Biscuit or Cookie: A Guide to Biscuit Brigade

Still, the game can be confusing. I had to play several times on easy mode until I could figure out the best strategies, and what exactly each option does. So before we go into how to beat each mode, let’s have an overview of the game, and different functions in it.

Note: It is suggested that one reads the entire guide, top to bottom, so one may get the clearest picture of what the author is describing, and then attempt to play the game.

Overview

On the game description, it reads:

“Biscuit Brigade: Hagan's Last Stand: Even when Skarl was young, the future king of Meridell always had to have his food. He had toy soldiers that would march into his brother Hagan's model castle to steal his cookies. Help Hagan defend his castle against Skarl's toy invasion by using the clockwork siege towers that Hagan himself designed.”

Sounds like the perfect setup: greedy prince brother tries to steal honest prince brother's cookies using toy soldiers, while the honest prince uses clockwork siege towers to defend his slowly growing stale pile of cookies.

Before the plot complicates even more, however, we should discuss some important aspects of the game.

Defending Your Cookies

Below is a list of the different options you select while playing, and what each one does.

Add Tower: This function adds a tower to your game. When you click it, you can place it anywhere on the map. To create just a basic tower, that can’t do anything, costs 2 parts. To upgrade your tower to a certain specialty costs additional parts, which I will go into later. The towers can either fire upon the enemy, causing damage and eventual demise, or slow the enemy down.

Add Block: Adding a block is like digging a moat or creating palisades around your castle. The purpose of blocks is to slow the enemy down. Blocks cost 1 part, and look like a regular child’s block when you place them. Sometimes the picture on the block will be different from neighboring blocks, but it does not affect how strong the block is.

Add Decoy: Decoys are fake plates of cookies that draw the enemy towards them, and cost 2 parts to create. You can add more cookies to the original decoy by clicking it and pressing the small little circle with a cookie in the middle of a white circle. It costs 1 part every time you increase the amount of cookies on your decoy.

Cancel Action: If you accidentally click Add Block, for example, you can press ‘Cancel Action’ to undue that action.

Pause: To pause the game, just hit space bar. To un-pause, hit any key.

Priority Targets: You can click on a specific enemy to make your towers aim specifically at them. I personally never use this tactic, so I won’t be mentioning it in the guide beyond this.

Towers

Once you build your tower, you have several options with what you want it to become; for the sake of this article we will call them either defensive or offensive towers with specialties. A defensive tower throws things to stun, slow down or poison the enemy. An offensive tower launches objects with the intent to destroy the enemy with high amounts of damage. Below I have outlined each stage of building, how much it costs, what each specialty does, what the specialties look like and its range.

Reset Tower Specialty:

At any time, if you wish your tower to be a different specialty (for example switch from offensive to defensive), just click the option/circle that precedes its current setting, and it will revert to what it was, giving you back the parts that you spent to create it as such.

Destroy Your Tower:

To get rid of a tower, just click the circle with the pebble-looking dust inside of it. You will be refunded for the full amount in parts that you paid for the tower, including specialty upgrades.

Create a Tower:

Creating a tower costs 2 parts, is the first step before deciding to go offensive or defensive, and does nothing.

Increase a Tower's Range:

This is a very useful function, and one I didn’t learn about until a fair ways into my playing. Even if you don’t increase the tower's height, which is its range, you can still beat all the waves on every level of difficulty. To increase the height, it costs 1 part, and you click the tower looking image. When the tower’s height is increased, it looks larger. So far as I know, however, you cannot undo the increase range option without destroying the tower. For below, I have each tower listed with its range increase prior to increasing its height.

Stages of Building

Below I’ve outlined the stages of building. They branch of a couple times, so I’ve lumped them together by part cost, and whether it is an offensive tactic or a defensive tactic.

First Stage of Building: 3 parts in cost

Ball Launcher: The Ball Launcher is the offensive tactic; it looks like a little snowball on a spring when in action, and causes the least amount of damage out of all the offensive tactics. Limited range.

Bag Thrower: Looks like someone launching a bag of flour. Causes minor damage and has a stun effect. Limited Range.

Second Stage of Building Offensive: 4 parts in cost

Sling Shot: Looks like a little villager with outstretched arms who chucks acorns at the enemy, but in reality is a small, brown sling shot. The game lists it as a rapid fire turret. Fairly good in damage for the first few waves, but eventually needs an upgrade. Range increased from the previous specialty of Ball Launcher.

Cannon: Looks exactly as described, like a cannon. It can punch through multiple foes, so it’s good for when you’re slowing down a lot of the bad guys and getting a road block. The cannon is slightly slower than the Sling Shot and not quite as accurate as a result, but very effective when it does hit. Range increased from the previous specialty of Ball Launcher.

Second Stage of Building Defensive: 4 parts in cost

Sludge Thrower: Looks like a smear of green slime, the Sludge Thrower slows multiple foes. Very effective specialty to have; I usually build a Sludge Thrower opposite an Oil Thrower, because they really slow the enemy down, giving you more chances to terminate them. A slight increase in range from the Bag Thrower.

Oil Thrower: Looks like a black slime smear. When in use, it creates an oil slick. In my use, the Oil Thrower also slows multiple enemies down. When you slow one enemy down, the ones behind it slow too, because the one in front is in the way. I usually have several oil throwers that I never upgrade, because they are very effective at slowing the enemy. A slight increase in range from the Bag Thrower.

Third Stage of Building Offensive from Sling Shot: 5 parts in cost

Potion Slinger: Looks like someone throwing a poison bottle, which on contact explodes into purple gas. Does damage over time, and the range is not increased from the Sling Shot. I find it most effective to build a Potion Slinger only on Normal or Easy Mode, near where the soldiers are exiting. I haven’t ever noticed that the enemy dies faster when hit with potions from even that far away from where I have my towers set up, so I wouldn’t build too many of these.

Crossbow: Looks just like a little crossbow, and has one of the biggest ranges of any of the specialties, so it’s great for long range shots to get in a few early hits on the enemy. It has high precision and damage, so over all a good choice to upgrade to.

Third Stage of Building Offensive from Cannon: 5 parts in cost

Gravel Cannon: Looks like the cannon, but with little pebbles on the end of it. The range does not increase from the original cannon, but the attack is markedly better because it spreads out to hit more enemies.

Rocket Launcher: It looks like a little red firework and launches just like one. The range increases from the Cannon, and has a great explosive damage at the end of its flight. I really like to use the Rocket launcher, because several of them can take out a few enemies very quickly and effectively.

Third Stage of Building Defensive from Sludge Thrower: 5 parts in cost

Net Thrower: This looks like a little net when launched. Greatly slows a single foe, and range slightly increased from previous specialty. I usually only make one of these; closer to the enemies is better.

Wind Mill: This specialty looks like a giant fan that puffs out white air and slows multiple foes; range not increased from previous specialty. I don’t like to use this slowing specialty that much, because it doesn’t seem that effective.

Third Stage of Building Defensive from Oil Thrower: 5 parts in cost

Paint Thrower: This specialty blinds and confuses foes, does not increase in range from the Oil Thrower specialty and looks like someone throwing a splat of ketchup and mustard at you. This is a very good specialty to upgrade to. I usually have at least one of these built, and usually a fair distance from my cookies, so I get the most use out of them.

Water Thrower: This specialty reduces strength, mobility and durability. No increase in range from the Oil Thrower option and looks like a water balloon when launched. Another good specialty to upgrade to, I build one of these opposite of the Paint Thrower, so that I get the maximum use out of it.

Modes

Practice: Awards no points, but it gives you 100 parts to start practicing with and you start with 10 cookies. You also only play to 20 waves; they are not infinite.

Easy: Awards half the points of Normal Mode, offers bonuses in the form of extra time and supplies; starts with 8 cookies and 30 parts.

Normal: Awards full point amounts, but offers no bonuses. Starts with 6 cookies and 24 parts.

Hard: Awards twice as many points as Normal Mode, but only 5 cookies to start with and 18 parts. Restricts income and starting funds. No extra time provided.

Bad Guys and Waves:

We start with Wave 1, of course, and go all the way to Wave 20. When you beat Wave 20, or destroy King Skarl, that’s the end of the game. As each Wave comes, it usually adds upon the last waves difficulty of bad guys. For those who are curious what comes out on all the levels, I have listed below all the bad guys. There are usually 3-6 of each that come out. The same amount of enemies come out on every mode, the difference only being that on Hard mode there is no time in between waves to build things.

Wave 1

Blue Techo

Wave 2

Green Scorchio

Blue Techo

Wave 3

Green Scorchio

Blue Techo

Yellow Skeith

Wave 4

Blue Techo

Blue Techo with sword

Wave 5

Green Scorchio

Green Scorchio with sword

Armored blue Techo with sword

Wave 6

Green Scorchio with sword

Yellow Skeith

Red Skeith

Wave 7

Blue armored Techo with sword

Blue Techo with shield

Red Skeith

Wave 8

Green Scorchio with sword

Green Scorchio with shield

Blue Techo with Shield

Wave 9

Green helmeted Scorchio with shield

Red Skeith

Armored yellow Skeith

Wave 10

Blue helmeted Techo with shield

Blue armored Techo with sword and shield

Armored yellow Skeith

Wave 11

Green helmeted Skeith with shield

Armored Skeith with sword and shield

Blue armored Techo with sword and shield

Wave 12

Green Scorchio with sword and shield

Armored yellow Skeith

Armored orange Skeith with blue faces

Wave 13

Blue Techo with sword and shield

Purple Techo with sword and shield

Armored orange Skeith with blue faces

Wave 14

Green Scorchio with sword and shield

Purple Scorchio with sword and shield

Purple Techo with sword and shield

Wave 15

Purple Scorchio with sword and shield

Armored orange Skeith with blue faces

Purple Skeith

Wave 16

Blue armored Techo with extra shield held in front

Purple Techo with sword and shield

Blue armored Techo with sword and shield

Wave 17

Green Scorchio with sword and shield (fast!)

Purple Scorchio with sword and shield

Green Scorchio with sword and shield

Wave 18

Armored orange Skeith with blue faces

Purple Skeith

Pink Skeith

Wave 19

Purple Scorchio with sword (fairly fast paced)

Purple Techo with sword and shield

Walking cards- When destroyed, releases 2 or 3 mini bad guys that are quite fast

Purple Skeith

Wave 20

Green Scorchio with sword and shield

Blue armored Techo with extra shield held in front

Walking cards with mini bad guys inside

King Skarl

Pink Skeith

Strategies

Now that we have the basics of the game down, let’s talk about a good strategy to beat all 20 Waves on each mode. I’ve developed a strategy that helps me win no matter what difficulty I play on, and I have outlined it below. Each mode is not that different in the overall strategy; the only difference being that you start off with fewer parts every time you go to a harder difficulty, and each harder difficulty awards fewer parts, respectively. So, I have described the different ways I start each difficulty, but I will go in depth on Hard mode, because that’s the goal most people will have in mind when trying to beat the game. When setting up on Easy or Normal, follow that description, and then jump to Hard mode to see the general idea of what to do next.

Please note: I know this strategy might not work for everyone, or some might even think they have a better strategy! This is just how I like to beat the game, and the strategy I find most effective.

Easy:

On easy, you start with 30 blocks. What I like to do is layer 2 rows of blocks around the castle/cookies, but leave a blank spot at the corner where the blocks would meet. In other words, 6 blocks on each side, lining the walls, and nothing for now connecting them in the middle. That should leave you with 18 parts left; enough to build 2 Sling Shot towers. Put one at each corner of the blocks you just placed; they should be opposite each other. (See the gap? You are going to place one tower on the north side of the horizontal running block wall, far left of that wall, and one tower on west side of the vertical running block row, the top of that wall.) Later, I like to build just 1 decoy right in the center, but it is not necessary. Read on to Hard mode for what to do next.

Normal:

You have 24 parts to work with, so line your castle walls, 3 blocks on each side. Again, don’t place a block in the middle. Next, you are going to build 2 towers. See where you have a gap, and 3 blocks lining the walls on either side? You are going to place one tower on the north side of the horizontal running block wall, and one tower on west side of the vertical running block row. They should only be a few spaces apart from each other, so make sure you place them at the far left on the horizontal wall, and at the top of the vertical wall. Upgrade both to Sling Shot specialty, and then read on at Hard Mode.

Hard:

You don’t have enough parts to line your walls this time, but you really don’t need to. If you want to in the Normal and Easy mode, you can forgo lining your castle there, and just build more towers.

Next, you are going to build 2 towers and upgrade their specialty to the Sling Shot option. Please note: The placement of these towers is VERY important! See your castle? There are 4 circular towers at each corner of the castle. The north-western tower (top, left) is where we are going to focus your fire power. Hover your tower placement icon over the circular tower, then move it up 2 spaces. Do the same thing again, only this time move it left 2 spaces. Upgrade both towers to the Sling Shot specialty.

Now, depending on what actions you take, where you place your towers, when you upgrade, the towers range, etc, the kind of towers you are going to use later on in the game will vary to your need. Myself, I like to set up 2 sets of offensive towers to start, 1 set of Sling Shot and 1 set of Cannon, then a set of defensive towers, one of the Oil Throwing specialty, and one of the Sludge Throwing specialty opposite one another.

Place your towers on either side of an invisible row. The row should head off at about a 45° angle from your castle. The bad guys will always walk the straightest path from Skarl’s chest to your cookies, unless one side of the castle is more heavily guarded than the other. That’s why it is important to make the rows parallel to each other, and well balanced.

The next part is mostly personal preference. Some people prefer to really slow them down, and then kill them off. Others prefer very little slowing down and lots of offensive towers. I prefer to use a 3:1 ratio; 3 offensive, 1 defensive. I don’t always stick to that, but I find it helps balance things out.

My personal favorite towers for offensive are Oil Thrower, Water Thrower, Paint Thrower and Net Thrower. I usually have 2-3 Oil Throwers, and at least one of the other 3. I sometimes build a Sludge thrower as well, opposite an Oil Thrower; that combo seems to work well.

My favorite defensive towers are Crossbow, Rocket Launcher, and Gravel Cannon. Sometimes I have a few Sling Shots in there, when I can’t spare the parts to upgrade more, but I just need more fire power. The same goes for cannons; either will serve you well.

I tend to only build out about 5-7 towers along my invisible road. After that, I start building towers in between on the back side of each row, still keeping the road clear for bad guys. Don’t build along the inside of this row, because in the teen-Waves, monsters start killing your towers. If anything, keep them wide apart.

Some of you still might be wondering what order to place your towers in. So, I’ll give a general line up of my towers and what specialty they are in each row. I list each tower at its most advanced or desirable specialty when on Hard mode, Wave 20.

Row 1: Starting at the castle and working my way out: Sling Shot, Rocket Launcher, Oil Thrower, Cannon, Rocket Launcher

Row 2: Starting at the castle and working my way out: Crossbow, Rocket Launcher (behind and between this and Crossbow another Rocket Launcher), Sludge Thrower, Net Thrower, (behind and between Sludge and Net a Rocket Launcher), Crossbow

Almost all of these were upgraded at least once in range. Between Wave 19 and 20, I lost 3 of my towers; 2 of them I lost near the end of Wave 19 and the last I lost on wave 20. Those 3 towers specialties were Cannon, Paint Thrower and Water Thrower. The Paint and Water were both the end caps on the 2 rows of towers, and the cannon was next to the Water Thrower. Also, you might want to note that I never lost a single cookie, or had my castle walls breached. You should also note that I never use decoys. If you set your invisible road up correctly, you won’t ever need a decoy to lead the enemy where you want.

Another observation, I noticed that around the 17th wave is when they start to destroy your towers. You can tell when they are destroying them because they turn a dark gray. You have about 2 seconds to delete your tower yourself, which is what I try to do, before the tower turns to rubble and you get no parts. At least if you destroy the tower yourself, you get parts, and can rebuild it. When your block or tower turns to rubble, however, you cannot rebuild there, so be careful! Sometimes it’s worth it to delete a block or tower and let them get 1 cookie, than have a whole bunch of rubble in prime firing areas.

Review

That about sums it up for this guide. I hope you found it easy to read, understand, and enjoy! Hopefully you will now have the confidence to take on that dastardly Skarl and his scheming cookie stealing ways, and triumph to victory on Hard mode. If you have any questions, comments, etc, please feel free to neomail me!

*munch*

Stale cookie- er, biscuit, anyone?