theory and update soon. (If someone else has time to test this first... I'll quote you on this page.)

Note, just like Tetris, you can slide the falling piece to the right or left to fill in a hole left from another piece! As asia1998 points out, you can still slide the piece in to fill in a gap/hole after you drop it but you have to do it quickly before the piece is "set."

Originally Posted by asia1998

Hello everyone! I got to level 12 and ended up with 264 kinz cash. I like the big $ games!!! One bad move in that level and there is no saving yourself! They come down sooo fast! Anyways, I just wanted to add a little something. Just wanted to let you know that you don't have to wait [for a piece to slowly drop]. You can still hit the down arrow and then when it goes to the bottom just hit the over button.

You want the pieces to build up in a solid wall without creating any holes. This is a skill that you must develop over time. You will have to develop an eye to quickly find where the pieces can fit.

When I watch others playing Tetris I see them make this error over and over. They will place a piece that creates a hole in the wall when there was a groove that it fit into perfectly. Use the preview of the pieces coming up to plan ahead. To get really good scores you must learn not to place the piece that is falling until you are sure it will allow you to place the one after as well. You must avoid creating holes. So sometimes you must place the falling piece in an place that you normally wouldn't, so as to afford the next piece a place that it fits. Not as hard as it sounds. Remember you are still only mentally fitting one piece in the same amount of time. You are just one step ahead, thats all.

Overhangs are bad but holes are worse. Sometimes no matter what you do there just isn't a good place to place that next piece. When this happens you must minimize the damage. The object is to create a solid wall with no holes or overhangs; once you create a hole it is impossible to get rid of it until you clear the blocks above it. If you create an overhang instead of a hole then at least there is a chance that it won't create a hole. You can sometimes fill in overhangs later by sliding pieces left or right as they fall.

As you get to higher levels you will need to abandon the attempt to make 4 rows at a time and concentrate on keeping the wall totally knocked down to the very bottom as much as possible. Once the pieces start falling this fast you will need the most amount of time possible to place it correctly.

When you get a bad piece that forces you to create a hole in your wall, it is best to deal with that quickly. Don't wait till later to get rid of it, go ahead and try not to place anything on top of it. Clear the piece ASAP! This usually means only one or two rows cleared at a time and less points but it's better to eliminate the holes than to make more KC.


FOR BEGINNERS!
If you are playing Bamboo Break for the first time, it is best to concentrate on just completing one row at a time. Use the upcoming piece preview on the left of the screen to help you plan where to put your pieces. Learning how to rotate and move the pieces and using the "ghost piece" to help you place them is key. Once you have mastered those skills, then you can move on to practicing until the keystrokes become automatic for you. Don't worry about dropping the pieces or taking on challenges until you are comfortable. Once you have a good feel for placing the pieces and the keystrokes come automatically, then you are ready to tackle the challenges and progressing to higher levels. Best of luck! And we are always here to cheer you on in your efforts or sympathize with you on the frustrations!


In game play:
The Game Screen


There are several components to the game screen.





The top row:

• SCORE: You receive 1 KinzCash for every 110 points you get.
• BAMBOO LEFT: This tells you how many rows you need to clear to complete the level
• LEVEL: What level you are currently playing (there are 12 levels in this game, in each one the bamboo falls faster until they are raining down like cats and dogs!)
• W: The amount of KinzCash you have earned
• (RED BAMBOO PIECE}: This turns off the "Ghost Piece" or Drop Help as WW calls it
• (PURPLE MUSICAL NOTE): Toggle music on/off (Some people find the music helps calm them at faster levels. I prefer NO distractions!)
• X: End the game

The Main Screen:

• NEXT The far left column shows you the pieces that are coming up in the game. Use this to help you plan where to place your pieces!
• THE WELL To the right of the NEXT column. I cal this the WELL since that is the term that Tetris uses. This is where all the action takes place. pieces of bamboo fall from the top of the well and you need to rotate and maneuver them left to right to fit well with the pieces already dropped to form solid lines of bamboo (color does NOT matter) to clear them before the bamboo reaches the top of the screen. There are 6 different game pieces each with 4 bamboo segments in different shapes.
  • "1" Dk. Blue. Long straight piece made of segments in a line.
  • "F" Purple
  • "L" Green
  • "Z" Teal
  • "S" Green
  • "BOX" Red
  The "Ghost" Piece shows where the piece in play will land with it's current orientation.
• HOLD: When you use the space bar or 0 key on the number pad, the piece that is currently falling down the will will be put into the HOLD box.
• BONUS CHIPS:The number of bonus chips you have earned completing challenges. The more chips, the better your odds of winning a trophy at the end of the game.
• CHALLENGE:If there is a challenge, it will show up in this box. It tells you what the challenge is, how long you have to complete it (TIME) and what the bonus will be (PRIZE)

Challenges:



There are a number of challenges throughout the game. Complete the challenge to earn a prize. The prizes I've seen are Extra points, Lines Cleared, Bamboo Cleared, and BONUE TOKENS. Bonus tokens give you better odds of winning the trophy at the completion of level 12.





Some of the challenges I've seen are

• Clear 6 lines (not all at once, but 6 lines within the allotted time)
• Clear 5 lines (not all at once) (Thank you ClaraZ25 for point this one out)
• Clear EXACTLY 4 lines at once
• Clear EXACTLY 3 lines at once

Originally Posted by sydney88

*On the 3rd and 4th row challenges (where it's all at once) - it has to be exact. The challenge says it has to be exactly 3 rows, and they don't have to be all grouped together; as long as they are eliminated at the same time. (I had a hole between the three rows, and it still worked).

Originally Posted by sno4270

First of all, I tried to see if there was a pattern to the challenges, but there wasn't that I saw (I only tested level one since I figured if they didn't repeat there, they were random).

Past level 10, don't try to do the challenges unless you're really really good. It's not worth trying to do them if you cause holes + hangs, etc. Just focus on surviving. At this point, try to make it so that the next pieces can go somewhere without having to rotate them, as you may not have time to do so.
This is my own personal opinion, but I think the music is kind of soothing so maybe keep the sound on while you play to keep you nice + calm

Originally Posted by asia1998

One more thing I found helpful is to have the long piece in cue and to have the tiles set up so that you can put a "L" shaped piece in to knock out 3 lines because they sometimes ask for you to have exactly 3 lines. If you set up your tiles that way then you are ready for 3 or 4 lines to be knocked out.

At the end of a level you get a 90 second break so you can regroup. You can hit the NEXT button to go right into the next level.



SLOWING DOWN THE GAME

Originally Posted by sydney88

I just opened a network channel website (like abc, nbc, etc) and pulled up any full length episode they had available. It worked like a charm the first time (I started playing the episode right before I started level 11), but the second time I tried it the game didn't slow down as much. I was just barely able to finish the 12th level - no trophy though.

FINISHING THE GAME
Thank you to Wildhunt for following

Cleared it myself with 6 bonus tokens and no trophy, guess you gotta win *and* be lucky. You get 300 KC for winning, there are 12 levels.



Happy Gaming! I will try to incorporate more tips and tricks as they come out! Thanks!

Thanks to Amneris for posting the link to the High Score thread! If you get a high score, please be sure to post there!

Originally Posted by Amneris

Cool! You should post this to the high score thread: http://www.webkinzinsider.com/forum/...e-t62945.html.

Originally Posted by asia1998

I got a mini acer laptop and it's so small that I can't see the whole screen so I have no clue how many more lines I need to complete level 12 but I think I'm close.

I also have a mini laptop which a small screen. I use the F11 key to view the IE/Firefox window in Full Screen mode. This give allows me to see the score, level, and number of bamboo pieces still needed to complete the level. (This is for a Windows PC... don't know what the key would be for a Mac - or if it's even needed. If anyone has that information it would be appreciated!)

[KevinELevin]

Thanks for showing us!

[Plum999]

Thanks!

I have only got to level one so far.

[dust]

Thanks for the screencaps! I haven't played Tetris in 10 years and I'm sooooo rusty. My performance was pathetic. I'll take another shot at it tomorrow, though, 'cuz sometimes my subconscious sorts things out overnight. (I was completely lost the first time I played Home Before Dark, but it became one of my favorite games.) Bamboo Break's a nice addition to the arcade, and I think a lot of people are going to get hooked on it!

[Aswartz]

I got to level 8 and no trophy and only 100 kinzcash--and it took a good 1/2 hour. I am not sure if there is a trophy or if the prize is just more points. No idea how many levels there may be.

[mootooyou]

i got to level 12

---------- mootooyou added 1 Minutes and 9 Seconds later ----------

im assuming there are probably 20-25 levels... by the time i was at level 12 i was having to clear 45 bamboo lines

[msclockart]

I got to level 11 before I died. I might have to try a slower computer to actually beat the game.

[Dixiecup]

Just go for the Combos...the ones that yield the most points, that is what you do in Goober's Lab to get the prize, you don't have to finish the game...try the combos

[mootooyou]

Originally Posted by Dixiecup

Just go for the Combos...the ones that yield the most points, that is what you do in Goober's Lab to get the prize, you don't have to finish the game...try the combos

the game specifically says if you finish the game you might get a prize if you finish the combos you get other bonuses

[twinmom1998]

I got to level 11 before the doorbell rang with a delivery! Drat! Lost the game because of that. Now that I have time to read the instructions before playing again, it says if you complete the combo in the time allotted you have a chance at the prize. Also something cool is the spacebar will swap hold pieces! That's a bit different from Tetris and will probably help with getting the challenges! I'll have to try that in the next game.

Note, just like Tetris, if you wait for the piece to drop you can slide it to the right or left to fill in a space from another piece!