Advice for Eager Beaver!!

[emwbknz14]

Here's some things I've found helpful with the Eager Beaver game!!

1. Try to save your S's!! These will come in handy in the higher levels when you need to make longer words to get rid of your red tiles.
2. Try to get rid of letters that aren't as common like X, Qu, and Z as soon as possible. These ones are harder to get rid of since there aren't as many words that can be made with them.
3. Try to conserve vowels (especially on the bottom). If/when your red tiles get to the bottom, you will probably need those vowels to make words. It's pretty easy to use them up on short words too so be careful with this one!
4. When making words, especially in the beginning of the game, try to focus on making words at the top. I've found that it's harder to get vowels down to the bottom once you get rid of them.
5. The fewer vowels in a non-red tile word, the better. I know this sounds like it doesn't make much sense, but you'll need the vowels for making longer words with red tiles at the higher levels.
6. Try to save "consonant blends" (Br, Cr, Dr, Pr, Tr, Fr, Bl, etc.) for the beginning of words so you have those to use with the red tiles to make them longer.
7. If you have an area with a bunch of the same letter (consonant or vowel) try to use up some of them when at all possible. For example, on the last game I played, I had like 4 T's in the same area so I had to find a way to get rid of some of them because they were kind of just in the way (I think I made the word "Tint").

Extra tips from WI user Fathomless Abyss!

8. If you're going for the trophy, try to avoid making 3-letter words and don't go too crazy making 6-7 letter words if you're going to use consonants. The idea is to to pace your game by reducing the number of red tiles generated but also trying to keep a good mix of vowels and consonants. I do admit that I don't REALLY know what triggers red letters, but I strongly suspect it's short word length or low point value.

9. Don't be too afraid to use the red letters to smash through clusters of consonants. Probably the fact that the tile is colored red invokes a sense of urgency, but sometimes the only way to free up the board is to use demolition power of these red tiles. Of course, you need to PLAN for them, which leads to...

10. Remember, once the tiles drop, the board is set-- they don't get shuffled unless the player makes it happen, so they will stay in their place unless a red tile erases them. Therefore, it is relatively easy to figure out a word you can play two or three turns later. Take advantage of the fact that this game doesn't have a timer and plan out your options.

11. Just before a red tile gets halfway to the bottom, strongly consider shuffling. Basically, you only have 3-4 turns left when a red tile gets that low, so if you don't see a word coming into line in a few turns-- especially if on the way down there are only bad combos of letters (no vowels, a J, X Z)-- take your chances and shuffle. You will probably get two new red tiles plus the one(s) you already had, and all your bonus tiles go away, but you do live to fight another day.

12. An interesting nuance to the game... as the game progresses, it's not only the harder-to-use letters that come out, it's that they will come out in groups of vowels, groups of consonants, or duplicate letters. So, if you have a choice between making a straight diagonal or horizontal word as opposed to a vertical one or one that wraps into a knot or diamond, choose the diagonal/ horizontal option. This will help spread out the new tiles and hopefully lower the occurence of bad-mixes.

Even more advice from fuffrnuttr!

13. The RED TILES.....They can ALWAYS be used in a word...any word EVEN if you have to shuffle.....the trick is FINDING the RIGHT PATTERN of letters they are looking for. (many people have pointed out on another thread the ODD letter combination of what they WILL and WON'T take so I won't get into it here....if you CAN NOT spell a word....just keep trying...even if it is NOT something you recognize as a word....it just may work--oddly enough).

14. The big thing to avoid--having MULTIPLES of the RED TILES at the bottom on both sides....it is VERY HARD to clear them at the same time....with only one word.....Sometimes it will let you SHUFFLE, sometimes it won't.

Everyone has seemed to find their own way of making this game work for them. There really is no right or wrong way of playing!!! I'm definitely no expert at this, but I figured I'd share some tips that have helped me. I hope these helped and good luck on getting that trophy!!!! :-)

Feel free to add to these suggestions!!

[sandilight]

I totally agree with everything You said. This is a very helpful guide for everyone. It works for me. Thanks for posting.

[WebkinzBatRulz]

smile! Knows its trues!

[FathomlessAbyss]

LOVE this game. I just completed all badges and got the trophy on two accounts. This list is a good idea. Here's my 2cents:

8. If you're going for the trophy, try to avoid making 3-letter words and don't go too crazy making 6-7 letter words if you're going to use consonants. The idea is to to pace your game by reducing the number of red tiles generated but also trying to keep a good mix of vowels and consonants. I do admit that I don't REALLY know what triggers red letters, but I strongly suspect it's short word length or low point value.

9. Don't be too afraid to use the red letters to smash through clusters of consonants. Probably the fact that the tile is colored red invokes a sense of urgency, but sometimes the only way to free up the board is to use demolition power of these red tiles. Of course, you need to PLAN for them, which leads to...

10. Remember, once the tiles drop, the board is set-- they don't get shuffled unless the player makes it happen, so they will stay in their place unless a red tile erases them. Therefore, it is relatively easy to figure out a word you can play two or three turns later. Take advantage of the fact that this game doesn't have a timer and plan out your options.

11. Just before a red tile gets halfway to the bottom, strongly consider shuffling. Basically, you only have 3-4 turns left when a red tile gets that low, so if you don't see a word coming into line in a few turns-- especially if on the way down there are only bad combos of letters (no vowels, a J, X Z)-- take your chances and shuffle. You will probably get two new red tiles plus the one(s) you already had, and all your bonus tiles go away, but you do live to fight another day.

12. An interesting nuance to the game... as the game progresses, it's not only the harder-to-use letters that come out, it's that they will come out in groups of vowels, groups of consonants, or duplicate letters. So, if you have a choice between making a straight diagonal or horizontal word as opposed to a vertical one or one that wraps into a knot or diamond, choose the diagonal/ horizontal option. This will help spread out the new tiles and hopefully lower the occurence of bad-mixes.

Thanks for reading!

[emwbknz14]

Originally Posted by FathomlessAbyss

LOVE this game. I just completed all badges and got the trophy on two accounts. This list is a good idea. Here's my 2cents:

8. If you're going for the trophy, try to avoid making 3-letter words and don't go too crazy making 6-7 letter words if you're going to use consonants. The idea is to to pace your game by reducing the number of red tiles generated but also trying to keep a good mix of vowels and consonants. I do admit that I don't REALLY know what triggers red letters, but I strongly suspect it's short word length or low point value.

9. Don't be too afraid to use the red letters to smash through clusters of consonants. Probably the fact that the tile is colored red invokes a sense of urgency, but sometimes the only way to free up the board is to use demolition power of these red tiles. Of course, you need to PLAN for them, which leads to...

10. Remember, once the tiles drop, the board is set-- they don't get shuffled unless the player makes it happen, so they will stay in their place unless a red tile erases them. Therefore, it is relatively easy to figure out a word you can play two or three turns later. Take advantage of the fact that this game doesn't have a timer and plan out your options.

11. Just before a red tile gets halfway to the bottom, strongly consider shuffling. Basically, you only have 3-4 turns left when a red tile gets that low, so if you don't see a word coming into line in a few turns-- especially if on the way down there are only bad combos of letters (no vowels, a J, X Z)-- take your chances and shuffle. You will probably get two new red tiles plus the one(s) you already had, and all your bonus tiles go away, but you do live to fight another day.

12. An interesting nuance to the game... as the game progresses, it's not only the harder-to-use letters that come out, it's that they will come out in groups of vowels, groups of consonants, or duplicate letters. So, if you have a choice between making a straight diagonal or horizontal word as opposed to a vertical one or one that wraps into a knot or diamond, choose the diagonal/ horizontal option. This will help spread out the new tiles and hopefully lower the occurence of bad-mixes.

Thanks for reading!

I completely agree!! Thanks for the tips :-)

[mayapal]

I am up to 7 trophies and have run out of accounts....

I strongly believe that the more 5 letter words or higher you make, the less red tiles appear.

I am a huge fan of shuffling!

[thatsnotmyname]

Thanks for the awesome advice! you are an eager beaver expert!

[ldjaw09]

This is a good thread, guys. Thanks for all the advice. I'll keep plugging away for a trophy. I always get to level 11 and never further.

[goalieollie]

appreciate the eager beaver advice. i'm always looking for ways to improve my game. thanks!

[fluffrnuttr]

Hi,

Love all your tips......I finally got my first trophy the other day, a few days after my sister got her trophy. I was VERY close, and my sister gave me a hint which helped me get past the final 2 levels of the game.

The RED TILES.....They can ALWAYS be used in a word...any word EVEN if you have to shuffle.....the trick is FINDING the RIGHT PATTERN of letters they are looking for. (many people have pointed out on another thread the ODD letter combination of what they WILL and WON'T take so I won't get into it here....if you CAN NOT spell a word....just keep trying...even if it is NOT something you recognize as a word....it just may work--oddly enough).

The big thing to avoid--having MULTIPLES of the RED TILES at the bottom on both sides....it is VERY HARD to clear them at the same time....with only one word.....Sometimes it will let you SHUFFLE, sometimes it won't.

So, again....try to find a word for the red tiles before they hit the bottom if you have multiples of them on both sides.....

Good luck!

fluffrnuttr
ps--just found your thread today, and I wish I had seen this before hand, as it fit everything that I needed to get a trophy!!