DISCLAIMER: This tutorial is for educational purpose only. I don't guarantee you after reading this tutorial, you will be able getting 2900+ in one shot. It all depends on your perseverance, experience, and of course LUCK. And this is not the only way of playing the game - this is MY way of playing the game that I think will be useful to share with you all.
This tutorial can also be found at Ghost Trappers Forum.
1. Begin - START FROM THE CENTER AND NOT FROM THE EDGE
A lot of people are doing the puzzle by connecting blocks that are at the edge of the 8x8 block. I don't think this is a good idea, since big blocks that stuck in the middle will be difficult to handle later on. Let's take a look at an example:
We see that there are lots of 'easy pairs' at the center of the stack and one at the bottom left. Eliminate all the 'easy pairs'. Now we will have a lot of holes inside the stack, which is good.
The main strategy of this guide is to divide-and-conquer: slice the stack into thinner layers, horizontally and vertically. I strongly recommend you to clear a line of blocks, be it vertically or horizontally. I called the cleared line as 'channel'. Let's look at the example:
2. Divide and Conquer - EXPAND YOUR CHANNELS
The main strategy of this guide is to divide-and-conquer: slice the stack into thinner layers, horizontally and vertically. I strongly recommend you to clear a line of blocks, be it vertically or horizontally. I called the cleared line as 'channel'. Let's look at the example:
Here I want to create a vertical channel as indicated by the yellow vertical line. I need to clear all the blocks on that line, and the corresponding pair are marked with the yellow star. After this, we will have a nice vertical channel. Let's create the horizontal one:
The desired horizontal channel is the white horizontal line, so we need to clear those starred blocks. After those blocks are eliminated we have our second channel in the stack.
You may be wondering why I insist to create channels? The answer is that you can connect any two blocks located at the edges of any channel. For example the orange greedy ghosts and the black reaper ghosts are located at the edge of the vertical channel, and they are easily connected through the channel itself. Try it yourself and you will know.
After 'slicing' your stack horizontally and vertically, usually almost half of the blocks are cleared. What we need to do next is just keep creating more channels, or put it in other way, slice any remaining big blocks. Lets see at the example:
You may be wondering why I insist to create channels? The answer is that you can connect any two blocks located at the edges of any channel. For example the orange greedy ghosts and the black reaper ghosts are located at the edge of the vertical channel, and they are easily connected through the channel itself. Try it yourself and you will know.
3. Finishing - MORE CHANNELS
After 'slicing' your stack horizontally and vertically, usually almost half of the blocks are cleared. What we need to do next is just keep creating more channels, or put it in other way, slice any remaining big blocks. Lets see at the example:
Here the remaining big block is the 3x3 block at top right corner, we just need to slice that block. The next-to-be-eliminated blocks are starred, as always. After that slice practically nothing much to do now, just need to wipe off all the remaining pairs and we're done.
Special Case: LOCKED BLOCKS
Pay attention to the top left corner. I call the position of the blue executioner ghosts and the red devil ghosts as 'locked' position. The key to the lock is the purple samurai ghost or the blue electric ghost that are starred. You need to 'open' those locks first buy eliminating the starred block.
Stalemate: DEAD LOCKS
This position is what I called a 'deadlock'. This will put you in a stalemate position and you will not able to finish the game. The only way to open this deadlock is to connect the deadlocked block into another block outside this 2x2 block. If you can't manage to find any, then you should restart your round.
Fun fact: For the holy name of Nessy, I spent about 15 minutes restarting the game over and over to get this screenshot. LOL
LUCKY NUMBER 2900
We know that there are 32 pairs of blocks in the puzzle. Each pair has maximum score of 100, so theoretically the perfect score is 3200. Our aim here is to reach 2900+, since it will give us the beatiful Biochemist Dana Hunter contract. Simple math, 2900/32 is about 90.6. Converted to time, you only have roughly about one second to think and connect each pair in the puzzle. And trust me, it is POSSIBLE.
Keep practicing in the casual mode, once you are used to it, move to competitive. Don't worry if you can't reach 2900+ at the first time. I myself also still not be able to reach 2900+ everytime. Usually 1 out of 6 game will give 2900+ for me. Perseverance is the key here.
To end this tutorial, as all of you know:
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
hope you enjoy the guide! :D
