Talismania
From Badges Wiki
| |
| Status: | Active |
|---|---|
| Genre: | Puzzle |
| Developer: | PopCap Games |
| Publisher: | unknown |
| LTP badge type: | Generic 2 |
| Game version: | Limited |
| Game length: | 16 levels |
| Playable in non-IE browsers: | yes |
Contents |
Game Info
| Coding language | : | Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Game modes | : | Only one mode available. |
| Nr. of levels | : | 16 (1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4) |
| After last level | : | Game Over |
| Levels replayable | : | No |
Tiles
| The object of this game is to make a path so that two talismans connect. You can make a path by rotating the tiles on the board. The longer the path (the more tiles you use) the better. Each tile (except rocks) will add one letter on the talisman meter. |
Talisman Tiles
| You start with 2 golden talismans, but depending on how many tiles you use (how far you will get on the talisman meter) your next turn will contain either bronze, silver or gold talismans. For silver talismans you need to use at least 9 tiles, for gold you need 17. Anything below 9 will give you bronze. If you manage to use 24 or more tiles you be rewarded a star for the Midas meter. There is no additional bonus for using all tiles in one turn. At some levels you will get 4 talismans which requires a slightly different strategy. With 4 Talismans on the board you can make multiple connections by preparing the paths but not making the final connections just yet. You have about a second before the game analyzes your path after you made the first connection, allowing to make a second connection too. |
Special Tiles
Of course this game would be rather dull if there weren't any special tiles. We have "special tiles" and monster tiles.
| The bonus tile will give you 4 coins instead of just 1. |
| The power tile will light up all (as if they are being included in your path) tiles above or below the power tile. |
Monster Tiles
The monster tiles can be recognized by the 3-way purple tiles that cannot be rotated. Each monster does something bad at the start or end of each turn if you do not kill it right away. Monster tiles do not give you a coin when included in your path, however they do count for the talisman meter and add a star to the Midas meter.
 
| Medusa's gaze turns 2 normal blocks into worthless stone. Stones do not give coins when included in the path nor do they count in the talismania meter. |
 
| If a minotaur block is not destroyed, it will charge across the grid in a straight line at the end of each turn, turning the tiles it charges through into stone. Depending on how far the Minotaur Block is from the edge of the grid, it can make up to eight tiles useless. |
| If a kraken block is not destroyed, it will eat up some of the coins at the end of each turn when the coins normally fly to the coin meter. |
| If you are not worried about speed, the siren block should be low on your priority list. It will 'drain' the talisman meter faster than normal for a few seconds, but won't have an affect on coins or blocks on the screen. |
| Not really a monster tile since it does not do anything but it bears the characteristics of a monster tile (purple color, and no coin). The Pandora tile will, when used (or opened as you might say), turn into either a special tile or a monster tile. |
Coin Meter
When you have created your path, you will be a awarded certain amount of coins. The exact amount depends on which tiles you have included in your path (see tiles section). The type of talisman determines which coins you will get. You need to fill up your coin meter to end the level.
Value Meter
If you managed to get enough coins to end the level, your money will be counted again on the value meter. This time it matters what value the coins are. The more valuable the better because you need to reach the levels goal with this, which is obtaining a bronze, silver or gold coin on the money counter. I am not too sure, but I think that if the levels goal is for instance gold, and the coin meter required 150 coins, you will need at least 150 gold coins, or it's equivalent in lesser value coins, to pass to the next level. If you manage to get a gold coin you will be awarded a star in the Midas meter.
Midas Meter
Throughout the adventure, the player can collect stars (worth 100 points) by making long paths (24 or more tiles), slaying monsters and filling up the value meter at the end of each level. These stars are collected in the Midas meter found at the center of the bottom of the screen. When three stars are collected in the Midas meter, the player can trigger Talismania mode, where any tile can be changed to a gold coin by clicking it. Clicking a monster in this mode earns a five-gold coin bonus, and clicking a treasure earns a one-star bonus, as well as the bonus it originally grants.
This mode only lasts for a limited time, but up to ten Stars can be collected, and more Stars make the time limit longer. However, when the Midas meter is filled, a 2x score multiplier is earned, and will remain until Talismania mode is triggered. Each star that is collected after the gauge is full also earns the player a 1000-point bonus.
Bonus Chest
If you finish a level within a certain amount of turns you will be awarded a chest bonus. The bonus exists of 2 extra (gold?) coins for your meter per turn remaining. You can find the current value in the lower right corner of the screen.
Levels
| Level | coins needed | chest | goal | tiles available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | 60 | 8 | bronze | 22 |
| 1.2 | 80 | 10 | bronze | 22 |
| 1.3 | 80 | 10 | bronze | 27 |
| 1.4 | 100 | 10 | bronze | 27 |
| 2.1 | 100 | 10 | silver | 27 |
| 2.2 | 100 | 10 | silver | 26 |
| 2.3 | 125 | 10 | silver | 38 |
| 2.4 | 125 | 12 | gold | 36 |
| 3.1 | 150 | 14 | silver | 36 |
| 3.2 | 150 | 14 | silver | 35 |
| 3.3 | 175 | 14 | silver | 25 |
| 3.4 | 175 | 14 | gold | 25 |
| 4.1 | 200 | 15 | gold | 26 |
| 4.2 | 200 | 15 | gold | 22 |
| 4.3 | 250 | 15 | gold | 37 |
| 4.4 | 250 | 15 | gold | 35 |
Tips for getting High Scores
Some (maybe obvious) tips for getting high scores:
- Keep the talismans gold by making only paths of 17 tiles or more. Gold coins are the most valuable you can get and give you the most points. Of course, if you are really fast you can keep the gold talismans too by making a connection while the talisman meters hasn't run out yet.
- If for some reason you don't end up with golden Talismans make you next turn as short as possible. For rounds with 2 Talismans make a path of 17 tiles. With 4 talismans with different values, make the longer connections with the highest value talisman meters and the shortest with the lower value Talismans, but the total path should not be longer than 17 tiles. Lower value coins are really bad if the level goal is Gold so keep them to a minimum.
- Plan ahead a little so that your last turn will get you over the minimum coin requirement as much as possible. For instance, if you have 130 of the 150 coins required, make a path which gives you max 19 coins. This will allow your next turn to over the minimum requirement. Anything over the levels goal will add to the level bonus and will also help you in getting the gold coin on the value meter and a star for your Midas meter.
- Kill monsters a.s.a.p. especially the Minotaurs and Medusas since these will convert normal tiles into worthless rocks.
- Don't use Talismania mode. The 2x bonus multiplier helps you to get a higher score more than Talismania mode does. Besides the double points for your coins you will get 1000 points for each star you get instead of 100 points.
- Get as much stars as possible by making paths of 24 tiles, killing monsters and getting a gold coin on the value meter.
Using these tips (and playing all 16 levels) should give you a score somewhere high in the 500.000 or if you really paid attention somewhere in the 600.000.
Tips on Getting ML10
While the real game is all about gold coins, ML10 is about points. Each turn you get a score for making a path and coins for your coin meter. If your coin meter is full the level ends and you can't score anymore. If you look at your score at the end of level 1-1, and divide it by the number of coins you won you get an average score of 40 points per coin. In the the next level when monster tiles are introduced the average score of a coin is just about 50. In the last few levels you'll get something about 200-300 points per coin (Longer paths, multiple monsters, full talisman meter increase your score). To point of all this is to get ML10 you need to increase the average points per coins. One trick that will help you do this is to make smaller paths, but not too small. Keep them 24 tiles if possible but atleast 17 (to keep the gold talismans). Anything longer than 24 is a waste except for in the last turn. Paths of 24 tiles will give you another star which is 1000 points!
However the best way to increase score is to keep the kraken monster. This tile will make less coins go to your meter which means you get to play more turns. Multiple kraken monsters will eat more coins, sometimes even all the coins. Using this, you should easily earn about 1000 points per coin. Using paths of 24 tiles you should earn about 6760 points. Without a kraken this is 6760/24=281 per coin. With 2 krakens you get about 4 coins per 24 tile path which means 6740/4=1690 points per coin. This will really help with your score (at the cost of time). I recommend to use this trick only at large (4 talisman) boards. With the smaller boards the kraken (which can't rotate) will make it difficult to make paths and you may end up with silver or bronze talismans. Don't worry about the chest. When the chest is empty you just won't get a bonus or extra coins. Therefor it is important that you use your last turn to get over the minimum amount of coins to get extra coins to compensate for any errors (silver or bronze coins) you might have made.
This trick will easily help you get ML10. Scores of over a million should be possible if you have the time.
Bugs
The ingame mute button is broken, it seems only to mute temporary. From time to time you need to turn sound on and off again to mute the game again.
