My Nightmare with Level 86
Okay, let me tell ya, Level 86 in Lolly Princess had me ready to toss my phone out the dang window. You know the one? Covered in chocolate. Looked easy, but nope. I was stuck solid for like, two whole days. Kept running out of moves every single time.
Finally got fed up around 7pm last Tuesday. Grabbed some coffee, slammed my notebook on the table, and said “Right, we’re cracking this thing.” Figured I must be doing something stupid.
The “Dumb Luck” That Wasn’t Luck
I started watching my replays super close, not just the candy explosions. And boom, saw it! Right at the start. I was always smashing the special candies the second I made them, like a kid popping bubble wrap. What a waste! Instead, I started waiting just a tiny bit, timing it so the chocolate blocker nearby would move down right before the special candy cleared it. Felt kinda sneaky, like bending the rules a little. It was Trick #1: Patience Pays.
Using What I Had (The Wrong Way)
Then I noticed something else really dumb I was doing. Those wrapped candies and striped candies? I’d hoard ’em like a dragon with gold, saving them for some “perfect moment” that never came. Or I’d bash them into each other willy-nilly. Then it clicked. Trick #2 was obvious: Use Boosters Early, Use ’em Smart. Instead of saving them, I started smashing a wrapped candy right into a stripe right beside those stubborn chocolates before the board filled up too much. Just completely wiped chunks clean. Felt powerful!
Making My Own Luck (Because the Game Doesn’t Give Any)
Later that night, around Level 87 now, I kept getting stuck just needing one or two more moves. Annoying as heck. So I started doing something that felt totally counter-intuitive: Trick #3 is Miss on Purpose. Yeah, seriously! If I saw a way to make a special candy, but missing a different match would let a chocolate blocker slide down near the special candy? I’d take the miss! Set up the board for the next move. Felt like cheating, but hey, it worked!
The Sneaky Restart Tactic
Fast forward to almost 2am (coffee wore off, feeling loopy). Saw something sneaky. When you first restart a level, that opening board layout? It matters way more than I thought. Trick #4 became my secret weapon: Force a Better Start. If the initial board looked garbage – like, no obvious matches near the bottom, chocolates already piled high? I’d close the stupid game completely before the first move even counted as a life lost. Re-open it. Bam! Got a fresh board. Did this a few times till I saw a board with lots of potential matches right in the danger zone. Sounds stupid simple, but man, what a difference starting on the right foot makes.
Ding Ding Ding! Level Cleared!
Pulled all four tricks together: Timing the special candies (Patience Pays), using boosters early and strategically (Use ’em Smart), setting up future moves by intentionally missing sometimes (Miss on Purpose), and refusing to play with crummy layouts (Force a Better Start). Took a few tries still, sure, but finally blasted through Level 86, and the next couple melted like sugar after that.
And you wanna know the funny part? None of this stuff is in the official “tips”. Felt like I hacked the game just by paying attention to what actually worked. The greediest part? Saved me like ten bucks I nearly spent on coin packs out of pure frustration. That’s the real win.
