Stowaway Sting

Do you ever wonder what happens to plot characters once the plot finally comes to an end? Well now is your chance to find out with a game called Stowaway Sting!

In this remake of the game Deckswabber, you play the role of Scrap, our favourite Gnorbu stowaway from the Journey to the Lost Isle. After returning on the SS Primella, he now finds himself in a whole new mess of trouble. The pair of thugs who framed him for a previous crime, which led to him hiding aboard the SS Primella, have started their next heist. If you can help Scrap gather and return all of the stolen goods, then he might be able to clear his reputation!

The SS Primella makes a safe return...but what lies ahead?

How to Play

To gather the stolen crates, you will need to hop around each level, changing the color of each crate to the "target color" shown in the bottom-left corner of the game window. Doing so will be fairly easy at first, but as the levels go on, it will become more and more difficult. There are 8 levels in all.

An important thing to note about this game is that you are only provided with one life. You can take a fair amount of damage and still go on, but once you die, the game is over. Also, the health meter in the upper-left corner of the game window will not refill at the start of each new level, so it is important to avoid dangers as much as possible. Running out of time in any level is an automatic game over!

Another way you can die is by falling into the water and drowning. This happens when you jump onto a tile showing a hole in the dock. If this happens, it does not matter how much health you have left. The game will end immediately. These can be very tricky since they can become hidden by taller crates or enemies that are blocking your view. If you get too carried away by jumping around as fast as you can, you may accidentally find yourself falling into the water, so be careful!

A stowaway that can't even swim!

Controls

The only keys you will need to use are the up, down, left, and right arrow keys. However, the way the board is set up can make it very hard to learn your directions at first.

Pressing the up arrow will move you to the upper-right, while pressing the down arrow will move you to the bottom-left. Meanwhile, the left arrow will move you to the upper-left, and the right arrow will move you to the bottom-right.

You have the option of rotating all of these controls counter-clockwise under "Setup" on the intro screen, but that can be just as confusing. Whichever control setup you choose, you will need to practice the directions until they become second nature to you if you want to do well in this game. These images might help clear some things up:

Target Colors

The target color displayed in the bottom-left corner of the screen is the color all of the crates on the board need to be in order to finish the level. The target color can be achieved in three different ways:

• Brown to Blue - This is the order for levels 1, 2, and 3. Once you jump on a crate, it will stay that color.
• Brown to Blue to Brown - This is the order for levels 4, 5, and 6. If you jump on a crate that has already reached the target color, it will be reset and you will have to do it again.
• Brown to Blue to Green to Brown - This is the order for levels 7 and 8. You will need to jump on each crate twice in order to reach the target color, but if you jump on it again after that, it will be reset and you will have to repeat the process.

Dangers

There are three different types of dangerous obstacles in this game. These will cause you to lose health or to die completely, so look out for these.

Bonus Items

Several different bonus items will appear randomly during the game. They will only appear for a short time, however, and then they will vanish, so you should hurry to grab them before they are gone. Also, if the Kougra or Skeith get to the item before you do, they will steal it and it will be gone.

On the first level, there will only be 4 bonus items; on the second level, there will only be 5 bonus items. On level three and beyond, bonus items will appear periodically and indefinitely until the time runs out.

Scoring

There are three different factors that determine your score at the end of each round. When you see your score being added together, however, you will only see two scores listed: a time bonus, and a level score. This is because the level score you are shown is a combination of the points awarded from collecting bonus items and a predetermined amount of points you receive just for finishing that specific level. Each level has its own point value, and they are listed below:

Show me the money! Oh wait... You just did.

The time bonus is equal to the number of seconds you have left on the timer in the upper-left corner, which starts with 60 seconds. It usually amounts to only a small portion of your score, and by combining your time with the point values from the table above, you will notice that breezing through each level will rarely even earn you 100 points. That is why you should collect as many diamonds and money bags as you can, since those will make up the bulk of your score.

Strategy

Before you complete levels 1 and 2, wait around and collect all of the money bags before stepping on the last tile. For each subsequent level, the bonus items are randomized, so collect as many gems and money bags as you can while you are converting the color of the tiles. Finishing the level should always be your top priority—if you have some time left over, leave one tile unchanged and wait for bonuses, but make sure to give yourself plenty of time to return!

For level 4 and beyond, while you are collecting bonuses you may start to jump on tiles that you have already stepped on previously. To get the tiles back to the way you want them, move back one tile before you move forward to change them.

When you reach the edge of the level or a crate with a higher elevation, use it to your advantage! Jumping in a direction you cannot move to will cause Scrap to hop up and down and change the crate color beneath his feet. Doing this will allow you to move ahead without having to double back any more.

Since the level layouts are the same every time, lots of practice is a big help. You'll get used to the placement of the holes and equipment crates and have an easier time navigating to bonuses as they appear.

Quick Tips

• Typing scrap (the name of the main character) during a game will completely refill your health bar once per game. Since it only works once, you should only use it when your health is in the red.
• If the thugs take away any of your money bags on levels 1 or 2, start over.
• Waiting for bonuses before completing a level will usually net you more points than finishing the level early.
• Although you have a time limit, try not to rush! Take your time and be careful of hazards and allow thugs to pass instead of running into them.
• Practice the game a few times and use our level guides to familiarize yourself with level layouts, it will help with avoiding hazards and make it easier to navigate to bonuses as they appear.

Level Guides

Since this is a timed game, it can be very beneficial to plan out the quickest route to take ahead of time. However, the appearance and paths of the thieves are entirely random, as well as the locations of the bonus items, so you will almost always need to adjust your route accordingly. Nevertheless, you will be able to make much better use of your time if you are familiar with the layout of each level. For that reason, we whipped up some screenshots of each level just for you!

Avatar

Because this game is a remake of Deckswabber, TNT decided to bring back the avatar that was associated with the old game so that it can now be obtained by playing Stowaway Sting. If you practice this game enough, you might be able to add a new avatar to your collection!

This game guide was written by: Nick