by Elizabeth Kelsey'04
There is a new addiction sweeping the Muhlenberg campus. If you haven't already become addicted to Snood, the
simple point-and-click computer game, stay far, far away if you value your GPA. Created by David Dobson, Snood
can be transferred through Instant Messages or downloaded at www.snood.com. Whether Snood is your therapy or
your addiction, read on to discover how to beat Snood in the most efficient and high-scoring method possible.
I have played over 1300 games of Snood. I like to think that I haven't actually spent that much time in front of my computer,
but the reality is that I am in the clutches of this game. My current high score is 31,048 on level "evil". Most people play
medium, but the tricks I have learned can be used on any level. I don't know of anyone who has beaten my high score,
but if you have, email me and we'll rumble.
Rules of the Game
Snood is a game that features brightly colored faces arranged on the "ceiling" of the game board, and the object is to get all the faces, or "Snoods," off
of the board. At the bottom center of the board is a "shooter" with one of the faces in the middle. Point the shooter
where you want that face to land, and if it hits two or more faces of the same color, they will disappear. Get all the
snoods to fall and you have won. However, every time you place a snood, the "danger level" on the side increases.
When it reaches the top, the ceiling will move closer to the threshold, which is marked by a background change. If even
one snood crosses the threshold, you die. You'll know when you have died because all the faces turn to skulls with
extremely disturbing finality.
Advanced Technique
Lowering the danger level
To lower the danger level, one or more
snoods must fall without being one 48ide of the board, or if snoods are connected to the top of the board only by a thin
layer of snoods, making that layer fall will also make everything under it fall. If you make a few snoods fall, the danger
level will go down a few notches. Make a lot fall and you can get it down to nothing. To maximize the number of shots
you can take before the ceiling lowers, save the shots where you can make snoods fall for when the danger level is all
the way at the top. Make sure you don't inadvertently block your path to the critical snoods with another shot while
you're waiting for the right time.
Making any shot
You can make almost any shot. This is geometry, people. One of
the best tactics to Snood is banking your shot off the side of the board. If you aim the shooter for where the reflection of
the target would be over the line of symmetry made by the edge of the board, your shot will bounce in that direction.
Also, Snood is like the Matrix: some of the rules can be bent; others can be broken. A snood will stick to the first other
snood it meets, but most of the time you can fit snoods through corners made by two other snoods. With a careful eye,
you can aim the shooter right through what seems to be a blockade and hit a higher target. There are an infinite number
of positions for the shooter, but there are a finite number of landing spots. Snoods will arrange themselves not one on
top of the other, but slightly to the side. If you can aim a snood past the point where it would land beneath another, it will
actually go up and land beside the one above it. In this way you can fill a gap that seems to be too low to aim at. Any
stuck snood can be a target if it has an open space next to it; the trick is understanding the geometric principles that will
guide the snood through the open space and onto the target. Any shot can be made with knowledge of these principles
and knowing how far the rules bend. I recommend using the "aimer" on level "easy," which will show you where a snood
will land after being fired. Then you can get a better understanding of how far you can move the shooter before it will
place the snood in a different place.
What to shoot
A lot of beginner Snooders will take the first shot they see that can
get snoods to disappear. This is not always the best tactic. When you begin a new game, look at your board before you
take a shot. Do you have a lot of like-colored snoods connecting to the side? If you do, making snoods under that
bridge disappear will waste a shot, because they will fall anyway. If the first snood you're given does not match any of
the snoods on the bottom, look for a cluster of snoods and put it in the middle of the cluster. Then when you shoot the
cluster, the lonely snood will only be connected by disappearing snoods and it will fall. Whenever possible, shoot at the
highest available target because this will produce the greatest likelihood of making snoods fall. The less snoods you use
to clear the board, the higher a score you'll get, so making snoods disappear that could have been dropped will lower
your score. Shoot at snoods that can't be dropped later, or at snoods that are in the way of a bridge that will make
others fall. Also, when you can, use one snood to connect two different clusters. This is another way to cut down on the
number of snoods you use. A lot of beginners use two snoods to get two like-colored clusters when they could have
used one. Also, since you can see the next snood you'll get, don't block a bridge with your current shot that your next
shot would bring down. Instead, put it somewhere under the bridge that doesn't reconnect the lower snoods to the rest
of the board.
The ceiling
When you have almost cleared the board, you will find yourself having to shoot snoods that
are themselves connected to the ceiling. In this case, try not to shoot directly at the ceiling. Why? Because you can't
drop these snoods, and you will have to use two snoods to get each snood down that's already up there. If you shoot
more snoods onto the ceiling, you will have to use two more snoods to get that one down. The snood machine will only
give you the snoods you need, but there is a slight lag in the system. Never put a new color onto the ceiling; this will just
necessitate more snood use.
Conclusion
I hope these tips have been easy to follow. Snood, while simple in design, is
an evil mistress, and some of us, like myself, will devote our entire lives to explaining her mystery and never succeed.
Disclaimer: I do have friends, and class, and stuff.