Stone Strike tips

These tips come straight from how the game works. Each links to the rule behind it.

1. Grab rings early

Balls you collect join from the next shot and stay for the rest of the level. A +1 ring taken on the second shot works for every shot after it, so take rings while the board is still far from the bottom. The rule.

2. Clear the lowest row first

After every shot the board moves down one row, and stars depend on how close the bricks came to the bottom. A brick on the second row from the bottom already costs a star. Low bricks are the ones to break now; high ones can wait. The rule.

3. Send balls through gaps

A ball that slips through a gap bounces off the top wall and comes back down onto the bricks from above, hitting them again. One gap in a wall of bricks can be worth more than hitting the wall head-on.

4. Ignore steel

Steel blocks never break and do not count toward clearing the board. Bank shots off them instead of aiming at them. The rule.

5. Run balls through lasers

A laser zaps its whole line, -2 to each brick, and it stays on the board. Every ball that passes through fires it again, so a shot aimed through a laser can do more than one aimed at the bricks. The rule.

6. Break blast bricks next to tough bricks

A blast brick breaks its row, its column, or everything around it no matter how many hits those bricks have left. Hit it when its row or column holds the big numbers. The rule.

7. Hit the virus every turn

A virus brick spreads on any turn you do not hit it. One ball touching it is enough to keep it from spreading. The rule.

8. Do not let sprouts grow

A sprout grows +1 on every turn you do not hit it. Tap it with at least one ball each turn, or break it early. The rule.

9. Time ghost bricks

Every other turn, balls pass right through a ghost brick. On those turns, aim at the bricks behind it. The rule.

10. Keep the hourglass for a tight spot

Breaking an hourglass stops the board moving down for that turn. If you can, break it when the bricks are low. The rule.

11. The second chance costs stars

From level 6 you can clear the three lowest rows once per level and keep going, but the level then gives one star. If you are after three stars, replay instead. The rule.