Some people can't seem to get enough jelly, especially this mad Techo scientist here. You play the role of the unfortunate mad scientist, who has accidentally created a multiplying jelly that can take over the world! I know, how careless of him. However, he was able to discover that when five jellies lined up, they would spontaneously combust! Thus, it is your job to destroy the jellies as they multiply in his petri dish, fighting their slimy, yet fruity, grip of death for as long as you can.
RAWR...
For some reason, this game is not linked in the games room as most games normally are. This is probably because it takes place in Jelly World (although this is never confirmed, it's a fair assumption), and as we all know, Jelly World doesn't exist...
How To Play
The rules are quite simple. On each turn you're allowed to move one jelly across the 13-by-13 space petri dish. For the course of this game we'll ignore the fact that said petri dish looks an awful lot like a chessboard. A jelly can move anywhere, as long as its path is not obstructed by any other jellies. Also, with each turn, three new jellies will spawn randomly somewhere on the board. As the game progresses, they come in more and more varieties. If you successfully line up five or more identical jellies in a row, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, the jellies will combust on the next turn.
Points are awarded depending on how many jellies combust in one turn. For the first five jellies in the row you'll be awarded 10 points for each; any extra jellies after that will award you 20 points each. There are also the rainbow jellies that give 40 points when they explode.
There are 10 different standard jellies. The game starts with 4 types of standard jellies, with additional types being added further into the game.
Special Jellies
Along with the maniacal, screaming and winking jellies, there will also be three other things which will appear on the board. They don't show up nearly as often as the normal jellies, but they all have their special properties.
Rainbow Jellies are the wildcards of this game. You can pair them up with any other jellies and they'll explode once you line up five or more. One unique thing about Rainbow Jelly is that they award 40 points instead of just 10 or 20. Instead of saving these up, I like to use them right away as otherwise they'll just take up space.
Stones are really annoying because they'll appear on the board and then they'll just sit there. You can't move them and you can't them up so they kind of make obstacles of themselves. They'll remain in their squares until the end of the game, unless you get a Bomb.
When a Bomb first appears, the number in the bottom right corner tells you how many turns you have until it explodes. When it does explode, it will destroy anything within a three square vicinity.
Strategy
So the way you earn points in this game is by exploding jellies, correct? Well, my strategy for this game is to explode as many jellies as possible in the fewest turns, so the game can last longer for me to score more points.
First, in the very beginning, I just focus on making rows of five, and I try as much as possible to keep the jellies from cluttering up the petri dish. Basically, I'll take jelly from clutters to form rows rather than jellies that are standing alone by themselves. I'll also try to make rows from jellies that have already begun to form lines by the way they've appeared on the petri dish, so then I'll have to use less turns to explode the jelly.
Then, when the jellies have covered about a third of the square, I continue to make rows and try to keep the jellies from creating "obstacles." By obstacles, I mean rows of non-matching jellies that prevent the jellies from moving anywhere on the board. I try to avoid this by exploding jellies near the center of the petri dish, so I can have the maximum amount of clear movement.
Once there are only about 20 free spaces left, the game is pretty much lost (and from a mathematical standpoint, clearing the entire board of jellies is impossible, even in the beginning of the game). All you can really do is wait for a Bomb to appear. There is one thing you can do to prolong your game, however. If you type boomshaketheroom, you'll get extra bombs after your next move.
And if you can't get enough of Scourge of the Lab Jellies, there are also a bunch of items featuring the celebrity jellies. Seems the Techo finally realized that the best way to save Neopia from a hostile jelly takeover was to eat them. Who knew acts of heroism could be so tasty?
