Cubello strategy?

May 26, 2009 7:33 PM

Tips for Nintendo Wii Ware's Cubello?

When it comes to strategy guides for Art Style: Cubello, the web has failed me for the first time.

Is Bonus Time truly random, or can you influence it by clearing larger clumps of blocks? Do the slot machine symbols give me any information I can use?

How do you avoid getting stuck with a color that is only on the other side of the Cubello? Rather than to add a block you can't match and will have to clear, is it wiser to wait and let the Cubello hit you, to get rid of the block?

In the endgame, is it better to clear any set of four that you can (ignoring a lone outlier of the same color)? Or instead set up to try to clear 100% of a color's remaining blocks in one hit?

posted by Matt Arnold to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (1 answer total)

Is Bonus Time truly random

AFAIK it seems to be. Sometimes I get lots of them, sometimes they are few and far between. If you clear a large clump of blocks you increase the chance that you'll get bonus time as you only need 4 to match, 4 matching from 4 blocks is less likely than from 6 or 8 blocks. I don't think the symbols make any difference.

Playing in endless mode the idea is to get points so I normally just hammer the cubello with as many blocks as I can, not bothering to make sets because if you just pound away with the same colour you'll inadvertently make lots of sets. Just point at the centre of the stack and hammer the fire button.

How do you avoid getting stuck with a color that is only on the other side of the Cubello?

Letting the cubello hit you sometimes ends the game, sometimes does not, I prefer to just keep firing. The thing to remember is that when you shoot a block, it pushes the cubello round in that direction. Use this to bring it round to the side you want. Keep an eye on the upcoming cubes in the magazine, you could fire the spare block at one side, then get a different colour, then use another block to link the spare block and some others of the same colour.

In the endgame, is it better to clear any set of four that you can

No. Try and get rid of all the remaining colours in one hit because the magazine repopulates with blocks of the same colour as you have left on the cubello. If you have black and white blocks left and you knock all the black ones off with one cube, the magazine will fill with white cubes making it much easier to finish.

To do this efficiently you need to keep track of how many of each colour is left on the cubello and how many of each colour are visible in the magazine. Try and make groups that will use all the blocks of one colour from both. If you have 3 white blocks out and the magazine has white, black, white, white, black to come, make another group of 2 white blocks, separate from the 3 that are already out then use the final white block in the magazine to link the two together. All the whites are used up, the magazine will then fill with black blocks, end of game.

It gets harder when there are more colours but the principle is the same; use all the blocks you can see both on the cubello and in the magazine in one go. Try to make groups of 5 and up, groups of 4 will just prolong the pain.

The other important thing is that during the final stages of a level, you must make sure that every cube you launch touches one of the same colour (with the exception of the strategy above). You will find that if you misplace one cube then you will lose because you had enough cubes to carry on but didn't place them properly.

I have managed to complete all the stages, there are some very satisfying ones. I'm about 15 points off the 1st place score on endless mode too :)
posted by gaby at 3:46 AM on May 27, 2009