This Game Is C-R-A-C-K-E-R-S - Let's Play Spelling Jungle and Spelling Blizzard!

Put your Let's Plays in here.
Post Reply
User avatar
Image Image

What Is This Game?

In 1993 and 1994, the edugame company Bright Star Technology made a pair of games designed to teach children spelling, which were published by Sierra. Originally titled “Yobi’s Magic Spelling Tricks”, the first game was released as “Yobi’s Basic Spelling Tricks”, and then as “Spelling Jungle”. The sequel, “Yobi’s Advanced Spelling Tricks”, is similarly better known under another name: “Spelling Blizzard”.

In both games, you play a villager who travels upriver to find out why your river is flooding. Along the way, you’ll have to travel through a series of top-down puzzles where you dodge wild animals, cross rivers, and collect letter tiles to (correctly) spell words. The big difference is that the second game is more challenging - and it’s winter.

These games were on the school computers when I was a kid, and were a fond part of my childhood - but I never managed to finish them.

I now have both games and a cantankerous Mac emulator, so we can change that.


How Will this LP Work?

This will, for the most part, be a screenshot LP. I’ll play through each level and provide commentary! It should be pretty short and sweet.

I’ll also post videos of each batch of 5 levels or so as I play through them. These will be lightly edited and have no commentary, for people who’d rather see the game in action.


Spoiler Policy

Please don’t spoil the ending of either game, as I have never seen them.


Notice of Simulcast: This LP is also posted over on the Something Awful LP forums. Chat it up with the biggest LP community out there!

Episodes

Episode 1: Welcome to the Jungle
Episode 2: Lions and Rhinos in Pairs, Oh My!
Episode 3: Novelties of the Jungle
Episode 4: Everything Wants a Piece of Us
Episode 5: Fast Fingers and/or Feet Required
Episode 6: Special ELECTION Update ft. Animal Antics
Episode 7: Hippo HQ and Roundabout Routes
Episode 8: Yobi's Day Off
Episode 9: Pushing Through the Jungle
Episode 10: A Decade of Zebras
Episode 11: A Glitch in Time
Episode 12: The Long Way Round
Episode 13: Not-So-Bad Lip Reading, Jungle Edition
Episode 14: Way Too Many Dangerous Orange Things
Episode 15: Where's That Walkthrough?
Episode 16: Back to the Future!

{more to come…}


Videos

Levels 1-5
Levels 6-10
Levels 11-15
Levels 16-20
Levels 21-25
Levels 26-30
Levels 31-35

[I've stopped making videos.]

User avatar
Denizens of the Jungle

This post will list all the features we’ll find as we travel upriver. It’ll be updated as we discover new things.


Characters

Image This is Yobi, your mission control, guide, and a general all-round helpful presence.

Image This is Crackers, Yobi’s parrot. Crackers squawks when you pick up letter tiles. Knows one and only one word: ”Crac-kers!”

Image This is you.


Terrain

Image This is Land. You can walk on this.

Image Grass is a kind of land, but animals won't walk on it of their own accord. You can use it to keep safe from more dangerous animals.

Image This is the River. You can’t walk on this, but you can get over it with the help of a Hippopotamus, Bridge, or Boulder. Or you can ride over it on the Raft.

Image “The Trees are fake thick.” Trees are impassable, and form walls that block your way. You can throw apples through them, though... and Demons can throw things back!

Image Stone Walls are just as impassible as trees, but you can’t throw things through them, either. They also block Demons' attacks, and animals and Demons can't see through them, either.

Image Mud is frictionless! Once you set out in a direction, you won't be able to stop yourself until you hit something solid.

Image Hot Coals are safe to walk over... as long as you don't stop moving while you're standing on them. If you stop moving while on Hot Coals for any reason, you'll have to start the level over.

Image Pits are only a danger to you if you walk into them! Unfortunately, there's no safety railings.


Animals and Enemies

Image Hippopotamuses will stay where they are by default, submerging in the water sometimes. You can walk over them when their backs are out of the water. If you feed a Hippo, it will let you ride it for a short time. Be sure to be somewhere you can safely disembark by the time the apple wears off, or you’ll be stuck in midriver!

Image Zebras won’t move, usually. If you feed one, it will follow you, and you can push it around as well. Once the apple wears off, the Zebra will stand still.

Image Gazelles are always in motion, normally running around the left or right edge of the terrain. If you feed one, it will stop, and you can push it around. It will start running again once the apple wears off.

Image Elephants are like Zebras in that they normally won't move. If you feed one, you can push it around, but once the apple wears off, the Elephant will return to its starting location if possible.

Image Rhinoceroses move back and forth in a straight line. If you run into the front end of one, you'll have to start the level over. If you feed one, it can be safely pushed around; if this changes the way it's facing, it will move in that direction once the apple wears off.

Image Lions have a set 'home space', and chase anyone who's too close to it. They'll walk back to their home space once you're far enough away. If one catches you, you'll have to start the level over; they don't care for apples, and will ignore them.

Image Tigers will start tracking your position if they see you (their vision extends up, down, left, and right in straight lines). They will walk vertically whenever you walk vertically; they will walk horizontally whenever you walk horizontally. When doing this, they'll always try to get closer to you, and if they get too close they'll chase you even if you stand still. Tigers will stop tracking you if they lose line-of-sight, which means that you can fake them out by ducking around a corner or trapping them in a cul-de-sac.

ImageImage Alligators patrol the outside of the body of water they're in - until you get too close. Then they'll start following you around, even coming up on land to do so. Running into one means starting over. Alligators will abandon their chase if they get too far away from where they left the water, or from you.

Image The Fire Demon throws fireballs vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, as long as it can see you and you're in line with it. Fortunately, these fireballs have a very short range (2 squares). If one hits you, you'll have to start the level over.

Image The Dart Demon shoots darts vertically and horizontally, if it can see you and you're in line with it. These darts travel pretty quickly, and will go until they hit something solid or leave the screen. You'll only be able to pass safely from a ways away, or if you can block the darts' path with a stone wall, boulder, or animal.

Image The Wind Demon can't harm you directly, but it sure can push you around! Wind Demons blow vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, turning to face you as you move. Their wind has infinite range, and blows at the same speed you walk, so you won't be able to walk against it effectively. You'll stop if you hit something solid.

Items

Image Collecting Letter Tiles to form words is your main goal as you venture upriver. If you grab the wrong one, you’ll have to start over.

Image Apples can be thrown at animals to feed them. Different animals will have different reactions to being fed.

Image A Bridge can be placed to cross the river. Image

Image Boulders can block off pathways or shield you from harm. It can also be pushed into the river to cross it, but the boulder won’t hang around for very long!

Image A Jeep is like a boulder, but it will roll on its own once pushed, stopping once it hits something solid. It can only be pushed forwards or backwards. Jeeps will sink in water and can't be used to cross rivers.

ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage Ooh, shiny! Trinkets are found every 10 levels, but collecting them may prove difficult. Can you pull it off?

Image Potions have special beneficial effects, but they're rare and last only for a short time (about 11 seconds). So far, we've seen:

Image The Walk on Water potion lets you cross rivers without a bridge! If you're still on water when it wears off, expect to get wet and have to start over.
Image The Anti-Dart potion protects you from Dart Demons' darts. Being out of line of sight once it wears off is a good idea.
Image The Anti-Fireball potion protects you from Fire Demons' fireballs (but not the effects of hot coals). It's a bit more niche than an Anti-Dart potion, but if you need it...
Image The Anti-Wind potion keeps you from being blown around by Wind Demons.

Et Cetera

Image The Raft is your ticket into and out of levels. It will duck out once you start a level, and return once you’ve collected all the letter tiles.

User avatar
Episode 1: Welcome to the Jungle

Image

First off, it’s time to start the game! We’ve just booted up SheepShaver, a somewhat cantankerous PPC Mac emulator running Mac OS 8.5.

I don’t remember why I named the main HD of the emulated computer ‘Mask’, by the way.

Image

Now let’s play the…

Image

Oh.

Image

OK, let’s try that again.

Image
Image

Note that the version of the game I was able to lay my hands on was one before the name change. It’ll always be ‘Spelling Jungle’ in my heart, though.

Image

The ‘Spelling Jungle’ title card looks like this, for comparison.

Image

We fade in on a tidy map scene. This menu screen shows your progress - and, on the ‘EXPLORERS’ board, anyone else who’s playing the game and the latest level they reached, too.

Image Eheheheh. Hello! Prepare yourself! When you are ready, choose a stone.

This is Yobi. He’s going to be our mission control for our journey. He is also fully voice acted - with lip flaps! Not bad for a game that’s only 10 MB in size.

Image

Clicking on ‘NEW GAME’, we get this name entry screen.

Image Type in your name.

I wasn’t kidding about the lip flaps, by the way. Just look at that enunciation!

Image

‘QUACKLES’ seems like a good name… I sure hope it got the last few letters, though.

Image

That brings us back to the menu screen.

Image The river is flooding, and our home is in danger! Our tribe has chosen you! Your journey upriver will find the cause… good luck!

Image

We click PLAY, and are confronted with a loading screen.

Image Heh! Your journey is just beginning!

This would take ages to load back on the school’s 68k Macs. I suspect the voice clips associated with each level are heavily compressed. Yobi has some idle animations to pass the time (thunking that staff of his, wiggling his toes) but it still felt like forever.

Since SheepShaver is being backed up by all the power of a 2014 MacBook Pro, the loading screen only hangs around long enough for Yobi to finish talking.


Level 1. FIRST

First is really second today.”

Image

Here is our first puzzle level!

Image That’s you on the raft! Collect the letters of the word F-I-R-S-T, in the proper order.
Image Remember, in the word “first”, the I-R sounds like an R!

The flow of this dialogue makes it clear that Yobi has voice clips for each individual letter, as well as sentence fragments like, “sounds like” or “in the proper order”. It still sounds good, though, and it’s super impressive for something from 1993.

Image Use the arrow keys to move. Walk over letters to pick them up.

A caw from Yobi’s parrot signals the start of the level. Our goal, as noted above, is to collect the letter tiles in order, then return to the raft.

The one-liner at the bottom of the screen is a mnemonic that relates to the word we’re here to collect. It changes with every level.

Image

Before we start, we pause the game. This activates the help function; if we click on anything onscreen, Yobi will tell us about it.

Image “This is your journey.”

Image “The trees are thick.”

Trees can’t be walked through, but that’s not what’s important about them. When I was a kid playing this game, me and my friends were absolutely sure Yobi was saying, “The trees are fake.”

We got a lot of humor out of that one line.

Image

Once we step off the raft, it disembarks, heading towards the bottom of the screen. It’ll be back when we’re done.

Image

Collecting letters makes them appear on the board above Yobi’s head. This board will also store our inventory, once we get anything else worth picking up.

Now, you may be wondering: what happens if we collect the wrong letters? Well…

Image

Image Whoops! The letter S would have been a wiser choice.

When you fail levels due to spelling-related reasons, Yobi will typically deploy a proverb on you.

Image Every letter must be placed well / in every word / you seek to spell.

And finally, the thing he’ll say for every do-over…

Image Let’s try that one again.

Image

A quick fade out, and the puzzle is reset.

Image
Image
Image

This time, we gather everything in order.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Once the puzzle is complete, Yobi will bang his staff three times. In addition to bringing back the raft, this clears away most entities that are left in the puzzle, like leftover letter tiles or wild animals.

Yobi has this to say about the raft, by the way:

Image “You will reach your goal by taking the raft.”

Image

Back on the raft, we continue our journey.

Image

We fade back in at the site of a pop quiz. There’s one of these after every puzzle level.

Image Spell “first”.

The first word we’re asked to spell in these will always be the word we just collected in the puzzle.

Image

We spell the word, and a little figure climbs onto the signboard. It may be hard to see, but we (on the raft) just paddled a bit farther to the left.

Image Fantastic! Spell the word ”reading”.

Image
Image

We do, and another figure climbs up onto the board.

Image Way to go! Spell ”plant”.

Image
Image

Image You got it!

With our third spelled word, the quiz is complete - for now. The figures wave goodbye as we paddle offscreen.


Level 2. PRACTICE

”It’s fun to practice skating on ice.”

Image

Now that we’ve completed the quiz, the game segues immediately to our next puzzle level.

Image Collect the letters of the word P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the E is silent in the word ”practice”.
Image Press the Space bar to throw an apple. If you feed a hippopotamus, you can ride on his back!

You’ve already heard what Yobi has to say about hippos, but if you click on an apple while the game is paused, he says,

Image “Feed the apples to animals if you need their help.”

Image

Hippopotamuses, at rest, don’t move. They alternate between submerged…

Image

And surfacing. You can walk on their backs while they’re surfaced, but they won’t move for free.

Image

We’re going to need the hippo’s help to cross the river and get the next letter (the R), so we grab the two apples on this side (which go onto the board above Yobi’s head for storage) …

Image

And then we feed one to the hippo! It turns bright pink. We can now walk onto it and control it with the arrow keys for a little while, so we use it to cross the river.

Image

By the time we get the ‘R’, the apple is wearing off. (It’s not visible in this screenshot, but the hippo flashes between bright pink and its normal color for a few seconds.)

Image
Image

We have to feed the hippo again to get back. Note how apples travel when we’re not right up next to the animal: they fly straight forward in front of us.

Image
Image
Image

From here, the rest of the letters are easy.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

The hippo vanishes, and the raft reappears. Away we go!

Image

As expected, it’s time for another pop quiz.

Image Spell the word ”practice”.

Image

Image You’re movin’ now! Spell ”march”.

Image

This time, I screw up - I hit Enter too soon, and the ‘H’ isn’t read. Not only do we not get credit for the answer, but…

Image “March” is spelled…

Image

Image M-A-R-C-H. “March”.

…Yobi also spells it out for us.

Image Spell the word “action”.

Image

Image There you go! Spell ”cheese”.

Image

You can click on Yobi in case you want the word repeated. In this case, I do, because the voice clip is near-silent on the ‘eeze’ part of ‘cheese’, so I can’t hear the word properly! Yes, even with headphones.

Image

Image You got it!

Finally, I just guess. Fortunately, I’m right.

Image

Between levels, Yobi has another proverb:

Image A correctly spoken word is heard at an instant! The correctly spelled word is permanent.


Level 3. NICE

Nice igloos cover Eskimos.”

Image

Our third puzzle level.

Image Collect the letters of the word N-I-C-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget! The C can sound like an S.
Image Press the Space bar to lay down a bridge. If you feed a zebra, it won’t leave your side.

Importantly, this level has our first instance of a letter tile that does not belong in the word. If you collect the S at any point, it’s like picking up letter tiles out of order - you’ll have to start over.

Yobi has this to say when asked about bridges:

Image “Bridges are useful for crossing the river!”

Image

We start on the right side. The N isn’t here with us, so our first job is to get across the river.

Image
Image

We grab the bridge (it goes into our inventory) and deploy it by pressing SPACE while next to a 1-tile-wide stretch of river. Bridges are permanent until you’ve collected all the letters.

Image
Image

Once we’re across, we have a different problem: the zebra is between us and the N. We grab an apple and toss it to the zebra…

Image
Image

…and it starts following us around! Once it’s somewhere out of the way, we stop and wait for the apple to wear off.

Image

Zebras won’t move when they’re not fed, which is fine for us. We snag the N.

Image
Image
Image

From here, finishing the puzzle is just a matter of some time-consuming backtracking - and avoiding the S.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

The raft makes the bridge, zebra, and S all disappear, leaving a straight shot to the finish.

Image
Image
Image

We go through another pop quiz, before paddling to another puzzle.


Level 4. EASY

”Spelling easy is as easy as slurping yogurt.”

Image

Another puzzle with a decoy letter. In a game about avoiding spelling mistakes, this will not be anything near the last.

Image Collect the letters of the word E-A-S-Y, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget! An S can sound like a Z.
Image Gazelles will only stop for food! Once they stop, they will go anywhere you push.
Image Push Boulders to block danger, or into the river as a stepping stone.

Image

Gazelles run endlessly, like Yobi promised. They don’t pose a threat to us, but they can get in the way.

Image
Image

Once we’ve collected the E, we have to push the boulder out of the way to get to the A and S.

Gazelles simply route around anything that’s in their way.

Image
Image
Image

For the heck of it, I decide to use the boulder to cross the lake once I’ve picked up the A. Boulders are single-use— this one sinks after I cross.
(They also sink if you wait a bit without crossing.)

Image
Image

From there, collecting the remaining letters is E-A-S-Y, especially with the raft docking spot right nearby.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Off we go!

Image

It’s worth noting that the pop quizzes are the only part of actual gameplay that’s backed by music. The puzzles just have ambient sounds, based on what’s in the level.

Music: Spelling Jungle Drums

Image Can you spell ”easy”?

Image

Image You’re right! Spell ”vote”.

Image

Yobi says, vote. You heard it here first, people!

Image Goo-hoo-hoo-hood! Spell the word ”nature”.

Image

Image Yes!

That completes this quiz. Off we go, arriving at…


Level 5. BEGIN

Begin exploring good ideas now.”

Image

The puzzles are still easy, but they’re starting to pick up in complexity.

Image Collect the letters of the word B-E-G-I-N, in the proper order.
Image Some words are not spelled the way they sound.

I know one of the spelling mistakes they were expecting people to make was B-E-E-G-I-N, but what’s that A lying around here for??

Anyway, this level introduces stone walls. Like trees, they’re impassable. Unlike trees, you can’t throw things through them (this will be relevant later on).

Image

Sadly, I didn’t think to click on a wall and get Yobi’s explanation, but I did click on two very important things I hadn’t asked about before.

Image I am Yobi.

Image “This is Crackers.”

Image Crac-kers!

Image
Image
Image

We won’t need the apple for this level, so we head for the B, then push the boulder out of the way.

Image
Image

We get the E once the Gazelle passes, as it’d block our way otherwise.

Image
Image

After grabbing the G and the bridge, we push the boulder aside again so we can get back to the open area on the left.

Image
Image

Here’s how Gazelles behave when fed: as promised, they stop, and you can push them around.

Image

They start running again once they’re no longer full, though!

Image

Image Back to the raft!

Image

After we grab the N, the bridge, gazelles, and extra letters all disappear. Note that the boulder does not disappear; the game considers it part of the scenery, and we may have to make a bridge with a boulder later on to get back to the raft.

Image
Image
Image

We clear the next pop quiz without difficulty. However, once we get to the next puzzle this time, I decide to go back to the map by clicking on ‘MAP’ in the next puzzle screen.

Image

Now that we have a save file in progress, the map shows us our progress. Spelling Jungle has 101 levels, so we have a ways to go!

Wait, a second, though. Do I see what I think I see? Our name is preserved for posterity up on the high score board! Our record is saved for eternity! Our—

Image

… oh, dag nab it.


Next Time on Spelling Jungle: Rhinos and lions and fireball hurlers, oh my!

User avatar
Huh. The semi-educational spelling game I remember from my youth was the first Bookworm Adventures. It was basically my first RPG!

...yeah, I'm on the younger end.

User avatar
The animation on the guy is so familiar, it's just like doctor brain's niece in Doctor Brain's Brain Drain, and it's giving me some weird flash backs.

User avatar
Gloomy Rube wrote:
Sat Sep 05, 2020 4:52 pm
The animation on the guy is so familiar, it's just like doctor brain's niece in Doctor Brain's Brain Drain, and it's giving me some weird flash backs.
Funny you should mention that. Bright Star Technology would go on to make The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain.

User avatar
Well, that was certainly a thing. I can see these puzzles getting somewhat complicated for a young child.

User avatar
Episode 2: Lions and Rhinos in Pairs, Oh My!

Image

So far, the only hazards of our journey have been collecting the wrong letter tiles or falling into the river.

This is about to change.

Image

Yobi, chatty as ever, has something unique to say when the game loads from the map screen.

Image Your persistence is your strength!


Level 6. JOURNEY
Journey only upon roads not expecting you.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word J-O-U-R-N-E-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the Y is silent!
Image A rhinoceros will pace until you feed him. Watch out for his snout!

Yobi’s not joking about the rhinos. They’ll walk back and forth in a straight line, turning around when they hit something solid. But if they run into you from the front, well…

Image

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

Image J-O-U-R-N-E-Y is the word.

Before we continue, I should note that this level introduces something that will be very, very important later on. See that green stuff?

Image “The grass makes animals anxious.”

This is grass. Animals will not walk on it willingly, and if pushed into it, they won’t move (I think). Effectively, it’s a kind of ‘safe zone’ for dealing with anyone who might want to take a bite out of us.

As you might surmise, there will be animals coming up who might want to take a bite out of us.

Image

This time, we wait for the rhino to be out of the way before grabbing the J.

Image
Image

We have to do it again for the O and the U, as they are both in the rhino’s path.

Image

Even though there is an apple on this side of the river, we don’t need to use it to get the hippo’s help. All we have to do is walk across when it’s not underwater!

Image
Image

We grab the N, and dodge around the second rhino to get the E.

Image

The Y is going to be tough to get to, though… so we feed the rhino.

Image

Once the rhino is fed, he stops. Now we can push him around safely like a zebra or a gazelle.

There’s one more cool thing about rhinos - once the apple wears off, the rhino resumes pacing. However, because we made him face right, he paces horizontally instead of vertically! This means we can move rhinoceroses to be safely out of the way, as long as we have apples.

Image

Image Back to the raft!

Image

With the word finished, we proceed onwards.

Image

Past this point, I’m going to condense most pop quizzes, unless something interesting happens.

Image Can you spell ”journey”?

Image

Image That’s the first one! Spell the word “potato”.

Image

Image You’re right! Spell “poem”.

Image

Image Well spelled!

Away we go.


Level 7. ENOUGH
Enough nagging often upsets good humor.”

Image

This level looks… kind of ominous.

Image Collect the letters of the word E-N-O-U-G-H, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget! In the word ”enough”, G-H sounds like an F!
Image A lion guards his den fiercely!

To hammer the point home, we immediately hear a digitized lion roar.

Image

Lions are fairly straightforward. They have a ‘home space’ (their starting position), and if we’re within a certain distance of it (I think a 2-square radius), they’ll leave our position and chase us. They won’t walk onto the grass, fortunately.

Image

In fact, as long as we stay entirely on the grass, this lion won’t be able to harm us!

Image

Once we’re far enough away, the lion stops following us and returns to its home space.

Critically, though, if a lion catches us while we’re ever off the grass…

Image

Image Let’s try that one again!

I’m sure everyone saw that coming from a mile away.

Image
Image

This level, in addition to introducing lions, kind of doubles as a tutorial on grass. All the letters are on grass, there’s enough space to always stay on the grass while moving from letter to letter, and the fact that you have to walk past the lions shows you how they’ll behave when they get far enough away from you.

Image
Image

We get the letters on this side of the river and deploy the bridge, carefully dodging around the Fs. Yobi would have had “enuff” of our attempt if we tried.

Image
Image

The lion on the right side ignores us, even while we collect the G. It’s mostly there to point out that it’s not safe to disembark the raft anywhere a lion can eat you.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

That lion is gone by the time we re-embark, anyway.

Image
Image
Image

The next pop quiz goes mostly smoothly, though I have to prod Yobi to repeat himself a few times on “crisp” - once again, the sample is quiet towards the end.

Image

Yobi has more loading screen advice for us.

Image To spell a single word correctly is to avoid many mistakes!


Level 8. NEITHER
Neither time did ‘I’ go first.”

Image

OK, quick, how does it go? I before E, except after C, or when sounding like A, as in… oh, fuck it. “Neither” is one of those words that blows that rule out of the water.

Also, I may have typed it wrong 3 or 4 types in a row, and had to backspace and correct it, while writing this post. :magical:

Image Collect the letters of the word N-E-I-T-H-E-R, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the E-I sounds like E in the word “neither”.

Image
Image

The actual puzzle is somewhat more straightforward. We start by getting the N, then moving the zebra out of the way.

Image
Image
Image

After grabbing the E, we load up on apples and move the boulder out of the way (we won’t need it), then ride the hippo across the river.

Thinking on it, the game encourages you to spell the word with ‘E-I’ using the puzzle design, in addition to everything else; if you plan everything out before you start, you’ll notice there aren’t enough apples for two trips across the river.

Image
Image
Image

The rhino has a long travel time, so we dodge around it and collect the I, T, and the H.

Image
Image

Then it’s just a matter of taking the hippo back across to the left bank - though our first apple misses as the hippo submerges unexpectedly.

Image

And we’re done.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

During the pop quiz, I manage to nail the spelling.

Image

We also get a repeat of “march”, seeing as we messed up on it a few levels ago.

Image

“Grass” is another word where I have to ask for a repeat. So far, all the words that are to quiet at the back end tend to end with either a ‘P’ or ’S’ syllable.

This might be due to the recording technologies used - it’s common for professional voice recording to use a ‘pop filter’, to prevent a burst of air from hitting the microphone all at once on syllables that ‘pop’, like ‘P’.

Image

Note that this doesn’t explain why ’S’ syllables are quiet - though it’s possible that the recording was also processed to remove undue hissing noises, such as those produced by ’S’ sounds.

Ultimately, all we can do is speculate.


Level 9. PLEASE
Please let every animal safely exist.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word P-L-E-A-S-E, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the S can sound like a Z!
Image The Fire Demon is dangerous from many directions!

I’m sorry, the what?  :stare:

Image A Jeep will roll on its own, and wisely used, protect you.

OK, before we continue, let’s talk about Demons. The Fire Demon is the first of three types of entities that aren’t exactly animals, but will seek to ruin your day in various ways. I’m informed the manual calls them ‘Tricksters’ instead of ‘Demons’, possibly to avoid upsetting parents and teachers; but in here, Yobi calls them Demons, so Demons they shall be.

The Fire Demon doesn’t do anything yet. We’re not close enough, and thanks to the stone walls, it can’t see us.

Image

Our first job is to deal with this rhino. We’ll have to walk on its path to get to the P and the rest of the puzzle, so we’ll have to keep it from stampeding over us!

Image
Image


We push the Jeep with good timing, after the rhino has gone past. The jeep keeps rolling even after we’re not pushing it, and traps the rhino. We take the opportunity to grab the bridge.

(For those who are wondering, you can’t move a Jeep if you push from the side, only from the front or back.)

Image

On our way to get the P, the Fire Demon sees us. It turns out the Fire Demon can throw fireballs!

…but the fireballs only have a maximum range of two squares, about to the range shown in the picture. We’re safe for now, but the L will require us to take some care.

Image

We carefully stick near the stone walls and grass to avoid the Fire Demon, who it turns out can throw fireballs diagonally as well.

Image
Image

After retracing our steps, we grab an E (there will be no “pleez” mishaps here today), and toss the bridge down so we can get to the A. If we hadn’t blocked in the rhino now, we’d be in a bit of a pickle - it’s hard to set up a bridge with a rhino bearing down on you! The gap to the right of the S wouldn’t have worked, because we have to get the A first.

Image
Image
Image

We snag the last three letters without much trouble.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Jeeps, like boulders, don’t disappear when the raft returns.

Image
Image
Image

We pass the pop quiz without any trouble.


Level 10. SUGAR
Sugar usually gets a reaction.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word S-U-G-A-R, in the proper order.
Image Remember, there’s no H in the word ”sugar”.
Image Trinkets are highly prized, but difficult to collect!

Just when we think we’ve seen everything, the game throws a new wrinkle at us: trinkets! A trinket will appear every 10 levels, and serve as an optional goal that makes the level harder. If we want the trinket, we’ll need to nab it before we collect the last letter, or it’ll disappear when Yobi bangs his staff. If we do grab it, the trinket will appear on the map screen when we’re signed in, as a bit of bragging rights.

This trinket level isn’t too hard - the game is starting us off easy so that we get used to the concept, and it mostly serves as a final exam on how to deal with Fire Demons.

Image
Image

Grabbing the apple that’s on this side of the river, we head around to grab the S and the U.

Image
Image
Image

We then use the apple we picked up to get the zebra out of the way, giving us the G and a bridge.

Image

The bridge gets us to the A. Note that the Fire Demon can see us, even through trees! It’s too far away for its fireballs to reach us, though.

At this point, I could backtrack, grab the R, and leave without the trinket. However, this is going to be an all-trinkets run of the game, so retreat is not an option.

Image
Image

We’re going to need to block off the Fire Demon from having a clear shot before we can grab the apple that’s on this side, so we push the boulder around and up next to it.

Image

Now, we can ride the hippopotamus to the island with the trinket.

(Note the fireballs! We have to go around the top side of the island for this reason. If we went around the bottom side, we’d end up flambéd and have to start over.)

Image

Trinket Get! Once again, we are out of fireball range (though just barely).

For those who’ve been paying particular attention, you may have noticed that apples go in the top row of the inventory board, bridges in the second row, trinkets in the fourth row, and letters on the bottom row. What goes on the third row? We’ll see, but not for a while.

Image
Image

Now, I think it’s at least theoretically possible to ride the hippo to the island, grab the trinket, and ride back on just one apple. However, if it is actually doable, the timing is pretty tight, and we’d risk being stuck in mid-river.

Instead, I wait for the first apple to wear off, then feed the hippo again with the apple that was next to the trinket. Back to the left bank we go!

Image

We grab the R and declare victory.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

The raft takes us to our next pop quiz, but there’s a new twist waiting for us.

Image
Image
Image

After our first three words…

Image Alllll right! Can you spell ”energy”?

…we get asked to spell a fourth!

Image

Image You’re right!

A new figure climbs up on the board, and we make our way upriver. Every 10 levels, pop quizzes are upgraded, requiring us to spell one more word to pass. This will be the case whether we grab the trinket or not!

This upgrade pattern will cap out after Level 70, where we’ll be spelling 10 words each session. For the time being, we make our exit, then return to the map.

Image

Our trinket is waiting for us! If we’d passed it by, there’d be an outline here instead.

Even though we’ve gotten a bit farther, though, and gotten cool swag, it seems our journey has only really just begun.


Next Time on Spelling Jungle: Up for a nice game of darts?

User avatar
Gosh this game is cool. Like, this is already a lot more complexity than you'd expect for a game of this type. And this is only the first game. I can't imagine what the snowy one will be like.

User avatar
Episode 3: Novelties of the Jungle

Image

Now that we’ve got our first trinket, you’d think the game might let up on us. And it does, but only so it can introduce lots of new stuff.

Image Oooooh! More surprises await you.


Level 11. SURE
Surely unicycles require energy!”

Image

Hot on the heels of SUGAR, we’ve got another level to remind us that English words don’t ever start with S-H-U, unless it’s pronounced /ʃʌ/ (‘shuh’) instead of /ʃu/ (‘shoo’).

Image Collect the letters of the word S-U-R-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget! In the word “sure”, there’s no H!

Image
Image

If you got the trinket, this is a nice breather level. If you skipped it, this level will teach you about the art of riding hippos over long distances.

Image
Image

After grabbing the S, we do our best to get as much of our remaining ride time as we can from the hippo. We still have to dismount back onto the island and feed the hippo again to make it across, though.

Image
Image

We get to the far side and grab the U. We also grab another apple, so we’re still holding nicely at a steady supply of two.

Image

Next, we set out on hippoback and collect the R (and another apple).

Image

This time, we wait on the island for the apple to wear off, rather than risk being stuck in mid-lake and having to start over.

Image
Image

Past this point, it’s a straight shot to the E.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

It’s a pity there wasn’t an extra ’T’ tucked into the corner of this level. I would have liked to try to have spelled “chute”, even if it would have ended in disaster.

Image

Another pop quiz down. I can appreciate that the answer to…

Image Can you spell S-U-R-E?

…is, “sure”.


Level 12. ABOUT
”Let’s go out and about.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word A-B-O-U-T, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the O-U in the word “about”!
Image It will take planning to pass the Dart Demon.

Ooh boy, ooh boy, ooh boy! We’ve got another Demon, folks. We’ll see what this one does when we get closer to it.

I also, finally, thought to get Yobi’s take on stone walls before the level starts.

Image “Stone blocks can’t be moved.”

Image
Image

We start by going right from the raft - not left. This is so that we can grab the bridge and set it up in the top.

The Dart Demon hasn’t done anything so far, mostly because we’re behind a pair of stone walls that block its vision.

Image
Image

We nab the A and B.

Image
Image

At this point, to get to the O, we’ll need to grab the bridge first. We do so, but make sure never to get directly in line with the Demon…

Image
Image

Because the Dart Demon, perhaps a bit unsurprisingly, shoots darts at us! The demon can only fire left, right, up, or down, and as long as we’re far enough away and keep moving across the line of fire, the darts will miss.

Image

As with the bridge, we can get close and grab the O without any problems.

Image
Image

For the U, though, we’ll need some help. Ducking past the darts again, we push the boulder to block the Demon’s line of fire to the left.

Image
Image

Now we can get the U and T safely.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

The Dart Demon is cleared away like every other enemy before we leave, fortunately.

Image

The pop quiz gives us little trouble. The game won’t really bust out the longer words until we get farther upriver.

Image

Yobi Proverb time!

Image To spell a single word correctly is to avoid many mistakes.


Level 13. PARTY
Parties are reasons to yodel.”

Image

Yeeeeikes! Sadly, I’ve already used my ‘lions and tigers, oh my’ joke for the LP, or I’d certainly drop one here. Just look at that puzzle layout!

Image Collect the letters of the word P-A-R-T-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the Y sounds like an E!

And on top of that, there’s an annoying new animal to deal with.

Image It is difficult to escape a tiger when he sees you.

Image

We start by going to the right and collecting all the apples, mostly so we can demonstrate something a bit later.

Image

On our way to the boulder so we can cross the river, our path falls in range of three tigers, and they start following us!

The way tigers work is that they can see up, down, left, and right to any distance in a straight line. If you cross their line of sight, they will start tracking you.

When you move vertically, any tigers that are following you will move vertically as well, trying to keep line-of-sight (or get closer if they can). When you move horizontally, tigers will move horizontally in the same way. Normally, tigers stop moving if you break eye contact, so you can fake them out by going around a corner of something solid, or trapping them in a cul-de-sac.

Tigers also won’t move if you stand still - unless they’re very close to you. If they’re too close, they’ll run at you, which is usually followed by Yobi saying “let’s try that one again” before your tea even has a chance to get cold.

Image
Image

The lions in this level are a lot less of a threat, as they only defend their territory. One follows us as we push the boulder to cross the river, but gives up once we’re far enough away.

As we run down to the grass pathway, both tigers that can follow us do follow us. We’re going to be staying on this grass path as if our skin depended on it - which it kind of does.

Image
Image

Feeding an apple to a tiger does absolutely nothing. (The same is true with lions, by the way.)

Image

Following the grass path, we’re able to safely get the P and the A. Note how the tigers track us as we pass.

We now have a small problem: the R is farther along the path, but the other A and the I are both in the way, so we’ll have to step out of our ‘safe zone’ briefly to get there.

Image

This ‘corridor’ between the two lions’ ranges proves to be the best way to cross. The lions are both too far away to bother us, and the tiger can’t get at us ‘cause the lion is blocking it.

Image
Image

We follow the winding path to the R, and then the T.

At this point, we could try walking on the path to above the Y and jogging straight down, but that would put us at risk of being eaten by the tiger just to the right of us.

Image
Image
Image

We take the long way around instead, and only walk off the grass path at the end, when we snag the Y.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Seriously, look at that! That level had 4 lions, 6 tigers, and 3 decoy letters to boot. Now it all vanishes as we head upriver.

Image
Image

We get some bigger words in the pop quiz this time.


Level 14. HEIGHT
High elevation is good helicopter territory.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word H-E-I-G-H-T, in the proper order.
Image Remember the silent letters G-H in the word ”height”.
Image You will lose your traction in the mud!

This level is very straightforward, and mostly serves as an introduction to mud. Once we step on it…

Image

We keep moving, and can’t change our direction!! We’ll only be able to move around once we hit something solid, or find ourselves on solid ground again.

Image
Image
Image

We slide down to the bottom, and get the E and I by going right and left.

Image

From where the E was, we can collect the bridge and the apples - albeit by a very roundabout route.

Image

From there, it’s easy to head up and to the right so we can set up the bridge…

Image
Image

…but we’re sliding straight into the path of a charging rhino! A thrown apple lets us pass, and we set up the bridge.

Image
Image
Image

We slide over and down to the G, then up and around to the H.

Image
Image

From there, it’s a short trip down and across the river to the T.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Getting back to the raft involves a somewhat circuitous route, this time. Mud doesn’t disappear just because Yobi bangs his staff!

Image

Away we go.

Image

Our next pop quiz proceeds without incident. Yobi’s back to tossing shorter words at us.


Level 15. LOVE
Lions often visit elephants.”

Image

Whoa! Now this is a level. Is that… lava? In a jungle? It sure doesn’t look healthy.

Image Collect the letters of the word L-O-V-E, in the proper order.
Image Remember, there’s no “you” in the word “love”.
Image Don’t stay too long in the hot coals!

Well, that’s deep.

I realize that Yobi said the letter U, and not “you”, but it's still a heck of a thing to hear him say! Anyway, let’s talk about hot coals.

Image

You can walk over hot coals safely! But if you stop while you’re on them…

Image

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

After we restart from the raft, we grab some apples and the L.

Image
Image

We work our way around, grabbing apples as we go, and head into the heart shape to get the O.

Image

Fun fact: A gazelle blocking you in where I’m standing is the one way you could accidentally get KOd by hot coals in this level.
We narrowly avoid this.

Image

We get the V. It seems the board is maxed out once we have eight apples - or letter tiles.

Image
Image

After a brief misadventure where a gazelle gets trapped in the entryway to the heart, we finally grab the E. (Gazelles, as well as other animals, won’t walk on hot coals.)

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Like with mud, we do have to be wary of the hot coals when we make our exit.

Image
Image

Our next pop quiz… is Yobi trying to tell us something? Don’t worry, Yobi. We’ll get a personals magazine for you, just as soon as the journey upriver brings us by a traveling magazine stand.

Image

But that’ll have to be for later. For now, we’ve finished another leg of our big spelling adventure.


Next Time on Spelling Jungle: We meet even more Demons, and one last addition to the ‘dangerous animals’ crew.

User avatar
That "party" level was strange. Why give you all those apples if they're no good against the lions and tigers anyway? Just to get you to experiment with them and find out they're useless, so you don't try it later?

User avatar
DKII wrote:
Sat Sep 12, 2020 5:06 am
That "party" level was strange. Why give you all those apples if they're no good against the lions and tigers anyway? Just to get you to experiment with them and find out they're useless, so you don't try it later?
I think so. This game has a heavy 'learn by doing' vibe to it. That's part of why the level with the introduction to tigers has cul-de-sacs to trap them in, etc.

User avatar
Episode 4: Everything Wants a Piece of Us

Image

So, who’s ready to journey upriver? We’re due for a second trinket this time, so I don’t think this batch of levels will be as easy as the last.

Image Remember your purpose!


Level 16. FAVORITE
Favorite Aunt Vera ordered raspberry ice to eat.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the O in the word ”favorite”!

So, I may have mentioned before now that you can throw apples through trees.

Image

Guess what: Dart Demons and others can throw things right back!

Image
Image

After some careful planning, we decide to push the lower boulder so that we can snag the bridge.

Image
Image

Then we push the other one so that we don’t get skewered by darts when we go for the O and I later.

Image
Image

We grab the F. We can push the boulder to block the upper Dart Demon so we can get the second bridge.

Image
Image

Instead of going to get the bridge, though, I grab the V and the O first. Then, I decide to do something clever.

Image

What if I were to cross to the island with the ‘R’ on the boulders, then about-face quick enough to return?

Image

I only realize my mistake after I push the first boulder. Pushing the second boulder won’t let me cross to the island!

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

Our second attempt starts the same as our first, but I put the bridge somewhere a bit more centralized. I can always walk around the lower Dart Demon if I decide to finish with the lower E.

Image
Image

This time, after getting the A, we do grab the second bridge.

Image
Image

And after getting the V and O, we push the upper right boulders away, do not step on any of them, and deploy the second bridge.

Image

R acquired.

Image
Image

The I, T, and E aren’t far behind…

Image

…which presents a problem when our bridges disappear and we’re stuck on the wrong side of the river.

Image
Image
Image

Carefully routing around the upper boulder in the group that housed one of the Dart Demons, we push the middle boulder in the group to the right, and use it to cross the river. This is the only boulder you can use to get back in this way.

Image

Upriver awaits.

Image

Our pop quiz this time has another slightly longer word (“election”) in it. The game is slowly turning up the heat.


Level 17. BIRTHDAY
”A little bird remembered my birthday.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember, in the word “birthday”, the I-R sounds like an R!

This level is set up to teach us a useful advanced technique involving animals and Dart Demons.

Image
Image

At the start of the level, we grab the bridge and, having no other options, run onto the peninsula with the apple and the V.

Image
Image

With still no other options, we feed the zebra and go down to collect the second bridge. Note where the zebra ends up! This’ll be important in a moment.

Image

We walk back across the isthmus - but the Dart Demon doesn’t fire at us! The secret is this: Demons’ line of fire is blocked if an animal is in the way.

Image

We cross to the right side of the level, and quickly grab the second apple and the I.

Image

The R requires pushing a boulder into place to block the Dart Demon…

Image

And for the rhino guarding the T, we can push the Jeep without much timing. Animals won’t ever walk on letter tiles, so the rhino can’t be trapped by the T - the Jeep will always wall it off from the tile.

Image
Image

Getting the H, D, and A is very straightforward.

Image
Image

Then it’s just a long walk back around to pick up the Y.

Image

Once the trick is shown off, the level is honestly pretty straightforward!

Image

Hey, JOURNEY’s from Level 6! It looks like once we beat a puzzle level, we unlock its word to be used in later pop quizzes.


Level 18. QUARTER
Quite unusual— a red toad eating radishes.”

Image

This level looks empty, but it actually contains a significant threat.

Image Collect the letters of the word Q-U-A-R-T-E-R, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the U in the word ”quarter”!
Image An alligator will come out of the water if you tempt him.

Image

OK, look up at the top. See that green guy in the river? That’s the alligator. Alligators are a pain in the caboose.

Image

By default, alligators patrol the edges of the river (or whatever body of water they happen to start in).

Image
Image

However, if you get too close to an alligator, it will abandon its patrol behavior and start following you. They actively move to be as close to you as possible, so it’s not like you can stand still, like tigers.

Note that an alligator will happily follow you on land or water depending on what terrain is nearby. They’re amphibious!

Image

The conditions to get an alligator to stop following you are a little fiddly. My current theory is as follows:

[1] When an alligator is patrolling, it has no ‘home position’.

[2] When an alligator stops patrolling and starts following you, its home position is set to wherever it was last swimming before it started following you.
[3] If an alligator is far enough from either you or its home position, it will stop following you and return there, or at least start swimming again.

I'm not quite sure if this is accurate, but no matter what, the exact combination of requirements makes alligators hard to shake off.

Image
Image

We already got the Q before the alligator started chasing us. Now we need to get the U, but it looks like we’ll have to take the long way around. We grab the bridge and set out.

Image

We’re ready to get the U! Let’s head down there and… whoops.

Image
Image

We head right to lose the alligator, but I return and grab the U a little too early… or late.

Image

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

OK, let’s be smarter about it this time.

Image
Image

After grabbing the Q, we shake off the alligator in the same way as we did before and go get the bridge.

Image
Image

This time, we wait for the alligator to pass the peninsula before trying for the U. The alligator starts tracking us again, but hiding in the bottom left corner is far enough away that it convinces it to mind its own business.

Image

The U has been acquired.

Image
Image

With the alligator still on the other side of the river, we get the A-R-T, and follow it up with the E.

Image
Image

The ‘gator does start tracking us again as we go to get the R, but we hide in the corner again and it goes back to swimming.

Image

And we’re done.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

This is, sadly, not the last we’ll see of alligators, though.

Image

Hey, “march” showed up in the pop quiz again! Maybe that’s when this LP’ll be done. :V:

I’m actually surprised ‘FLY’ is in the game, too. Three-letter words seem a bit short for a spelling challenge.

Image

Yobi checks in.

Image A minute to learn to spell the word, a lifetime to display the knowledge!


Level 19. WHITE
White hippo’s invaded the enemy.” (sic)

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word W-H-I-T-E, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the W-H sounds like a W!
Image The Wind Demon can make progress impossible!

Coming in to make our life annoying, it’s the fellow that blows hot and cold, the Wind Demon!

Image
Image

Wind Demons can blow wind up, down, left, right, or diagonally. They’ll always turn to face us.
As their appearance might suggest, Wind Demons blow wind that pushes us away from them!

Image

The wind blows at the exact speed we move, so by walking against it, we’ll be able to stop our movement - but that’s all.

Image

After taking the long way around, we go back and grab the W.

Image
Image

Getting the H requires a similar detour. Note that the wind demon in the bottom right is blowing us around through a tree - like with Dart Demons, trees obstruct your movement, but not Demons’ effects.

Image

After getting the H, we let the lowest Wind Demon blow us to the river crossing. Note how we stop briefly when we hit the boulder - boulders count as ‘solid walls’ that only we can move, so we can stop and collect ourselves without risk of falling in the river.

Image
Image
Image

One river crossing later, we step into the gap in the trees and are blown around to the I, T, and E.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

This level was, arguably, another tutorial - but we’ve been able to find out how Wind Demons work pretty effectively, so it’s served its purpose.
Wind Demons’ gusts have infinite range, by the way.

Image

The level also doubles as a breather (ha) level, because what’s in store for us next can only really be described as ‘some dexterity required’.


Level 20. TONIGHT
Tonight only nurses in green hats talk.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word T-O-N-I-G-H-T, in the proper order.
Image Remember the silent letters G-H in the word “tonight”!
Image Potions are rare and powerful - use them wisely!

Oh boy, oh boy, another trinket level! This one isn’t going to be as easy as the first one. The only way to get at the trinket is to approach from the bottom edge of the screen - which is coincidentally guarded by a hungry tiger. We’d have to tangle with this tiger even if we only wanted the G in “tonight”, but luring him out enough to get the trinket is going to be a job and a half.

By the way, that blue bottle at the bottom of the screen? This is the potion Yobi was talking about. There’s several different types of potions in game, each with their own appearance and effect.

Image

We head to get the bridge first. We’re not going to grab the T here because we’ll be on this side of the river after getting the H, and I have no idea where that tiger is going to end up once the level’s nearly over.

Image

Instead, we set up the bridge and get the T on the left side. This also gives us wiggle room so we don’t accidentally step on this T after collecting the N and I.

Image
Image

We grab the O, N, and I. We won’t need the apple for the rhino - once we get the trinket, we’ll be able to block it with the boulder.
(It’s possible some of you may have figured out what the potion does at this point. Don’t worry - I’ll give all the details when we do get there.)

Image

Seeing a tiger chasing me, I automatically run away from the G. Then I realize my mistake.

Image

When I finally grab the G, well…

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

We start over, cross the river, and pick up the letters T-O-N-I.

Image
Image

This time, we grab the G and run like hell. We eventually lose the tiger around a corner.
However, there’s a problem. If we’re to go down to the bottom left corner of the screen, we need to get the tiger farther away so it doesn’t catch up to us.

Image

To try and bait the tiger out, I walk vertically where it can see me…

Image

…and that’s how I get reminded that tigers will chase you when they’re really close, even if you stand still.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

Image T-O-N-I-G-H-T is the word.

Third time’s the charm?

Image
Image
Image

We gather the letters up to the G, and run from the tiger, putting us about where we messed up before.

Image

This time, though, we go over to the right side of the block of trees. Tigers can see through trees, so this tiger starts following us again - but this time, we’ve got a bunch of space between it and us!

Image
Image

We go up carefully, then walk to the right (even though we’re not going anywhere) to get the tiger to try and sneak up on us. This strands it around the corner, and we can go back down and it won’t follow.

Image

Now we can finally safely head down the left corridor. The tiger stops chasing us when we go around the corner.

Let’s see what this potion does, shall we?

Image

When we pick up the potion, it appears in the third line of the board over Yobi’s head - the one that was previously unused. In addition, a shimmering sound effect starts playing that overrides most other sounds.

Image

The potion we’ve grabbed is a Walk on Water potion. We use it to cross the river!

Quick design sidebar: why is this a potion, and not a bridge? It’s possible that if the tiger was chasing you more closely, it could come around the corner (maybe; I don’t know for sure) and keep chasing you here. There wouldn’t be time to lay down a bridge, but running onto the potion and then the water would provide a highly effective set piece on ‘potions can do really cool stuff’.

Image

Trinket get #2!

Image

With our secondary objective complete, we start pushing the boulder up so we can get at the H.

Note that the potion icon in the inventory has turned dim. Potions last for a limited time (the Walk on Water potion lasts 11 seconds), and ours is about to run out.

In case you’re wondering: if you’re still on water when the potion runs out, you’ll go dunk in the lake, followed by Yobi’s standard one-liner.

Image
Image

The rhino is trapped, and we grab the H. Note that the tiger’s following us again.

Image

At this point, though, the level is effectively won. We grab our second T and head for the finish.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Phew! Not going to lie, I was sweating during the tiger chase segments. If you don’t know how to manage tiger movement or haven’t any idea what’s up with the potion, getting the trinket feels like it’d be near impossible.

Image
Image

Once again, pop quizzes (or should I call them R-E-V-I-E-Ws?) have been bumped up, this time to 5 words.

Image

And back on the map, we have another shiny trinket in our possession. But we’re still only 20% of the way upriver! I’m sure the rest of the journey will be even more long and perilous.

But fun.


Next Time on Spelling Jungle: We have to do a lot of fast and/or precise footwork.

User avatar
So with that potion you could've walked up the river or surfed around a lake? Or is it just useful for crossings?

User avatar
DKII wrote:
Fri Sep 18, 2020 1:43 am
So with that potion you could've walked up the river or surfed around a lake? Or is it just useful for crossings?
It lasts for 11 seconds, so I could have totally walked up the river once I was on it. It lets you walk on any water until it wears off!

Maybe I should have flexed by walking up river and getting the H from the top... nah, then I'd have missed the trinket.

User avatar
I'm assuming we're gonna be seeing more dramatic applications of that potion in later levels, if the difficulty curve so far keeps up.

User avatar
I can confirm there are several different types of potion. I've seen two so far in the amount I've recorded.

User avatar
Episode 5: Fast Fingers and/or Feet Required

Image

With the second trinket collected, the game has begun in earnest! We’ve still got a good 80% of the way to go, though.


Level 21. AFRAID
”You need aid when you are afraid.”

Image

Don’t think I don’t see that alligator there! Most of the level is close to the river, too, making it a bit harder than QUARTER.

Image Collect the letters of the word A-F-R-A-I-D, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the I in the word ”afraid”!

Nothing to do but get ready to move fast.

Image

We grab the A, and get ready to quickly run to the bridge so we can get the F.

Image

However, I fumble on the keys and we don’t get out of the way before the alligator arrives.

Image

To make matters worse, there’s nowhere to hide that’s far away from the river to shake the gator off! Outrunning it doesn’t work, either, so it’s either start over or get chomped on.

We choose to get chomped on.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image
Image

This time, we go around and get the bridge first, then head towards the A when the alligator is detouring around the far right bend of the river.

Image

After grabbing the A, I try to find a good place to put the bridge. Alligators won’t swim past bridges, so you can trap them with them.

Image

Instead of trying to place the bridge in the obvious locations - at the tips of one of those big middle peninsulas that stick out into the river - I decide I’ll try and trap the ‘gator up at the top, where it can’t come out of the water due to the grass.

Image
Image

It doesn’t work. When the alligator gets close, it locks onto us, and we can’t get it to swim past us so we can throw the bridge.

Image
Image
Image

With no other good options, we deploy the bridge, head to the right edge of the screen to shake the alligator off, then double back and collect the F when it’s not there.

Image
Image

Getting the R and A is easy, and by the time we go down to get the I, the alligator is heading back to the top of the screen and is far away from us.

Image
Image

On our return trip to the D, though, we walk back around…

Image
Image

Waiting until the alligator is taking the long way around before finishing our trip to the D. (Though I ended up messing around and waiting a bit too long, as seen above.)

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Alligators will never not be annoying, but the long river switchbacks of this puzzle at least helped with this one. I wonder what the next ‘gator level will be like?

Image
Image

We finish the quiz without any trouble. A few short words are still hanging around, surprisingly.

Image

This time, Yobi delivers my personal favorite proverb…

Image If it is worth writing, it is worth writing right!


Level 22. QUITE
Quite useful is the eraser!”

Image

Hey, parts of the level are missing! I’m sure Yobi can explain.

Image Collect the letters of the word Q-U-I-T-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the U in the word “quite”.
Image Don’t get too close to the pit! It’s a long way down!

Image

Pits are completely harmless as long as we don’t step into them. They don’t have any safety railings or anything, though, so we'll have to be careful.

Image

While normally the best strategy for dealing with pits is to stay far away from one, levels with pits tend to feature narrow land bridges that require careful maneuvering, for some reason.

Image

The Q and U are no problem, at least, because we can stick to the outside edges of the puzzle area.

Image

Crossing the river, we head, with care, to the spit of land that has the I.

Image

On our way back, the inevitable finally happens.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

I should mention that for all its good points, Spelling Jungle has one flaw: its controls are kind of slippery.

To be specific, the game is divided into a grid which is half the size of a single square tile. If a movement key is being held on (as far as I can tell) any frame on which your character is in a grid half-square, they will proceed to the next grid half-square and this action cannot be canceled. This is awkward because it’s easy to undershoot or overshoot the exact position you want, especially when you have to make a hard turn.

Combine that with bottomless pits with narrow walkways, and— well— accidents can happen...

Image
Image
Image

Getting the Q, U, and I is the same as before, but this time we carefully walk across the chasms and get the T.

Image
Image

That’s the dangerous part over. For the E, we hug the outer wall again.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

OK, I lied. We have to take care heading back to the raft, too! But now that’s everything.

Image
Image

Another quiz, and off we go.


Level 23. AUTHOR
Authorities understand that hippo’s once ruled.” (sic)

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word A-U-T-H-O-R, in the proper order.
Image Remember, there’s no E-R in the word “author”!

Hello, Yobi? I’d like to lodge a complaint. Your mnemonic is having an off day. Not only is there a grammar error with the apostrophe, but you had the perfect excuse to start it “Authors understand…”— and you didn’t.

Image

Jokes aside, this level doesn’t seem too A-U-F-U-L— though there is a bit of fast footwork, as it introduces an advanced maneuver we’ll have to do again later.

Note the range on the fireball that’s being tossed at us! This is being thrown by the upper left Fire Demon, which means we won’t be able to pass by it while we’re on the left side of the river.

Image
Image

This means that we can get the A with the bridge, but we’ll have to cross the river at a different spot to get the O.

Image
Image
Image

The only tricky part about getting the U, T, and H is making sure not to wander into the range of the lower Fire Demon.

Image

Now we come to the O. The only safe way across the river is this big boulder. And as for how we get back…

Image

…we run like hell! This trick is the one I tried unsuccessfully on FAVORITE, but it is possible - provided the alignment of boulders is set up beforehand so we can actually do it. We have about enough time to run over there and immediately run back before the boulder sinks.

This isn’t the last time we’ll have to do this.

Image

We collect the R, and the level becomes far less dangerous.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

I wonder why that rhino and that apple were in the level in the first place? You can’t push animals onto hot coals, so using a Gazelle to block a Fire Demon was out of the question. It must have just been a red herring.

Image

A tough level makes for an easy quiz, or so they say…

Image

Wait, is this a quiz or Yobi’s shopping list?!

Best get upriver before we find out.


Level 24. COULD
Could old Uncle Larry dance?”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word C-O-U-L-D, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the O-U in the word “could”!
Image An elephant will move for food, but ends up back where it started!

We’ve got a new member of the animal crew: the elephant!

Image

We’re clearly going to need to bribe that elephant to get the C. Unfortunately, the only apple is within range of a rather territorial lion, as demonstrated by how he reacts to our grabbing the bridge.

Image

As the saying goes, “get in, get out, get even apple”.

Image

We push the elephant out of the way and nab the C.

Image

This is where it gets interesting. Once the apple wears off, the elephant returns to its home space, in front of the C! This makes their behavior about halfway between that of a lion (but a harmless one) and a zebra.

Image
Image

Setting up the bridge, we get the O - but we can’t get the U from this position, because we can only walk past the Dart Demon safely if we’re on the left side of the river.

Image
Image

Boulder push time!

Image

Our next task - getting the L - runs the risk of getting us eaten by a hungry lion. We’re not even going to bother going for the left D, for this reason.

Image

It’s a close shave, even going full speed. If we’d stopped, it’d have been curtains!
Well. It’d have been “let’s try that one again” time, at least.

Image
Image

We grab the safe D, and we’re done.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

It’s interesting how empty this level looks without the various items, animals, and enemies to spice it up. No fancy floor types here!

Image
Image

Today’s pop quiz is fairly straightforward… but the next level is less so than we’d like.


Level 25. BURN
Burping unicorns requested nuts.”

Image

Whoa, that’s a minefield of hot coals! To get the bridges, we’re going to have to in and around without stopping. And not only do we risk the hot coals roasting us, but if we go in too far, the Fire Demons will flambé us. Actually spelling the word’s going to be a cakewalk in comparison.

Image Collect the letters of the word B-U-R-N, in the proper order.
Image Remember the U in the word “burn”.

Image

We immediately go for the first bridge, overshoot by half a grid square, and get barbecued by two Fire Demon fireballs at once.

This would a good time to remind everyone that Spelling Jungle’s slightly dubious controls exist.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

This time, we get into the hot coals, snag both bridges, and get out again, in one smooth movement.

Image
Image

Getting the B and U are no sweat, now that we have both bridges.

Image

Then it’s just one smooth run to the finish.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Something to consider: we are now 1/4 of the way upriver! We’re making serious progress…

Image
Image

…after we finish one more pop quiz, that is.

Image

I remember when I was a kid. This game was so full of generalized wonder and mystery.
It helps that I never managed to get this far back then - the game was on the school computers, where save files had a tendency to disappear.

Well, we can make up for lost time now.
Onwards!

Next Time on Spelling Jungle: It’s time for some animal antics!

User avatar
Requiring precise maneuvering with remarkably imprecise controls is an interesting design decision for a spelling game...

User avatar
DKII wrote:
Fri Oct 02, 2020 3:15 am
Requiring precise maneuvering with remarkably imprecise controls is an interesting design decision for a spelling game...
Funny story. You know how it has 'US Patent' on the title screen? Yobi's synchronized sound animations and lip flaps were patented technology!

My guess that's where the dev time went, and maybe slightly less into the game aspects of it.

ALSO: Hold on to this thought, because something related is going to come up in Blizzard.

User avatar
Reports of my death are not only exaggerated, but this evening, I bring you a special ELECTION update!

Episode 6: Special ELECTION Update ft. Animal Antics

Image

Now strap in, folks. We’ve got another set of five levels today, and several are going to be particularly hairy… pun intended.

Image There is much left to explore!


Level 26. FRIEND
”I’ll name each friend before I end.

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word F-R-I-E-N-D, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the I is silent in the word ”friend”!

Wow, lotta animals around these parts. The tricky bit is going to be circumnavigating the Straits of Rhino over there on the left.

Image

The F comes quickly, but the R is on the other side of the river. We’ll need to duck past the rhino to get the bridge.

Image
Image

Getting in to get the bridge is easy, but getting back out’s a lot harder; the gazelles keep blocking the rhino’s way, forcing it to turn around. We almost get skewered!

Image

Once we get out of there, we place the bridge right where the raft was - it’s just far away from either lion that neither of them will be bothered.

Image

We get the R, and…

Image

Uh oh.

Image

I quickly realize that, with the bridge where I put it, there’s no way to get back across without attracting the attention of at least one lion.

Image

Running for it proves futile.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Interestingly, this lion’s behavior shows off something that I only noticed later: the half-square on either side of a bridge acts as a ‘safe zone’ that animals can’t enter. The lion was only able to KO us once we were out of that ’safe zone’. This is going to be relevant again a little ways down the line.

Image

Image F-R-I-E-N-D is the word.

Image
Image

We collect the F and dodge the rhino again, but this time, we set the bridge up at the bottom edge of the screen. Not only is this area out of the lions’ range, it’s also protected by grass in case the lower lion gets too interested.

Image
Image

We collect the R, and the lion ignores us.

Image
Image
Image

Getting the I and the E is no trouble, and while we do have to attract the attention of the lion to get the N, we make sure to keep on the grass so that it can’t get to us.

Image
Image

After one last rhino-dodging session, we grab the D, and we’re D-O-N-E.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

This level isn’t too hard once you figure out where to place the bridge, overall - the apples can be used to feed the gazelles or the rhino to get out of a tight spot, but it’s also possible to stand in the gazelles’ way to trick them into paths where they won’t block the rhino in the first place.

Image
Image

Once again, Yobi offers a pop quiz between levels.


Level 27. WERE
Were eels really electric?”

Image

This one’s a breather level. There’s no hazards in sight, just a long walk and some bridges.

Image Collect the letters of the word W-E-R-E, in the proper order.
Image Some words are not spelled the way they sound!

Image
Image

We disembark, grab the bridge, and use it to get more bridges.

Image

From here, we go to the first island, with the E’s…

Image

…to the next island, with the R’s…

Image

…and then use the bridge on that island to get to the final island and grab the W.

Image
Image

We backtrack slightly to get our first E, before unbacktracking to the nearest R.

Image

All done!

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

We’re left on E Island once the bridges disappear, so we push a boulder to get back to getting back to the raft.

Image
Image

This pop quiz is harder than the level itself was! A whole bunch of 6+-letter words.


Level 28. ADVISE
”Only advise if you’re sure you are wise.”

Image

I like this level’s mnemonic. Instead of initialisms, like we had in a lot of earlier words, here the phrase finds the important part of the word in smaller words. FRIEND had another good one of this type, too.

The level itself… well, we’re going to be interacting with animals a lot, and this one might require some fast feet early on.

Image Collect the letters of the word A-D-V-I-S-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget! The S can sound like a Z!

Image
Image

We start by grabbing the apples, the A, and the D.

Image

We have to feed the elephant and push it into the path of the Dart Demon so that we don’t get sniped.
(After we get the V, we get out quickly before the elephant leaves.)

Image

The I is now gotten. We could just grab the bridge and get the S now - but Dart Demons can shoot through trees, so it wouldn’t end very well.

Image
Image

Instead, we push the zebra to block the Dart Demon’s path, then cross the river.

Image

With the E gotten, the level is done.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

After pushing some boulders, up the river we go….

Image
Image

…after a pop quiz, of course.


Level 29. DOLLAR
”That doll cost one dollar.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word D-O-L-L-A-R, in the proper order.
Image Remember the two Ls in the word ”dollar”!

Two elephants? We’re moving up in the world. The mud looks like it makes this level more complicated, but I’d say it really makes things more simple.

Image
Image

We head down first. Not only do we get the D, but we’ll need the two apples to get anywhere in the upper half of the puzzle.

Image

We have to push a boulder to get back across the river. We manage to stop ourselves from walking onto the mud in time - if we had, we’d grab the R and would have to start over.

Image
Image

After grabbing the O, it’s time to go get the L. Once we push the elephant out of the way, we can move the boulder into its place.

Image

While the Wind Demon blows us over to the Ls, note that the elephant hasn’t moved back to its home position - the boulder is in the way.

Image
Image

We get the two Ls.

Image
Image

From there, it’s a smooth slide over to get the A - and we use our other apple to push the second elephant away to get back out of the muddy area.

Image

It’s just a short walk over to the R!

Image Back to the raft!

Image

With the exception of WERE, each level in this block has had at least three animals or enemies - and FRIEND had more. I wonder how many the next level will have?

Image

Before we get there, we run into a little trouble in the pop quiz.

Image Wonderful! Spell "north".

…is what Yobi said. But the audio sample is slightly foreshortened, and it sounds a lot like ’N-O-R’ instead.

Image

After a long time trying to figure out what he said, I go with “nor”.

Image “North” is spelled…

Image

Thanks, Yobi.

Image

The rest of the quiz goes by without further trouble.


Level 30. SOUR
Our grapes tasted sour.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word S-O-U-R, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the O-U in the word ”sour”!

Ohhhhhhhh boy.

Okay, so on first glance, this level appears straightforward if you ignore the trinket. Grab the S, dodge the rhinos to get the O and U, and come back to the near side of the river for the R.
It’s the trinket that complicates things. We need something to block the Dart Demon’s path if we’re going to go grab it, but…

Image

…the only thing that will work is this boulder, on the other side of the entire level.

Buckle up, folks. It’s going to be a long ride.

Image
Image
Image

After getting and placing the bridge, we take the long way around the two rhinos and grab the S.

Image

We push the boulder up next to the O so we can move it right. If we pushed it any farther up, we wouldn’t be able to push it down later.

Image

From there, we get the O and push it to the right.

Image
Image

The next step is to push the boulder down to the lower corridor so we can push it farther right. Before we do, though, we sneak up and grab the U.

Image

It’s only once I’m on the final push do I realize I screwed up.

The rhino won’t let himself be pushed onto grass while he’s active! There’s not enough time for me to take the long way around, feed the rhino, and push the boulder into position - if I had wanted to do that, I would have needed to feed the rhino before I began pushing the boulder.

Still, perhaps there’s a way to salvage this…

Image
Image

Taking the long way around, I feed the rhino - then try to push him across the bridge!

It doesn’t work. Remember how I mentioned before that the half-square in front of a bridge is a ‘safe zone’ that animals can’t enter? Unlike grass, where you can push animals onto it when they’re fed, bridge entry zones will not admit rhinos under any circumstances.

Image

To compound this, when the apple wears off, the rhino sees he’s half-on and half-off grass, and moves back to blocking the path.

I decide to honorably give up.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

This time, we put the bridge one square to the left.

Image
Image

After a narrow escape involving the game’s poor controls and a rhino, we go and collect the S.

Image
Image
Image

We push the boulder the same way as before…

Image
Image

…before grabbing the U and pushing the boulder into place.

Image

It’s only once I try to push the boulder across the river that I realize the flaw in my plan: the rhino is next to us, snout primed to headbutt. Even though the game doesn’t animate it turning around, it’s changing direction fast enough that we make contact with its front end.

On top of this, even if I had successfully pushed the boulder across the bridge, there wouldn’t be a way to get to the left of it to push it to the right side. In short: our initial bridge placement was the correct one.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

Image S-O-U-R is the word.

OK, at this point, it’s clear: we’re going to have to do something about that lower rhino if we want to move the boulder through its territory.

Image
Image
Image

This time, after pushing the boulder into place…

Image
Image

…we feed the rhino and push it out of the way. Because it’s fully on the grass, the rhino won’t move even after the apple wears off.

Image
Image

We grab the U and push the boulder down…

Image
Image

…and this time, we can finally push it across the river.

Image
Image

With a bit more pushing, the boulder blocks the Dart Demon, the trinket is acquired, and order is restored.

Image

Getting the R finishes the level.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Finally! That was the hardest trinket puzzle yet.

Image
Image

Image Only one more to go! Spell the word "election".

Image

…and the pop quiz has been augmented. We’ll now have to spell at least six words whenever we come here from now on.

(Told you it was going to be an ELECTION update. :v:)

Image

Our progress upriver is going smoothly! Those trinkets look great - and there's only seven left!


Next Time on Spelling Jungle: Stone walls and hippos galore.

User avatar
Goodness, that level was a beast. Looked pretty easy if you didn't care about the trinket, though.

User avatar
Gloomy Rube wrote:
Fri Nov 06, 2020 4:44 am
Goodness, that level was a beast. Looked pretty easy if you didn't care about the trinket, though.
Yeah, I think I remember someone saying Yobi made you work hard, and it's true! Especially when trinkets are involved.

Next trinket level's easier, though.

User avatar
Episode 7: Hippo HQ and Roundabout Routes

Image

We’re back once again! After the challenge that was SOUR, I can confidently say that the next 10 levels ease off the pressure a little.

Image Ooh! Treacherous times are close!


Level 31. PRETTY
Pat’s red eggs tasted too yucky.”

Image

We’ve got a gator in the water again! With the high concentration of grass in this level, the challenge isn’t actually the ‘gator as much as it is realizing that the T’s have to be approached from specific directions (to do otherwise risks being broiled).

Image Collect the letters of the word P-R-E-T-T-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember the two Ts in the word ”pretty”!

Image

We start heading for the P. Note the fireball here - as I alluded to above, we’ll have to come at the lower T from the right to reach it safely.

Image
Image

We grab the P, the first bridge, and the R.

Image
Image
Image

Once the alligator’s far away from us, we wait until the hippo has surfaced and cross on its back. From there, we can grab the E and the second bridge.

Image

On the way back to the hippo, we have our opportunity to get the first T. We lay the bridge, blocking the alligator’s path, and get onto the grass before it thinks to come up on dry land.

Note that, if we’d tried to lay the bridge anywhere else on the upper half of the island, the Fire Demon would fireball us when we got directly above it.

Image

Once the gator’s turned around, we go down to the island and grab the T.

Image
Image

We cross back, then deploy the second bridge, letting us grab the other T. The alligator is now stuck in the left half of the river.

Image
Image
Image

In one smooth movement, we grab the second T, then head up to shake the alligator off our tail. Then we go back down and grab the Y.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

This is the third time we’ve met an alligator, but it wasn’t as much of a threat this time as it was before. This is going to continue to be a pattern for a while - not only do we know how to deal with alligators, but upcoming levels with them will have features that make them less of a pain.

Image

As always, a pop quiz awaits us upriver before we move on.


Level 32. WHOSE
Whose hog ordered six eggs?”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word W-H-O-S-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget! The S can sound like a Z!

This level looks fairly straightforward, as long as we’re quick piloting our hippos.

Image
Image

After grabbing the bridge and two apples, we head over past the E and down to the lower right half of the river.

Image
Image
Image

We walk across the hippos to grab one more apple, then ride a hippo down to the bottom right corner and grab the W.

Image

On the way back, we park the hippo near the O’s. My intent was to make a bridge of hippos back to the main land segment after grabbing the ‘O’ to save apples, but I didn’t realize we’d just have to ride the hippos again to get to the next letter (S).

Image
Image

Crossing the bridge, we grab the H.

Image
Image

Then after crossing back, we ride the hippo and get the O in one move— and then continue on to the S. This was a very risky maneuver - I narrowly avoided being stuck in the middle of the lake.

Image
Image

However, it paid off. With only one letter left, we ride the hippo back to solid ground, cross the bridge again, and grab the E.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

I suspect that, if we’d tried to get the O guarded by the lion (the left one) instead of riding the hippo, we’d have ended up in a situation like in FRIEND where we wouldn’t have been able to shake the lion off. Getting this O was much safer overall.

Image

This pop quiz has longer words than the last one, but we get through it without much trouble.


Level 33. INSTEAD
Instead, Nancy started to eat a dish!”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word I-N-S-T-E-A-D, in the proper order.
Image Remember, in the word ”instead”, the A is silent!

This is a pretty straightforward level, but a certain part of it serves as a soft tutorial for something we’ll see again later on.

Image
Image

After grabbing three apples, we push the elephant out of the way and grab the I - but run back before the apple wears off.

Remember this bit. We have enough apples right now to get through the level without any trouble, but later on, we’ll need this on one specific puzzle.

Image
Image
Image

Next, we feed the elephant again, pushing it to pass by. This time, we use the boulder to cross the river, then grab the S.

Note that we don’t have to grab the apple just to the right of the boulder. This is our reward for our quick thinking with the elephant. Otherwise, we’d be forced to grab it and get across before the boulder sank - a risky, but just doable move (I think).

(To be fair, I could have just gone across, grabbed the bridge, and gone back for the apple. But I only realized that well after I’d pushed the boulder and written this commentary.)

Image

We get the T, the E, and the bridge.

Image
Image
Image

At this point, we can lead the zebra out with an apple so we can get the A. With it collected, we set the bridge and prepare to head for home.

Image
Image

We make our way back across the river, feed the elephant, and get our hands on the D.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

The ‘abbreviation mnemonic’ to ‘part-of-word mnemonic’ rate has been awfully on the side of ‘abbreviation mnemonic’ for this current block of levels… sadly. I like the ones where they pull out part of the word - much easier to remember.

Image

Another pop quiz awaits us, with plenty of long words.


Level 34. NAME
Name a monkey ‘Elroy’.”

Image

Wait, why ‘Elroy’?

Image Collect the letters of the word N-A-M-E, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the E is silent!

Anyway, it can be hard to see, but this is another alligator level. However, with good management, we can leave Old Bitey in the dust.

Image
Image

We start by grabbing the bridge we can reach, then waiting far enough away from the river until the alligator is in the upper half of it.

Image

Deploying the bridge, we get the ’N’. The alligator is now blocked off from any way it can get onto the land, except the one square just up and left of the bridge.

Image
Image

We get the second bridge while the gator investigates the one we just placed, then we set the new bridge so we can get to the A. The alligator can't come ashore on grass, so it's now trapped in the topmost part of the river!

Image
Image
Image

We get the A, then ride the hippo across the lake to reach the M.

Image
Image

A quick hippo ride back across, and the E is ours.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Once again, we’ve just had another alligator level where it’s very easy to trap or avoid the alligator. It’s certainly better than the alternative...

Image

A pop quiz sees us on our way.


Level 35. OFF
Otis feeds frogs.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word O-F-F, in the proper order.
Image Remember the two Fs!

Well, this is unexpected. There’s no difficulty in spelling this word, but there’s going to be quite some danger in getting to where the letter tiles are in the first place!

Image

We grab the potion. This potion, which we haven’t seen before, provides protection from Dart Demons’ darts. We’ve got a ways to go before it runs out!

Image

Like the Walk on Water potion, the Anti-Dart potion lasts 11 seconds. This is enough time to run through and past the Dart Demon’s range. Fortunately, the rhinoceros is out of the way when we enter its domain.

Image
Image
Image

Carefully, we dodge around the rhinoceros, then grab and use the bridge.

Image
Image

Actually grabbing the letters of O-F-F is child’s play.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

We push a boulder and return to the raft without much trouble.

Image

There’s one last pop quiz in this level batch, with plenty of hard words to make up for the easy level.

Image

That concludes our trek for the time being! This batch of levels was definitely easier than the last set, but that’s fine - we could use a breather after things like SOUR and FRIEND.

Hopefully, it’ll continue to be easy for a while…

Next Time on Spelling Jungle: It continues to be easy for a while.

User avatar
Odd that it returned to more light puzzles rather than the tricky "action" sequences. Though I can't wait to see how terrible the next trinket is.

User avatar
Note: I’m not going to also make videos of the sections any more - it was a drag on my attention and I wasn’t enjoying it. Screenshot format will continue till the end.

Episode 8: Yobi’s Day Off

Image

We’re still on an easy swath of levels - or rather, the levels’ difficulty comes, not from the puzzles, but from the spelling.


Level 36. COUGH
”I thought I bought enough drops to soothe my cough.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word C-O-U-G-H, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the G-H sounds like an F in the word ”cough”!

OK, so remember how level 35 was OFF? Well, that was the setup. This is the punchline. OFF is spelled phonetically while COUGH is (infamously) not, because English spelling is a gong show.

Image

Fortunately, as long as we’re careful around the pit, this level isn’t very dangerous or anything.

Image
Image
Image

Skirting around the pit’s outside edge, we get the C and the O.

Image
Image

Grabbing the bridge, we deploy it and work our way around to the U.

Image
Image
Image

After that, the G and H just require being careful where we step.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

Unlike most levels, we do have to pay attention on our way out, with the pit’s continued presence.

Image

We make it back, though. From here, it’ll be similarly smooth sailing.

Image

We have another pop quiz, including a visit by our old friend NORTH. It’s not so hard once Yobi’s called you on it one time.

Then, on we go, to…


Level 37. BLUE
Blue lizards understand English.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word B-L-U-E, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the E is silent in the word ”blue”!

A little more complicated than the last one, but not very much. The alligator in the bottom left is something of a baffling inclusion.

Image

We show why as we walk around its pond! As long as we keep on the grass - which we can always do - the ‘gator can only stare at us.

Image
Image

We move the elephant out of the way with the apple, and cross the river. To get the B requires us to walk all the way around the level!

Image
Image
Image

We do, with a pause to let the rhino get out of our way.

Image
Image

After walking back, we start making an attempt at the L. This is the only tricky part of the level - once we get to the entrance to the grassy area, we immediately have to go downwards. Otherwise, we’ll get hit by the Fire Demon’s fireballs.

Image
Image

We get the L, and soon after, the U.

Image

We have a spare apple and could really do without dodging the rhino at this point, so we feed it...

Image
Image

...then push it out of the way so we can get the E.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image
Image

There’s another long walk back before we can head onwards.

Image

This time, the pop quiz includes our old friend, DOLLAR. (That level with the mud and the elephants.)


Level 38. PRIVATE
”The pirate was private about the things he ate.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word P-R-I-V-A-T-E, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the E is silent!

OK, this level is actually somewhat complicated. The mnemonic is nice, though.

Image

We start by pushing the Jeep leftwards, blocking in the tiger. We don’t want it chasing us on top of everything else here.

Image
Image

From there, we can safely get the P and cross the river.

Image
Image

We grab the R, an apple, and (after a bit of a walk) the I.

Image

Instead of walking back, we take the opportunity to move the hippo into position. I almost walk off it at the wrong spot, before realizing - we move the hippo next to the E so that we can use it as a bridge later without having to use another apple.

Image
Image

We repeat what we did with the R and I, but with the V and A - and this time we have to walk back.

Image
Image

We do, and get the T - then we can walk across the pre-placed hippo to get to the E.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Fun fact: If we had pushed the Jeep the other way and avoided the tiger somehow, now we’d be stuck! The Jeep doesn’t disappear after the level ends, and getting the E makes the hippo disappear. With no way to get past the blocking Jeep or recross the river, we’d have to restart.

Image
Image

Up the river, a fairly easy pop quiz is waiting for us.


Level 39. TRULY
”The truth is there’s no ‘e’ in truly.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word T-R-U-L-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember, in the word “truly”, there’s no E!

Our string of easy levels continues. The only thing you could call a ‘hazard’ in this level is the gazelle, and all it can do is be annoying.

Image
Image

We go and get the T… and then walk past the gazelle. By sheer luck, it gets stuck in the raft docking spot as we pass. It won’t bother us for the rest of the level!

Image
Image

Next, we get the R, then quickly get back on the main path before the gazelle can pass us.

Image
Image

It’s a long and uneventful walk to the U. We cross the river with the boulder, then walk to the L.

Image

Getting back across to the river and to the Y is ‘truly’ an easy task.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

It is nice to see that the game focuses on spelling, and not just gameplay. The more gameplay-intense a level is, the less challenging the spelling is, and vice versa.

Image

Of course, the pop quizzes get harder as we delve towards the end of the game, but there’s a certain degree of averaging - the difficulty of any word you might be asked to spell can vary, so the real difficulty factor is how long the quiz is.


Level 40. FORTY
Forty orange rats turned yellow.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word F-O-R-T-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember, in the word “forty”, there’s no E!

OK, so, I really think Yobi’s tip could have been better if he’d said there’s no ‘U’. I’m still generally :P that you don’t spell it ‘fourty’… anyway. It’s our fourth Trinket level! And this trinket is easy to get, as long as you remember what we had to do during INSTEAD.

Image
Image

We start by grabbing the apple, then pushing the elephant out of the way so that we can get the F.

Image

However, instead of ducking back out on the space of one apple (the trick demonstrated in INSTEAD), I go down to grab the two more apples by the R.

Image
Image

Pushing the elephant out of the way, we get the O. Then, I see our current apple total and make a mistake.

Image

Boldly riding the hippopotamus, I detour around the elephant and down to the boulder by the trinket.

Image
Image

It’s only after I grab the trinket I realize the mistake: I haven’t grabbed the R yet… and now I’m stuck between getting skewered and grabbing letter tiles out of order. I could ride the hippo to the bottom from where I parked it, but then I’d only have one apple left, and I’d have to use it on the elephant. By the time I would be able to reach the R, the apple would have worn off and I’d be trapped.

I concede D-E-F-E-A-T.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

This time, we’re going to put our apples to better uses.

Image

We start by feeding the elephant, ducking in to grab the F and an apple, and heading back to the crossroads and north. This way, we can keep an extra apple for use with the hippopotamus.

Image
Image
Image

After collecting the O, we feed the elephant again, going down to the R. No fancy footwork here - by the time we’ve grabbed the two more apples, the elephant will be back in position.

Image
Image

So we feed it again. Now we can safely ride the hippopotamus down to where the T is, and not have to worry about our remaining apple count.

Image

Trinket get!

Image
Image

If we wanted to style on the level, we could use our one remaining apple to ride the hippo down to the bottom, push the boulder in, and get the trinket that way instead. However, this normally isn’t possible unless you do the trick with the elephant. Instead, we cross back on the hippo, and get the T and the Y to finish the level.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

It would have been interesting if the game had put the trinket one square to the right of where the boulder is right now. Then you’d have to use the elephant trick to conserve an apple, ride the hippo to push the boulder down, then ride it again to get to the bottom so you could actually collect the trinket.

I wonder - is it possible the trinket was placed there during initial testing? The fact that you can approach that area from the right side certainly hints at it. If it was removed, it was probably because any kids recruited as testers couldn’t figure out the trick. I guess we’ll never know, though.

Image

There’s one wrinkle awaiting us downriver…

Image

Since we just passed a trinket level, our pop quizzes have been extended to seven words!
We spell our new word and continue on.

Image

And that’s the end of a particularly chill stretch of river - but it’s not going to stay this way. The next section of the river should return to the usual level of complexity.

Next Time on Spelling Jungle: Wow, we’re so pushy!

User avatar
Quackles wrote:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:47 am
rather, the levels’ difficulty comes, not from the puzzles, but from the spelling.
He says, right before a screenshot with the word spelled out for you in the caption at the bottom. Those pop quizzes are legitimately difficult for the intended audience though.

These kind of feel like filler levels really, but that was pretty common in these games in this era.

User avatar
Episode 9: Pushing Through the Jungle

Image

Welcome back! We’re going to be a bit B-U-S-I-E-R this section than we were last time.

Image Your experience will see you through!


Level 41. BUSY
Bob’s uncle sells yo-yos.”

Image

Whoa! That’s a lot of zebras. It looks like we have a block puzzle on our hands - albeit one where the blocks can follow you.

Image Collect the letters of the word B-U-S-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the S can sound like a Z!

Image
Image

Our first priority is to get to the B (and fill up on apples), so we go for the two apples that are on this side of the river.

Image

We get the zebra on the far left to move away from the herd, then push it onto a patch of grass so it’s out of the way.

Image
Image

The next step is to move the zebra blocking the bridge so that it’s out of the way. The grass patch around the ‘U’ prevents it from completely blocking the way forward, thankfully.

Image
Image
Image

Bridge get! We cross the river, grab the B, and (as promised) fill up on apples - though we do have to be careful of the pit.

Image

With the left side of the river cleaned out, we return by the bridge, detouring around the upper zebra to grab the U. Now the real challenge of the level begins: getting the S and Y without becoming stuck.

Image

After a bit of thought, we push the centermost zebra up a space, forming a corridor to the zebra that blocks the S.

Image
Image

From there, it’s just a matter of letting that zebra come to us.

Image

With the way clear, we can grab the S!

Image

The Y follows soon after.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

The zebras clear themselves out, and our walk back is simple.

Image

This isn’t the only time we’ll have to push animals around in this part, though.

Image
Image

A pop quiz awaits us before our next destination.


Level 42. THOUGH
”I thought I’d race a zebra though I knew he was fast!”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word T-H-O-U-G-H, in the proper order.
Image Remember the silent letters U-G-H in the word ”though”!

Another level that has block-puzzle DNA - if only a bit. The mnemonic is also very nice, too.

Image
Image

After grabbing the apple, we head to the upper part of the level, fake the lion out, and get the bridge.
(I realized much later: animals won't pass over squares with items or letter tiles, so the lion had no choice but to turn back when we went up and to the right.)

Image
Image

The apple lets us get the zebra out of the way and collect the T. We also deploy the bridge here, before we forget - we won’t need it until we’ve grabbed an H, but this way we don’t put it somewhere else by accident.

Image

We’re going for the H on the left side of the tree line, but we have a bit of setup to do first. Pushing this boulder down…

Image
Image

…we grab the H, then move the boulder to the bottom of the level. This ensures we won’t get skewered by the dart demon when we go to collect the U.

Image

Now, we can go grab the O and the other bridge.

Image
Image

Getting the U is safe since we moved the boulder. If we had forgotten, we might have had a chance of outrunning the darts on the way to the U, but we’d have gotten hit on the way back!

Image
Image

We grab the G, then turn around and cross back safely.

Image

We’ll need a plan to get the other H - the dart demon will make it difficult if we’re not protected.
The boulder we haven’t pushed yet is the plan.

Image
Image

Shielded by the boulder, we can get the second H safely.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

In the past two levels, we’ve pushed 5 zebras and 2 boulders. Let’s see how far we can go!

Image
Image

…after a pop quiz, of course.


Level 43. EARLY
Early ancestors rode large yaks.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word E-A-R-L-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember, in the word “early”, the A is silent!

Huh boy. It’s another alligator level. And there’s a lot less safe ground this time.
On the other hand, we do have two bridges to place, so hopefully we can trap the ‘gator somewhere out of the way.

Image
Image

We start by getting the safe E, and a bridge.

Image
Image

We lay the bridge when the alligator is on the right side, so it’s now cut off from the upper left shore. Arguably it would have been better if we’d trapped the ‘gator up there, but - oh well.

Our next step is to grab the A and the apples. We’ll need both to be able to get the R.

Image
Image

After crossing back, we feed the elephant, push it to block the dart demon, and grab the R and the bridge in one smooth motion. Because of the grass, the elephant won’t return beyond the entrance of the walled-in area with the demon, but it’s still possible to get stuck in there.

Image
Image

Our next step is to get the L. We take the long way around even though we have a second bridge.

Image
Image

I grab the L… and wait.
I’m not sure if I was trying to trap the alligator or waiting until it was out of the way that’d lead to the Y - but either way, I waited way too long (especially with a quick way to finish the level in hand).

Image

At this point, the alligator is locked on to my position and will not go away. It’s time to start over.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

At first, things play out mostly like before.

Image
Image
Image

However, after getting the R, we return to where the L was - and place the second bridge far enough up from it that the alligator won’t be able to see us while we get the L.

Image

This time, though, disaster strikes. I’m too slow ducking onto the grass, and the lion gets close enough that it won’t go away.

Image

We are left with only one option.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

We stick with the same gameplan for the first half of the level, and it goes off without a hitch. We have E-A-R, two apples, and a bridge.

Image

This time, though, we put the bridge well above the right side. With that, we prepare to make a run on the L.

Image

Yoink!

Image
Image

Now, we can safely cross the bridge, and finally get the Y.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Sheesh, that was tough - and it required fairly precise movement with the lion. We’ve now pushed five zebras, two boulders and an elephant so far.

Image
Image

We have little trouble with this pop quiz, though we have to have Yobi repeat EARTH a few times.


Level 44. FUEL
Fuel underlies every land.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word F-U-E-L, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the E in the word ”fuel”!

Hey, we haven’t seen a Jeep in a while! Let’s push it.

Image

Our first push attempt ends with the rhino on the wrong side of the Jeep - we need the Jeep to trap it so we can grab the bridge.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

This time, we get the push right.

Image
Image

We go around the left side of the fire demon’s grove. Thankfully, the trees are thick enough to block wayward fireballs. Once the rhino is past, we set up the bridge and get the F.

Image
Image
Image

I walk all the way back to where the elephant’s blocking the way before I realize I’ll need to get the apple that’s on the left side of the river.

Image

Once we have the apple, there’s just enough time for us to duck in, grab the U and second apple, and run back out. Another apple saved!

Image
Image

At this point, we go back over and get the E…

Image
Image

…and then the L. (We have to come back in from the top, because going the other way will lead to us getting roasted.)

Image Back to the raft!

Image

That was straightforward, after the first bit. We’re now up to five zebras, two boulders, two elephants, and a Jeep. What will we have to push in the fifth and final level of this part?

Image
Image

(After this pop quiz, of course.)
Fun fact: NEITHER was Level 8 - the second level with zebras.


Level 45. GRADE
Grades really are demon efforts.”

Image

Well, it turns out that the number of things we’ll be pushing in this final level is zero. It’s another mud level! In this level, though, a lot of backtracking will be required.

Image Collect the letters of the word G-R-A-D-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget - the E is silent!

Image
Image

After going left from the raft, we head up and around to get the G.

Image
Image

To get the R, though, we have to go back the way we came - up, left, down, and right when we’re near the bottom of the level.

Image
Image

And to get the A, we first have to head back to where the G was! I did warn there’d be a lot of backtracking.

Image
Image

Now, we can just head left and down to get the A.

Image

Getting the bridge requires another ridiculously complex route.

Image
Image

Once we have it, we can make our way to the river, and the one patch of non-muddy ground.

Image

We place the bridge, then head across, turning downwards to snag the D.

Image

Getting the final E is no sweat.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

So the final tally stands at five zebras, two boulders, one jeep, two elephants…

Image
Image

…and five pop quizzes.

Image

Of course, we haven’t gotten the next trinket by a long shot - so we’re going to be doing a lot more leading animals around by the nose as we continue.


Next Time on Spelling Jungle: 10 out of 10 zebras say their levels are fantastic.

User avatar
Episode 10: A Decade of Zebras

Image

There’s a theme in this section. See if you can spot it.


Level 46. THIRSTY
Thirsty hippos insist rootbeer seltzer tastes yummy.”

Image

Hey, the mnemonic misspelled ‘root beer’! And there’s no way to get that potion, amusingly enough. It’s just there for decorative purposes.

Image Collect the letters of the word T-H-I-R-S-T-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember, in the word “thirsty”, the I-R sounds like an R!

Image
Image

We start by grabbing an apple and the nearest ’T’. However, to get the H and I will require some advanced maneuvering.

Image

Here’s why: if we try and come back from getting the I, it’s likely the lion will follow us and we won’t be able to step off the lower grass safely. So we need to block the lion in somehow.

Image

And that ‘somehow’ is to precisely move the zebra so it blocks the lion - but not so far that it blocks passage on the grass. Here, I’m just a half-square off.

I’m not sure if I can stand safely on half a square of grass if the other half-square is a pit, and I don’t think so - so it’s time to start over.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

This time, we skip getting the T, and just grab the apple. We want to make sure this works before we commit time to the rest of the level.

Image

I go the wrong way, the zebra follows, and it all ends up with the apple wearing off before the zebra can get into place. And we don’t have more apples!

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

OK, we’ll do it right this time - I swear.

Image

We got it!

Image
Image

We can now get the T and the H, without worrying about anything more complex than not falling into the pit.

Image
Image

Getting the I requires carefully following the grass along the edge of the pit, but we don’t have to worry about the lion any more, at least.

Image
Image

Our next step is to get the R and S, which will mean crossing the river. We push the two boulders to get across, being careful not to fall into the pit ourselves.

There are some interesting things to note in the above images. First - the lion was still tracking us as we went back past the zebra, so moving the zebra was probably required to return safely. (There’s a small chance we could have gone to the right of the stone pillar, on the corner of grass by the pit, but I’m not sure if that would have been enough to make the lion turn back.)

The second interesting thing is that we only pushed the boulder halfway into the pit, and it fell in. Don’t mess around with pits!

Image
Image
Image

We get the R, bridge, and S, then use the bridge to get back across the river.

Image

There’s a fairly safe route to the second T by hugging the top wall.

Image
Image

Finally, we have to route around the zebra and pit again to get to the Y.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

After detouring around the pit one last time, away we go.

Image
Image

There is, as always, a pop quiz.


Level 47. TRAIN
”Ride a train in the rain.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word T-R-A-I-N, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the I is silent in the word ”train”!

Whoa, the devs were having fun when they designed this level! The gazelles are all milling around like train cars - and the zebras are like passengers waiting by their station.

Image
Image

We set out and grab the bridge.

Image

The gazelles catch up with us as we round the corner and head to the T. The resulting collisions send them off in the other direction - not as tightly spaced, either.

Image
Image
Image

We reverse direction to try and not bump into the gazelles again as we go towards the R. We don’t quite make it, sadly - but we do at least get ready to cross the river.

Image

By the time we collect the R, a gazelle crash is imminent.

Image
Image
Image

Our presence introduces a lot of stochastic chaos as we go to grab the A.

Image

Everyone is at least going in the same direction by the time we get the I.

Image

And chance run-ins mean the gazelles are all back in sequence (mostly) once we get the N.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Sadly, the zebras are gone by the time our ‘train’ arrives at their ‘station’.

Image
Image

The pop quiz is mostly uneventful… until I typo.

Image “Famous” is spelled…

Image F-A-M-O-U-S. “Famous”.

Image
Image

After that, it all goes smoothly. On to the next zebras! Er, level.


Level 48. THOUGHT
”I thought I bought enough drops to soothe my cough.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word T-H-O-U-G-H-T, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the silent letters G-H in the word ”thought”!

Whoa, this level has everything! A good mnemonic, a complex level design, a tough word to spell - and a zebra.

Image
Image

We have to pick our moment to get past the dart demon and rhino unscathed. A patch of grass by the O provides a safe zone.

Image
Image

We grab an apple, then move the elephant out of the way and grab the T. Note that we have to collect everything on one apple this time - we’ll need the second apple for the zebra, and we don’t get more. The difficulty’s ramping up!

Image

We wait until the rhino is out of the way to grab the H…

Image
Image

…and take the long way around to get the O.

Image
Image

We lure the zebra out of the way so we can get the U, but we’ll have to take the long way around to reach it.

Image
Image
Image

This involves following closely behind the rhino, then ducking into the gap in the stone wall so it can stomp past. (We get the U and bridge when it’s gone.)

Image
Image

After dodging the dart demon’s darts, we’re back down by the river. We lay down the bridge and get the G.

Image

The H and T finish the word.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Honestly, that level was really fun! Props to the designers.

Image
Image

The pop quiz goes by quickly, too.


Level 49. POISON
Poison oak itches so often now.”

Image

Whoa! That’s an intimidating-looking level. But it’s less dangerous than it appears.

Image Collect the letters of the word P-O-I-S-O-N, in the proper order.
Image Remember the O-I in the word ”poison”.

Image

The tiger won’t walk on hot coals, so we can walk past it safely.

Also: did you notice the alligator in the river? This level is pulling out all the stops!

Image
Image

Rather than take our chances with the rhino, we cut across the hot coals to get to the P.

Image

We have to do another slightly precise maneuver to get the first O, going in to the eye of the skull and then turning back without crossing into the rhino’s path.

Image
Image

To get to the I will require a bridge. We go along the top, pushing the boulder over (but not into the river just yet).
We grab the bridge when the alligator is away.

Image
Image

For some unfathomable reason, I take the long way back around instead of heading down through the upper left ‘crossbone’.

Image
Image

When we get to the river, the alligator starts tracking us (note that it can come out of the water where we’d want to lay the bridge). We have to wait for it to go before we can get the I.

Image

We finally figure out there’s a shortcut on our way to the S.

Image

Getting the letter requires us to do a boulder push, run across, and then immediately run back. Fortunately, the alligator can’t bite us while we’re on the boulder.

Image
Image

We run through the ‘eyes of the skull’ to get the O, and then keep on going.

Image

And once the rhino passes by, we can collect the N.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

A straight shot through the hot coals and we’re on our way.

(Fun fact: I had to play this level twice. The first time, I hesitated on the hot coals while getting the second O, and whoops! But the second playthrough was pretty much exactly the same to that point, so I decided not to show it.)

Image
Image

We have one more pop quiz once we’re past the level. There’s even a word from a level we’ve seen before - EARLY, from Level 42.


Level 50. HALFWAY
Half is only halfway there.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word H-A-L-F-W-A-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the L is silent!

Kind of an appropriate choice of words for level 50 of a 100-level game, huh? It’s a trinket level, too, and to get today’s trinket, we will have to lure away a ridiculous number of zebras.

Image
Image

We start by getting the H, and the only A that’s accessible to us. We’re going to lure the zebra to the right of it away first, once we have some apples.

Image
Image

However, there’s only one apple on this side of the river, and it’s reserved for the elephant blocking the way to the rest the other side.
We cross by boulder, and I almost waste an apple by pushing the elephant somewhere it would block the path.

Image

We snag the L, F, W, and as many apples as we can carry. Now the real fun begins.

Image

Back on the right side of the river, we wait for our moment. We want to deal with the rhino sooner, rather than later, and the zebra to our right gives us the perfect way to do it.

Image

It takes some fancy footwork, but we manage to trap the rhino with the zebra, and get it out of the way to boot!

Image
Image

We grab the A, and end up pushing the uppermost zebra as far as it’ll go. We’ll need room to maneuver to move the other 5 zebras blocking the way to the trinket.

Image

After some indecision, we move the third zebra to the lower right corner of the fenced-in area. Four more to go.

Image
Image

The fourth zebra goes next to the third.

Image
Image
Image

We place the fifth zebra next to the other two we dragged away - but not too far over to the left. If it was all the way left, it’d block the way to the Y.

Image

Since there’s now space just before the upper gap in the right stone wall, we lure the sixth zebra there.

We now have two apples and one zebra left to move, with the requirements that it lets us get the trinket, without blocking our way to the Y afterwards. The only question is, how shall we do it?

Image

Up to the gap in the stone wall…

Image

Hugging it on the other side, leaving a completed path behind…

Image

And the way to the trinket is clear.

Image
Image
Image

Finally, we can get the Y and finish the level.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

So now we get to the reason I called this part what I did. We’ve had to deal with not fewer than 10 zebras in this section!
(It was actually 12, but ‘Decade’ sounded cooler than ‘Dozen’.)

Image
Image

We have a pop quiz, but…

Image

It’s been extended again. Our last word is FAMOUS, which I flubbed earlier - and I almost make that same mistake again!
But we clear it, and move on. From hereon, we’ll have to spell eight words each time we’re here.

Image

And there we have it; we’re halfway up the river. But the going is only going to get tougher from here…

Next Time on Spelling Jungle: We cheat.

Quackles wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 4:09 am
Image
...Mickey?

User avatar
Those levels were definitely a step up both in the puzzle solving and the tricky maneuvering.

User avatar
Episode 11: A Glitch in Time

Image

We’ve seen unique parts of the river before, but this particular part is special. And it’s for a reason that Yobi and Sierra couldn’t have predicted.

Image Ooh! You have passed a turning point.


Level 51. SCHOOL
Some cows have one orange leg.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word S-C-H-O-O-L, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget! The C-H sounds like a K in the word “school”!

Whoa! We’ve seen hot coals before, but this level is going to introduce us to a new maneuver that’s difficult to pull off, but necessary going forward.

Image
Image

We start by pushing the lower right to block the fire demon, then using the apple to move the elephant so we can get the bridge.

Image

With the bridge placed, we have a problem. We can’t get the O with out getting S-C-H first, and if we were to place the bridge in the upper corner and take the long way around, the wind demon would block us from walking up to the S directly.

We’ve got only one option: We’ve got to learn how to turn on hot coals.

Image

This took three tries to pull off. The secret is…

OK, so explaining this is going to require a refresher on how Spelling Jungle’s controls work. When an arrow key is pressed, our character will move half a square in that direction. He can’t be interrupted while this is going on.

When the half-square movement has ended, the game checks the arrow keys again. If the same key is pressed, our hero keeps walking. If a different key is pressed, our character will immediately turn and start moving in that direction. If no key is pressed (or we run into something solid when we try to move in a direction), we stop.

Now, how hot coals work: if the main character is accounted as ‘stopped moving’ on them, even for one frame, we count as ‘KOd’ and have to start the level over.

So, putting it all together: to turn on hot coals, you have to press the key for the direction you want to go next while the half-square for the previous walking animation is still running. If you lift the first movement key and only press the second after you’ve stopped moving, you’ll be KOd.

Each walking animation takes 8 frames, at a game speed of 30 FPS. That’s how much time you have to switch directions - about a window equal to .26 of a second. Also, the fact that you have to press early [but not too early - note how I was too early and ended up half a square off the S] makes it easy to get thrown off.

It’s pret-ty darn hard for a kids’ game! And we’ll be seeing this maneuver again later. In some levels, multiple times.

Anyway, back to S-C-H-O-O-L.

Image
Image

After the wind demon blows us to the lower corner, we walk back to the bridge across the bed of hot coals (no turns this time, thankfully).

Image
Image

The rest of the level is going to be comparatively simple. We walk over and collect the C and the H.

Image
Image

It’s our choice which order to tackle the O’s in. Thankfully, there was an apple stashed next to the bridge, so we can pass the elephant and grab the upper O… though I narrowly avoid fouling it up by pushing the elephant too far.

Image
Image

For the lower O, we just cross the bridge, get blown around by the wind demon, and walk back across the hot coals again.

Image
Image

Finally, we avoid the leftmost fire demon, instead taking the long way around to get the L.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

I’m just going to repeat: this is not going to be the only time we’ll have to do advanced maneuvers on hot coals. BURN (Level 25) gave us stopping points to turn that had normal ground on them, but the game isn’t going to be so lenient from hereon…

If you go back and look at some of the GIFs for BURN, you’ll notice I do proper hot coals turns by accident - but then get flambéd by fire demon fireballs immediately afterwards. Oh well.

Image

After that excitement, the pop quiz is, thankfully, uneventful.


Level 52. UNTIL
Uncle Ned took idiot lessons.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word U-N-T-I-L, in the proper order.
Image Remember, there is only one L in the word ”until”!

OK, when I said ‘this is not the only time’ I maaaaaaaaaaaaay have failed to mention that the next time we’d have to turn on hot coals was the following level! But this is the last hot coals puzzle for a while, I promise.

Image

The area I’ve marked in red is the ‘danger zone’ where we’ll be hit by fire demon fireballs. Once we cross the river, we have even less space to maneuver than it looks!

Image

Our first turn of the level, to collect the bridge. Most of this level’s hot coal turns will be against a wall, which means we can’t overshoot - if we stop against the wall, we’re done.

Image
Image

After crossing the river, we make our way to a safe spot between the throw range of the rightmost fire demon and the start of the hot coals. Half a step up or down is dangerous ground, but this way we don’t have to do a turn maneuver to get the U.

Image

Unfortunately, I decide to try going back the way I came, instead of doing a turn to get back - and overshoot.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

On top of that, on the second try, I decided to do the same maneuver again.

Image

We get it this time, though.

Image
Image

For the N, we walk across the coals, turn around on the other side, and walk right back.

Image
Image

There’s a potion down at the bottom of the hot coal field! We grab it - it’s an Anti-Fireball potion, which protects us from fire demon fireballs.

With our potion in hand, we get the T…

Image

…and turn upwards as soon as we can, walking back harmlessly past the fire demon.

It’s worth noting that the potion does not protect us from the hot coals, so we still have to take care not to stop moving on them.

Like other potions, the Anti-Fireball potion lasts for 11 seconds.

Image
Image

To get the I, we have to do another turn against a wall, like what we did with the bridge earlier. This brings the total number of hot coal turns we’ve done so far up to three.

Image
Image

From here, we just have to get the L - we can get the one that’s not in a field of fire, so the only issue is remembering to dodge the fire demon’s fireballs (which it can throw into the square just above the tile).

Image Back to the raft!

Image

What a mess! That level required precise movement and attention to detail with the fireball ranges.

Image

The pop quiz is refreshingly cool, at least, even if a good number of the words do seem to involve food.
Hopefully the next level will be easier…


Image

And then the game crashed.

Sadly, the game only saves when you quit, so we just lost all our progress since Level 40! But it’s time to fix that…

Image

…with the magic of HEX EDITING.

This is our Spelling Jungle save file. The file is in a fairly simple format: our in-game name is at the start of the file, followed by two 00 bytes, and then a byte (in hexadecimal) that says our current level. After that, there are blocks of 0001s, one for each level we’ve completed.

So, to put us past level 52, ready to take on level 53…

Image

…we need to change the 28 (40 in base ten) to a 34 (52 in base 10), and add 11 more 0001s, for levels 41-52.

Image

Upon copying in the file and restarting the game, it brings us to the start of our next level.

Hopefully, this should be the last time we have to do this.


Level 53. GUESS
Gazelles use effective spelling solutions.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word G-U-E-S-S, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget! The U is silent!

I think the devs decided to get creative with the pixel art. It’s question marks!

Visuals aside, this level has a lot of moving parts. Apart from the tiger, jeep, rhino, and dart demon, there is also an alligator in the river - and almost no grass to stand by. We’ll have to keep an eye on it.

Image
Image

First things first: that Jeep is going to have to go left, so that we can get at the bridge without getting sniped. We run up as soon as we push it, so that the alligator doesn’t attack once it gets to the lower part of the river.

Image

By the time we get the bridge, the tiger has noticed us, but it’s all good. We have plenty of time.

Image
Image

We wait until the alligator is back in the upper part before we go to get the G. As a reminder, bridges block an alligator’s progress - we’ll need to place another bridge to the U, so if we’re careful, we can trap the alligator in midriver.

Image
Image

At first, I think I’ll trap the alligator upriver instead, mistime the approach, and almost get bitten. But we manage to get away safely and place the bridge in the best place with the best timing.

Image

With the U collected and the alligator out of the way, the rest of the level is (mostly) straightforward.

Image
Image

We place the bridge as far to the right as we can. This ensures we have plenty of time to dodge the dart demon’s darts, as it can still take a shot at us.

Image
Image

With the apple from across the river, we lead the zebra out of the way.

Image
Image

From there, we can easily collect the E and the two Ses.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

We push the boulder to get back across. That was easy… I GUESS :v:

Image

And the pop quiz is easy too.


Level 54. SIGN
Signs indicate ‘go north’.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word S-I-G-N, in the proper order.
Image Remember, in the word “sign”, the G is silent!

Wait a second… it’s a peace sign! Clever, devs… very clever.
It’s also slightly ironic on a level with four lions and an alligator. However, if we stay on the grass, we should pull through.

Image
Image

Our first task is to get the bridge on the left. The lower left lion and the alligator both start tracking us, but there’s enough of a safe distance for us to cross the area that’s not grassy - and the lion loses interest once we’re across.

Image
Image
Image

We create a chain of bridges across the lower islands, making sure to trap the alligator in the lower section of the river for style points.

Image
Image

On the other side of the river, we can collect the last bridge safely by going the long way around on the grass. The lion doesn’t mind.

We’ll need this bridge for the island with the N, though, so we’ll have to get to the S a different way.

Image
Image

Specifically, we push the boulder to the left, walk across, then push the boulder on the ’S’ island up to get back to the riverbank. The lions don’t mind.

Image
Image
Image

To get the I, we go back across the bridges and repeat the maneuver we did with the first lion. Once we have it, the trip back to get the G is uneventful - but we do place our last bridge to the N island on the way.

Image

We walk back to the N island bridge, go across, and collect the N.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

We push another boulder to get back to the bank, though it’s a long walk back to the raft. This level is more puzzly than anything, given that you have to place the bridges across the lower islands - anything else doesn’t work.

Image

Short words in today’s pop quiz. What’s next?

Level 55. DOCTOR
Doctor Ozone canceled the operating rooms.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word D-O-C-T-O-R, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget! There’s no E in the word “doctor”!

On the face of it, this level looks like we’ll be doing shenanigans to move the hippo around the riverbank. But there’s a simpler way to solve the level, if we’re careful.

Image
Image

After dismounting the raft, we walk up to the get the D and the first apple.

Image

Because there’s land on both sides of the hippo, we can cross on its back for free when it’s not submerged.

Image
Image

After grabbing another apple, we set out to carefully cross the land bridge over the pit.

Image

Slow and steady wins the race, so we emerge on the other side, untumbled.

Image
Image

Now that we’re in no danger of falling, we can grab the O, C, and fourth apple. (We got the third apple before we went across the bridge.)

But now the T is back down below - so we have to go back across the land bridge again.

Image

So we do. But now we have to turn around and go again to get to the last two letters.

Image
Image

I’ll spare you the GIF this time, but we do make it across safely.

Image
Image

Now we can collect the O and the R, while we dodge around the E.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Upon collecting the last letter, the rhino, E, and hippo all disappear! If our strategy had involved riding the hippo, we’d have to find an alternate route now. And I’m sure you can guess what that route is…

Image
Image
Image

We shlep our way across the land bridge for the fourth and final time, before catching the raft to head upriver. Talk about a painstaking puzzle!

Image

Yobi appears to be dropping a few hints about this game’s sequel in this pop quiz. We’ll have to wrap up warm eventually… but for now, we have to finish our journey up this river - no matter what glitches may haunt us.

Image

Next Time on Spelling Jungle: We take the long way around. Multiple times.

User avatar
Episode 12: The Long Way Round

Image

Welcome back! This section of the river leads up to the sixth trinket, so the puzzles are going to mix things up a good amount.

Image Remember your purpose!

Level 56. GUARD
Guard uniforms are radical duds.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word G-U-A-R-D, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the U is silent!

OK, who comes up with these mnemonics? I ask because this one is particularly a stinker.

In terms of the actual level, there’s something going on that may not be obvious at first. The bottom bit of stone wall is placed in such a way that to get to the walled-in area, you have to annoy one or the other of the two lions.

Of course, we have to go in there to get the bridge, first.

Image
Image

The solution to this problem is the boulder on the left side. We push it up through the left entrance (note how the left lion is now active), and walk up the center column to keep the other lion in his home space.

Image
Image

We grab the bridge; we also grab the apple, though we won’t need it until later.

Image
Image

After leaving the exact way we came, we use the bridge to cross the river at the lower crossing point, and grab the G.

Image

Then we have to go back for the U. I’m given a quick reminder of why it’s important to stick to the left side.

Image
Image

We get the U. I make sure to leave by the left side, this time.

Image
Image
Image

With the second bridge, we cross the river again and get the A. We then head up to get the R— the wind demon traps us in a corner with it, so we push the nearby boulder down to get out.

Image
Image

I don’t remember if wind demons can blow thrown apples out of their trajectory, but we’re not going to take the chance. We cross the demon’s path and approach the elephant from above, using the apple we picked up to get it to move so we can get the last letter.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

The big thing about “whichever side you go in will annoy that lion” wasn’t completely obvious to me when I was playing the level, but that was the only main challenge of this one— plus the long walk. Onward!

Image

…after a pop quiz. Featuring NORTH once again (remember it?), no less.


Level 57. DECORATE
”That’s the corner to decorate.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word D-E-C-O-R-A-T-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the O-R in the word “decorate”!

Oh boy. On the left side, that alligator and the tiger together are going to make things complicated. And on the right side, we’re going to have to shuttle back and forth across the watercourse on hippos.

But at least the mnemonic is good!

Image
Image

We start by walking towards the upper left, and somehow manage to avoid being eaten by the alligator despite it coming up onto the land right next to us.

Image
Image

When we grab the two apples at the top, it boxes the tiger into the cul-de-sac of trees. This lets us collect the bridge, D, and extra apple without getting munched on.

Image

The tiger keeps tracking us, but thankfully, we won’t need to come back here again.

Image
Image
Image

Placing the bridge and grabbing the lower E is the next step, but this gets complicated by the movements of the alligator.

In retrospect, if I’d placed the bridge pointing left-right, I could have stayed on the grass and darted out to grab the E. Oh well.

Image
Image

The next step is to get the C, but it’s on an island in the middle of the river. My first thought was to feed a hippo to get it to come over.

However, hippos don’t come to you. They let you ride them, but that’s all. I got them mixed up with killer whales in Spelling Blizzard (who serve a similar function, but are a little more proactive in coming up to you).

Image
Image

We ride one of the upper hippos down to the C instead.

Image
Image

My next plan was to take the lower right hippo, and ride it so it was below the lower left hippo. This would form a permanent bridge between the mainland and the island. But by the time everything was lined up, the plan was foiled by the alligator blocking the way.
(Alligators can’t eat you when they’re in the water, thankfully.)

Image
Image

We end up having to ride the first hippo we rode back to the bank. We do wait for the alligator to be well out of the way before we go get the O.

Image

One long walk later, we find ourselves back near the R. Now we have to get to the island again.

Image

Fortunately, there’s another hippo here. We ride it down to the island - and create a ‘hippo bridge’ of the kind we were trying to make below the island.

Just as well, too— I had wasted two apples, so we were fresh out!

Image
Image
Image

After grabbing the A, we walk back across the hippo bridge and up and around to the T and E.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

That level was, as promised, a bit harder than the last one! The alligator combined with the hippos made a surprisingly fiddly setup. And there was the long walk, of course.

Image

Even the pop quiz is long. We’ve now gotten NORTH two quizzes in a row!
Can we make it three? We’ll see.


Level 58. SCHOLAR
Some children have orange lollipops after recess.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word S-C-H-O-L-A-R, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the C-H can sound like a K!

Can we talk about the mnemonics for a second? Acronym ones, like this one, are kind of bad if there’s nothing to connect the word to the sentence. ‘SCHOLAR’ to a sentence about orange lollipops is tenuous at best. ‘DOCTOR’ was better. But the best mnemonics focus on a part of the word and stick to that.

Image
Image

There’s technically two ways to approach this puzzle, but they’re very similar for the first 75%. We start by grabbing the apple and the bridge on the small island - though we have to use the bridge immediately to get back to the bank.

Image
Image

The apple gets used immediately to push the elephant to block the dart demon. (Thankfully, even half-blocking is enough to stop the demon from firing.) This way, we can get the S.

Image
Image

The C, bridge, and upper apple are next. In our version of events, we place the bridge at the top of the map, so we can cross and get the H.

Image
Image

Getting the H requires some fast footwork to dodge the darts of the dart demon. The next step is to go down so we can get the O; the lion lets us pass as long as we stay on the right side of the bare ground.

Image

We can’t safely get the bridge; it’s too close to the dart demon on the right, and we’d be hit. Instead, we run through the tree-lined corridor and grab the O - before immediately turning around, as the dart demon on the left can fire at us, too.

Image
Image

We dodge the right dart demon again, then head up, and back across the river.

Image

From here, grabbing the L, A, and R is just a matter of back-and-forth walking.

Image Back to the raft!

So that was the easier way to do the puzzle… probably. What about the other way?

Image
Image

The alternate solution of the puzzle (though I haven’t tested it) is to reverse course after collecting the C, feed the elephant again, and cross the river at the bottom crossing point. Don’t get the apple in the bottom right corner - you’ll get sniped - but push the boulder up to block the dart demon on the right. Then, go up and around to get the bridge, and up past the lion to get the H.

Image
Image

Next, head back to get the O (you still have to move quickly to dodge the left dart demon), and then up to the top again. Then you can place the bridge up at the top to easily get the L, A, and R, since you can’t backtrack up the left side.

I suspect this was the intended solution, but hey, if what we did is easier, why not? It’s a long walk either way.

Image

Sadly, the pop quiz is devoid of NORTH this time around, but DOCTOR makes a surprise appearance from downriver.


Level 59. WHEN

”When will the hen lay another egg?”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word W-H-E-N, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the H!

Well, this level won’t have as many long walks as the last three - but it makes up for that by having long mud surfs, instead!

Image
Image

We start by dodging the first rhino, and grabbing the bridge. Picking a crossing point will be tricky, as the bank is patrolled on the other side by a rhino as well.

Image

We cross at the topmost point of the river. Despite those stone walls showing a small pit around them, only the large pits can be fallen into, and of those, we can only reach the pit with the N.

Image
Image

We surf right and down to get the W, then head up to grab the bridge, tucked in a stone niche.

Image

Next, we slide down, left, and up to get the H and an apple.

Image
Image
Image

To get the E, we have to surf down to the bottom, as there’s no other way we can go. We head left, back across the river, and dodge the rhino again like we did at the start of the level.

Image
Image

We can only get to one of the two Ns. If we went to the one on the right, we’d fall in the pit, and Yobi would have to bail us out. Instead, we cross the river and head down to the lower part of the rhino’s path, waiting for our moment.

Image

With a precisely timed throw, we bribe the rhino and dodge around it to get the N.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

That was a nice breather after the last two levels. And it’s got a good mnemonic.

Image

The pop quiz repeats a recent one with the second FLOOD in this stretch of river. Let’s see if we can shoot for three— again!


Level 60. BOUGHT
”I thought I bought enough drops to soothe my cough.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word B-O-U-G-H-T, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the silent letters G-H!

We’ve previously seen ENOUGH, COUGH, and THOUGHT as we traveled up the river - and COUGH and THOUGHT had the same mnemonic as here. Now it’s time for the final exam - and there’s a trinket in this level to boot!

We start off with the potion - an Anti-Wind potion - temptingly out of reach. When we drink it, we will be immune to wind demons’ wind - but we’ll need that to get the trinket, so for now, we just need to concentrate on getting the letters.

Image
Image
Image

We get blown to the left as we disembark the raft; to get to the B, we have to get blown upwards by the wind demon on the far left.

Image
Image

We can cross on the hippo’s back to get the O. Sadly, we only get the one apple here, and we have to save it for the elephant - so riding the hippo down the river to the trinket is a no-go.

Image
Image

We’re able to walk over and get the U without any trouble, and the G by feeding the elephant and ducking around behind it, then heading out before it goes back to its starting space.

We could get the H now, but first - it’s time to try and get the trinket.

Image

The plan is: we get blown over to the left, grab the potion, come back to the right, go down and walk on the hippo to cross the river, go right, and up against the wind. Like the other potions, Anti-Wind potions last 11 seconds, so we have to do the entire maneuver without wasting time.

Image

We do have a trick up our sleeve: we can’t make progress walking into a wind demon’s wind, but we can stop ourselves temporarily by trying to walk in the opposite direction anyway. We do this until the hippo submerges - it should be back out of the water once we get there.

On three. One, two…

Image

I do mistime it and we get stuck on the hippo - but we make it all the way up to the trinket with 5/6 of a second to spare. Trinket get!

Image
Image
Image

We get blown back down, recross the river, and finish up by grabbing the H and the T.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

This entire set of levels really seems to have leaned into the concept of long walks. We’ve been shuttling back and forth from one side of the river - and level - to the other.

And to cap it off…

Image

Image Very good! Spell ”crush”.

Image

Image Well spelled!

Image

…the pop quiz is extended again! We’re up to 9 words a sitting, now.

Image

That concludes this stretch of the river - but things will only ramp up even farther. What challenges does Yobi have in store for us next?

I’m sure we’ll hear his voice saying…

Image Let’s try that one A-G-A-I-N!

Until next time.

Next Time on Spelling Jungle: We get stuck in the river, stuck in the mud, and nearly stuck on the end of a rhino’s horn.

User avatar
Episode 13: Not-So-Bad Lip Reading, Jungle Edition

Image

Welcome back to Spelling Jungle! Today’s episode is going to be interesting - a technical fault meant that the sound for this set of five levels is missing.
So I am transcribing everything Yobi says just from lip reading.

Seriously, the lip flaps in this game are good. When you know most of what Yobi is going to say, you can infer the rest surprisingly easily.

I swear I have not looked up any video for this section of the river, other than my own.

Image Oooh! More surprises await you!

Level 61. AGAIN
”You will gain rewards if you try again.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word A-G-A-I-N, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the I!

We have one hippo, eight (!) apples, five letter tiles to grab, and one annoying alligator to complicate things. At least our initial route is all mapped out for us.

Image
Image

We start by running across the non-grassy gap before the alligator can get at us, and cross the river using the boulder. The alligator starts tracking us, but we’ll be able to shake it off by reaching the hippo.

Image
Image

However, I misjudge the route, and get stuck in mid-river.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

This time, we take the opportunity to grab the other three apples before we ride the hippo.

Image

It’s a smooth trip over to the left island this time.

Image
Image

After hiding from the alligator behind the screen of trees, we take the hippo over to the right island and get the G.

Image

As we get ready to ride back to the left island, the alligator homes in on us. This turns into an unexpected stroke of luck - once it loses our trail, it’s now stuck swimming around the right island, instead of both sides of the river.

Image
Image

With the ‘gator out of our way, we can safely and easily get the I and the N.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Once you remember you can draw alligators to different locations by careful movement, this level becomes less of a headache.

Image
Image

We finish off with a not-particularly-notable pop quiz, as a breather.


Level 62. TOGETHER
”Help her to get her things together.”

Image


Image

Image Collect the letters of the word T-O-G-E-T-H-E-R, in the proper order.
Image Remember, there’s only one O in the word “together”!

This level looks simple, at least.

Image

We start by getting the bridge, deploying it, and—

Image

—whoops! The dart demon is just a little too close to let us pass safely.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

This time, after thinking about it for a while, we place the bridge facing up, rather than to the left.

Image

We safely slide up to the grassy area - then have another decision to make. If we try to slide down, we’ll fall into the pit. It looks like we’ll have to push a boulder, instead, and the dart demon is within line-of-sight.

Image

At the time, I do not realize this, and so fall into the pit. :doh:

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image
Image

After recombobulating ourselves, we decide to go for the T on the left first, instead. To that end, we push the left boulder down to block the dart demon, then launch ourselves after it.

Image

From there, it’s easy to head left and up, getting the T.

Image

We need to get an O next, but with the bridge in its proper place, we can only get the O on the right bank of the river. There’s a problem with that, though. We’ll need to block the dart demon from firing to the right before we can get it safely.

Image
Image

Unfortunately, I push the second boulder a half-square too far to the left, and it gets stuck - and the mud means I can’t get into a position to push it out.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

This time, before we grab any letters, we get the boulders precisely placed.

Image
Image

We can go around and grab the T and the O, now.

Image

Getting the G requires us to go up and around. 

From this point on, we’ll have to do a bunch of shuttling back and forth to get the rest of the letters, but it should be fairly safe as long as we have a care with the rhino and how we navigate in the mud.

Image
Image
Image

For the first E, we trail closely behind the rhino, then duck into the grassy nook with the E at the earliest opportunity. To get out, we wait until the rhino’s going one way, and run the other.

Image
Image

To get the second T, we need to go to where we grabbed the G and head left. Trying to go straight down from the grassy area will lead to a fall into the pit (as we’ve seen). From there, getting the H is simple.

Image
Image
Image

Crossing back to the other bank, we trail the rhino again, then duck into the nook and let it pass by once more so that we can safely collect the last E and the R.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Like I said at the start, this level looked simple, but it had a number of pitfalls (literal and otherwise) we could fall into. Hopefully the next one should be more chill.

Image
Image

An uneventful pop quiz.


Level 63. LETTER
Let’s each take turns eating raisins.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word L-E-T-T-E-R, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the two Ts!

This level definitely isn’t more chill than the last one, but it should be more relaxed. Except for the run to the left at the beginning, we don’t have to step onto the hot coals at all - only the L and incorrect letter tiles are there.

Image
Image

We run left to get the L, then push a boulder across the river to get the first E.

Image
Image

We have to push the Jeep to the left to get at the first T. Thankfully, the gazelle doesn’t stop the Jeep in its tracks - once it reaches the river, it sinks.

Image

From here, it’s a lot of pushing boulders across rivers; the last T, E, and R are all on opposite banks.

Image
Image
Image

So we go get them…

Image
Image

and take one last trip back across the river to get the R.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

After that last level, this one was a breather. The only risk was that the gazelle might block one of our pushed boulders.

Image
Image

The pop quiz is similarly easy.


Level 64. HOUSE
”I use my house as a home for a mouse.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word H-O-U-S-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the O-U in the word ”house”!

Oh, the level’s shaped vaguely like a house! That’s pretty cute.

Image

To get through this level, we’ll have to do some building bridges. We start by grabbing the nearest one, by the E, and placing it where we can easily get across the river without a rhino interfering.

Image
Image
Image

We dodge the rhinos, cross the river by pushing a boulder, and grab the bridge before crossing back again at the lowest part of the level.

Image
Image

Now we can finally get the H, two more bridges, and the O.

Image

The rest of the level is just a matter of retracing our steps. We lay a bridge and head back across the river to get the U…

Image

Another bridge, and we can backtrack and circle around to get the S…

Image
Image

And after one more bridge and re-dodging the rhinos, we finally grab the E.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

It’s interesting how a lot of the recent levels, even if they aren’t difficult, make up for it by being long and having a lot of backtracking. When I was a kid, I only had short periods to play the game between classes in the school computer lab, so I was always on edge as to how many levels I could actually finish.

Image
Image

The quizzes were a special source of anxiety. I was always worried I’d get interrupted in the middle of one and lose my progress (if you quit out in the middle of a quiz, you start at the first word again on resuming).

Regarding the game taking a long time in general, as someone who has now played to the very end, I’m pretty sure younger me would call some of the toughest levels (which we have not seen) an actual waste of time.

Put a pin in this. We’ll come back to it much later.


Level 65. ALONG
”We will always get along because we are best pals.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word A-L-O-N-G, in the proper order.
Image Remember, there’s only one L!

This level is something of a stumper. We can only get to the A if we travel across the left bank, but the way will only be clear if we feed the zebra. And the one and only apple is…

…oh dear.

Image

We head up and right, ending up next to the land bridge across the pit. To get to the other side with the rhino on patrol will require timing and precision.
Let’s go!

Image

We dart in as the rhino heads up, and run down onto the grass before it can get too close to us.

Image
Image

After grabbing the apple, we push a boulder to cross the river, and lead the zebra away.

Image
Image

Getting the A is no trouble, and we can use the bridge to get back to the left bank of the river. But now we have a new problem.
The only way back across the river now is to push another boulder - which will put us where we picked up the apple.

Image

…and that means we have to outrun the rhino again!

Image

Because we don’t want to risk falling into the pit, this time is even more hair-raising than before!

Image
Image

With that out of the way, though, we can get the L and the bridge, and place the bridge. Now we have free access to the upper and lower parts of the right bank of the river.

Image
Image
Image

We get the O, N, and G to finish the level.

Image Back to the raft!

Image
Image

A convenient boulder keeps us from being trapped in the upper section, and soon we’re zooming upriver.

I genuinely wonder if we could have gotten closer to the edge on the lower half of the chasm and then had more leeway on the rhino… but I’m not going to ask.

Image
Image

Our final pop quiz of the day has a special guest appearance from BOUGHT, the word for the sixth trinket level.

Image

That section of river had levels that were more long than difficult... but this definitely won’t last. We’ll have to do some fast footwork soon, I’m sure.
See you then.

Next Time on Spelling Jungle: Tiger, tiger, burning bright / you won’t catch my ass without a fight.

User avatar
Episode 14: Way Too Many Dangerous Orange Things

Image

Welcome back. Today, the game is going to throw some nonsense at us, and I shall do my best to match it.

Image Your experience will see you through!


Level 66. ALWAYS
”We will always get along because we are best pals.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word A-L-W-A-Y-S, in the proper order.
Image Remember, there is only one L in the word “always”!

This level is going to be… complicated. To begin with, it’s using the same mnemonic as last level— and that tiger is going to make things hairy for us. And that’s just the start…

Image

We go and grab the bridge, and the tiger starts tracking us. We’ll have to run up and left, grab the A, then run up to the top and place the bridge. Once we get on the bridge, we’re safe.

Image

I make a valiant attempt, but overshoot the bridge site, hesitate, and get bitten.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

The next two times, we don’t always do that well - and the time after that, we deploy the bridge in a panic, half a square too high. Effectively stuck in the river, we restart.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

After one more failed attempt, we finally make it!

Image

…then get diagonally flambéd by the fire demon as we try to head through the gap in the stone wall. :sigh:

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

After two more terrible tangles with the tiger, we finally make it through the opening sequence in one piece. Now, we have to outwit the fire demon. To that end, the position we’re standing in is very important.

Image

From here, we can feed the zebra at a distance. It comes over - fire demons only fire at you, not wild animals - and we can use it to block the demon’s line of sight.

Image
Image

Now we can safely pass through the gap and grab the two apples.

Image
Image

To get to the L, we need to lead the two zebras on the right side away. We bring the first one around the corners and up, so it’s out of the way but doesn’t block the path.

Image

This leaves a space by the corner to tuck the second zebra.

Image
Image

The rest of the level is simple - we grab an L up at the top, then lay the bridge to grab the W.

Image
Image

Then we can get the A, Y, and S without any trouble.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Phew! For everyone following along at home, we had to start over eight times. Tigers are no joke - and the trick with the fire demon and the zebra was rude.

Image
Image

Even the pop quiz gets into the act a bit, focusing on longer words - at least, in the first half.


Level 67. CHILDREN
”You can always find a child among children.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the L!

For those who said one tiger wasn’t enough… now we have three! However, these ones are way, way more manageable to deal with.

Image
Image

The majority of the level is encircled by grass and stone walls. The upper right tiger tracks us as we get the C and H, but it can’t meaningfully do anything to us.

Image
Image

As we head to the I, the lower tiger tracks us. Tigers only move vertically when we do, though, so it walks right past the one gap that would let it into the center.

Image
Image

We circle around to get the L and the bridge. This attracts the lower right tiger to the bottom.

Image
Image

To make sure we stay safe, we spend a little time drawing the second tiger into the nook with the first one. Then, we push the boulder over to block the only grass-free entrance.

We’d need to do this even if the second tiger hadn’t started chasing us. We’ll be moving up and down to get the D in short order, and without the boulder, the tiger would have followed our movements and come inside.

Image

We have to go get some apples so we can ride the hippo to the D, but we’re safe as long as we stay on the grass.

Image

We grab the D on a single apple’s worth of travel!

Meanwhile, one of the tigers tries to follow us, but gets stuck behind the boulder. Gotcha. :smuggo:

Image
Image
Image

We grab the R, E, and N to finish the level.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

The moral of this story is that tigers are only dangerous if they’re not contained. This was much less trouble than the last level.

Image
Image

The quiz is easier, too.


Level 68. BICYCLE
Betty is covering your cold little ears.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word B-I-C-Y-C-L-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the Y!

Wow, that’s waaay too many hot coals for my liking, and we’ll need to do at least two or three hot-coal turns. And the mnemonics are back to being terrible.

Image

We start by trying to get the bridge, and pause a little too long during the turnaround.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

We get it the second time. Now, we can inch over and grab the B.

Image
Image

Getting the I will require us to make a hot coal turn. We pull it off with style, and push the Jeep into the river before we turn back to go get the lower C. We’ll need the Jeep out of the way in a minute.

Image
Image

The reason is the boulder. With the Jeep gone, we can push it to cross the river, then deploy the bridge to cross back at the nook with the Y. This’ll let us return with the second bridge.

Image
Image

We have to do a hot coal turn to get the second bridge, though.

Image
Image
Image

We carefully get the C, then collect the L and E to finish up…

Image Back to the raft!


Image

…and that’s when I overshoot the raft and stop on the hot coals, meaning we’ll have to start the entire level again.

















Image

In the interest of not boring you all, let’s just say: we do.

Image

And this time, we get on the raft very carefully.

Image
Image

Fortunately, the pop quiz is merciful.


Level 69. HAVING
Harry ate vanilla ice-cream, not grapes.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word H-A-V-I-N-G, in the proper order.
Image Remember, there’s no E in the word “having”!

This level is a lot less dangerous than some of the last ones, at least. Interestingly, the devs placed a potion here of a type we haven’t seen before - but it’s out of reach. The only way to get it would be to ride the hippo there, but grabbing the apple would mean falling into the pit.

What teases!

Image

To start the level, we head left and up. If we head right, we won’t be able to cross the river because of the wind demon.

Image
Image

As we continue to the right, the wind demon blows us diagonally down; we head back up, and grab the H. This’ll be important in just a second, though.

Image
Image

To get the A, we have to cross the river on hippo-back. While it looks at first like any attempt to mud-surf left will land in a pit, the wind demon has our back, and we get blown into the stone wall and slide downwards.

Image
Image

After grabbing the A, we use the boulder to cross back.

Image

We take a similar route to get the V as we took to the H - we just don’t go up after the wind demon blows us downward.

Image
Image

Then, we reverse direction - and rely on the wind demon again - to get to the far left, where we can go down to get the I.

Image

Getting the N requires us to go up and around again. If we didn’t, the wind demon would blow us to the lower bank, and we wouldn’t be able to get back.

Image

But we can rely on it one last time to get us down and over to where we can grab the G.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

And now we can get the— oh wait, it’s gone. :v:

Image
Image

There is a pop quiz, though.


Level 70. ONCE
Owls never chase elephants.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word O-N-C-E, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the C can sound like an S!

After a long, hard slog, it’s the seventh trinket level! We have to navigate a pesky river crossing, wrangle with a wind demon, and also stop a lion from eating us… oh, and there’s also an alligator lurking in those trees up there. Let’s get started!

Image
Image

The O is locked behind a zebra, so we need to lure it away with an apple. We stay on the inside of the belt of grass to avoid the alligator.

It’s at this point I push the Jeep into the river, thinking we won’t need it for anything in particular.

Image
Image

After grabbing the apple, we walk the zebra out and push it up so it’s out of the way. Then we get the O.
The next step is to cross the river to where the N lurks.

Image
Image

The only obvious means of a river crossing is the paired boulders. We push the one we moved during the zebra taming back up, then quickly run across, using them as stepping stones.

Image
Image

On the other side, we push the Jeep down to block in the lion. To ensure that the vehicle will block it in, we have to outrun the Jeep and draw the lion’s attention.

This also draws the alligator over, but we’re on the grass with a Jeep between us, so we’re safe.

Image
Image

After shaking the alligator, we run over and grab the N. Now, it’s time to take a run at the trinket.

Image

Then, the truth dawns: while being blown by a wind demon, we can’t make hard turns. We’ll have to block off the demon if we want to be able to get the trinket.

It takes a bit to realize just what this level has available to do that. And then, well…

Image Let’s try that one again!

…we restart.


Image

So here’s the plan: we need to get the Jeep on the far left all the way over to the right to block the wind demon’s wind. To do that, we’ll have to go over, block the lion with the Jeep on the right, get the N, and grab the two bridges. Then, we can put the bridges in a line and push the left Jeep all the way over.

Image
Image

We have to get the O first before we do anything else, as we’ll need to collect the N to set up the trinket plan, and letter tiles must always be collected in order. To that end, we grab the apple and move the boulder over (not down, this time) so we can draw out the zebra.

Image

The alligator butts in, but the grass keeps us safe and we’re able to push the zebra much more cleanly.

Image
Image

With the O collected and the river crossed, step 1 of the plan is complete. Now to get the N and the bridges.

Image
Image
Image

We block the lion in again, and grab the N.

Image
Image

With a step to the right, the wind demon blows us up and we grab the first bridge. We also get the C while we’re here.

Image

Then, we place the bridge, and get back on the grass before the alligator heads our way.

Image

We can safely get the second bridge, since the lion is penned in. But then, I get impatient.

Image

RIP our hero, chomped on by an alligator. Or, as Yobi would say—

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

We retrace our steps. Everything mostly goes smoothly, though we have to push the right-bank Jeep twice (the first time, it gets blocked by the alligator).

Image

This time, we wait until the alligator is out of the way before deploying the second bridge.

Image

And just like that, the way to the trinket is clear.

Image

Trinket get!

Image

Now we can collect the E and finish the level.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

This was a fun trinket level, honestly. A not-quite-obvious solution to the puzzle, but not too hard or dependent on timing, either.

Image
Image
Image

And the pop quizzes have expanded for the last time. They are now 10 words long.

Image

We have the better part of a full village cheering us on as we go!

Image

And it’s upriver we’ll keep on going - especially as we are 70% of the way there. The game is now free to throw some of its toughest challenges at us.


Next Time on Spelling Jungle: We consult GameFAQs.

User avatar
Episode 15: Where’s That Walkthrough?

Image

Welcome back! As the maneuvers Yobi expects us to do grow more and more difficult, the temptation to ask for help gets stronger and stronger. Today: I cave.

Image Hohoho! Your persistence is your strength!


Level 71. HOSPITAL
Hundreds of scared people ignored the alien landing.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word H-O-S-P-I-T-A-L, in the proper order.
Image Remember the I in the word “hospital”!

This looks to be one of those levels that’s straightforward… except for that one little bit with the lion. The + shape is definitely a Red Cross reference, though.

Image

We start by grabbing the H and the bridge.

Image
Image

From there, we can grab the O, and cross the hot coals to get the S. The dart demon is far enough away that it won’t bother us.

Image

We push the Jeep, then get out of the line of fire quickly - the Jeep will disappear once it stops moving on the hot coals, like us.

Image
Image

This frees up space for us to push the boulder up to block the dart demon - though we have to exactly stop pushing in the safe space at the crossroads.

Image

Now we can head to the right and get the P - but collecting the I will be trouble, guarded by the lion as it is.

Image

I don’t make it.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

The second attempt goes about as smoothly - as I’m about to get the I, I hesitate and keel over for hot coal-related reasons.

Image

And the third run ends like the first.

Image

At this point, I get frustrated. (Note the clicked ‘PAUSE’ button.) There seems to be no obvious way to safely grab the I without getting chomped on— or is there?

Image

Image

To GameFaqs!

The one extant Spelling Jungle walkthrough, by Lord Seth, has this to say about getting the letter I in HOSPITAL:
Lord Seth wrote:With the Dart Trickster blocked, the rest of the letters are self-explanatory, except for maybe the I; to get it, run left over the Hot Coals, and the instant you're just beneath the I go up and get it, then go one space down and run back to the right before the Lion can get you.
:stonk:

What an oof! What consternation! Sadly, it seems the only way to avoid getting bitten is running in, grabbing the I and turning around with precise timing - if we waste even half a step, it’s very likely the lion will eat us.

This is not the last time the game will call for perfect movement. Keep your eyes peeled - I will complain loudly whenever it’s required.

Image

Back we go.

Image

After one hot coals-related mishap, our fourth proper attempt is halted by the lion.

Image

As is our fifth, and sixth.

Image

Seventh time lucky?

Image

Made it!

As I suspected before, there was no room for error in this maneuver. The lion was right behind us!

Now we just need to not screw up on the hot coals while grabbing the last few letters.

Image
Image

We manage the hot coals safely first try, and are able to grab the letters T and A.

Image

Back across the bridge the L awaits.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

I wonder what this stage would have been like as a kid? I like to think my reflexes were sharper as a kid, but I only got good at games in my early teens. The preteen I was when I played this would have been flummoxed.

Image

The pop quiz feels rather reassuring, this time.

Let’s see what’s next!


Level 72. MANY
”If you start with ‘any’, you can end with ‘many’.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word M-A-N-Y, in the proper order.
Image Some words are not spelled the way they sound!

For whatever reason, there’s no particular voiced spelling tip for this stage. It’s both a short word, and a straightforward concept - four letters. Grab them. Don’t get hit by the dart demons.

Sadly, the devs are teasing us again, and the mysterious potion can’t be gotten safely.

Image

We disembark the raft and head downwards to loop around to the M, and immediately get shot at.

Image
Image

This continues to happen as we head up and grab the M.

Image
Image

Before we head down and get the A and N, we push the boulder to block the line of fire of the upper dart demon.

Image
Image

Dart-based interference from the lower demon notwithstanding, we can head down and grab the A and the N.

Image

We have juuuuuust enough leeway to run left on the middle land bridge, dodging darts by a hair as we grab the Y.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

It’s nice to have a simple puzzle stage scattered in between the more complicated ones.

Image

Even the pop quiz is simple, though we do get a surprise visit from TONIGHT, the word for the second trinket level.
On to the next word.


Level 73. USED
Uncle Steve eats dirt.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word U-S-E-D, in the proper order.
Image Remember, an S can sound like a Z!

For some reason, the devs decided to put two levels in close succession that involve tricky maneuvers with a lion. This one isn’t as bad as HOSPITAL, at least.

Image
Image

We start by walking onto the south bank, and grabbing the U and four apples. The hippo is conveniently placed so that we can cross the river without feeding it.

Image

The S presents a problem, though. We have to use an apple to move the zebra, but unless we are precise in our movements, we risk being chewed on by the lion as we go to get the letter.

We have to save the other three apples for the elephants, so we can’t spend an extra apple to line things up perfectly, either.

Image

In our first attempt, I fumble and get boxed in by the zebra and the lion.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

The second run starts much like the first.

Image
Image

This time, while moving the zebra, I get too far up, and the lion closes in.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

Our third attempt ends much the same way; I was trying to get the zebra to walk up and block the lion in.

Image

So, for the fourth try, it’s time to get clever.

Animals need a full ‘alleyway’ of space to move, which means...

Image

...we can push the zebra into a position where it completely blocks the upper area, by straddling both possible columns the lion can come down on.

Image

With the S gotten, we just have to navigate past the elephants to get to our next letter.

Image
Image

The nook with the E conveniently has just enough apples for us to get back.

Image
Image

From there, getting the D is simple.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

This was a fun puzzle, honestly. It’s easy to overcomplicate by thinking you have to get the zebra all the way up by the lion, but a little up and over is enough.

Image

The pop quiz includes another trinket level word - this time, it’s ONCE, the most recent level with the Jeep.

Maybe the rest of this batch of levels will be nice, after all!



Level 74. TIRED
”Changing a flat tire made Dad tired.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word T-I-R-E-D, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the E in the word “tired”!


Wh— What on earth is this?!


After some inspection, there are two ways to do this level. If we head left off the raft...

Image

...we’ll have to immediately run downwards, chased by two rhinos.

Image

We immediately run into a problem once we hit the bottom of the safe ground. We can run left, onto the hot coals, but if we run too far to the left, the fire demon will flambé us. It looks like there’s no safe ground... or is there?

Image

Turns out, if we take only a half step into the fire demon’s danger zone, the demon won’t shoot. However, we immediately need to turn around and head the other way.

Of course, by that time the rhino will be at the very bottom of the screen, so we need to do the maneuver again, moving only a half-step left before turning around.

This technique, which I’ll call ‘jiggling’, requires incredible precision and gives us a total of 3 hot coal turns.

But that’s not all!

Image
Image

The lower rhino turned around, but the upper rhino has not. When they collide, they’ll both turn around again - so, to save our hide, we’ll have to run back onto the hot coals and do the whole ‘jiggling’ maneuver all over again.

Hot Coal Turns [on this side of the river]: 6

Image

With the rhinos finally out of the way, we can run back upwards.

Image
Image

Next, we need to get the bridge, but we don’t have much leeway with the rhinos about to turn around. So the way the game expects us to proceed is - back onto the hot coals!

Hot Coal Turns [Left Bank]: 9 (also note the pit if you overshoot on the last one)

Image
Image

There’s a catch with taking the long way around, though. If we head straight to the upper path, we’ll emerge onto the riverbank right as one of the rhinos charges into us!

So, we have to turn around and walk back and forth on the hot coals at the top, until the rhinos have left.

Image
Image

It takes one full back-and-forth, plus a bit extra at the end (otherwise we’ll collide with the rhino and stop on hot coals).

Hot Coal Turns [Left Bank]: 14

Image

Finally, we can walk behind the rhinos and grab the bridge.


Now, there are a few easier ways to get to this point.

Image
Image

First off, if we were to do the fire demon segment with perfect timing, we’d be able to run upwards after the lower rhino, and just make it to the bridge.

Hot Coal Turns [Left Bank, Close Rhino Follow Strategy]: 6

Alternately...

Image
Image

The game normally stops us from falling into the river - if we try to walk into it, it’ll act as though we hit a wall. This means that if we press the ‘up’ or ‘down’ keys from our starting position on the raft, we will have ‘moved’ without changing position.

Which means everything else in the level will start moving.

With this trick, we can stay on the raft until the rhinos are in a favorable position, then walk between them to get the bridge.

Hot Coal Turns [Left Bank, Timeout Strategy]: 0

Image

No matter what method we choose, once we get the bridge, we can wait for the rhinos again, then walk up, lay the bridge, and get to the right side of the level.

Image
Image

Once we’re on the other side, we have a mostly clear path to the letter tiles, but we still do have to do a few tricky maneuvers. To start with, we’ll need to move this boulder into a position where we can push it to block the dart demon.

This puts us in the line of fire, or rather the line of hot feet.

Hot Coal Turns [on the other side of the river this time]: 1

Image

The main challenge of this side is this maneuver. Once the upper boulder is moved down, we have to push it to the right, do a hot coal turn downwards, push the lower boulder to the right once we draw next to it, immediately head downwards again, and head to the right and down until we’re on safe ground.

This brings our hot coal turn count for the right side of the river up to a whopping 5, or 7 if we take a route that doesn’t risk us falling into the pit near the ‘D’. (The pic has the safer [?] way.)

Image

At this point, we just need to loop around to get the letters in order, while taking care not to step into the lower dart demon’s line of fire. The rhino that’s on this bank won’t step on letter tiles (no animal will), so as long as he’s not charging right at us when we grab the T, we’ll be fine.

And that is how you finish the level if you start by heading off the raft to the left.

Now, if you head off the raft to the right...

Image

That’s it! :)

I’ll let you all guess which way I did.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Oh man. That was either a really easy level, or an utterly galling one, depending on which path you took - with the potential for between 7 and 21 hot coal turns if you took the long way ‘round.

Can you imagine them putting a trinket next to the bridge?
Or, worse, on the hot coals down by the fire demon?

Image

Anyway, we do our pop quiz and get out.


Level 75. SAID
”She said she knew first aid.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word S-A-I-D, in the proper order.
Image Some words are not spelled the way they sound!

Another generic remark from Yobi, but the level looks interesting. There’s enough grass and obstructions to make tiger-herding a challenge - and we’ll need all the help we can get, with that alligator up top in the river.


Image

We start by grabbing the two apples in the upper section. The river’s long dogleg means that while we’ll attract the alligator’s attention while down near the I, we can shake it by waiting up towards the top.

Image
Image

Now properly supplied, we can move the zebra out of the way to get to the S... but the alligator is coming towards us, so it’s a better idea to move the zebra as far away as we can.

Image
Image

We’ll also need the boulder later, so we move it back to a pushable position before grabbing the S.

Image
Image
Image

Our next step is to get the A - which means leading the tiger away. After hiding from the alligator at the upper part of the level, we lead the tiger down and over, near to where we led the lower zebra.

Image

Now, by going through the grassy corridor at the far left, we can get the A safely.

Image

If we take the shortest route from the A to the I, we won’t be able to get back - the tiger will follow us and stand ready to chomp on us. So, we’re going to do something clever instead.

Image
Image
Image

Crossing the river, we get the tiger’s attention, then lead it down so it’s stuck on the lower promontory of the riverbank.

Image

Then, we can just walk up, cross back, and grab the I.

Image
Image

After waiting out the alligator, we can lead the upper zebra away with one of the two apples we have left.

Image

Grabbing the D finishes the level.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

The more the game tosses alligators at us, the more it’s [1] in combination with other hazards, [2] less of an issue because the alligator’s not meant to be the main challenge, so grass and level design combine to make the ‘gator less dangerous.

Funny how that works.

Image

Our pop quizzes are regularly featuring earlier words now. QUARTER was from the very first level to have an alligator - Level 18. We’re 3/4 of the way to the end of our journey - and it really shows.

Image

I honestly don’t think any of the kids back at my old school ever made it this far. But for the walkthrough, we are entering uncharted territory.

We shall perservere, whatever happens next.

Next Time on Spelling Jungle: Let’s do the time warp again!

User avatar
Episode 16: Back to the Future!

Image

We’re back! Or ALREADY back, I should say.
The levels might get harder after this, but there won’t be any sessions as tumultuous as this going forward. We’ll see why in a bit.


Image Oh! The end is in sight!


Level 76. ALREADY
”We will always get along because we’re already pals.”

Image


Image Collect the letters of the word A-L-R-E-A-D-Y, in the proper order.
Image Remember, there is only one L!

Dun-de-dun! You thought that ALWAYS and ALONG were the last you’d seen of this mnemonic - think again! And the puzzle is complex enough to be dangerous.

Image
Image

We start by heading left and pushing the boulder down to clear a pathway through. We can’t get the apples on the bottom level, or the dart demon will snipe us.

Image
Image

Note the fire demon’s range in the first pic. For now, we’re just placing the bridge so we can get the apples, but when the time comes to ride the hippo, we’ll have to come at the island with the As from the left, or from below.

Image
Image

Walking carefully around the fire demon on the upper side (and the pit), we grab the apples we can (the three on the top row). If we try to get the apples on the right side we’ll get shot.

Image
Image

After we make our way back, we go down right to get the A, careful of the demon. Once we make it back to shore, we can get the L, too.

Image
Image

We work our way back around to get the R. We still can’t get the apples on the right side, though - we barely dodge a dart as it is. Instead, we’ll have to use our two apples to make it to the islands with the A and D, and rely on the apple on the D island to get us back.

Image

We grab the E first, of course.

Image

If we were to try and land on the left side of the island with the D, the Fire Demon would roast us. So we need to take the long way around. I opt for a daring (and risky) maneuver where we go as far as we can to the right on a single apple, grabbing the A on the way.

Image
Image

We’re able to make it the rest of the way on our other apple without much trouble, and we get the D and the last apple - our ticket home.

Image
Image

The trip back to the bank is uneventful. We have enough leeway to grab the Y before the dart demon’s darts reach us - and since the word is done, Yobi’s staff takes everything away.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

We have a rare opportunity to jump on the raft early, before it reaches its return position.

Honestly, as long as you’re careful of the fire demon, and use your apples judiciously, that puzzle isn’t so bad. It is funny that the devs threw in one last ‘AL’ level in, as a treat - so to speak.

Image

The pop quiz has a number of words from earlier levels. There’s OFF (from Level 35), TOGETHER (Level 62), and SCHOLAR (58), as well as DOLLAR (29). It’s just another way the game shows we’re getting towards the end.


Level 77. AMONG
A monkey is among us.”

Image


Image Collect the letters of the word A-M-O-N-G, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget the O in the word ”among”!

Ooh, we haven’t had a mud level in a while. Sadly for Sierra, Spelling Jungle predates Among Us - and all the inevitable memes - by precisely 25 years.

Image
Image

With only one real starting option, we head up, grab the bridge, and surf the mud to the right, towards the A. There’s just enough leeway for the darts to miss us, and the wind demon blows us to where we can grab the A.

Image

So we do.

Image
Image

Since we’re right by the M and there’s a convenient patch of riverbank, we deploy the bridge and grab the letter. However, getting back across to the left side of the level to grab the O is harder, and we’re forced to take a roundabout route and surf back across the central alleyway.

Image

This is followed by heading back the other way so we can get to the bridge.

Image

Once we’re there, we grab the N without much trouble, though - the dart demons won’t hit us as long as we keep moving.

Image
Image

Heading back across the bridge, we have to take the same route we took to get to the O, but turn left, to get the G.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

Followed by one last mud surf to make it to the finish line.

Image

That was a lovely breather. What will the game throw at us next?

Image

Besides a pop quiz, of course.
(ft. OFF again, FORTY, TRULY and THIRSTY from before.)


Level 78.

Image

Level 78 doesn’t exist.

There is nothing that I could do to make my copy of the game load this level. So, we have several routes around it.


Image

With my trusty hex editor, I once again edit our save file, setting the number of levels cleared from 4D to 4E in hexadecimal (77 to 78 in decimal math).

Image

And with my trusty screenshot utility, I fished out this screenshot from Youtube - so we’ll get to see how we would have played the level to completion.


Level 78. MINUTE
Memorizing is not usually this easy!”

Image

To start off, we’ll need to do something about the lion and tiger to get the M. The tiger is first. If we walked over and pushed the Jeep up, the tiger might move down - then, the Jeep would end up stopping in a place that blocks where we’d need to lay the bridge later.

Instead, we move right to catch the tiger’s attention, then back left until we’re in line with the zebra. By moving up and down, we trap the tiger in the alcove. Then, we can go left, down, and grab the apple.

Image

With the tiger out of the way, we can stand below the zebra and throw the apple up at it to block the lion. By moving up once it’s moving, we can get it to stop in front of the lion’s den by walking up to stand next to it, there.
(This would probably require some tricky timing depending on when the lion notices us and starts moving, but worst case, we can probably get it blocking the lion’s den halfway, at least.)

Image
Image

Now, we can push the jeep to trap the tiger, and get the M and the bridge.

Image
Image

With the bridge ready, we can cross the river, get the apple, then pass the elephant to get the I and the N. We need to get the upper I so that we have an extra apple to feed the second zebra later.

Image
Image

Now, we can get the U and move the zebra out of the way so we can clear a path to the T.

Image

From here, we can easily grab the T and the E.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

You’ll have to imagine the pop quiz, as the hex editing was a success. Now it’s time to get back on the road... er, river.


Level 79. CUPBOARD
”You’ll find a cup in the cupboard.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word C-U-P-B-O-A-R-D, in the proper order.
Image Remember, the A is silent!

Hot coals again! But it looks like this time, it’s set up in a way that won’t make it too obnoxious to handle. We will have to dodge the alligator in the top of the river, though.

Image
Image

We set out, grab the bridge, and wait for the alligator to pass before heading upriver.

Image
Image

After some wrangling to get the gator to move, we deploy the bridge. Then, we take the safe route across the hot coals to get to the C; heading to the highest row we can and charging across when the rhino is elsewhere.

Image

The way back requires a slightly less safe route - across the second highest row as soon as the rhino passes - but it’s worth it to not have to do a hot coal turn.

Image

We grab the U. If we had trapped the alligator above where the bridge is, it would have been able to chomp on us.

Image

To my generalized shame, I fumble the navigation and the alligator chomps on us anyway.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

This time, we put the bridge a lot lower down, trapping the alligator [and the rhino] on the right side.

Image
Image

I charge for the C, but with poor timing, and the rhino blocks the path off the hot coals.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

We put the bridge in the same place as last time, and successfully cross the hot coals to grab the C.

Image
Image

With it collected, we carefully time the rhino’s passage, recross the hot coals, and make our way back to the lower bank.

Image
Image

Getting the U requires just a long walk, but since the alligator is trapped near the P, grabbing it means we need to make sure we don’t catch the gator’s attention.

Image

Getting the B is worse! We have to dodge the rhino and the alligator, and get up there (across the hot coals) and back before our Anti-Fireball potion runs out.
(We make it, somehow, including a perfectly executed hot coals U-turn.)

Image
Image

The way back is a bit hair-raising (the rhino is right on our tail), but we make it, and head up to grab the O.

Image
Image

With the bridge keeping us safe, the way to the A and R is now clear.

Image

To finish, we just have to cross the bridge again and get the D.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

I wonder if it would have been better to put the bridge at the corner where the river bends? It would have meant more space to dodge the rhino and alligator, compared to what we had to do above.

Image

There’s a pop quiz! It even has the word from the missing level, MINUTE.

Let’s see what our trinket level for today looks like...


Level 80. FIERCE
Fire is every rhino’s certain enemy.”

Image

Image Collect the letters of the word F-I-E-R-C-E, in the proper order.
Image Don’t forget! The C can sound like an S!

I’d like that mnemonic better if fire actually did something to rhinos in this game. And the trinket... wait, the trinket is in the middle of the river! We haven’t seen a Walk On Water potion since level 20, but it’s making its triumphant return!

Image
Image

We can’t push the boulder from this side (though I didn’t realize it at the time), so we’ve got no choice but to start by going up and across to get the F.

Image
Image

We have to go back across to get the next letter... but I get confused and take a wrong turn.

Image Whoops! The letter I would have been a wiser choice.
Image Every letter must be placed well, in every word you seek to spell!
Image Let’s try that one again!

Image

For the next attempt... well, this is where I figure out you can’t push the boulder from this side.

Image Let’s try that one again!

Image
Image

It goes properly the next time: the trick is to go down, left, and up after getting the F, so we can loop around to the I.

Image

Now that we have the I, we pretty much have no choice but to take the path leading to the E.

Image
Image

The path to the R and C is similarly near-automatic. But now, we have a tricky maneuver to do.

Once we grab the C, mud-surfing down will force us to grab the Walk On Water potion. We’ll need to immediately go to the left, push the boulder into the river, follow it, and walk up on the river to get the trinket - all before our potion wears off.

Image

Nailed it.

Image

We grab the E and claim our prize.

Image Back to the raft!

Image

After all the challenges of this section of the river - up to and including the game outright crashing on us - I can’t help feel like this level was a bit of a breather before we parachute into the final fifth of the game.

Image

We finish off our pop quiz and go on our way.


Image

We’ve almost made it to the end of the river, but we are definitely not there yet. The river still has plenty to throw at us, and we’ll need to work hard if we want to keep ourselves out of T-R-O-U-B-L-E.


Next Time on Spelling Jungle: 7.8/10; too much water (and mud).

Post Reply