Strategies for Chain Factor
As introduced by ams16 & commented on by fairdice, Chain Factor is an addictive little web game @ http://chainfactor.com/index.php.
Bizarrely, I've had the high score in the basic game for over a day. This is possibly 1) further proof that something is terribly wrong in the world, or 2) an indication that my Chain Factor strategy is actually good.
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that it's #2, I'm posting here the approach that I'm using, so that other LJ Chain Factor addicts might have their day of glory too.
The more clears you can chain together with one drop the higher the score.
The easiest way to line up as many as 6 clears at once is to place a pile of 7's in a single column, with the bottom-most 7 part of a row filled by a total of 6 balls, none of which are also 7's (O indicates a grey ball, _ an empty space).
7
7
7
7 2 O 3 4 _ 6
Drop any ball in the gap (forming a row of 7) & the first 7 clears. The column drops one space & the next 7 clears (so long as there were no other 7's in the row, whose clearance the first time would make a gap in the row of 7).
Clearly the longest chain you can get this way is 6, because if you made a stack of 7 7s it would clear without chaining. However, note that when you finish the manoever above you will now have...
_ 2 O 3 4 O 6
A row that is 6 long, which contains a 6. So the next thing that happens is the 6 clears, bringing your chain to 7. So using the same logic as above, if we stacked a bunch of 6's up, once the 7's were done, the 6's would clear one by one in a chain, bringing you up to a chain as long as 11.
7
7 6
7 6
7 6
7 6
7 2 O 3 4 _ 6
Note that I've put the 6's on the opposite side. This is partly because if you put them both on one side, you end up tossing a lot of garbage on the other side, which (if it develops a skin of 1's and 2's) might become hard to get rid of. By contrast, junk piled in the middle can be worked at from both sides & is easier to clear out.
Note also that if the 7's column were anywhere but at the L or R edge, when it finished, it would not leave a row of 6, & the 6s column would not clear.
As you build up the edge columns you'll also get a lot of dreck. As you wait for 6's and 7's to appear, try to clear this stuff as efficiently as possible, or you'll get stuck with a mess.
The other reason to split the 7's and 6's on both sides is to make it easier to do something like this...
7
7 6
7 5 6
7 5 4 6
7 5 3 4 6
7 5 3 O _ 4 6
Here, if you drop a ball in the empty column the 7 chain clears, then 6s, then 5's then 4's then 3's. All total this is a chain of 20! I've never gotten this high, but I've used this strategy to get a chain as high as 16 (which appears to give somewhere close to 100,000 points with a single move!).
Note that in this arrangement the 4 filled spaces on the bottom left keep the 3's from clearing before you're ready.
Also note that if the ball you drop is 7, 6, 5, 4 or 3, the chain will stop as soon as it gets to the first clear in that number. So drop a grey ball (O) or (even better) a 2.
Of course it's frequently hard to get a fully empty base to work with, so just work with what you have. If you can set up something like this...
7
7 6
7 5 6
7 5 4 6
7 5 3 O 4 6
O 6 O 3 2 4 O
You can still get a chain of 15! Beware, though, that grey balls in the lower row may become something that messes up your chain , but it's generally not too damaging.
Also, make sure to watch how many drops you have before a level advance! If you mistimed the board above, the addition of an extra bottom row would clear your 7,6,5,4, & 3 rows all at once (no chain!).
Needless to say, since you can't control which numbers you're given, this can be really tricky to set up. One thing that can help a lot with this is to put mix excess balls of a specific low number (not grey ones!) in your columns as you build them... or use existing ones as bases for your columns.
Say after a clear you've got...
5 4 O _ O 4 4
Just drop your high number balls in the spaces you want them in, mixed in, as convenient with same-denomination low number balls.
7
5 5 4 6
7 5 4 6
5 4 O _ O 4 4
In this set up dropping a 5 (or a 7) in the left column clears the 5s from the column leaving only a pile of 2 or 3 7s. Same for dropping a 4 or 5 in column 2, or a 4 or 6 in the right column.
It can be really hard to get a flat row with numbers all in the right place to build on. Ill placed low numbers you can make use of as above, or just clear them out making short columns or rows of them.
You can also just build on ill-placed high numbers, making them part of your chain sequence.
7
7 6
7 5 6
7 5 4 6
7 5 3 4 6
7 6 6 O _ 6 7
Here dropping in the gap clears all the 7's (including the one in the right column), which sets up the 6's. The first 6 then clears all 6's in the row, including the 3 extras in the middle, which sets up the 5s, 4's and 3.
Of course, for each base you set up this way the chain is one less, but it's frequently much better than finding another way to clear pesky ill-placed high numbers.
If you can't find another way to deal with an ill-placed high number, just cap it with something that won't clear.
7
7 6
7 5 6
7 5 O 2 6
7 5 O O 7 6
7 6 6 5 _ 6 7
This pile won't give a maximal chain, but at least the mis-plcaed 5's and 6's won't break the chain by creating a gap when they clear. Note the 7 overthe 6 in the 2nd to last column won't clear, because all the 7's will have run before the 6 drops clears & drops the 7 into a row that is only 6 long.
That's pretty much it! Good luck questing for high scores.
Bizarrely, I've had the high score in the basic game for over a day. This is possibly 1) further proof that something is terribly wrong in the world, or 2) an indication that my Chain Factor strategy is actually good.
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that it's #2, I'm posting here the approach that I'm using, so that other LJ Chain Factor addicts might have their day of glory too.
The more clears you can chain together with one drop the higher the score.
The easiest way to line up as many as 6 clears at once is to place a pile of 7's in a single column, with the bottom-most 7 part of a row filled by a total of 6 balls, none of which are also 7's (O indicates a grey ball, _ an empty space).
7
7
7
7 2 O 3 4 _ 6
Drop any ball in the gap (forming a row of 7) & the first 7 clears. The column drops one space & the next 7 clears (so long as there were no other 7's in the row, whose clearance the first time would make a gap in the row of 7).
Clearly the longest chain you can get this way is 6, because if you made a stack of 7 7s it would clear without chaining. However, note that when you finish the manoever above you will now have...
_ 2 O 3 4 O 6
A row that is 6 long, which contains a 6. So the next thing that happens is the 6 clears, bringing your chain to 7. So using the same logic as above, if we stacked a bunch of 6's up, once the 7's were done, the 6's would clear one by one in a chain, bringing you up to a chain as long as 11.
7
7 6
7 6
7 6
7 6
7 2 O 3 4 _ 6
Note that I've put the 6's on the opposite side. This is partly because if you put them both on one side, you end up tossing a lot of garbage on the other side, which (if it develops a skin of 1's and 2's) might become hard to get rid of. By contrast, junk piled in the middle can be worked at from both sides & is easier to clear out.
Note also that if the 7's column were anywhere but at the L or R edge, when it finished, it would not leave a row of 6, & the 6s column would not clear.
As you build up the edge columns you'll also get a lot of dreck. As you wait for 6's and 7's to appear, try to clear this stuff as efficiently as possible, or you'll get stuck with a mess.
The other reason to split the 7's and 6's on both sides is to make it easier to do something like this...
7
7 6
7 5 6
7 5 4 6
7 5 3 4 6
7 5 3 O _ 4 6
Here, if you drop a ball in the empty column the 7 chain clears, then 6s, then 5's then 4's then 3's. All total this is a chain of 20! I've never gotten this high, but I've used this strategy to get a chain as high as 16 (which appears to give somewhere close to 100,000 points with a single move!).
Note that in this arrangement the 4 filled spaces on the bottom left keep the 3's from clearing before you're ready.
Also note that if the ball you drop is 7, 6, 5, 4 or 3, the chain will stop as soon as it gets to the first clear in that number. So drop a grey ball (O) or (even better) a 2.
Of course it's frequently hard to get a fully empty base to work with, so just work with what you have. If you can set up something like this...
7
7 6
7 5 6
7 5 4 6
7 5 3 O 4 6
O 6 O 3 2 4 O
You can still get a chain of 15! Beware, though, that grey balls in the lower row may become something that messes up your chain , but it's generally not too damaging.
Also, make sure to watch how many drops you have before a level advance! If you mistimed the board above, the addition of an extra bottom row would clear your 7,6,5,4, & 3 rows all at once (no chain!).
Needless to say, since you can't control which numbers you're given, this can be really tricky to set up. One thing that can help a lot with this is to put mix excess balls of a specific low number (not grey ones!) in your columns as you build them... or use existing ones as bases for your columns.
Say after a clear you've got...
5 4 O _ O 4 4
Just drop your high number balls in the spaces you want them in, mixed in, as convenient with same-denomination low number balls.
7
5 5 4 6
7 5 4 6
5 4 O _ O 4 4
In this set up dropping a 5 (or a 7) in the left column clears the 5s from the column leaving only a pile of 2 or 3 7s. Same for dropping a 4 or 5 in column 2, or a 4 or 6 in the right column.
It can be really hard to get a flat row with numbers all in the right place to build on. Ill placed low numbers you can make use of as above, or just clear them out making short columns or rows of them.
You can also just build on ill-placed high numbers, making them part of your chain sequence.
7
7 6
7 5 6
7 5 4 6
7 5 3 4 6
7 6 6 O _ 6 7
Here dropping in the gap clears all the 7's (including the one in the right column), which sets up the 6's. The first 6 then clears all 6's in the row, including the 3 extras in the middle, which sets up the 5s, 4's and 3.
Of course, for each base you set up this way the chain is one less, but it's frequently much better than finding another way to clear pesky ill-placed high numbers.
If you can't find another way to deal with an ill-placed high number, just cap it with something that won't clear.
7
7 6
7 5 6
7 5 O 2 6
7 5 O O 7 6
7 6 6 5 _ 6 7
This pile won't give a maximal chain, but at least the mis-plcaed 5's and 6's won't break the chain by creating a gap when they clear. Note the 7 overthe 6 in the 2nd to last column won't clear, because all the 7's will have run before the 6 drops clears & drops the 7 into a row that is only 6 long.
That's pretty much it! Good luck questing for high scores.