Chia Bomber 2: An Avatar Collector's Guide

     Welcome back to my little series of game guides for avatar collectors! As always, the goal here isn’t a first place trophy, or bragging rights over your friends- it’s to get that avatar. Today’s game is Chia Bomber 2 (the first Chia Bomber, if you’re interested, is in the Game Graveyard).

     I struggled with this game for several months until I finally succeeded. For weeks, I had a score of 1230- less than 100 points from the avatar score of 1300. What changed? My strategy! I made a simple change to how I played in the later levels, and had the avatar within a week. Learn from my mistakes by reading this article, and hopefully, you can snag the Chia Bomber avatar with ease. The cool thing about this game is that as long as you complete all 12 levels, you get the avatar! No luck necessary.

     In Chia Bomber, you play as Geoffrey the Chia. His neighborhood has been invaded by the eponymous Chia Bombers, who carry bazookas that can shoot mud bombs. Geoffrey has to save the day with his trusty water-balloon bazooka!

     GAMEPLAY

     Geoffrey is controlled with the arrow keys (to move) and the spacebar (to shoot water balloons.) You can also use the "m" key to drop mines. The playing field is an 8 * 6 grid; Geoffrey can only travel in straight lines along this grid. The objective of the game is to defeat the Chia Bombers in each level. The easiest way is to hit them with a water balloon!

     Each enemy takes a certain number of hits before they are defeated. The color of the Chia Bomber represents how many lives left they have (green has 1, blue has 2, yellow has 3, red has 4, all the way up to black, which takes 5 hits to defeat!) Chia Bombers can also shoot mud bombs at you; Geoffrey will lose one of his three lives if a mud bomb hits him or if he runs into a Chia Bomber.

     You begin each level in the bottom left square, while the Chia Bombers start from the top right square. The first level has only green Chia Bombers, 8 of them. Each level will either introduce a new color Chia Bomber, or increase the number of enemies with more lives. So, for instance, in level 2, there are 7 green, and one blue enemy. The last two levels also have more enemies (9 in level 11, 10 in level 12.)

     The other weapon both sides have are mines. When a Chia Bomber walks onto a mine, they are instantly defeated. Geoffrey gets 5 mines per level; each Chia Bomber can place up to 3 mines per level. You can differentiate them because Geoffrey's are green, and cannot hurt him. The Bomber's red mines, on the other hand, will cost Geoffrey a life. While a mine defeat nets you fewer points, it does not matter for the purposes of the avatar. Feel free to use the mines in a pinch!

     There is one other quirk of the game. While Geoffrey normally starts each level from the bottom-leftmost square, if you hold down the right arrow key after defeating the last enemy, he will begin the next level from where you ended the previous level. For this to work, you must press the arrow key down before the level ends, and during the transition between levels. Start too late, and you will begin back in the bottom left corner. Remember that since you're holding the key down, you will move right immediately. This trick is crucial to the strategy defined below.

     STRATEGY

     Here's how my strategy works: on the first level, defeat the Chia Bombers as normal. Near the end of the level- when you have one or two enemies left to defeat- go to the top left corner. Defeat the last enemies, and then hold down the right arrow key. When the next level starts, hold down the space bar as you move towards the right. Since Geoffrey is on the same row as his enemies, he will defeat many of them easily. The remaining enemies will need to be picked off one by one. Repeat this tactic for each level until the end of level 9. At that point, don't hold down any key at the end of the level. In level 10, you will start at the bottom right corner. Then, immediately place mines so that they surround Geoffrey on all corners, and wait for the Chia Bombers to come to Geoffrey. If you aren't able to take out the Chia Bomber in time, your mines will do the trick. Repeat this tactic for the remaining levels of the game.

     Rushing at the Chia Bombers on the top row is a good strategy for the early levels. However, there are soon too many of them to defeat even with the space bar held down. They will overrun Geoffrey. That's why it's helpful to rely on mines for the last few levels.

     Here are some other tips:

     - Timing is crucial! Geoffrey won't fire his bazooka until any existing water balloons have hit a target or disappeared off screen. If you miss a Chia Bomber, they could run into Geoffrey before you are allowed to fire again. You want to aim where the Chia Bomber will be, not where it is. With practice, you will get the hang of timing your shots with the speed the Chia Bombers move.

     - Keep your back to a wall, preferably a corner. Chia Bombers can sneak up on Geoffrey, especially in later levels, when they have more lives and take longer to finish off. Limit the number of openings Geoffrey has to defend.

     - Don't panic! The Chia Bombers don't always behave rationally. Sometimes, two of them may have you cornered, but instead of moving in, one of them will run off in the opposite direction, allowing you to escape.

     THE END

     That's it for this article! Good luck with achieving the "Chia Bomber" avatar, and please do reach out if you have any questions or comments. See you next time!