Navigation:

• I. Introduction
• II. Basic Controls
• III. Codes
• IV. Tips for avatar/AAA
• V. Tips for trophy
• VI. Common Myths
• VII. Final Tips
• VIII. Link to my guide!

This is basically just a re-make of my old guide, which I typed up on my old pet's (Mirin_Sutashi) page, forgot to save to my computer, and stupidly gave the pet up for adoption... who became the pet of an owner who, shortly after, got frozen. Sigh. Let this be a lesson to everyone! SAVE YOUR IMPORTANT FILES. DO IT FOR THE CHILDREN.

Well, here goes.. I hope my guide can be helpful, and give you more luck on the avatar/AAA challenge/trophy or whatever you need a high score for.

Basic Controls:

If you're like me, and can't follow instructions very well, you should get a good understanding of how the game works by just playing it on your own for a little bit. But, of course, if you're like many other frustrated people, you know the idea of the game, yet you just can't quite grasp the key to winning.

Either way, here is the main concept of the game: To destroy all, or as many as possible, of the boulders in each level.

But what kind of game would it be without something hindering your way to victory? Our first block, the morph boulder, looks like this:

When it counts down to zero, it will turn itself, and any of the same color blocks connected to it, into...

Ick. An indestructable boulder. The only way to get rid of this is with the fire boulder, so you'd best get rid of the morph boulder as soon as possible. While we're talking about it, let's take a closer look at the fire boulder!

It's a decent block, I suppose. It can make all the difference in the world if saved for last. If you have remaining boulders left over, just enough to surround the fire boulder, then that's what aids you in getting that extra 250 points for clearing the stage as opposed to no points for having leftover blocks. Got it? Save it for one of the last, if at all possible. Keep in mind that you'll only get one point out of it, no matter what.
Up next, we have our lovable little friend, the Overkill boulder.

This can be a good one, too, if you don't abuse it. Make SURE you destroy all, or as much as you can, of all of the blocks of the same color before using it. If not, you just wasted a lot of points there, bud. Here are some examples:




In both of these cases, it's okay to use the overkill boulder. No big point loss in the second one.

And now, for one of the BEST.. the Multiplier boulder.

Ah, truly magnificent. Let's try to group as many blocks of that color together as possible, kay? Obviously... it multiplies the score of that move by 3. Enthralling.

And the fantastic Fill boulder?

This is great for combos. What's REALLY awesome is saving this, and a big row of the multiplied blocks for the very last. Blow up the fill boulder ones first, and what do you get? A HUGE pile of blocks that will get multiplied. It's.. so... amazing! Unfortunately, this is a fairly rare and hard thing to do.. just takes practice, I guess.

Now that you know what the boulders do, and the tricks for using them properly, lets look at how to play with the regular blocks.

First of all, and most importantly, PAY ATTENTION. I can't stress this enough. A lot of the time, the reason most people get bad scores is because they're distracted and try to go too quickly. That and because they really don't know how to play. *ahem* Just remember that. Watch what you're doing, and don't make stupid mistakes. Here are some examples of the proper way to play..

See these blocks? How would you normally do those? If you answered blue... this game is all wrong for you. Go play something else, because you're hopeless. Er... sorry. Yes, the answer is the green ones first, since destroying those would bring the blue ones above and below together, thus making more points. Savvy? Good.

Sometimes, however, it really doesn't matter which way you do it first.

Take this bunch, for example. As I have pointed out, either particular way is okay.. since you can't get either of those lone blocks to match up with the others. Now, other times, you must really pay attention to your move. Like these...

If you do the blue blocks first, then obviously you're going to ruin the green move. And that's just stupid, right? Right. Actually, if you look closely you can see that there is another green block atop the orange ones. So destroy those orange ones first. =P More points for green, yay.

Abuse of the fire block:

Peeeeeeople... sigh. Please don't abuse your li'l buddy fire, here.

Use the logic I have taught you, and try to decide which ones you should destroy BEFORE using the fire block. .. don't get it? Well, that's okay, I'll tell you anyway. Do grey first, and then you'll have an extra block attatched to the orange.

Keep in mind here, that all these examples are just little mini-versions. In the actual game, there are going to be more that a few blocks at stake. Just pay attention, like I said, and try not to waste any blocks, and group them together.

Codes:

I'll keep this short and sweet. Type 'destroyboulders' to destroy all of a random color of blocks during a level, OR type it after a level to double the extra points you got. Personally, I don't use it to double my score, as I don't have trouble with getting a high score. USUALLY, I use it when I get stuck on a level.. and know I have NO way of beating it without the code. And trust me, it has worked wonders.. I've gotten stuck on levels, used the code, and have gotten about 500+ points after using it. But I guess it really depends on what you're shooting for, avatar or highscore. =3

The other code is 'boohooiwanttheoldgameback'. Type it on the game mode screen, to get the old version of Destruct o match. You CAN send your score, however the money handouts are pathetically low... o_O Just use it if you're feeling nostalgic. Or go to the game graveyard! It's your choice.

Tips for avatar/AAA:

Big important rule is to ALWAYS beat the first three levels completely and get at least 1200+ points by the end of the third one. 1199 is okay, too. ;) Just follow my instructions.. don't make stupid mistakes.. pay attention.. make combos.. and get more points out of the rocks. Sorry, I can't really help too much, as I don't see how hard it is to get the avatar. o_o No offense. It only took me a day.

So pretty!

Tips for trophy:

Look on my userlookup. Really. Do you see a trophy? Nope. =P These are insanely hard to get, but if you really want to go for it, you either have to get ridiculously good, or send a score of 3499 and under on the first day of the score reset. Why 3499? Because 3500 and up has to be reviewed by Neopets staff to make sure you aren't cheating. I had to learn this the hard way... it was infuriating. It can take days or weeks, even, before your score might get accepted, and by that time all those people with 4000+ have sent their scores.. it's a toughie, but I hope that tip helped. Maybe I should use it for myself sometime!

Common Myths:

Why do so many people find this game hard? Well, quite frankly, poor advice is one of the biggest reasons. I can't tell you how many "destruct-o-match 2 help plz" topics I've seen, and it's FILLED with bad advice from people with scores barely over 2,500, or even lower. Yet, when I try to voice my opinion, I get shot down by so many people because my way is "uncommon". I'm here to fill you in on some of those myths which may hinder your score.

Myth 1:



Start from top. Sorry, but that's a bad idea. Why, you may ask? Simply because you won't get as many blocks matched up and you won't get many points. I tested this, and here's what I got on my first level trying Top-to-Bottom.


Not very good... certainly not enough to get to 1200 by the end of round 3. And here is my Bottom-to-Top first level score.


This is about a good average you should aim for. Little points do make a big difference, you know.

Now, I'm not saying that doing top boulders before the bottom ones is a GOOD thing. Sometimes you have to do a few top ones first so you don't ruin a move. But that's pretty much the only excuse you should have for doing them.

Myth 2:



Using the 'destroyboulders' code is a good idea if you want to get the avvie. Not necessarily. You can get 250 bonus points and still get stuck on a later level, which is why I don't usually promote that form of using the code.. After all, what good is 250 extra points if you get stuck on a level with a score of 2472?

Final Tips:

If it's getting really frustrating, then for pity's sake, take a break. It really does help! You get so blinded with rage at the game sometimes, that it's impossible to focus and get a good score! So take as many breaks as you need. It always helps me to listen to music... And, if you don't mind me pounding this into your head one more time.... PAY ATTENTION. You don't want to lose your game because of a stupid move, now do you?

That about wraps it up for my guide.. I hope it helped, and if you have any questions, feel free to neomail me!

Link to my guide!

Now what good is a guide if no one knows about it? Lend a hand! Post a link!

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