If you think that you’ve seen enough of puzzle games to know every trick game makers have up their sleeves, think again: mobile game Triple Town has won the hearts of many on PC, Android and iOS with its light-hearted graphics and unique gameplay. It was also an editor’s choice on Google, and was rated 4.5 out of 5 stars by Touch Arcade.
For those who are new to the game, Triple Town works on the belief that good things come in threes: users must build a city by matching various elements of nature such as trees, bushes and angry bears. Matching 3 of the same items makes it better and more established, while special feature items such as ‘imperial bots’ help to eliminate obstacles to further help you build a bustling city.
Triple Town might sound like an easy game to master, but we could all do with a few extra tips from time to time — if you’re only just starting to build your own Town, don’t forget to start out with the game’s helpful tutorial and guide on its features.
In-Game Tutorial
Apart from building your city out of nature like bushes and grass, don’t overlook the angry grizzly bears prowling around — if you manage to trap them in a strategic location, they prove to become useful. When a bear dies, it gets replaced by a tombstone, and once 3 tombstones are matched, a church emerges. In this sense, there is no enemy per se in Triple Town — all game characters could potentially be used to create something to your advantage. It is also rather adorable to see angry bears running from grid to grid in an attempt to escape your advances to trap them.
While the tutorial does give new gamers a great introduction to Triple Town, it does not give you many tips on how to excel at the game. On my first attempt, I had no clue on the best locations to place my items, or how to build upon the items I already had, such as little huts and houses.
The user is bombarded with many options to choose from, and no guidance on where best to place the next grid. To help you build the best Town possible, here are some of the most helpful tips we’ve come across:
1. Know your Triple Matches
First of all, knowing how items match up will help. There are basic combinations, and they progress up a hierarchy as follows:
- 3 grass = 1 bush
- 3 bushes = 1 tree
- 3 trees = 1 hut
- 3 huts = 1 house
- 3 houses = 1 mansion
- 3 mansions = 1 castle
- 3 castles = floating mansion
- 4 floating mansions = triple castle
Take note that you don’t get the most useful items simply by matching 3 of the same objects. Sometimes, matching more than 3 pieces could give you an even more advanced version of the item. For example, a bush could upgrade to a berry bush, but don’t be tempted to leave it as it is even though berry bushes give you more points and add aesthetic appeal to your city — continually matching it with other items would prove to be more useful than leaving it untouched on the grid. Matching 4 or more items give you double points with the resulting object.
2. Dealing with the Grizzlies
Trapping bears involve blocking off their exits, and once they are trapped, a tombstone is formed. Interestingly, grizzly bears form the foundation of a number of larger items such as cathedrals and treasure boxes (which are worth 500 coins):
- 1 bear = a tombstone
- 3 bears = a cathedral
- 3 cathedrals = small treasure chest
- 3 small treasure chests = large treasure chest
The grizzly bears move in a fixed sequence, from top to bottom, and left to right. Bears in the left most column move first, followed by those in the other columns. Getting the hang of this sequence will help you capture them more easily.
3. Storing your way to success
Another tip to help get you higher scores is the use of the Store House — a small dish-looking feature at the top left of the grid. Storing diamonds and imperial bots for later use will help, especially in situations when there is dire need, or an actual use, for them. Doing this will also help you to build and expand your Town better, and prevent items from taking up precious grid space.
Storing advanced items such as bushes and trees will enable you to match them in areas where there is potential, offering new combinations when you have run out of options. Be warned: without proper use, diamonds will become rocks, and will waste a space on the grid.
4. Trashing the obstacles
If you happen to have many rocks in your midst, fret not! Do not use your coins to buy bots to eliminate the rocks: there rocks will match to form a big rock, and all you need to do is to match 3 big rocks or an imperial bot to form a treasure chest.
When in dire need for items, use coins to purchase things such as trees and bushes. For the anxious gamers out there, use coins sparingly, and only as a last resort, such as when you do not have enough supplies in your Store House. To earn more coins, try forming treasure chests from cathedrals.
5. Optimal placement
After some time, players may face the problem of only being able to build houses and cathedrals, and nothing bigger. To avoid this, take note of the placement of your items. Try to build higher value items like houses and mansions at the edges of the city, rather than in the centre of the Town. Leave the centre grid squares open to allow for more expansion and combination to make valuable items.
Bushes and grass are the most important for the building of houses. When it comes to building cathedrals, try to have more cathedrals in your designated ‘bear hunting’ area — this will make subsequent bear matches easier, allowing you to form treasure chests quickly.
Also place your buildings close together, so that you are able to group them to form larger buildings as you go along.
Once you have completed building one settlement, do go to the world map to to see what other areas you can build new settlements in.
We hope these tips will help you maximise your Triple Town experience. Above all, keep exploring the gameplay — you’ll be a pro one you get the hang of it!