Since its launch way back in 2014, Five Nights at Freddy's has been a bit of a cultural icon. Now, with the launch of the Five Nights at Freddy's movie, a whole new wave of players are getting to the game. Unfortunately for those who are scared easily, it is much more creepy and punishing than the movie. 

Giving the player a limited amount of power, a handful of cameras to look over, and murderous animatronics to keep in check, you have to carefully and efficiently use your deductive reasoning and quick wits to make it through the night. As the name implies, you have to last a mere five nights to finish the game entirely. It's not as easy as this seems. 

You will need to learn how Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy all move to get through it and you will need more than a little luck. If you are struggling to beat the game, here are the top Five Nights at Freddy's tips we could find. 

1. Keep the doors open

Regardless of if you're playing this as an iPhone game or a Nintendo Switch game, these rules are the same. The doors are the largest waste of power in the entire game. Sure you could keep them closed at all times to ward off enemies but that'd defeat the purpose of the game. Not to mention, doing so will barely get you through an hour before you completely run out of power.

Instead, keep the doors open at all times until you actually hear a character approaching or see one in the doorway. Then slam them shut and leave them shut until they disappear.

2. Use lights sparingly and only under attack

Five Nights at Freddy's is immensely reliant on auditory cues. If you run around checking cameras and flipping on lights when you don't need to, you'll never have enough power to get through the night. Instead, when you think you hear something approaching, quickly tap the lights on and off to check the doorways.

On the right side door, you can sometimes see something approaching in the shadows before it gets to the doorway. This means you can bypass using the lights altogether and just shut the door.

3. Learn how all your enemies move

Enemies move differently at Freddy's. Learning early on how they move will get you further, and faster. Here's how I've found all four enemies to move throughout the night, with the exception of night five, where it appears all bets are off.

• Freddy - The titular bear with the top hat. Freddy is harder to predict and frequently makes cameras go dark. This is a good indication Freddy is lurking. Watching him seems to make him advance slower, so keep an eye on him and remember he typically moves throughout the whole camera circuit before attacking. But remember, he can break through doors, so slowing him down in the final hours of the night is key.
• Bonnie - It looks like a purple rabbit and always appears in the left-hand doorway but moves randomly in the cameras. Flick the left side light on and off if you feel Bonnie is moving, just to make sure they aren't in the doorway already.
• Chica - As you'd expect, this is the yellow bird. It moves purposefully and quickly towards the player, and always appears in the right-side door. If you see Chica on a right-side camera approaching you, they'll soon be in the doorway so prepare to close it!
• Foxy - The fox that mainly stays in Pirate Cove in Camera 1C but doesn't like to be watched often. When you hear running on the left side, Foxy is attacking. Slam down the left door. You may also sporadically see signs in camera 1C that say "IT'S ME!" and if you see this, immediately slam the left door down.

4. Watch for glowing eyes

As previously stated, Freddy is hard to see on the cameras. One indicator that he's in a specific room is if you see glowing eyes. There have been times I thought I was looking at a completely empty camera but caught a pair of glowing eyes, which happened to be Freddy.

Just be sure to keep an eye on Freddy as he moves through cameras as it'll slow down his advance.

5. Headphones make audio cues much more obvious

Five Nights at Freddy's is chock full of auditory information. Being able to hear footsteps specifically approaching from the left or right separately is super important. And when you hear running or other sounds, you'll quickly become acquainted with who is attacking and from where.

Through your iPhone or iPad's built-in speakers, it's sometimes impossible to decipher where a character is moving to, in turn making cameras harder to monitor. And as you can probably guess, that means you use more power. So in short, use headphones whenever possible.

6. Listen before looking

Again, auditory cues are key. It's also why headphones make a huge difference. You can hear the feedback coming from both left and right channels separately which tells you exactly what side you are facing an attack from. This makes it much easier to conserve power when you aren't guessing what door to slam down.

7. Quick, short looks are key

With the exception of when you're tracking Freddy, short and quick looks are almost always best. You want to curb your power usage as much as possible. In most situations, you'll be able to see where characters are at with short looks. Spend most of your time listening and only part of your time looking. I'd say an 80/20 rule would make a good guideline.

8. Don't waste power until an animal makes the first move

At the very beginning of the night, all the animals are located in camera 1A. Quickly take glances at them here and there in order to see when an animal makes their first move. In other words, when one disappears. That's the point when you need to start checking the other cameras. Just be sure to also keep an eye on Foxy in Pirate's Cove periodically. And more importantly, make sure you're listening for attacks more than you are watching.

9. Customize each robot's A.I. Level to make things easier (or harder)

If you're finding Five Nights at Freddy's too challenging or not challenging enough, you can change the difficulty settings of each of the four robots. To do this, go to Custom Night in the main menu. Then move the A.I. Level for each robot up or down.

• Levels 0-2: Makes the robots slower and the game much easier to play.
• Levels 3-6: Increases the mobility of the robots, but is still considered a medium playthrough.
• Levels 7-12: Makes the anamatronics move around a whole lot more and provides a challenging game.
• Levels 13-20: Get ready to get attacked by each of these characters regularly. This is only something to be attempted if you want no peace all night long.

10. Turn the Cheats on

The Nintendo Switch version allows you to select Cheats in the main menu. With these, you can choose whether or not to have Unlimited Power, Fast Nights, or Radar Map turned on.

• Unlimited Power: You never run out of power so you can keep those lights on or those doors closed all night long. This makes the game a synch to play.
• Fast Nights: The hours tick by twice as fast every night so you don't have to spend as much time watching those cameras, listening for creepy noises, and slamming your doors.
• Radar Map: Makes an image of each robot appear on the map so you know exactly where they are at all times.

Survive the nights

This game might be several years old, but it's managed to stay an important game in the horror genre all this time. Each animatronic has its own quirks to watch out for and if you really do conserve your energy you'll make it a lot farther.  

With these tips, tricks, and secrets you'll be able to make it through each night without getting killed by evil animatronic robots. Good night and good luck to you!

One of the things that makes Luigi's Mansion 3 one of the best Nintendo Switch games is that it allows two players to run through the main story mode together. If you were looking forward to capturing ghosts with a friend, then you might have been surprised to find that Gooigi, the character that player-2 controls, isn't available to play from the get-go. We'll cover how to unlock this gooey doppelganger so you can get playing with a buddy as soon as possible.

If you'd like additional help, we also have guides to help you beat every boss, collect every gem, and find every Boo in Luigi's Mansion 3.

How to unlock Gooigi for co-op

To unlock Gooigi, you'll need to find Professor E. Gadd and complete the mission he gives you of retrieving his briefcase from Floor 5. Depending on how thorough you are with investigating every nook and cranny of the hotel for gems, ghosts, and money, I'd say it takes 30 mins to about an hour to obtain Gooigi after starting the game. Here are the steps you'll need to take to unlock him:

1. Find Professor E. Gadd

Finding Professor E. Gadd is one of the first things you do after the hotel's inhabitants reveal their true nature. Follow the Polterpup as he leads you through the hotel. Your ghost dog will first take you to the Poltergust G-00 so you can fend off ghosts, and then eventually, he'll lead you to the crazy ghost enthusiast.

Unfortunately, the professor has been framed in a painting, so the Polterpup will lead you to the Dark Light, which you'll need to free him. Once you've shined the Dark Light on the painting, the old coot will stumble out as lively as ever.

2. Set up the lab

Upon freeing Professor E. Gadd, the little old man will instruct you to take him to the garage. A minor boss is waiting for you here. You'll need to dodge the luggage he throws at you and then wait for the right moment to stun him with your Strobulb. While he's dazed, suck him up with the Poltergust. Upon defeating him, you'll obtain the 5th floor's elevator button.

Once this battle has finished, Professor E. Gadd will set up his portable lab. After doing so, he'll inform you that he needs you to retrieve something important from his hotel room, which happens to be on Floor 5.

3. Retrieve the briefcase

Leave the garage and head for the elevator. Once you're inside, press the button for the 5th floor. You'll need to make your way to room 508, where you'll find a ghostly maid tidying up Professor E. Gadd's things. She takes a liking to the very briefcase you've been sent to retrieve and swallows it to keep you from getting it. After doing this, she'll escape through the wall.

She's now hiding in room 507. If you lose track of where she goes, use your Dark Light to find her trail. To deal damage, Suction Shot the briefcase and then slam the maid around. She'll run off to another room once this is done. You'll need to track her down a few times and lower her health until she's ready for capture. Once she's safely inside the Poltergust, you can get your hands on the briefcase. When it's in your possession, take it back to the lab. It turns out that the briefcase houses Gooigi.

4. Complete the Gooigi tutorial

Once you return to Professor E. Gadd, the crazy man locks Luigi in a cage and forces him to use Gooigi to escape. Note that Gooigi can walk through bars but dissolves when he steps on water. There are a few puddles in the garage, so you'll want to maneuver him around these areas until he gets to the wheel lock on the right. Use his gooey version of the Poltergust to rotate the lock, thereby freeing Luigi from his cage. Now your tutorial is complete, and you can use Gooigi whenever you want.

How to switch from 1-player to 2-player co-op

Now that 2-player co-op is possible, here's how to make it happen.

1. Press the + button on your Switch to bring up the Virtual Boo menu.

2. Select Co-op.

3. When the next screen pops up, select Co-op again.

4. This screen will appear. If players are using their own sets of controllers, everyone should press down their L and R buttons simultaneously. If you're both using half of a Joy-Con set, press down the SL and SR buttons.Source: iMore

5. Luigi and Gooigi are now ready to go. Enjoy your haunting hunt!

There you go. Gooigi and Luigi are now both ready to play. If you're playing by yourself, press in the right joystick to switch between the two characters. If you want to play local 2-player co-op, hand a controller to a friend and explore this haunted hotel together.

Who ya goo-na call? 

It really is a thing of beauty that Luigi's Mansion 3 offers a main campaign that allows for both solo or co-op play. What's more, it doesn't feel like the local multiplayer is just thrown in either. Both characters have their strengths and their weaknesses that the other character must rely on or make up for. Really the only thing that makes Luigi better is that he can open doors, but that's relatively small in the big scheme of things. 

Whether you're having a date night, hanging out with a friend, or playing with a family member Luigi's Mansion 3 is the perfect adventure for two people. You must work together to solve puzzles as both characters are equally necessary to making it through the game. 

Of course, if your buddy has to leave, you can easily swap back to single-player, which allows you to alternate between controlling Luigi or Gooigi. If your friend shows up again, just press the right buttons to let them join the game again. 

Luigi's Mansion 3 is one of the very best Nintendo Switch games out there. But those spooky bosses can be pretty tricky to beat. They each have their own weaknesses that you need to exploit, and it's going to take all of Luigi and Gooigi's skills to get the better of them. Whether you're on the first floor or the top floor, we've got the tips you need to defeat each boss.

If you're looking for additional help, we also have guides to finding every gem as well as help on how to find all of the Boos hidden throughout the hotel.

Floor B1: Garage - Steward The Bellhop

This first ghost in Luigi's Mansion 3 is going to throw luggage at you. You'll need to dodge and then flash him with the Strobulb. While he's stunned, suck away his health with the Poltergust. You should slam him around on the ground to make him lose health faster.

He'll break away from you a few times and will turn invisible. He's not the sneakiest of ghosts, though, as he gives away his position by bumping into luggage and items on his way around the room. Flash your Strobulb at him to stun him and then suck away his health. Eventually, you'll suck away enough health that you'll be able to capture him.

When you defeat him, you'll get the 1st and 5th-floor elevator buttons.

Floor 5: RIP Suites - Chambrea The Maid

This ghost maid swallows the briefcase that you were sent to retrieve. To get it back, you'll need to find her first. Use your Dark Light to figure out which room she's gone into. When you've found her, Suction Shot her stomach and then use the vacuum to suck the plunger back. This will result in you slamming her on the ground. She'll escape from you and run into room 507. If you lose track of her, use the Dark Light to find her trail. Repeat the same process as before until you've captured her.

As a reward, you'll get the briefcase and the 3rd Floor button.

Floor 3: Hotel Shops - Kruller The Mall Cop

This tubby ghost thinks he can get away from you by passing through some bars into the lost and found room. Simply follow him with Gooigi, but be careful as he's armed with a squirt gun. You'll need to get close enough to suck the sunglasses off of his face. When his eyes are no longer protected, flash him with the Strobulb. While he's dazed, suck away his health with the Poltergust.

He'll eventually break away and find something new to cover his eyes with. You'll once again need to dodge his watery shots and get close enough to suck away his eye protection. Repeat this process until you've lowered enough health to capture him. When he's defeated, you'll earn the 2nd Floor button.

Floor 2: Mezzanine - Chef Soulffle The Cook

Upon entering the kitchen, you'll discover the room is filled with smoke. Point Luigi's Poltergust up at the black clouds and have him suck it in. Then switch to Gooigi and have him do the same. Together, the two will clear the room so you can see clearly.

Now it's time to fight the boss. The chef wields a frying pan, which he uses both to shield himself from the Strobulb and to spin around and hit you with. You'll notice watermelons and pumpkins are lying around the room. Suck one of these up and shoot it at the ghost. Be careful as he'll be throwing fish at you. Once you've hit him, quickly run up to him, use the Strobulb to daze him, and then suck his health in. Repeat this process until he is defeated. If you run out of produce, you can always pick up one of the fish he's thrown at you.

Unfortunately, a rat runs up and snatches the elevator button that the chef had. You'll need to chase the rodent down to get it back.

Floor 4: The Great Stage - Amadeus Wolfgeist The Pianist

This maestro controls the chairs in the room from behind his piano keys and will fling them at you. Keep moving around and dodge until there aren't any left. Next, he'll begin a softer melody that coaxes out several basic ghosts wearing ballerina masks. Get close enough to these ghosts to suck away the masks and then defeat them as you normally would.

Once that's done, the musician will lose his cool and possess his piano. Watch out for where the spotlight focuses as the piano will jump to these locations and try to smash you. Beware, as this impact sometimes sends out a shock wave. Press in ZL and ZR at the same time to jump over it. After you've dodged a few times, the piano will return to the stage and throw bombs at you. Be wary as flashing red ones are about to go off. Suck up one of these bombs and shoot it at the piano. When the piano is stunned, run up to it, Suction Shot the side, and pull it down. This will force the ghost out into the open.

Flash him with your Strobulb and then suck his life away. He'll get away from you and re-enter his piano. To defeat him, you'll have to repeat the process over, with a slight variation. Now he'll shoot piano keys at you every once in a while. Dodge these to avoid taking damage. When you get closer to defeating him, he'll attempt to smash you a lot more. When you beat him, he'll drop the 6th Floor button.

Floor 6: Castle MacFrights - King MacFrights The Celtic Monarch

This bearded ghost jumps into a suit of armor and rides around on a wooden steed. He carries a shield, so you won't be able to stun him with your flashlight as easily. After riding around the arena a few times, he'll eventually stop. At this point, he'll charge towards you and peek his head above his shield. When this happens, you need to flash your Strobulb at him. While he's dazed, run up to him and shoot the plunger at his chest. Then suck it back in and slam him around a few times. He'll break away from you, and the process will repeat until all of his armor has been knocked off.

Now he's wandering around the arena, holding the shield in front of him. He'll spin around and try to hit you with his sword. Dodge his attacks and then flash him with your light when he drops his shield. Eventually, you'll be able to suck him up. Upon defeating him, you'll gain the 7th Floor button.

Floor 7: Garden Suites - Dr. Potter The Gardener

This ghastly gardener sics his prized venus fly trap on you. You'll notice that several gourd-shaped plants around the room weren't there before, as well as an electric saw at the base of the tree.

You want to lure the ghost towards one of these gourds and then hide behind it. This will make the venus fly trap bite at the gourd and get stuck. Be ready to dodge out of the way as the plant sometimes smashes the gourd instead of biting at it. While the flytrap is stuck, suck up the electric saw and use it to cut away at the fly trap's stem.

This will leave the gardener exposed. Flash him with your Strobulb, and then use the Poltergust to suck him in and slam him around. After a while, he'll break free and reobtain his evil plant. Use the same tricks as before to lower the gardener's health enough to defeat him.

Before getting captured, he'll chuck the elevator button onto a branch of the large plant behind you. Pick up the watering can and sprinkle some water on the curled plant to the right of the room. It will grow into a ladder so you can climb up and reach the 8th Floor button.

Floor 8: Paranormal Productions - Godzilla Ghost & Morty The Actor and the Director

This boss is a little different from the others, but then again all of the bosses are their own experience, which is one reason why this is one of the best Nintendo Switch games out there. 

Instead of fighting the director as you expected, you'll take on a ghostly actor dressed in a Godzilla-like costume. Godzilla will shoot fireballs at you; dodge them. Eventually, he'll blast a ball of blue energy at you. Use the vacuum to blow it back at him.

He'll recompose himself and then will attack again. This time, he'll blast a ball of green energy at you. You'll need to get both Luigi and Gooigi to blow their Poltergusts at the ball to shoot it back at your enemy.

Now the Godzilla ghost is furious. He'll once again blast a ball of energy at you. As before, use both Luigi and Gooigi to blow it back at him. A semi-cutscene will happen where you'll need to press the A button repeatedly. Upon doing so, you'll blow the energy back at the ghost and blow his costume off of him. Now take him down like you would any regular ghost. As a reward for your amazing acting, the director gives you the 9th Floor button.

You now have a choice. You can go into the director's room and suck him into your Poltergust, or you can leave him alone and check back on him later. If you do the latter, you'll be able to see his completed movie. You still have the option of capturing him after viewing his masterpiece.

Polterkitty - Encounter #1 The Ghost Cat

This three-tailed, violet feline takes a decent amount of work to beat and requires more work than you might think. She'll head off with your hard-won elevator button. You'll find her back in the studio room on the upper left where the buildings were on fire. Upon entering the room, a bunch of ghosts show up. Defeat them to be able to catch the kitty. You'll find that she tends to either hide inside two buildings or hide underneath the bench.

You're going to have to corral her by sending Gooigi in one room to flush her out and then changing to Luigi and cornering her near the bench. Flash your light at her; this will cause her to turn into her larger form and jump onto the buildings behind you. Turn your back to her and wait for her to stalk you. As she approaches, prepare your Strobulb. When she's close behind you and standing on her hind legs, she'll reveal her eyes to you. Quickly turn around and flash her. Then use the Poltergust to attack. This will suck away one of her tails. After you successfully do this, she'll flee out of the room.

You'll find her in the room with the four TVs. Maneuver Luigi onto the lift and then change to Gooigi and have him use his Poltergust to turn the wheel. This will send Luigi to the rafters where the kitty is. Wait in the corner near the lift and flash the Polterkitty when she gets close. This will lead her to jump down and pass through the floor. Now you'll need to head back to the elevator.

As you leave, you'll come face to face with a possessed trash can. To defeat it, you'll need to Suction Shot its chest and pull it over. While it's down, flash your Dark Light at it until pink balls fly out of it. Suck these up, and he'll be defeated. Next, you'll head to the elevator only to discover a bunch of ghosts waiting for you. Defeat them and then head down to Floor 7.

You'll need to head back to the Garden Suites to catch up with the ghost cat. There's a beehive clinging to the large plant in the center. When you walk under it, it will fall, revealing several small ghosts. Flash them with your light, and then suck them up.

Head up one floor and enter the first bedroom. Vines conceal a cabinet on the left side of the room. Suck up the leaves to reveal the cabinet. Now press X to investigate it. The feline will jump out and hide in one of the flowers near the bed. Flash your Strobulb at the flower to get her to come out. She'll once more transform into her larger form. As before, turn your back on her and then flash her in the face when she stands up on her hind legs with her eyes open. This will allow you to suck away another tail. After doing this, she'll run into the adjoining bathroom.

She's now hiding in the tub. You'll need to flush her out by pointing your Poltergust at the bath faucet and turning the handles. The kitty will jump out of the water and clamber up to the branches above. Once more, turn your back on her to get her to come close and then flash the Strobulb in her eyes. When she's dazed, suck away her last tail. Unfortunately, she gets away, but she leaves behind the 9th Floor button.

Floor 9: Unnatural History Museum - Skeleton T. Rex & Ug The Dinosaur and the Caveman

This is a two-part boss. We'll walk you through the first section and then move on to the second section.

Part 1: T-Rex

You'll notice that two pterodactyl eggs fell from above. To defeat the T-Rex, you'll need to suck one up and shoot it into the T-Rex's mouth and then quickly shoot the other into his chest to hurt him. The large lizard will then get angry and destroy one of the pterodactyls.

Now you need to control Gooigi and have him get close to the T-Rex. The dinosaur will attempt to eat him. While Gooigi's gooey self is stuck in his jaws, have Luigi shoot the egg into his chest.

At this point, the T-Rex is really angry and unhooks himself from his tether. Avoid his stamping foot as well as his roaring attack, where he sends shock waves your way. He'll rampage around the room and destroy the other fossils in his path. Suck up one of the bones lying on the floor and shoot it at his chest when it's exposed. This will cause the fossilized lizard to fall apart.

Part 2: Caveman

A caveman ghost emerges from the bones. Avoid getting hit by his club. He'll smash the ground and send a shock wave. Press in ZL and ZR to jump over them. He'll momentarily be stuck with his club in the ground. Approach and flash him with your Strobulb. Now suck away his health while he's dazed. Repeat this process until he's captured. You'll get the Toad frame and the B2 Floor button from this experience.

Floor B2: Boilerworks - Clem The Handyman

In my opinion, this was the hardest boss of the game. This hick of a spook fills the tank up with water and then jumps onto a Swan-shaped floatation device. You are on a yellow duck-shaped floaty. To beat him, you'll need to maneuver through the water by using your Poltergust. Clem throws mines your way. 

You can either blow him into the spikes around the tank or get him close enough to an exploding mine to destroy his floaty. This will cause it to pop and will throw the ghost onto dry land. Head up the ladder and flash Clem while he's down. While he's dazed, suck him in and slam him around. He'll get away from you and will head back in the tank. Repeat this process until he's defeated.

Upon capturing Clem, the 10th Floor elevator button will get shot into the tank and sink to the bottom. Go to the lever in the back of the room and use the Suction Shot to lower the water level. Then head down the ladder to pick up the button.

Floor 10: Tomb Suites - Serpci The Egyptian Queen

This Egyptian queen controls a pile of sand in the shape of her head. Run up to it and suck away the sand while dodging attacks from the sand cobras above. You can suck them up to remove them from her crown. After you've sucked some sand away, the sand face will jump away to another location and cause a shock wave. Jump over it with ZL and ZR and then continue sucking sand away from her. When you suck away enough sand, the ghost will be exposed.

She'll run off and surround herself with a shield of sand snakes. Stand back a few steps and wait for them to shoot spikes. Dodge around the spikes and then flash the ghost. While she's stunned, suck her in and slam her around. She'll get away, and then you'll have to repeat the process until her health is low enough that she can be defeated. Sometimes she'll send sand fists after you. When this happens, press ZL and ZR down to dispel the sand. You'll acquire the 11th Floor button for defeating her.

Floor 11: Twisted Suites - Nikki, Lindsey, & Ginny The Three Magicians

This trio of magicians surrounds Luigi and brings him onto an illusionary stage. They'll start off floating in a line in front of you; then they'll each disappear into their hats. Dodge the playing cards they throw towards you and then watch as they spin around you. When they center in towards you, press ZL and ZR to blow the hats upside down. You'll see each ghost's hair trailing out from the hat. Focus in on one of them and suck the ghost out by their braid.

Now you only have two ghosts to catch. However, there will still be three hats floating around you. The remaining ghosts will replace the missing one with a bomb. Make sure you keep an eye on the hats that actually have a ghost in them, so you don't get blown up. Repeat the process until all three magicians are captured. During the final round, the lights will turn off briefly. It helps to follow the hat's rotation with Luigi's flashlight, so you don't lose the last ghost. Upon defeating this trio, you'll get the 12th Floor button.

Floor 12: The Spectral Catch - Captain Fishook The Pirate Shark

A ghostly shark boards the ship from the deep and becomes one with the ship's floor. Other ghosts will throw barrels of explosives onto the deck. Suck one of these up and throw it into the shark pirate's mouth. He'll burst out of the woodwork, hacking up smoke.

He'll now try to slash you with his hook. Wait until he gets his hook stuck in the deck, and then flash him with your light. Now you can lower his health by sucking him in and slamming him around. After a little while, he'll get away and merge once again with the ship. Repeat the same process as before.

After you've slammed him around the second time, he merges with a different section of the ship. You'll notice a wooden board with a target on it towards the front of the ship. When the ghost tips the boat backward, you need to suction shot to the target and hold on for dear life until the boat comes back down. 

The pesky yellow ghost will once again start throwing explosives at you. Suck one in and then launch it towards the ghost ship's open mouth to expel the ghost shark. He'll start using a new attack where he dives into the deck and tries to eat you. Dodge his attacks and wait for his hook to get stuck on the boards. Now flash him and suck him up. You'll earn the 13th Floor button for beating him.

Floor 13: Fitness Center - Johnny Deepend The Water Polo Player

This studdly specter requires you to use both Luigi and Gooigi to defeat him. Suck in one of the volleyballs and then launch it at the ghost. While he's stunned, use Gooigi to run through the bars towards the wheel lock. If the ghost comes to, immediately hide Gooigi behind a pillar to keep the ghost from dissolving him with water. Now switch back to Luigi and suck up another ball. Launch it at the ghost as soon as you can and then return to Gooigi. Use the Poltergust to rotate the lock to the left and lower the water.

Head down the ladder and suck away the ghost's swimming goggles. Now, suck up his tail and slam him around until he's captured. You'll receive the 14th Floor button.

Polterkitty - Encounter #2 The Ghost Cat (Again)

The kitty runs off with your hard-earned button. Use the Dark Light to follow her trail back into the Fitness Center. You'll find her dangling from the ledge above the window. When she dangles down, flash her with the Strobulb. This will make her transform into her larger self. As before, turn your back to her and let her stalk you. When she stands up on her hind legs and exposes her eyes, flash her in the face. Now suck her in and slam her around to remove a tail. She'll escape back to the 12th Floor.

Head back to the 12th Floor and enter the room that has the pirate ship. The cat is hiding in the sand just to the right of the doorway. Suck it up to get her to come out. Flash her with your light to turn her into her larger form. Let her stalk you from behind and then flash her in the face when she reveals herself. Now suck her in and slam her around to remove another tail. She escapes back to the 11th floor.

Follow her trail into the room with the stage. She's hiding in the cabinet that's been stabbed with knives. Suction Shot the side of the cabinet and then suck the plunger back to expose the cat. Now you'll once again need to turn your back to her until she gets close and exposes her eyes. Flash her in the face and then suck her in and slam her around. Now she's defeated for good, and you've got the 14th Floor button back.

Floor 14: Dance Hall - DJ Phantasmagloria The Disco Lady

Eight hip-hop ghosts start dancing on the dance floor. The ghost that's holding the button dances a little slower than the rest. Pay attention to figure out which one is holding it. You need to be somewhat fast when doing this, or else the ghosts will reset to the beginning of the dance. Once you've figured out which ghost has the button, get close to it and press ZL and ZR at the same time. 

The exposed ghost will throw the button to one of his friends and disappear. Now you need to figure out which of the remaining spooks has the button. They'll spin around to try to confuse you and then start doing the worm. Get close to the ghost that's dancing slower than the others and then press ZL and ZR again. Flash him to stun him and then suck him up.

The DJ will take hold of the button and come onto the dance floor. She'll spin around wielding fiery records or will throw them at you. Dodge them and then get close to her. When you're close, press ZL and ZR down to blow her wig off. While she's startled, flash her with your light and then suck her in. She'll escape, and then you'll have to repeat the process until she runs out of health.

You'll receive the 15th Floor button for defeating her.

Floor 15: Master Suites - Hellen Gravely The Hotel Owner

Hellen Gravely proves to be a very tech-savvy ghost. The battle starts with her hiding away and bringing up a laser device from the floor. When a red beam shoots out, you'll need to jump over it using ZL and ZR. Eventually, the red laser goes away, and several colored light walls come out of the device. These rotate and hurt Luigi if they touch him, so you'll need to keep him away from them.

Switch to Gooigi and have him walk into one of the pipes on the wall. This takes him under the floor. Some levers control the different colored beams. Have Gooigi Suction Shot the switches to turn these beams off. If there's a rotating wall between Gooigi and the switch, press down ZL and ZR to rotate it.

Now return to Luigi. Hellen wanders around, trying to hit you with a mirror. If you try to flash her, she'll shield herself. Instead, wait for her to swing at you and get her mirror lodged in the ground. While she's stuck, flash her and then suck her up with the Poltergust.

She'll escape and bring up her red lasers again. If it's one laser, you can jump over it. If it's three red lasers, you'll need to run around and avoid getting hit. Hellen will now bring up her multicolored laser walls. Place Luigi in a safe area and then switch to Gooigi. You'll need to turn off enough of these light walls that Luigi has sufficient room to move around. Now, wait for Hellen to once again get her mirror stuck in the ground, then flash her and suck her up.

The process will repeat; only this time, Hellen will flood the basement with water. To keep Gooigi from dissolving, move him out of the path of the water. Blue lights will appear to let you know what direction the water will be coming from. If you are near one of the rotating walls, you can use it to direct the water away from Gooigi. Do the same things as before until the hotel owner is defeated.

For your troubles, you'll find Mario's frame and can let him out with the Dark Light.

Top of the Hotel: King Boo The Final Boss

After making your way to the tip-top of the hotel, you'll come face to face with King Boo. He starts by making the following attacks: sending lightning bolts to the floor, shooting fireballs at you, or trying to hit you with his tongue. To avoid the lightning, run to a square that isn't flashing purple. To avoid the fire, dodge around them. His tongue does a few different things. If he's doing a flip and slamming it down, you'll need to get out of the way. If he's rotating it, maneuver Luigi is such a way that he can easily walk under it.

King Boo eventually throws bombs at you. Suck one up and shoot it into his mouth. This will leave him dazed. While he's down, use Luigi and Gooigi to both suction shot his tongue and then slam him around.

Now he'll create a duplicate of himself. They will both make the same attacks as before, along with some new ones. They'll start slamming the ground, which can cause shock waves. Jump over these waves by pressing ZL and ZR. Otherwise, run around to avoid his attacks. They'll eventually throw bombs at you again. Suck up a bomb and then throw it into the real Boo's mouth. Now use Luigi and Gooigi together to suck in his tongue and slam him around.

You've really made him angry now. He'll use his powers to create a third version of himself. Keep track of who the real King Boo is and avoid his attacks as before. You'll find that the attacks have become more complex now that there are three of them trying to get you. Once more, wait until he throws bombs and then throw one into the real King Boo's mouth. For the final time, use Luigi and Gooigi together to suck him up and throw him around. He'll be defeated.

How to beat every boss in Luigi's Mansion 3

Luigi saves the day! You've beaten every major boss in the hotel and saved your Mushroom Kingdom pals. Enjoy the cutscene, and rest assured, knowing you're a ghost-catching master.

Some of these bosses are definitely tricky and it might take you a few attempts before you're able to defeat them all. However, the game is so satisfying and fun that it really is worth it to continue playing. Make use of your various Poltergust G-00 abilities and you'll take care of those pesky specters in no time. 

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, one of the hardest furniture objects to get are the framed photos that your villagers can give you of themselves. Villagers will only give you these pictures if you've reached maximum friendship levels with them, and more often than not, you'll have to maintain that bond with them for weeks or even months on end before they feel comfortable enough to give you their picture as a keepsake. Don't worry, though; we're here to help with a handy guide that will help you become best friends with your villagers and get their pictures in no time.

Talk to your Villagers often

The best and simplest way that you can build a strong relationship with a villager in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is to get social and talk to them. You'll want to speak to your villagers at least two or three times a day, though six to eight times is ideal. This is because talking to villagers makes them feel appreciated and valued as a friend. Often, your villagers will have some interesting things to say to you too (including hints about game mechanics!), so you'll benefit from the chatting in ways that go beyond just forming friendships.

Something to be aware of, though, is that if you talk to a villager too many times in one day (typically about more than 12-15 times), they will either become annoyed, bored, or sad. This reaction will reduce your relationship with them and nullify the friendship gains you made by talking to them in the first place, so be careful not to "spam" your villagers.

Send them letters

Another great way to develop a friendship with your villagers is to send them letters in the mail. You can do this by walking up to the postcard rack in the Dodo Airlines airport and telling Orville you'd like to send a letter. Then you can select the resident you'd like to send it to, write out whatever nice message you feel like, and Orville will make sure it gets delivered the day afterward.

Villagers may not always mention the letter you sent them in conversation, but every letter you send will improve your reputation with them. This improvement is increased if you choose to attach a gift to the letter when sending it, too, and in some cases, you may even get a response letter sent back to you.

Give them gifts

Giving your villagers gifts is also a fantastic way to get villagers to warm up to you. To do this, you'll first need to build up your friendship a bit by chatting with villagers daily and sending them letters (this restriction doesn't apply when it's the villager's birthday). Once you build up a decent relationship, you will notice that you're now able to gift villagers items when talking to them. All you have to do is select that option, pick the item you want to give them from your inventory, and watch as your villager's face lights up with glee.

Villagers love to get all types of gifts, but giving villagers items that match their personality types will increase your reputation gains. For example, Lazy villagers love getting food the most, while Snooty ones will go crazy over clothing and accessories. Exercise furniture or clothing is ideal for Jock villagers, while Uchi ones tend to fawn over unusual and unorthodox gifts like bugs. Each one of your animal friends has one of eight different villager personality types, so make sure you give the best gifts for each villager.

Complete tasks for your Villagers

Ah, yes, the dreaded villager favors. While it can be a bit of a pain, you should do what villagers ask you to do because it provides a big boost to your relationship with them. As with gift-giving, you also have a chance of getting a reward for your efforts on top of a strengthened friendship.

These tasks can vary widely. Villagers may ask you to get them some fruit, catch a bug or fish, take an item they have to another villager, and more. When possible, try and go above and beyond for them; for example, if a villager asks you for fruit, bring them a non-native fruit instead of the one that regularly grows on your island. If they ask for a fish or bug, bring them a rare one. This extra effort will be noticed and appreciated, and your reputation with the villager will soar even higher. Just make sure you don't open any wrapped items they ask you to deliver, as they will consider this rude and will become unhappy with you.

Avoid pushing and hitting Villagers

This tip is a pretty obvious one but take great care to avoid pushing your villagers around or bopping them on the head with a net. It's something you can do on accident surprisingly easily when trying to talk to them, so we recommend putting your net away before initiating a conversation. If you're trying to catch a bug that's close to your villager, wait for it to move away before going in for the catch. You don't need to worry about this when catching fleas that are on villagers, though.

Hitting or pushing villagers too many times will result in them becoming upset with you, and your relationship with them will drop significantly. Make sure you're careful!

Be patient and don't give up

Animal Crossing is a series that asks you to be patient and trying to get a villager to give you their photo will require you to be so. Even if you do all of the above-listed activities every day, it may take weeks or even over a month for your villager to decide to give you their picture. Don't get frustrated, though, because they will give it to you if you consistently work to build and maintain a strong friendship with your villagers. And in the end, you'll realize all the effort was worth it when their adorable framed photos are sitting on your table.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available for $60 on Nintendo Switch. Make sure to catch our list of the most popular villagers if you're looking for new friends to bring to your island, and also don't miss the best Animal Crossing T-Shirts, as you can buy a shirt that has your favorite villager on it.

If you can't win, cheat. Hell, cheat anyway. That's how the saying goes, right? Whether you choose to apply that saying to Pokémon Go is up to you. It's worth noting that hacking and cheating can get your account banned. If that doesn't deter you, here's how people are hacking and cheating their way to the top!

Warning: Pokémon Go cheats that can get your account banned

Some people prefer to earn their rewards honestly, through hard work and determination. If that's you, I commend you for that. Stop here and go check out my Pokémon Go tips and tricks instead.

There are some Pokémon Go cheats and hacks that are expressly against Niantic's terms of service (ToS). People do them, and they seem to work, which is frustrating, so more people start doing them, and it creates a vicious cycle. They can also get you banned. Bans come in waves every month or so, but now they've also been joined by "slashing," which puts a line across illegitimately gained Pokémon and makes them useless in Gym and Raid Battles.

Before investing any time in this kind of cheating, consider you might end up losing your account completely.

1. Spoofing: Some people fake their GPS location. For a game based on your real world location, spoofing tells Pokémon Go that you're somewhere you're really not. This can get you access to Raids and Gym, as well as lie to the game about how much you're walking. Niantic has a long history of banning players caught spoofing, in Pokémon Go and in Ingress before it. In addition to potentially banning your account, Niantic also slashes out illegitimately obtained Pokémon, so they're useless in battle anyway.
2. Botting: Botting is like spoofing but automated. With an army of fake characters and a bunch of scripts, botters travel the PokéScape, collecting as many high level Pokémon as possible. It's financed by online maps with ads and donation buttons, and by people who buy accounts online. Again, Niantic is always trying to make this harder and less useful than it was in the past. That includes shadow-bans, which are preventing bot accounts (including those used for maps) from seeing anything other than common Pokémon, and slashing out illegitimately obtained Pokémon, so they're useless in battle anyway.
3. Multi-accounting: Some people who don't bot or spoof still cheat by using multiple accounts. When they take down a Gym, they quickly fill it up with the accounts of their friends, families, and teammates — sometimes even if those people have long since stopped playing.
4. Shaving/cycling: Those who can't or simply don't want to take over new Gyms will sometimes switch to a second account for another team, knock a teammate's Pokémon off a Gym owned by their own team, and then replace it with their own Pokémon from that team. Pokémon Go has implemented a cool down timer to help combat this problem by preventing players from taking back a cleared spot for several minutes after the attack has ceased.
5. Auto-IV checkers: Pokémon Go isn't just shadow-banning bots that abuse the API, they're banning accounts that have granted access to third-party apps like IV checkers that abuse the API as well. Changing your Google password and revoking account access to these apps can help avoid and reverse the ban. Fortunately, Pokémon Go has simplified the appraisal system, so you no longer benefit from using an IV checker. Instead, just rely on the in-game appraisal!

Most online forums are filled up with people complaining about all of these practices and more. If you want to be a part of your local community, you can easily find yourself "blacklisted" among them for cheating. Even if co-op play isn't your goal, it's still best to avoid these cheats because the next time the banhammer comes, it could come down on anyone engaging in them.

Add Friends fast in Pokémon Go

Sometimes Special Research, like the Jirachi themed A Thousand-Year Slumber, or Team GO Rocket's A Troubling Situation, require you to add friends to proceed. If you don't have a lot of other players around, this can be a challenge. Luckily, there's a pretty easy workaround: Just delete and re-add an existing friend.

1. Go to Profile.
2. Swipe to your Friends list.
3. Pick a friend.
4. Tap on Remove Friend.

Then, re-add the friend as normal.

You retain your friendship level and even any unopened gifts. It's such an easy workaround; you'd think Niantic would patch it. But, that could cause real stress for people who do accidentally remove friends.

Skip the Raid start animation in Pokémon Go

Going from the lobby to the Boss battle in Pokémon Go Raids can take a few seconds, especially if there's any network slowdown, and that can cost you precious time for solo and specialty Raids.

Luckily, there's a way to skip right from the lobby to the raid, no GO between.

1. Create an empty team.
2. Join a Raid.
3. Pick your empty team.
4. Wait for Raid to start.
5. Pick your real team.

What happens is that, with an empty team, you get kicked back immediately to the rejoin screen, and when you do, rebounded back into the Raid with no animation screen. It only saves you a few seconds, but sometimes that's all you need.

Kick any Pokémon out of a Gym in Pokémon Go

If you have three players with you and you need to kick a Pokémon out of a Gym, even a fully powered Blissey, you can do it. And not even Golden Razz can stop you. Just follow these easy steps:

1. Start a Gym battle with three players.
2. Players one and two drop out immediately while Player three keeps battling.
3. Players one and two join a new battle.
4. Player one drops out immediately while Player two keeps battling.
5. Player one joins a new battle and keeps battling.
6. Players one, two, and three all finish the battle at the same time.

Because Pokémon Go treats all the battles staged this way as separate encounters, it calculates all three sets of damage separately, knocking the Pokémon out immediately. No chance to Golden Razz.

Skip the catch animation in Pokémon Go

If you don't want to wait for the lengthy Pokémon Go catch animation to complete, you can try exploiting this bug:

1. Tap on the Pokémon you want to catch.
2. With your off-hand (right if you're a lefty, left if you're a righty), swipe from left to right and leave your finger down on the left side of the screen. (You should see the Poké Ball selector tug slightly as you swipe.)
3. Throw the Poké Ball with your good hand, as usual.
4. Lift your finger as soon as the Poké Ball has successfully hit the Pokémon you're trying to catch.
5. Tap the screen to exit the Poké Ball selector.
6. Tap the Run icon at the top left to leave the encounter.

You'll still see the Pokémon on the map. Check your Pokémon Storage to see if you successfully caught the Pokémon or, if it escaped, repeat the procedure to try again.

Find all the spawns and Raids in Pokémon Go

Update: Due to Pokémon Go API (application programming interface) changes, most Maps and Trackers have all gone offline. For more details on the best options still available, check out our Maps and Trackers Guide.

The goal of Pokémon Go is serendipitous discovery. You're out and about, maybe shooting some video in the woods, and then you look up and BOOM — a super rare, powerful Pokémon!

But the odds of that happening are so rare some people have tried to game the system by having bots walk around for them, discover the rare spawns like Unown, Bagon, and Deino.

I've tried a couple, and they're not my favorite. There's a rush to seeing a rare Pokémon and racing out to catch them. There's also a danger in overdoing it and a cost — you can't cross town fast enough on foot, which means you end up driving, and that destroys the exercise benefit and a lot of the chill. Depending on traffic — or tickets — you can often miss the spawn anyway, which is a real waste of time.

A better use is for Raids. Pokémon Go doesn't provide anywhere near the range you really need to plan and get to Raids, especially outside urban areas. Maps, though, can show you all the Raid Eggs in your area, what their timers are, and what they are when they hatch. It makes it much easier to coordinate with others and get to the right Raid at the right time.

You can check your local Facebook group and see what trackers people in your area are using. Some are online maps, others are apps, and still, others are Twitter accounts or chat bots. Some just show you Pokémon, others want you to make multiple accounts and tap through multiple CAPTCHA.

You might end up loving or hating them — or simply wishing Pokémon Go would fix Sighting so you wouldn't need them. I mean, there's a Snorlax around the corner, Pokémon Go should absolutely show that before the six Pidgey at the PokéStop cluster down the street...

Know exactly which Gyms belong to which team in Pokémon Go

Update: Like Raid and Spawn Maps, most Gym Maps went offline following Pokémon Go API changes. There are still a few that can be found in our Maps and Trackers Guide.

Similar to the Pokémon scanner sites, some sites use their bot armies to scan and update Gym information, including which team any given Gym belongs to at any given moment. Under the old system, they could even tell you what level a Gym was, which specific Pokémon were on it, what trainer they belonged to, and even a recent history for the Gym. Under the new system, they can only show team control, which is much better for privacy and community health reasons.

Still, if you're out and looking to take down Gyms, they can help you see which Gyms are owned by other teams and ready to be taken down. There's no information on the maps that you couldn't get from walking or otherwise moving around and looking, but some people prefer to look first before deciding which direction to head out.

Check IVs before evolving in Pokémon Go

You always want to evolve the best Pokémon possible. "Best" being defined as having the highest stats (IV). The better the Pokémon you evolve, the higher the CP (Combat Power) and HP (Hit Points) it'll have, and the better it'll do in Gym and Raid Battles.

An update to the built-in appraisal system for Pokémon Go makes it easier than ever to see what you're working with. Previously all you got was a phrase that would let you know where your Pokémon's stats were. However, now you get a graph and a star rating. It breaks down the attack, defense, and HP of the selected Pokémon, as well as giving you a one, two, or three-star rating. This makes it easier than ever to know which Pokémon is worth evolving, and which you want to transfer to snag more candy.

It's also easier to find your higher IV Pokémon using the search bar. By typing in 4*, you'll see all of your 100% IV. The search terms also work with 1*, 2*, and 3* so that you always evolve the Pokémon that will be most worth it. There are also a variety of other terms you can search for to isolate specific Pokémon, and you can find them all here.

Now, not everyone is into stats, not in baseball and not in Pokémon, but if you are, there are still third-party IV apps available to you, and they'll make sure your every Pokémon you evolve is a monster. That way, you can evolve the 100% Bagon into Salamence and not the 82% one.

Note: Never use any app that asks for your Pokémon or Google login to work. You risk losing your credentials and potentially getting data stolen is never necessary. On top of that, you will likely be shadowbanned.

Bulk evolve faster in Pokémon Go

The basic formula for leveling up as fast as possible is well known by now: Catch a ton of Pidgey, Caterpie, and Weedle, drop a Lucky Egg, and evolve as many as you can before the Egg expires. That gives you 30 minutes to max out your XP. Given the evolution animation takes 20 seconds, assuming you're a precision tapping machine, you can hit up to 90 evolutions.

Some people believe, though, that if you force quit the Pokémon Go app and then relaunch it — which also finishes the evolution for you — you can squeeze in some extra evolutions.

I find it a lot more work for what is, in my ham-fingered case, little game. But if tap and swipe that a surgeon, you might just set yourself some new bulk evolution records.

Note: Some people try using multiple phones to make the bulk evolution process even faster. It's unclear if it works or still works if it once did, but it is clear it's a violation of the Terms of Service and could have consequences.

Dodge the driving lockouts in Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go does everything it can to prevent people from playing while driving, and that's a very good thing. Unfortunately, it also prevents people from playing while being passengers in cars, buses, trains, and other forms of transportation.

There are different levels of lockout. The first is the 10 KM/H limit for egg hatching and Buddy candy walking. Go over that limit, and Pokémon Go radically lowers the amount of distance it logs. The second is the 35 KM/H limit for spinning PokéStops, seeing Nearby and Sightings on your radar and triggering spawns in your vicinity. Go over that limit, and you log almost no distance, can't spin any stops, and can't see or spawn any Pokémon.

It's all absolutely for the best, but there are also a couple of ways around it. They don't always work, but when they do, you'll rack up mega mileage and sometimes still get in a few spins and spawns.

1. Go to the egg screen on Pokémon Go.
2. Hit the Home button, so you return to the Home screen. Don't launch any other apps, but don't let the screen go off either.
3. Drive a short distance, something under 10 minutes.
4. When you Pokémon Go again, you might see some amazing distance gains.

Another method involved using an Apple Watch:

1. Using your Apple Watch, start a Pokémon Go workout.
2. Next, find some form of slow transportation. Whether that's an Uber/taxi or bus in traffic or a ferry, it doesn't matter. Slower the better, though.
3. While the workout is running, pat your watch hand lightly up and down while you're moving. You should get decent results, depending on your speed.

Game accessories for Pokémon Go

While there are a couple of legitimate accessories for Pokémon Go, such as the Poké Ball Plus, the Pokémon Go Plus, or even the Go-Tcha that isn't made by Nintendo by doesn't seem to be discouraged either, there are other accessories that are more questionable.

Take, for instance, Step Counters. In the early days of Pokémon Go, there were players who thought they could get distance fast by tapping their phone to a ceiling fan. That definitely didn't work but now, with Adventure Sync allowing input of steps instead of strict distance, there are some companies attempting to capitalize on this. These products shake your phone for hours at a time, tricking it into thinking you're taking between 8,000 and 10,000 steps every hour!

There are also countless knockoffs of the Pokémon Go Plus that claim better battery life, better connectivity, and even managing multiple accounts at once. You should be careful with any of these devices, of course, but if the reviews are to be believed, many of them do work at least as well as the official ones.

Pokémon Go cheats and hacks

Cheats and hacks change as Niantic discovers them and works to prevent players from exploiting them. Whether you're wanting to get through Raids faster or want to help your favorite Pokémon get ahead then hacks and cheats can help you get ahead. Just remember to take precautions as Niantic will ban anyone it catches using unsanctioned hacks. 

I've been playing Pokémon Go since it launched. I've almost got enough experience points to have reached level 40 — multiple times. I've completed all my regional Pokédexes, and have beaten over 2,000 Raids. Over the last couple of years, levels, events, and encounters, I've picked up a few tips and tricks that have helped me immensely. It's the stuff I know now that I wish I knew back when I started. Heck, I wish I knew some of it back when I hit level 30!

We have lots of individual guides you can check out for quick answers, but here you can find the most important tips and tricks for the entire game.

• Our Complete Pokédex
• Leveling up fast
• Getting Maximum Stardust
• Gyms
• Best Move Sets
• Eggs
• Nests
• Maps and Trackers
• Making friends
• Cheats and Hacks
• Team Go Rocket
• Pokémon Go Battle League

Finding: Check your Nearby and Sightings

Pokémon Go includes two distinct forms of detecting the Pokémon in your immediate vicinity. The first is Nearby, which shows you Pokémon hanging around the PokéStops in your area. The second is Sightings, which shows you the Pokémon hiding anywhere close by, ready to spawn.

The Pokémon tab at the bottom right of your travel screen shows you up to three Pokémon. Tap on it, and you'll see up to nine. Depending on what's in your area, they'll be all Nearby, all Sightings, or a mix of both.

Neither Nearby nor Sightings show you every Pokémon around you. If there are a lot of PokéStops in your area and a lot of Pokémon loitering at those Stops, Nearby will only show you a random sampling.

In a perfect world, if a rare Pokémon like Togetic spawned close by, it would override everything else and pop straight to the top. But we live in a very, very imperfect world. So, Nearby, if that Togetic wasn't at a PokéStop, you'd have to walk within 40m or so or risk missing it.

Catch some of the Pokémon at the PokéStops, though, and you thin things out, letting Sightings back in.

I was once out filming a video review, took a spare second to check, and found a Snorlax had spawned right on top of me. When I arrived at a friend's house for dinner, I popped it open and saw a Lapras right on the street corner. It's only happened a handful of times, and I've no doubt missed more than I've caught, but catching any super-rare Pokémon that just happen to be around is better than none.

See how to find rare Pokémon in Pokémon Go

Finding: Know your nests

Most Pokémon have "nests," or consistent places where one to four of the same Pokémon will regularly spawn, sometimes even hourly. Sadly, very rare Pokémon like Tyranitar, Dragonite, and Hydreigon don't have any known nests, but others like Electabuzz, Rhyhorn, and all of the Starter Pokémon do.

Nests currently "migrate" every two weeks. These migrations occur at 12 AM UTS (5 PM PST or 8 PM EST) every other Thursday. That's good, because it gives you a couple of weeks to stock up on any good Pokémon at your local nests, but also changes things up fairly quickly if you get stuck with a bad nest. So, over a few months, your Charmander nest might become Slowpoke, Charmander again, Marill, Drowzee, Yanma, Growlithe, and so on. Nest migrations are seemingly random, though, so you never really know what you'll get.

Also, Water type spawns aren't nests because they don't migrate and have multiple Water type Pokémon that spawn together. For example, Staryu, Remoraid, Magikarp, and Wailmer often all spawn at ports, beaches, and lakes.

The same goes for a few others, like electric spawns. Find a big electric center at a university or other large structure, and don't be surprised if you find Magnemite and Voltorb aplenty along with it.

Learn about Pokémon Go nests and how to find them

Catching: Always be Curving (ABC)

Throwing a Curve Ball in Pokémon Go gives you a 1.7x bonus to catching a Pokémon. (Catching means they don't break free from your Poké Ball or, worse, flee.)

The 1.7x bonus for a Curve Ball is higher than the 1.5x bonus you get for using a Razz Berry or switching to a Great Ball, and it consumes no resources. It's also cumulative, so if you do use a Razz Berry or Great or Ultra Ball, you get a 1.7x bonus for curving on top of the bonus for the Berry or better Ball. It's basically free bonus. All you have to do is get good at throwing it.

Learn how to throw the perfect curve ball every time

Each Pokémon has one or two types, and each type has a medal. Typically, if you catch 10 of the same type, you get a bronze medal. Catch 50, and you get a silver medal. Catch 200, and you get a gold medal. Why bother? Bronze medal earns you an extra 1.1x bonus for catching Pokémon. Silver gets you a 1.2x bonus, and gold gets you 1.3x. It's not as high as a Curve Ball bonus, but it's also effortless once you have it. And any bonus you get to catching that Dragonite might matter!

How to get every medal in Pokémon Go

Bonuses stack together, so if you use a Razz Berry, then throw a Curve Ultra Ball at a Pokémon you have Gold Medal for, and hit the Excellent Bonus, you catch rate multiplies through the roof.

• Poké Ball: x1.
• Curve Poké Ball: x1.7.
• Curve Ultra Ball: x3.4.
• Curve Ultra Ball + Razz Berry: x5.1.
• Curve Ultra Ball + Razz Berry + Excellent: x10.2.
• Curve Ultra Ball + Razz Berry + Excellent + Gold Medal: x13.26.

Golden Razz Berry raises the catch rate even higher, and after a few Raids, you'll have plenty. Don't be shy to use them on the Pokémon that mean the most to you.

How to stack bonuses and catch any Pokémon in Pokémon Go

When you see a Pokémon on your catch screen, you also see the CP (Combat Power) of that Pokémon. If the CP is low, we tend to think the level is low, making it easier to catch. But CP doesn't just depend on level; it also depends on stats (IV).

So, a Pokémon with low CP could be a low-level Pokémon with good stats... or it could also be a high-level Pokémon with lousy stats that's super hard to catch.

In other words, if a low CP Pokémon has a red or orange ring around it and keeps escaping your Poké Ball, odds are it's a lousy Pokémon that just happens to be high level and may not be worth your continued time and resources to catch.

Catching: Set your circle size

Once you get the hang of hitting Great or even Excellent throws, you can up your odds by setting the circle size, so it's ready when you want to throw.

1. Touch and hold the Poké Ball until the target circle shrinks down to Excellent size.
2. Wait until the Pokémon starts to attack.
3. Spin the Poké Ball so you can curve it.
4. As the Pokémon gets to about 3/4 through its attack, throw the curve ball as close to dead center as you can.

The target circle will remain the same size you set, so if you hit it correctly, you'll score the Excellent throw and associated bonus.

Maxing: Catch 'em all. Seriously!

You may be tempted to ignore more common Pokémon, or Pokémon you already have, for rare Pokémon and the ones you still need to complete your Pokédex. Don't. If you have enough Poké Balls, there's more than enough reason to keep catching the more common or already registered Pokémon.

Pidgey, Caterpie, and Weedle only require 12 candies to evolve and are super common. If you drop a Lucky Egg and evolve them all at once, you'll earn a lot of XP really fast. It's called grinding, and it's a huge accelerator when it comes to leveling up.

None of the Gen II Pokémon are at the same 12 candy level, so while you can catch Sentret, Hoothoot, and the rest, they're more like Rattata — a slower grind. However, Wurmple and Whismur from Gen III are only 12 Candies to evolve, and Pidove from Gen V is as well.

If you're swimming in Lucky Eggs, and you have a Pokémon Go Plus, you can even drop an egg and then go to a place with a ton of spawns, like a big mall. Each catch will net you 300 XP, each miss 50 XP, and it'll add up fast. Almost as fast as mass-evolving.

How to get max XP and level up faster in Pokémon Go

Gyms no longer give the 500 Stardust per Gym per day for your Defenders Bonus. So, if that's what you were used to, you'll need to make up the difference somehow. Feeding Berries is both slow (20 stardust per berry) and resource-draining (you lose the berries). Catching as many Pokémon as possible, on the other hand, is faster (100 stardust per catch) and means you have as much Stardust as possible to power up.

Drop a Star Piece before you start, and you'll get 1.5x as you go. And since you're catching for XP anyway, it's a great way to double-dip.

How to really rack up the Stardust in Pokémon Go

Once upon a time, you had to wish for rare hatches or chase down nests to get the candy you needed to evolve and power up your Pokémon. Now there's Rare Candy. Sure, you can still hatch and catch your way to a lot of candy but, Rare Candy can be used as any candy.

Hatch all the eggs you can, catch all the Pokémon you can, and Raid when you can, and you'll have all the candy you need.

How to get all the candy you need in Pokémon Go

Having friends makes most games more enjoyable, and Pokémon Go is no different. Between the XP and Stardust, being able to trade and battle, and the massive bonuses when taking on Raids and Gym battles together, having friends can only improve your Pokémon Go experience. Even if you don't know many other players in real life, there are communities and groups across many social platforms, such as Facebook and Discord, where you can connect with local players and players from around the world to up your game. For more on how to make friends, check out our guide.

Friendship: How to increase your level fast

Friendship is an interesting mechanic in Pokémon Go that rewards you for raising your Friendship level, but you can only raise your level with each friend once a day. So, it's consistency that counts.

• Make sure you Raid, battle at a Gym, or exchange a Gift with as many of your Friends as possible every day. It takes 30 days to reach Ultra Friend and 90 days to reach Best Friend status. The fewer days you miss, the faster you'll level up.
• For long-distance Friends or Friends you didn't meet up with during the day, open or send a Gift. (Alternate Gifts because only one gift opening counts, so coordinate only one a day to save on resources and avoid duplication.)
• For friends you do see during the day, get in a Gym or a Raid. There's a limit of 20 gifts you can send or receive, but no limit to Gyms or Raids you can coordinate.

Trading: How to boost your Lucky odds

When you Trade Pokémon with a Friend, there's a chance both of you will end up with a Lucky Pokémon. Unlike Shiny Pokémon, Lucky Pokémon aren't a different color — though they do sparkle on your screen — but they do have a benefit: They cost only 1/2 the Stardust to power up.

The longer a Pokémon has been in your collection, the higher the chance you'll get a Lucky if you trade it.

So, if you want to trade high level but low IV Larvitar to try and get a Lucky Tyranitar, here's how to increase your odds:

• Trade your Larvitar for the oldest Pokémon they're willing to trade.
• Trade the oldest Pokémon you're willing to trade for their Larvitar.

Also, another mechanic was introduced in April 2019 called Lucky Friends that assures you a Lucky Pokémon. If you interact with someone with whom you've reached Best Friend status, you have a chance to become Lucky Friends (you'll get a notification). Anyone who is your Lucky Friend guarantees your next trade with that person will be a Lucky Pokémon.

Gyms: How to take them down quicker

The current Gym system is very different from what Pokémon Go originally had. Thanks to CP decay, almost anyone can destroy almost any Gym in a short amount of time. Still, you can destroy them even faster if you want to, even if defenders are feeding berries.

It typically takes three rounds to take down a fully motivated Gym in Pokémon Go. If there's only one defender, that's three battles total. If it's a full six defenders, that's 18 battles. If you attack in groups, usually you all go together, and it still takes three rounds or up to 18 battles for everyone.

If you attack in waves, though, you can get that down to one round each.

1. Attacker one enters the Gym and battles defender one.
2. When attacker one defeats defender one, attacker two enters and starts battling defender one.
3. When attacker one defeats defender two, and attacker two defeats defender one, attacker three enters and starts battling defender one.
4. When attacker one defeats defender six, they can either stop or jump in and help attacker three with defender four. Either way, by the time attacker three is done, the Gym should be done too.

If you have more than three people, you can team up for the waves. Two people can do the first wave, for example. You only ever need three waves, though, because that's usually how many battles you need to take down the Gym.

You can also focus on taking out one Pokémon at a time, making it less likely other defenders will get notifications and start feeding berries as well.

1. Attack the first defender.
2. Drop out.
3. Attack the first defender a second time.
4. Drop out.
5. Attack the first defender a third time.
6. Drop out.
7. Make sure the first defender is gone. If not (if someone is remotely feeding it), attack it again. If so, move on to the second defender.
8. Repeat until all defenders are defeated, and the Gym is empty.

Combine the two methods, and you can wipe out any Gym quickly and effectively.

Gyms: How to defend them longer

Sure, under the new Gym system, anyone can take down any Gym they want. So, the trick becomes making them not want to take down your Gym.

Ideally, you want to work as a team and stack a Gym with the best mix of ultra-tanks and counter-counters as possible. You want to anchor your Gyms with the Pokémon that are the toughest to take down:

1. Blissey
2. Snorlax
3. Chansey
4. Slaking

If you want to optimize for intimidation, especially if you don't mind feeding Golden Razz Berry remotely, then you can go for higher CP and not worry about it. Especially with Slaking. That'll keep the Gym big and tall, further encouraging would-be attackers to keep stepping.

If you want to optimize for longevity, especially if you're low on Golden Razz Berry, you can stick to between 1200 and 1800 CP and hope for the best.

You can also anticipate counters. Most of the best defenders have one thing in common — and one weakness in common. They're Normal type and so are all vulnerable to Fighting types.

To help compensate for that, you want to make sure your Pokémon have Psychic or Fairy type moves to at least damage the Fighting types that'll be thrown against them.

• Blissey: Dazzling Gleam
• Snorlax: Zen Headbutt
• Chansey: Dazzling Gleam
• Slaking: Play Rough

Then you want to interleave them with Pokémon that do even more damage to the counters — or the generalists that less tactical players will throw at them. That'll either beat down the attackers or force compromises in the attack teams and/or switching between rounds.

• Dragonite
• Azumarill
• Vaporeon
• Steelix
• Milotic

If you're working with a team and go to the trouble of stacking a Gym for maximum effect, keep in touch with that team while you're defending. Whether you're using Facebook Messenger, Discord, iMessage, Whatsapp, or something else, coordinate slot filling and berry feeding to really maximize your defense.

Raids: How to run them right

Raiding has brought new challenges, new rewards, and a new sense of community to Pokémon Go. But if you're not careful, you can consume a lot of resources at best, and fail in your raid attempts at worst.

There's the simple stuff everyone already knows: Use the best counters and give them the best moves. You can get good counters by working your way up through raids. For example, get Machamp to get Tyranitar. Then use your TMs to give them the best moves. Heavy Slam Machamp or Fire Blast Tyranitar are near useless. Dynamic Punch Machamp or Stone Edge Tyranitar are forces of nature.

It's also best to put your effort into the most efficient counters rather than niche counters. Tyranitar and Golem, for example, typically counter a bunch of Raid Bosses, so they're better investments than a Pokémon that only counters one.

If you do want to use a Gengar or some other high DPS, low toughness Pokémon put them first in your Battle Team. That way, hopefully, they can get off a charge or two moves before the Raid Boss squishes them.

If you're lucky enough to have a lot of good counters, pay attention to what Pokémon Go auto selects for you. If they're decent and you think you will have to jump back into the raid, pick other Pokémon to start. That way, when you faint, the auto-select will be good enough, and you won't have to waste time healing or choosing all over again.

Also, if you notice odd auto selections, it might be an indicator of movesets you should worry about. For example, if you don't get Tyranitar for Lugia, it means Lugia has Hydro Pump, which hurts Tyranitar. Same for Gyarados for Groudon. It means Groudon has Solar Beam.

Select alternates accordingly.

Field Research: How to finish faster

Field research lets you complete common tasks in Pokémon Go and earn rewards in the form of items, XP, and even encounters. There are a couple of things you can do, though, to complete them faster.

• Delete tasks that are hard to complete. If you get a Raid task after Raids have ended for the day, or a catch-task for a type of Pokémon that's unlikely to spawn due to location, time, or weather, you can delete it and get another, easier to complete a task.
• Stack tasks that are similar. If you have identical or near-identical tasks or even complementary, try to complete them at the same time. For example, if you have to catch ten Pokémon and you have to hit three Great Throws, go for the Great Throws on those ten Pokémon.
• Failure is an option. For Raid and Gym tasks, unless they specifically say you have to win, all you really have to do is try. So, you can do a Raid, lose, and often get credit anyway. You can even lose repeatedly to knock a bunch of Raids off your list.

Special Research: How to finish Raid tasks fast

Some of the Special Research Tasks, including two for the Let's Go, Meltan task, require you to complete several Raids to proceed. That can take time, especially if you have to find the raids, and need to find help to complete them.

The good news is: You don't have to complete them. All the task wants is your Raid pass. Give it that, and you can jump out of the lobby and go on to the next Raid. Yes, it's a total waste of a Raid pass, and money if you bought a Premium Raid pass, but if you don't have the numbers to win, and your time is worth more than the Raid pass, it's a great way to get through the task quickly.

Hatching: Eek the most out of Eggs

There are two kinds of eggs in Pokémon Go: Pokémon Eggs that hatch Pokémon and Lucky Eggs that double the XP you get for catching and hatching Pokémon and performing other in-game actions. Pokémon Eggs are free, and you can only get them from spinning PokéStops. You can buy Lucky Eggs, but you also get them as rewards for hitting some levels.

Regardless of the kind of egg you have, you want to get the most out of it.

Incubators are one of the very few things I'll pay for if I need to. Sure, you'll get a lot of common Pokémon, but you'll also get some rare Pokémon that would take you a long time to catch in the wild, and it's currently the only way to get the Gen II and Gen III Pokémon babies.

How to hatch Pokémon Go eggs faster

If you have a Lucky Egg, a bunch of Pidgey, Caterpie, Weedle, and Rattata, you want to mass-evolve for leveling, and a slew of Pokémon Eggs available to hatch, start your ten KM eggs incubating. When you get to 5 KM on them, start your five KM eggs incubating. When you get to eight KM or three KM, start your two KM eggs incubating.

When they're about to hatch, drop your Lucky Egg and start your mass evolution. You can do one evolution every 20 seconds, so if you have enough Pokémon and enough candy, you can really make an XP dent. (Some people like force-quitting each evolution to speed up the process — your mileage may vary.)

If you can time your daily PokéStop spin bonus (see below) — or better, your weekly spin bonus — all the better. And if you happen to hatch something new, your Pokédex bonus will get doubled as well!

If you go to a new part of town or a new town, you can also hit a ton of new PokéStops in a row. Each one of those will net you 250 XP — 500 XP with a Lucky Egg. City centers can have dozens of PokéStops down a single street, which can mean massive XP hauls.

When everything comes together, you can not only get some new Pokémon, candy, and Stardust to evolve more great Pokémon and a considerable amount of XP towards your next level.

How to get XP and level up faster in Pokémon Go

Evolving: Measure twice, tap once

I know the feeling. You finally have the 25 candies you need to evolve Larvitar to Pupitar or Dratini to Dragonair. But then those 25 candies are gone, and you need to hatch, catch, or Buddy walk another 100 candy to evolve Tyranitar or Dragonite.

And during that long, long period, you might just hatch or catch a better Larvitar or Dragonair. Or get one from a Raid Battle!

If all you care about is finishing your Pokédex, it may not matter to you. But if you care about getting the best Pokémon possible, ones with the highest stats (IV) and HP (Hit Points) to attack in Raids or defend Gyms — or just show off! — then you'll need the best base levels to evolve from.

Hard as it may be, wait until you have the full 125 candies to evolve completely before doing any evolutions at all. Then, if you get a higher IV base Pokémon, you can evolve that one instead. Or, if you get a third evolution by capturing a Raid Boss, and it's perfect or near-perfect, you can save yourself evolving and spend those 125 Candies powering up.

Here are the best Pokémon to evolve and power up for Raid Battles!

Special cases for evolution

Not all Pokémon evolve in such a straightforward manner. For some Pokémon, there are multiple possible evolutions. For some, theit evolution is gender specific or requires an evolution item.

Eevee is one of the most versatile examples of special cases for evolution. With seven possible results (and one more on the way,) getting the Eevee you want can be tricky.

While it only works once, you can get each eevolution by renaming your Eevee before evolving. The following names work one time each:

• Pyro for Flareon
• Sparky for Jolteon
• Rainer for Vaporeon
• Sakura for Espeon
• Tamao for Umbreon
• Linnea for Leafeon
• Rea for Glaceon

If you want more Espeon or Umbreon, you have to make an Eevee your Buddy, walk 10 KM with it, then evolve during the day (Espeon) or at night (Umbreon) while it's still your Buddy.

And if you want more Leafeon or Glaceon, you'll need a Mossy Lure or a Glacial Lure (respectively). Use whichever one you want on a Pokéstop, and you'll be prompted to evolve your Eevee. You still need 25 Eevee candy, or the prompt won't appear.

Pokémon Go: How to get Leafeon, Glaceon, and all the Eevee Evolutions!

Another special case for evolution is that of Tyrogue. Tyrogue is one of the baby Pokémon introduced in Gen II and can evolve into three different Pokémon, the Gen I Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan or the Gen II Hitmontop. The type of Hitmon you get from evolving Tyrogue depends on your Tyrogue's stats:

• Hitmonlee when Attack is the highest stat.
• Hitmonchan when Defense is the highest stat.
• Hitmontop when HP is the highest stat.

How to evolve Tyrogue into Hitmontop in Pokémon Go

Evolution Items are items that trigger new or newly split evolutions. You collect them from PokéStops, like you do Pokémon Eggs, and use them to unlock the new Gen 2 evolutions and splits.

• Sun Stone: Evolve Gloom to Bellossum (and Gen 2 Sunkern into Sunflora).
• Kings Rock: Evolve Poliwhirl to Politoed, Slowpoke to Slowking
• Metal Coat: Evolve Onix to Steelix, Scyther to Scizor
• Dragon Scale: Evolve Seadra to Kingdra
• Up Grade: Evolve Porygon to Porygon 2
• Sinnoh Stone Evolves several Gen IV Pokémon
• Unova Stone Evolves several Gen V Pokémon

They're less common than Pokémon Eggs, so you'll have to hit a lot of PokéStops to get them. They're also single-use only, which means you'll need to get one for each evolution you want to perform. Yeah.

Right now, you get one — and very rarely more than one — during your 7-day streak spin. You can get them randomly from other spins at any time, but the odds seem to be around 1/300. So spin. A lot.

How to get evolution items in Pokémon Go

Another special case, evolving Wurple into Silcoon or Cascoon is completely up to chance. No trick or easter egg has yet been found to force the evolution one way or another.

Similar to Espeon and Umbreon, to evolve a Feebas into a Milotic, you need to make it your Buddy Pokémon and walk it for 20 KM. Oh, and you need 100 Feebas candy as well.

How to evolve Milotic, Dustox, Beautifly

Trade Evolution

Yet another unique evolution mechanic, Trade Evolution was recently introduced to Pokémon Go. Now, Pokémon who originally evolved by trading in the core games can be traded to evolve for free! That's right - zero Candies! the following Pokémon benefit from Trade Evolution:

• Kadabra
• Machoke
• Graveler
• Haunter
• Boldore
• Gurdurr
• Karrablast
• Shelmet

How Trade Evolution works in Pokémon Go

Looping: PokéStops and Bonus Streaks

Pokémon Go encourages you to play regularly by giving you daily and weekly bonuses not just for catching Pokémon but for spinning PokéStops. They're called "streaks." Your first spin of the day will get you extra items and XP. Spin every day, and you get an even bigger weekly bonus on the seventh day — including an evolution item.

Also, if you spin ten PokéStops in a row, with no more than ten minutes between each one, you can also get extra items. So...

Spin as often as you can. Once you get comfortable with the PokéStops near where you live, work, learn, and play, and along your regular travel routes, spin them whenever possible. It costs you nothing but can significantly boost your stock of Pokémon Eggs (so you can hatch more Pokémon), Poké Balls, Great Balls, Ultra Balls, Razz Berries, Potions, Super Potions, Hyper Potions, Max Potions, Revives, and Max Revives.

To really stock up on items, get a Pokémon Go Plus, put it in PokéStop only mode, and then go somewhere with high-density stops, like downtown. You'll be overflowing in no time.

With the big Gym update, Pokémon Go has added Photo Discs to Gyms. So, now, you can spin those as well. If your team controls the Gym, you get a bonus time. You can also earn Gym badges, from basic to bronze, silver, and gold. The higher you go, the more bonus items you get.

If your team controls a Gym, you have a gold badge, and you spin it for a streak, the number of items you get can really add up. Like 30+ for a 7-day streak.

With the new items, your backpack can run out of space. Rather than trashing items to make space for additional Pokémon and spins, you can use it. More than that, you can let your items lead you and help you to decide what to do while you're out playing.

Have an excess of Balls? Go hunting for Pokémon to catch. (And walk off those extra Pokémon Eggs at the same time!). Too many Potions and Revives weighing you down? Go battle at some Gyms.

Not only is it a great strategy for getting as much free stuff as possible, but it also helps keep storage open, so you never lose out on a Pokémon Egg or anything else you desperately need just because your bag is full of stuff you don't.

Play smarter not harder

Pokémon Go has helped me get out and go. Going for hikes of five KM or more is a lot more fun when I'm catching and hatching Pokémon along the way. That said, sometimes my schedule or the weather makes it hard to get all those KM in. So, I play smart.

You can leave Pokémon Go on while you're doing housework, shopping, walking the dog, even riding in slow-moving transports like ski lifts, trams, ferries, buses in traffic, and more. Around ten KM/hr is the sweet spot for hatching eggs and walking Buddies, but stop and go can still add up.

Are you stuck at home or in the office? GPS drift — where your trainer runs around because Pokémon Go can't get an exact fix — can add up to extra KM for hatching eggs or walking your Buddy as well. Even if there's no PokéStop where you are, there might be a spawn point that'll still bring you ample Pokémon to Catch. And you can always drop an Incense, which will bring you a bunch of common Pokémon every few minutes and maybe even one or two more exciting Pokémons.

Gyms are easier to take down now than they used to be. As a result, Gyms are getting taken down more often. So, if you're out and about, it's always worth checking a Gym to see if it has a free slot, or has lost motivation and make for an easy takedown.

Traveling fits right into this, as well. I've built up series KM walking through airports, being stuck in cabs and Ubers on the way to hotels, and having my trainer run around while I'm in the hotel. Many big-city hotels have multiple PokéStops within range as well, perfect for Lures if you have them. (Likewise coffee shops — warm, safe, and PokéStopped!)

Pokémon Go Plus, Go-Tcha and Poké Ball Plus

While leaving Pokémon Go running means you'll always be getting that little bit of extra distance and know right away when a new Pokémon spawns, not everyone can do that. If nothing else, most phones just don't have the battery life to support it. Fortunately, there are a few accessories that can keep your game going without it running constantly.

While the Apple Watch is not longer supported, there are a few alternatives that work just as well and for far less. The Pokémon Go Plus was the first of these accessories. It's cheap and easy to come by, while also being relatively small and discrete. It can spin Pokéstops and Gyms, and will attempt to catch Pokémon that spawn in range. The Go-Tcha works in similar ways produced by a third party. The Poké Ball Plus is the more expensive of the three but also works with other Pokémon games, like Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, and Pokémon Sword and Shield. It even comes with the Mythical Pokémon Mew for those games.

5 reasons you should buy a Pokémon Go Plus — and a couple of reasons not to!

Adventure Sync

Even if you don't have an accessory and can't leave your game running, Pokémon Go has a feature called Adventure Sync that will count the distance you're walking even when the app isn't running. Adventure Synce is a great way to hatch eggs and earn rewards. You can even get special eggs as weekly rewards if you reach certain goals. This relies on your phone's GPS but you probably have that running in the background anyway so be sure to turn this feature on so you get the most distance.

Pokémon Go Eggs: How to hatch them and what's inside!

Gen IV: Exclusive evolutions

While the core Pokémon games featured many different ways of evolving Pokémon, to simplify some of that, Pokémon Go introduced the Sinnoh Stone, an evolution item that is used exclusively to evole Pokémon from previous generations that had new forms in Gen IV. By using a Sinnoh Stone and 100 candies, you can evolve:

• Aipom into Ambipom
• Lickitung into Lickilicky
• Tangela into Tangrowth
• Yanma into Yanmega
• Pilowsine into Mamoswine
• Male Kirlia into Gallade
• Female Snorunt into Froslass
• Rhydon into Rhyperior
• Electabuzz into Electivire
• Magmar into Magmortar
• Misdreavus into Mismagius
• Murkrow into Honchkrow
• Gligar into Gliscor
• Sneasel into Weavile
• Porygon2 into Porygon-Z
• Roselia into Roserade
• Dusclops into Dusknoir

And now, there are a few other Gen 4 Pokémon that evolve via different means:

• Eevee can now evolve into Leafeon or Glaceon by using a Mossy or Glacial Lure Mod when you have 25 Eevee candies and an Eevee in your Pokémon Box
• Magneton and Nosepass can evolve into Magnezone and Probopass respectively when you use a Magnetic LureMod and have the appropriate amount of Candies for either Pokemon

So, get those high-stat 'mon and all the candy you can!

Pokémon Go Gen IV: How you need to prepare right now

Gen V: An ounce of preparation

Much like the Sinnoh Stone in Gen IV, now that Gen V has been added to the game, players can also obtain the Unova Stone. This evolution item only works for a handful of Pokémon so far, but more are likely to be added down the line. Using the Unova Stone and 100 candies, you can evolve:

• Pansage into Simisage
• Pansear into Simisear
• Panpour into Simipour
• Lampent into Chandelure
• Munna into Musharna
• Mincinno into Cinccino
• Eelektrik into Eelektross

Team Go Rocket: Surrender now or prepare to fight!

Always trying to bring in new features, Pokémon Go now has Team Go Rocket Grunts causing all sorts of trouble and corrupting poor Pokémon into Shadow Pokémon! Fortunately for players, this gives the chance to fight Team Go Rocket in 3 on 3 battles. If you win, not only will you get more experience and items, but you also have the chance to catch a Shadow Pokémon that you can later purify, boosting its stats a lot!

Team Go Rocket Grunts take over individual Pokestops at random. These stops will look a little different from the usual stop and, when approached, will turn black, with a grunt showing up beside. Spin these stops to start an encounter with the grunt and pick your best three Pokémon to battle. The Grunt will give you a clue as to what Pokémon they're bringing into battle, but don't worry if you lose. You can always rechallenge them.

The hints for the grunt's team include:

• Coiled and ready to strike! (Zubat, Golbat, Venonat, Venomoth, Grimer, and Muk) Best Counters Tyranitar, Groudon, Raikou, and Rhyperior
• Normal doesn't mean weak (Ratatta, Raticate, Snorlax, and Zubat) Best Counters Machamp, Breloom, Hariyama, and Tyranitar
• ROAR!... how does that sound? (Dratini, Dragonair, Dragonite, Flygon, and Gyrados) Best Counters Mamoswine, Glaceon, Weavile, Magnezone, and Raikou
• These waters are treacherous (Magikarp, Gyarados, Psyduck, Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, and Politoed) Best Counters Alolan Exeggutor, Sceptile, Leafeon, Tangrowth, Raikou, and Magnezone
• Don't tangle with us (Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Turtwig, Gloom, Vileplume, Cacnea, Cacturne, Seedot, and Shiftry) Best Counters Moltres, Charizard, and Entei
• My bird Pokémon wants to battle you (Dragonite, Gyrados, Zubat, Golbat, Crobat, and Scyther) Best Counters Tyranitar, Mamoswine, Raikou, and Magnezone
• Do you know how hot Pokémon fire breath can get? (Charmander, Charmeleon, Houndour, Houndoom, Magmar, and Arcanine) Best Counters Tyranitar, Kyogre, and Vaporeon
• Go, my super bug Pokémon! (Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill, Venonat, Venomoth, Scyther, and Scizor) Best Counters Charizard, Moltres, and Chandelure
• You'll be defeated into the ground! (Cubone, Marowak, Trapinch, Vibrava, Flygon, and Larvitar) Best Counters Gyarados and Exeggcutor
• Are you scared of psychics that use unseen power? (Drowzee, Hypno, Abra, Alakazam, Ralts, and Kirlia) Best Counters Tyranitar, Weaville, and Houndoom
• Let's rock and roll! (Larvitar, Pupitar, and Tyranitar) Best Counters Machamp, Hariyama, Breloom, Blaziken, Toxicroak, and Emboar
• Ke… ke… ke… ke… ke… ke… (Sableye, Shuppet, Banette, Duskull, Dusclops, and Dusknoir)
  Best Counters Darkraki, Weavile, Gengar, and Tyranitar
• This buff physique isn't just for show! (Hitmonchan)
  Alakazam, Mewtwo, and Moltres
• Get ready to be shocked! (Electabuzz, Mareep, Flaaffy, and Ampharos)
  Best Counters Groudon, Rhyperior, and Excadrill
• Don't bother, I've already won / Get ready to be defeated! / Winning is for winners (Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Squirtle, Wartortle, Blastoise, Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venasaur) or (Lapras, Snorlax, Gyarados, Poliwrath, Dragonite, and Gardevoir)
  Best Counters The hardest to counter, be prepared to potentially have to fight this one a second or even third time
  In the rare case of a triple Snorlax: Tyranitar, Dialga, Metagross, Dragonite, Lucario, and Ursaring

Taking on Team GO Rocket

What is "Purifying?" Pokémon?

Purifying your Pokémon changes them from their Shadow state and teaches them a new attack called Return. It also increases their IV scores and level quite a bit. While Purifying every Shadow Pokémon you rescue is not necessary (and if you're limited on Stardust and/or Candy, it can be an outright waste,) there are achievements and Research tasks that rely on Purifying Pokémon. If you purify enough, you will also get additional Premier Balls to capture more Shadow Pokémon.

Keep in mind, the costs for Purifying Shadow Pokémon varies based on the species. Some of the more common species, such as Rattata and Zubat, only cost 1,000 Stardust, while some of the rarer Pokémon can cost up to 5,000 Stardust. If you need to complete a Research task that requires several purifications, you might want to hold off until you have several of the cheap ones. On the other hand, if you're not trying to complete any achievements or Research, you may want to focus on purifying only the rarer Shadow Pokémon with good IVs.

Note: Shadow Pokémon got a huge rebalance recently that makes them perfect glass cannons. This rebalance and the introduction of Legendary Shadow Pokémon mean that the very best Pokémon in the game are Shadow Pokémon and so certain species should never be purified. If you have one of the following, don't purify it:

• Shadow Mewtwo currently the most powerful Pokémon in all of Go!
• Shadow Metagross
• Shadow Salamence
• Shadow Machamp
• Shadow Swampert
• Shadow Dragonite
• Shadow Raikou
• Shadow Weavile
• Shadow Tyranitar
• Shadow Moltres
• Shadow Zapdos
• Shadow Electivire
• Shadow Magnezone
• Shadow Entei

Every Shadow Pokémon in Pokémon Go.

The Leaders of Team Go Rocket

In addition to fighting Grunts, and rescuing and Purifying Shadow Pokémon, you can also track down Team Go Rocket Hideouts where you will be able to battle the Team Go Rocket Executives: Cliff, Sierra, and Arlo. These three are much tougher to beat than any of the Grunts, but the rewards for beating them are much greater too. Once a month, you can even complete Special Research to challenge the boss of Team Go Rocket himself: Giovanni. Just getting to Giovanni gives all sorts of XP and rewards but beating him also gives you the chance to catch a Legendary Shadow Pokémon. This chance resets once per calendar month so be sure not to miss out!

How to take on the leaders of Team Go Rocket, now with Jesse and James!

Your best Pokémon Go tips and tricks?

Have you tried out these tips and tricks? Have some of your own that aren't included? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to check out our Complete Pokédex, as well as our many other Pokémon Go guides so you too can become a Pokémon Master!

One of the main points of gameplay in Paper Mario: The Origami King is rescuing all the hidden Toads in each level. Some of these guys are hiding in plain sight, while others require a little more effort for you to find. You can beat the game without sussing out all Toad locations, however, if you want more perks in battle or want to unlock the secret ending you'll need to find all these fun-guys. Here's where to find every Toad in Paper Mario: The Origami King.

All Toad locations in Paper Mario: The Origami King

Toads need to be rescued in each of the colored Streamer locations. This is a work in progress. As such, not all of the Toads have been listed yet, but we're working on adding them all in.

• Red Streamer Toads
• Blue Streamer Toads
• Yellow Streamer Toads
• Purple Streamer Toads
• Green Streamer Toads

Red Streamer Toads (135 Toads total)

We know that there are 135 Toads total in the areas where the Red Streamer winds. Here's where you can find them all.

Whispering Woods (12 Toads)

• Toad 1 - A Toad is stuck in a bush just after leaving the area where Grandsappy resides.
• Toad 2 - Another Toad is found inside the first white tent on the left side of the road.
• Toad 3 - Hit the swing to make this origami bug fall. Hit the Toad to revert it to normal.
• Toad 4 - This Toad is stuck facedown in a stump near the campfire.
• Toad 5 - There's a tree to the left of the campfire, whack it to make the origami bug fall.
• Toad 6 - This Toad is stuck under a tree stump at the picnic table. Pull him out to save him.
• Toad 7 - There's a plate on the far right picnic table. Whack it to save another Toad.
• Toad 8 - There's a path behind the picnic tables and just to the left of the cabin. Smack the Toad to save it.
• Toad 9 - A bush in front of the cabin hides another Toad.
• Toad 10 - There's a log cabin with four flower pots hanging from the front balcony. The third one is actually a Toad.
• Toad 11 - A Toad is lodged in the woodpile. Pull him out to save him.
• Toad 12 - The Toad who lives at the cabin can't be rescued until the yellow streamer is gone. While on The Great Sea head to the area denoted by C3 and D3 on the map. You'll find a Shy Guy standing at this location. Talk with the Shy Guy and then dive underwater. There's a shiny shell down there for you to collect. Interact with it once it is brought to your boat.

Now head back to the Whispering Woods. You'll notice that the campfire now has a grill over it. Place the shell on the grill and then use the nearby Magic Circle to pop the Toad out of the shell.

Toad Town (1 Toad)

• Toad 1 - You'll notice that there's a Folded Soldier Goomba on top of the tower as you're leaving the grounds of Princess Peach's castle. Hit the tower with a hammer several times until this Goomba falls. Defeat it in battle and then use the 1,000-Fold Arms to rescue a Toad hidden "between dimensions."

Graffiti Underground (2 Toads)

• Toad 1 - After walking into the Graffiti Underground, you'll interact with the museum curator. He counts as a hidden Toad.
• Toad 2 - Upon entering the next section of the tunnel, head as far right as possible until you see a crate in the water. Hit it to rescue a Toad.

Picnic Road (58 Toads)

• Toad 1 - Whack the first bush you see on the left to rescue a Toad.
• Toad 2 - You'll notice a gate on the left side of the screen with a hole in front of it. Whack the hole and then pull the Toad out.
• Toad 3 - A butterfly is flying around just past the question mark block on the left. Smack it to reveal a Toad.
• Toad 4 - You'll notice a small hole next to the wall on the left side just past the first butterfly Toad. Hit it with a hammer.
• Toad 5 - On the left, you'll see a ring of flowers. Hit the yellow flower in the middle; it's actually a Toad.
• Toads 6 - 9 - Break down the white fence with a hammer hit. Now you'll see a Folded Soldier Shy Guy . . . attacking a Toad. Defeat the Shy Guy and then rescue the four Toads in this area.
• Toad 10 - There's a sign in front of the little pond. Go behind it and whack it, a Toad is hiding there.
• Toad 11 - Go to the right of the pond and smack the ground, a hidden block will appear. Continue to do this until four hidden blocks become visible. Now walk out and hit the paper swan swimming back and forth.
• Toad 12 - A crumpled Toad is on the ground just south of the Yellow Toad House.
• Toads 13-15 - There's a mailbox in front of the Yellow Toad House. Hit it to free three trapped Toads.
• Toad 16 - Just to the right of the Yellow Toad House, you'll find another butterfly flitting around.
• Toad 17 - There's a tree just to the right of the Yellow Toad House. Hit it with a hammer to dislodge a Toad.
• Toad 18 - There's a Not-Bottomless Hole jutting out near the river. Fill it in with confetti to lure a floating butterfly down. Now whack the butterfly with Mario's hammer.
• Toad 19 - Near the flagpole, there's a sandpit on the ground with a Toad stuck in it. Pull him out.
• Toads 20 - 26 - There are square outlines on the ground to the left of the flagpole. Hit them to make a tower of blocks appear. Now run up these blocks and touch the flag. 7 Toads will burst out of some fireworks.
• Toad 27 - You'll notice the green flag is still attached to the pole. Whack it to reveal that it is, in fact, a green Toad.
• Toad 28 - There's a ring of flowers just below the flagpole. Hit the center flower to reveal a Toad.
• Toad 29 - There's a large Not-Bottomless Hole south of the flagpole. Fill it in with confetti to make flowers appear on it. Now whack the hole at the center of these flowers.
• Toad 30 - You'll see a barking red origami dog in the distance, smack it to bring the Toad to his senses.
• Toad 31 - Move up to the right side on the sloping bit of land to find a hole in the ground. Smash it with a hammer to reveal a Toad.
• Toads 32 - 35 - There's a hole high up in the wall on the right side. Hit the wall several times to release four Toads.
• Toad 36 - See the tree on the cliff just right of the flagpole? Hit it with a hammer.
• Toad 37 - Drop down from the cliff to the right, and you'll find a few gophers along with an origami gopher popping out of holes. Hit the origami gopher to turn it into a Toad.
• Toad 38 - Now head down to the Earth Vellumental Temple. At the bottom of the stairs, there's a closed yellow umbrella. Whack it to open it up. Now jump on top of it and enter the alcove above to rescue a crumpled Toad.
• Toad 39 - Rescue the Toad on the table to the right of the Save block.
• Toad 40 - Enter the doorway behind the table and smack the ground behind the window. There's a Toad hiding here.
• Toad 41 - There's a breakable wall to the south of the Earth Vellumental Temple. Whack it with the hammer and then go as far right as you can. Defeat the Rat and then save the Toad.
• Toads 42 - 51 - Get on top of the tents on the right side of the temple. Hit the breakable stone on the right. Now use the magic circle to use Mario's 1,000-Fold Arms to hit the stone above and rescue 10 Toads.
• Toad 52 - You can't get this one until you defeat the Earth Vellumental. There will be a new item shop on the left in front of the temple. Hit the origami mushroom on the table to rescue a Toad.
• Toads 53 - 56 - You'll notice a vendor is running a popcorn machine to the right of the temple. Pay 100 coins for some popcorn that turns out to be four Toads.
• Toad 57 - Once you've defeated Colored Pencils, head to that mysterious Yellow Toad House. Hit behind the sign just in front of the house to save a Toad.
• Toad 58 - Inside the Yellow Mushroom, you'll discover a yellow Toad that needs saving. Whack him to come to the rescue.

Overlook Mountain (36 Toads)

• Toad 1 - There's a weird looking sign at the base of the mountain, whack it to reveal a red Toad.
• Toad 2 - Go left and drop down a bit near a chest. There's a crumpled up Toad in the grass that needs hammering.
• Toad 3 - Go to the right and up the cliff. Now jump on top of the blue pavilion to walk across to another cliff to find a crumpled Toad.
• Toads 4 - 6 - On top of the cliff, you'll see some craft paper hedges. Walk around them to scare out three origami grasshoppers. Don't try to run straight at the grasshoppers as this will scare them away. Instead, hit the ground near them to stun them and then give them a proper whack to unfold the Toads.
• Toad 7 - Walk behind the hedges to the left to scare out another bug. Whack it to save another Toad.
• Toad 8 - See the rocks near the red pipe? Smash them to free the Toad trapped inside.
• Toad 9 - Mario can wind his way through the craft paper hedge between the two trees just left of the red pipe. He'll find a crumpled Toad back here.
• Toad 10 - Cross the bridge and then drop down to the left to find a Not-Bottomless Hole. Fill it with confetti and then smack the cliff with the hammer to make the Toad slide down.
• Toads 11 - 15 - Now head right from the bridge and down a few steps to discover five Toads stuck in the ground. Pull them all up.
• Toad 16 - Wind your way around to the pier and go fishing for the origami fish. You guessed it; it's a Toad.
• Toad 17 - After passing through the area where the Thwomps attacked, turn left, and come back down to find a crumpled Toad.
• Toads 18 - 27 - You'll find ten Toads if you walk to the left of the tramway station and walk behind the steps. They'll be stuck together, so Mario must pull them apart.
• Toad 28 - See the sign to the left of the Overlook Tower? Smash it, so rescue a Toad.
• Toad 29 - Come down the ramp to the left of the tower and then take a left down further until you see a bush. Go near it to make an origami grasshopper jump out. Smash it to save a green Toad.
• Toad 30 - There's a gap in the white fence, drop down from this opening to discover a ? Block with a Toad in it.
• Toad 31 - Walk back up the path, and you'll see two Folded Soldier Shy Guys playing soccer with a crumpled Toad. Hit the Toad to save it.
• Toads 32 - 34 - There are three humongous Paper Macho Shy Guys to the left. Defeat them to rescue three Toads.
• Toad 35 - This next part can only be done if you've defeated the Earth Vellumental. There's an origami Goomba scaring a Toad next to the red warp pipe.
• Toad 36 - Once Colored Pencils have been defeated, head back to the tramway station. Some potted flowers are hanging from the building. Jump under the right flowers to save a Toad.

Earth Vellumental Temple (7 Toads)

• Toad 1 - Hit the rock next to the second red tour box to reveal an origami bug Toad.
• Toad 2 - Pay money to listen to the third red tour box. There's a Toad stuck inside. Now strike the box to save the Toad.
• Toad 3 - As you keep going down the path, you'll notice that one of the lights is out. Jump into it to dislodge a crumpled Toad.
• Toads 4 - 6 - You'll see a cracked rock at the end of the tour. If you break it open, three origami bug Toads will jump out. Chase them down with your hammer to restore them to normal.
• Toad 7 - Once you get into the Temple, you'll note a pillar that has a hole in it. Fill it in and then move to the left to enter a cave. Defeat the Swoopers to save the Temple curator.

• Toad 1 - Upon entering the tower, press the elevator button to save a blue Toad.
• Toad 2 - Jump up on the counter to the left of the elevator and hit the red and white flag on the wall.
• Toads 3 - 5 - Knock over the wastebasket to release three Toads.
• Toads 6 - 8 - Three pointed blue and white triangles are on the desk near the yellow box. Hit them to turn them back into Toads.
• Toad 9 - Go to the right of the entrance and hit the postcard rack to rescue a Toad.
• Toad 10 - Go up one floor and go into the room on the left. There's a box with markings on the ground next to it. Hit the area next to the box to reveal a hidden ? Block. Step on it and climb to the sticker on the left. Pull it off to free a Toad.
• Toad 11 - Upon entering the restaurant, you'll notice that one of the cabinets is shaking. Open it to reveal a Toad.
• Toad 12 - Enter the kitchen and strike the trash can with your hammer.
• Toad 13 - Hit the frying pan filled with eggs on the stove.
• Toad 14 - The drawers on the far left of the kitchen contain a Toad.
• Toad 15 - Hit the Toad that's sitting on the scale above the freezer.
• Toad 16 - Cross the kitchen shelves to get to the other side of the room. Smack the pots on the right of the screen.
• Toad 17 - After you've smashed all of the mini Boombas in the kitchen, return to the hiding chef in the other room and talk to him.
• Toad 18 - When you've gotten to the fourth floor, hit the blue pencil lodged in the elevator. It's actually a Toad.
• Toad 19 - This one can only be found after defeating Colored Pencils. Hit the telescope on the right of where the streamer used to be, and a Toad will come out.

Blue Streamer Toads (131 Toads total)

We know that there are 131 Toads in the areas that the Blue Streamer winds through. Here's where you'll find them.

Autumn Mountain (22 Toads)

• Toad 1 - There's a crumpled up Toad on the tramway's wooden planks.
• Toad 2 - A blue origami fish is flopping around just below the tramway. Smash it with a hammer.
• Toad 3 - Make your way behind the tramway station and hit the red maple leaf near the white column.
• Toad 4 - Smack the yellow leaves next to the ring of Coins to reveal a Toad.
• Toad 5 - In front of the boat tour booth, you'll find a Toad is trapped in a tuna can.
• Toad 6 - You should have Toad Radar at this point in the game. You're going to want to turn it on to help you hit the following four Toads hiding in the tall grass. The first one is to the left of the fence where you came in.
• Toad 7 - Go as far left as you can along the bottom fence while in the tall grass. There's a hole that will make you drop down to a hidden Toad.
• Toad 8 - Strike your hammer to the left of where you came up after falling in the cave.
• Toad 9 - Make your way to the exit that leads to the Water Shrine. Before actually leaving, strike the ground to the left of the wooden fence.
• Toad 10 - Cross the large bridge and then strike the tree on the left.
• Toad 11 - Spray confetti onto the mushroom-shaped hole to reveal a Sensor Lab. Now go inside and yank the red Toad free.
• Toad 12 - When the Water Shrine is in view, walk to the far left. You'll see a rock on a cliff. Walk into the cave on the far left and then hit the rock to bring it down. Now drop down onto the rock and remove the sticker.
• Toad 13 - As you make your way over the bridges to the Water Shrine, you'll see a flopping origami fish. Strike it.
• Toad 14 - There's a green pipe on a cliff to the left. Hit the tree next to it.
• Toad 15 - Take the green pipe to just above the Boat Tour booth. Hit the dragonfly that's buzzing around.
• Toad 16 - While on this cliff, fall onto the tour booth. Smash the bush and then use the magic circle to pull out your 1,000-Fold Arms and smash the origami bug on the cliff.
• Toad 17 - Once you've filled the lake with water, jump across the floating boats and locate an origami bug crawling around a pile of boats.
• Toad 18 - There's a yellow maple leaf on top of some crates. Use the upside-down boats to reach it.
• Toads 19 - 21 - Now that the lake is filled with water, jump across the floating boats to the tree across the way and strike it to reveal three Toads.
• Toad 22 - The origami monkey will show up at the shrine near the tall grass. Give it a can of tuna. It will be upset and want you to open the can. Talk to the musical Shy Guy to the South-East of the tall grass. He'll ask you to find his buddies, who are also stuck in the tall grass. Run around striking areas in the tall grass where you see movement. After finding each of the Shy Guys buddies, they will help you open the tuna can. Return to the monkey's shrine and give him the tuna. Now whack him with the hammer.

Chestnut Valley (8 Toads)

• Toads 1 - 3 - Along the path, you'll notice a tree is dropping spiked nuts. Whack the tree to make it drop another nut. Three Toads will pop out.
• Toad 4 - 6 - There's an origami Goomba in a tree. Whack the tree to initiate a battle. After you've defeated your enemies, hit the tree again to reveal three Toads.
• Toad 7 - In the area where you're trying to avoid spike chestnuts, you'll see a hole on the cliff. Smack the cliff to make a Toad pop out.
• Toad 8 - An origami butterfly will be floating around near some pink flowers at the end of the Chestnut Valley trail right before the entrance to Autumn Mountain. Smack the butterfly to turn it back into a Toad.

Water Vellumental Shrine (3 Toads)

• Toad 1 - When you enter the shrine, you'll see a bug on the left. Hit it.
• Toad 2 - Upon entering the shrine, move down the right hallway, and you'll see a Toad in the window.
• Toad 3 - In the room with the dragon head and the two water wheels, you'll see a Toad on the right.

Shogun Studios (45 Toads)

• Toad 1 - Hit the origami heart next to the blue warp pipe on the left of Shogun Studios.
• Toad 2 - After entering Shogun Studios, enter the last building on the left just before the intersection. Now smack the origami fan on the shelf.
• Toad 3 - You'll see a Toad trapped behind a wooden structure on the main intersection. Pull him out.
• Toad 4 - When you're on the East side of Shogun studios, hit the right lantern before the path the leads North.
• Toad 5 - When you're in front of the tea shop, strike the red umbrella.
• Toad 6 - Enter the tea shop and hit the cushion on the left.
• Toad 7 - Hit the yellow dog barking at the chain chomp.
• Toad 8 - At the main intersection, go left. Fill the holey door with confetti and then enter. Now strike the origami flower in the back right side of the room.
• Toads 9 - 11 - In the second building to the left of the intersection, you'll see an origami Shy Guy messing with a drawer. Defeat it and then hit the drawer to free a trio of Toads.
• Toad 12 - The last building to the left of the intersection has a cushion that's upside down. Strike it, and an origami cat will appear. Now strike it again.
• Toad 13 - Now go back to the main intersection and head North. You'll find a Toad hiding behind the hanging clothes in the first building on the right.
• Toad 14 - Climb onto the boxes next to the Shuriken attraction and hit the ninja star.
• Toad 15 - When you're almost at the theater, you'll see a sign with a Toads face on it. Strike the sign.
• Toad 15 - 19 - From the theater's entrance, go into the first house on the left and hit each of the four lanterns to reveal four Toads.
• Toad 20 - When you're inside the Photo Studio, hit the framed photo on the left to free a Toad.
• Toad 21 - When in front of the Photo Studio, jump on the wheelbarrow and then jump on the roof. Now strike the Toad on the sign.
• Toad 22 - One of the buildings on the West side of the studio has a treasure chest on the back right side. When in this room, you'll find a Toad stuck to one of the hanging clothes on the right.
• Toad 23 - After getting on the roof by using the wheelbarrow, head left around the corner and drop down to save the blue Toad.
• Toad 24 - Head back up the ladder, and you'll see a metal bell. Hit is 30 times, and a Toad will fall out.
• Toad 25 - From the theater entrance, head right and hit the dragonfly Toad flying near the planted bushes.
• Toad 26 - Continue further down this path to hit another dragonfly Toad.
• Toad 27 - When you get to the building with the gated sides and the locked down in the middle, walk up the boxes on the left and then hit the strange-looking lantern on the facade.
• Toad 28 - You'll notice that a lantern is glowing. Whack it with the hammer, and a magic circle will appear on the ground. Use the circle to hit the other fake lantern.
• Toads 29- 31 - There's a building on the South-East end of the studio with a sandpit in it. Strike the pit, and three Toads will come out.
• Toads 32 - 35 - When you finally make your way to the staff room, you'll find four Toads in the following locations: The locker, the Goomba paper mache head, the cabinets, and the trash.
• Toads 36 - 39 -There's a building with three sections to it where two Dry Bones are tossing a bone back and forth. Enter the far right door, and you'll see barrels all around. Hit them to release four Toads.
• Toad 40 - Now from the right section of the building with three rooms, get up on the back drawers and hit the cracked wall. Now pass through to the middle room. Hit the origami fish.
• Toad 41 - Again, in the building with three sections, go to the left, and you'll see a flower high up in the right-back corner. Use your hammer to reveal a hidden ? Block just beneath it. Now jump and hit the flower.
• Toad 42 - Make your way to the chain chomp's dog house. You'll find an origami bug skittering about.
• Toad 43 - When you find the pier at Shogun Studios, go fishing and try to catch the origami fish.
• Toad 44 - When you've acquired the Shogun Studios Master Key, use it to open the doors where the two fake lanterns were. You'll find a jammed fax machine Toad once you enter the Sensory Lab.
• Toad 45 - When you have the master key, go back to the Shop near the entrance to Shogun Studios and open the back door.

Ninja Attraction (4 Toads)

• Toad 1 - When standing in front of the Ninja Attraction, hit the rock to the right of the entrance.
• Toad 2 - Jump up the white rocks on the left to get to the roof and peel the tape off of the Toad.
• Toad 3 - When you reach the outdoor walkway that leads from the first half of the Ninja Attraction to the other, jump over the side to the North. Now strike the lantern next to the pond several times to open the door to the building on the left. Inside, you'll find a Toad is stuck under some boxes.
• Toad 4 - Open the middle locker in this employee room to discover a taped Toad.

• Toad 1 - After the western show plays out, hit the origami cactus to the right of the stage.
• Toads 2 -59 - You'll free 58 Toads from their seats after defeating Rubber Band.

Yellow Streamer Toads (Total unknown)

We have not yet found all of the hidden Toads in the places where the Yellow Streamer winds through. We'll update as soon as we find them all.

Princess Peach (Cruise ship) (17 Toads)

Princess Peach is technically in the Purple Stream areas, but since you make a detour here during the Yellow Streamer segment, we've included it in both locations.

• Toad 1 - When you enter the ship, hit the paper ball Toad on the left.
• Toad 2 - While in the bar, hit the purple vase.
• Toad 3 - When you enter the door at the front of the ship, head up the stairs. You'll step on an unconscious Toad.
• Toad 4 - When in the engine room, hit all of the wooden boxes on the right side of the room.
• Toad 5 - When in the engine room, you'll see a broken rope next to the Save block. Walk through and fall to the Toad below.
• Toad 6 - Once the elevator is active, use it to ride up to the top floor of the ship. You'll see a Toad stuck in the black ink on the bottom left side of the room.
• Toads 7 - 17 - Once you beat the Paper Macho Goober Blooper, you'll free the remaining 11 Toads from the ship.

Breezy Tunnel (1 Toad)

• Toad 1 - Pull the Toad out from under the Boot Car when heading down the right tunnel.

Scorching Sandpaper Desert (6 Toads)

• Toad 1 - Check out the ruins on the East side of the Desert. You'll find a yellow Toad in the ruins that have mountains on the facade.
• Toad 2 - In these same ruins, you'll note that one of the buildings is against the east desert wall. Make your way through it to find a secret back section. Strike the saguaro cactus at the back several times to free a Toad.
• Toad 3 - A Toad is sunk in the sand to the southeast of the Sun alter.
• Toad 4 - On the left side of the Shroom tower, hit an origami bug.
• Toad 5 - At the south end of the desert near the origami Dry Bones, you'll see part of a Toad sticking out of the sand.
• Toad 6 - On the southwest side of the desert, you'll see an origami lizard climbing up and down the wall. Walk up to the cliff and drop down on the lizard.

Sandpaper Minor (2 Toads)

• Toad 1 - Strike the saguaro cactus on the left side of the yellow streamer.
• Toad 2 - Hit the origami cactus on the right side of the desert.

Sandpaper West (6 Toads)

• Toad 1 - You'll find two saguaro cacti next to each other with an origami cactus to their left.
• Toad 2 - You'll find a saguaro cactus with a skull on it. Whack the skull to reveal a Toad.
• Toads 3 - 5 - Pull the three Toads out of the sand surrounding the skull cactus.
• Toad 6 - There's an origami bug on the saguaro cactus immediately to the South of the tower.

Sandpaper East (5 Toads)

• Toad 1 - Upon entering this area, look for a short barrel cactus and smash it with your hammer.
• Toad 2 -Head to the southeast section and hit the vase. Four origami snakes will slither out. The first one will stay in this area.
• Toad 3 - The next origami snake is to the south near a hole.
• Toad 4 - The third origami snake is hiding behind a wall near the right side of this area.
• Toad 5 - The final origami snake is hiding in one of the center ruins.

Shroom City (23 Toads)

• Toad 1 - See the gap between the building and the Save Block? Walk past it to get on the roof. Now smack the origami bug off of the gold Shy Guy statue.
• Toad 2 - While still on the roof of the building, head left and then jump down on the non-occupied end of the seesaw below to send the Shy Guy flying and reveal a Toad.
• Toad 3 - Walk to the left until you come upon some wooden boxes. Smash them to find a Toad.
• Toad 4 - You'll find a yellow flower on the path to the left of the lake.
• Toad 5 - On the other side of the lake, you'll see a blue tent and two wooden boxes. Hit the ground to unveil a hidden block, then jump on top and use it to get the crumpled Toad out of the palm tree.
• Toad 6 - See the hotel's neon sign? Smash the lower yellow light to find a Toad.
• Toad 7 - Find another Toad by hitting the neon sign for DJ Toad's Groovey Sound Discs.
• Toad 8 - There are three doors on the DJ Toad's Groovey Sound Disc building. Enter the middle one. Now climb on the counter and smash the Toad.
• Toad 9 - You're going to need to turn the hotel's pool's water off for this one. Jump onto the sound system and then jump over the fence on the left. You'll find a valve on the wall. Use the 1,000-Fold Arms to turn the water off. Now peel the tape off the door and talk to the Snifit on the surfboard.
• Toad 10 - Enter the left gate from the pool area. Now come down and break the boxes. You'll see a Toad stuck in the remaining boxes.
• Toad 11 - While in the hotel lobby, hit the luggage cart on the right.
• Toad 12 - Head right from the hotel's front desk and enter the first room. Now smack the vase.
• Toad 13 - After you've gotten Luigi out of the lamp, walk into the booth from the left side and then jump smash the wooden boxes just left of the hotel.
• Toads 14 - 23 - After you've ridden the land of the yellow streamer, return to Shroom City. The boxes that were blocking your way just to the left of the city's entrance are now gone. Head back there and use your hammer to save 10 Toads.

Sandpaper Far West (1 Toad)

• Toad 1 - Starting from the tower, head south, and smash the small barrel cactus with your hammer. You'll discover a Toad in the sand.

Sandpaper Far East (2 Toads)

• Toads 1 - 2 - You'll find a dip in the sand filled with Pokeys and two origami scorpions. The scorpions need to be whacked to reveal Toads.

There are 40 special Toads in the Temple of Shrooms. For help locating them, check out our guide for How to find the 40 faceless Toads

Purple Streamer Toads (Total unknown)

We have not yet found all of the Toads in the areas where the Purple Streamer winds through. We'll update as soon as we find them all.

Princess Peach (Cruise ship) (17 Toads)

Princess Peach is technically in the Purple Stream areas, but since you make a detour here during the Yellow Streamer segment, we've included it in both locations.

• Toad 1 - When you enter the ship, hit the paper ball Toad on the left.
• Toad 2 - While in the bar, hit the purple vase.
• Toad 3 - When you enter the door at the front of the ship, head up the stairs. You'll step on an unconscious Toad.
• Toad 4 - When in the engine room, hit all of the wooden boxes on the right side of the room.
• Toad 5 - When in the engine room, you'll see a broken rope next to the Save block. Walk through and fall to the Toad below.
• Toad 6 - Once the elevator is active, use it to ride up to the top floor of the ship. You'll see a Toad stuck in the black ink on the bottom left side of the room.
• Toads 7 - 17 - Once you beat the Paper Macho Goober Blooper, you'll free the remaining 11 Toads from the ship.

Bonehead Island (1 Toad)

• Toad 1 - Enter the skull from the hole on the right and walk through to the hole on the left. Youll find a crumpled-up Toad lying in the grass.

Mushroom Island (3 Toads)

• Toad 1 - An origami fish is flopping in the shade on the right side of the island.
• Toad 2 - When you get the doorknob walk through the house and enter the backyard. You'll find an origami fish flopping on the left side.
• Toad 3 - Go down the stairs on the right side of the backyard and enter the room below. Use the 1,000-Fold Arms to pull open the back wall. Pull the sticker off the stuck Toad.

Heart Island (2 Toads)

• Toad 1 - You'll need to hit a bunch of bushes around the island to reveal that many of them have buttons on the backside. Hit all of the buttons necessary until you have turned everything on, and something appears at the center of the raised heart platform in the middle of the island. Now make your way up to the platform and save the Toad.
• Toad 2 - Head through the cave until you wind up at the treasure chest up on the cliff on the island's right side.

Spade Island (5 Toads)

• Toad 1 - You'll notice that there are different colors around the barrel. Head in the direction that the colors are pointing to find all four Toads. The first one is in a breakable barrel on the northeast side of the island.
• Toad 2 - The second Toad is hiding in the right white chair.
• Toad 3 - To reach the third Toad, jump on the box on the left of the island and hop across to the barrel with a box in the center. Jump to hit the ? Block.
• Toad 4 -The final Toad is in the right palm tree on the north end.
• Toad 5 - Once all Toads have entered their color-coded slits, push them in further to save the trapped barrel Toad.

Club Island (4 Toads)

• Toad 1 - Hit the crumpled Toad at the Spade's stem.
• Toad 2 - Hidden in the grass near the top of the right circle.
• Toad 3 - Hidden in the grass on the left side of the left circle.
• Toad 4 - Hidden in the tall grass on the bottom side of the left circle.

Crescent Island (1 Toad)

• Toad 1 - Go fishing on the pier and snag the origami crab.

Hammer Island (1 Toad)

• Toad 1 - Smash down the grass on the right side as you're headed towards the treasure chest.

• Toad 1 - Head to the Northwest corner of the island and read the statue's inscription.
• Toad 2 - Fill in the mushroom-shaped hole in the cliff with confetti. Now open the door and pull the Sensor Lab Toad loose.

Green Streamer Toads (Total unknown)

We have not yet found all of the Toads in the areas where the Green Streamer winds through. We'll update as soon as we find them all.

Shangri-Spa

• Toad 1 - Just after meeting Kamek, head around to the right of the Shangri-Spa map and go behind the tree. You'll come out to a new area. Fill the mushroom-shaped hole on the wall with confetti and then help the Sensor Lab Toad get free of the fax machine.

Toad-al control

There are some major perks to finding Toads. The more Toads there are in the audience when you battle, the better their assistance will be if you pay them for it. Additionally, finding all of the hidden Toads is one of the things you need to do if you want to unlock The Origami King's secret ending.

Good luck with your Toad hunt! May you find all of the Toads without any hassle.

Paper Mario: The Origami King is finally here and with it comes an all new adventure, new graphics, and new gameplay mechanics. One of the new gameplay mechanics incorporates motion control. By tilting and moving your Switch about, you can control certain aspects of Mario's movements. However, not everyone wants to wave their whole Switch around while playing. Fortunately, motion controls can be turned on and off easily at any point in the game.

What are motion controls?

Throughout your adventures as Paper Mario, you will learn Paper Techniques - special skills that allow Paper Mario to interact with the world around him in new ways. The first Paper Technique you'll learn, the 1,000-Fold Arms, for example, let's Paper Mario peel back walls, open valves, and even attack bosses. Initially, you will control the 1,000-Fold Arms with motion controls. You will be prompted to tilt the Switch (or the Joy-Cons if you're not playing in handheld mode) to move Paper Mario's massive folded arms. However, if you're like me and always playing in handheld mode, you might not want to be waving your Switch around while you play. Later on, when motion controls get even more complicated, you will have to shake or jolt the Switch - definitely not something I want to do while playing in handheld mode.

How do you turn motion controls off?

So, let's say you don't want to risk accidentally throwing your Switch. Luckily, you can easily turn motion controls off by following these steps:

1. Press + to open the Menu.

2. Press R to scroll through the different sections of the Menu until you reach the gear symbol.
3. Using the left joystick or the d-pad, scroll down to Motion Controls.
4. Using the left joystick or the d-pad, toggle right to turn motion controls off.

5. Press B to resume gameplay.

Simple as that, you can carry on with your game, free from motion controls. In places where you normally would be prompted with motion controls, you'll instead be prompted to use the joystick.

Questions?

Have any questions about using motion controls or disabling them? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to check out our other Paper Mario: The Origami King guides!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a great online multiplayer. Multiplayer opens the door for friends to have an awesome time in-game together. However, there are some activities that we think rise above others. Here's our list of the best things you can do with your friends in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Trade valuable items

One of the simplest things you can do with friends in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is also one of the most lucrative and useful — trading. Your friend may have a piece of furniture you would love, and you might have a piece of fruit that they've been looking to plant on their island. By trading these items, you and your friend both benefit. This is just one example of the many different types of trades you can do. Plus, all you have to do to trade is put your items on the ground so the other player can pick them up. You can also offer Bells as well by selecting your wallet and putting the amount you want to offer in a bag.

If you're still in the early game, trading with a friend who's farther along than they can really help by offering important building materials like stone, iron nuggets, and wood. Check with your pal to see if they would be willing to trade some of their extra resources for Bells, fruit, or other items, and you'll get a head start on your island's development!

Compare shop stocks and prices

If you and your friend don't have anything you want to trade, why not explore what your shops have? Both Nook's Cranny and the Able Sisters have daily rotating stocks, and even if shops on your island may not have anything you're interested in purchasing, your friend's shops might. Therefore, communicating with your friends and visiting each other to check out what's on shelves can be an awesome way to benefit mutually.

Related: The trick to Turnip sales in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Something else you should do is regularly check Turnips prices, as the prices vary for each player. If your friend's shop is buying Turnips for a significantly higher price than your own, you can make some serious money! Having two available islands to sell to also helps you reduce the chance of losing money on your investment.

Host a fishing or bug-catching tournament

While Animal Crossing: New Horizons has its own built-in fishing and bug-catching tournaments that occur every so often, you and your friends can host your own tournaments whenever you want. Simply have everyone head towards one person's island, set a timer, and see who outperforms the competition.

The best part about these player-made tournaments is that the rules can be changed to encourage different experiences. For example, one version of competition could be designed to encourage people to catch a ton of bugs or fish, while another could be focused around the quality and rarity of each catch. Players could even implement "street rules" by allowing people to sabotage each other by scaring away the critters they're looking to snag.

Ultimately, the sky is the limit here. And since catching and selling bugs and fish is one of the best ways to make money in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, everyone will walk away with a nice fat wallet once the tournament ends.

Play minigames

If you're looking to switch things up from standard activities like fishing and bug-catching, you can always create your own minigames using furniture pieces, tools, and some imagination. Musical Chairs is, by far, the most fun. You can recreate the game in Animal Crossing: New Horizons using stools and a handheld instrument. Other ideas include using a shovel to create buried treasure hunts, whacking each other with a net to play tag, and terraforming part of your island to create an obstacle course.

The large size of New Horizons islands means that even playing hide and seek is an excellent choice, as the numerous houses, buildings, trees, and cliffs all give players plenty of hiding spot options. Again, the only limit to the possibilities is your imagination.

Give island and house tours

Designing an aesthetically-pleasing village is tougher than you might think, and the same goes for decorating homes. However, one of the best ways to get some inspiration is to take a tour of your friends' islands. Seeing how other people express their creativity is an excellent way to get over designer's block, and there's a good chance your friends will get inspired by your island and house designs, too.

Throw a surprise birthday party

Your animal villagers will throw birthday parties for each other and you, and you can do the same for your friends! First, send a letter to all of the people you want to invite to the party besides the person whose birthday it is a few days in advance. You can do this by buying postcards from the Dodo Airlines airport. Pick out a nice gift and wrap it using the gift wrap you can get from Nook's Cranny. Then, on the big day, open your island's gates and have everyone hide somewhere with party poppers from Nook's Cranny.

Next, contact the special someone and ask them to come to your village for a bit because you want to show them something cool. Once they arrive, lead them to where everyone is hiding and have the whole gang jump out and blast off their party poppers. If you were careful and kept the party a secret, they will likely be shocked! Then everyone can give them their birthday present, and everyone can have a good time goofing off in celebration.

What do you think of all of the different activities we mentioned? Have you come up with some other interesting, useful, fun, or engaging ways to play with your friends? Let us know! Also, make sure you check out our full guide to multiplayer in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch for $60.

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, decorating your island is one of the main things you'll be doing each day. Not only is this important for getting your island's rating up to three stars or higher so that K.K. Slider comes to town to host a concert, but it's also how players can give their island a unique flair and make it appealing to look at, too. Knowing what precisely to do can be a little overwhelming for inexperienced folks, but don't worry; this guide will go over a variety of different suggestions that will ensure you'll be able to transform the island into the paradise it has the potential to be. Here's our full list of tips that will help you decorate your island.

Plant flowers

One of the best things you can do to improve the overall look and feel of your island is to plant a ton of flowers. Like, hundreds of them. Go crazy.

Flowers add color and character to your island, helping to break the monotonous look of simple grass fields. Also, they attract plenty of bugs to your island, which is a great way to make it feel more in-tune with nature. You don't need to have any specific types or colors of flowers, but we recommend trying to diversify things a decent amount so that you have a nice variety of different blooms.

You can get flower seeds from Timmy and Tommy at Nook's Cranny, or you can buy them from Leif whenever he visits your town. Alternatively, you can dig up flower plants found while using Nook Miles Tickets and then plant them back on your island after you're done as well.

Plant other flora, too

While flowers are the most impactful on your island's rating and its overall look, it's also important to have a good amount of other types of flora as well. Specifically, you'll want to have a healthy number of trees and shrubs on your island.

As a general rule, you should aim for somewhere between 100 and 200 trees. These can be fruit trees or regular ones, but we recommend opting to mostly plant fruit trees for two reasons: one, the colors of the fruit are pleasant. Two, fruit also sells for a nice profit, so every few days you can rake in a lot of extra money by collecting and selling fruit.

Shrubs that can be bought from Leif should be planted as well, though you don't want to have a crazy amount of them. About 50 or so of them is a great way to introduce some shrubbery to your paradise without overcrowding things. As for where you should place them, we think they look best scattered between trees and next to buildings. For some extra color, you can choose to plant shrubs that flower during what season of the year you're in.

Incorporate some man-made attractions

While the majority of your island should be nature-heavy, don't forget that your island should look like people actually live on it, too. Streetlights, wells, lighthouses, and fountains are all excellent items that give off a strong "community village" vibe, and you can also add in park benches, vending machines, stalls, and other cool items.

You can buy these items from the kiosk in the Resident Services building using Nook Miles. However, some of them can be made using DIY workbenches, and you can often find nice pieces of outdoor furniture for sale at Nook's Cranny as well.

Make enough bridges and inclines

While you may have tools like the Vaulting Pole and Ladder to get over obstacles like rivers and cliffs easily, your villagers do not. Therefore, building bridges or inclines for these obstacles is an essential part of making your island developed enough for a high rating. In general, you should aim to create one form of passage over each river or cliff you find on your island. Don't add more than that, as it will be a waste of your money and will likely look a little weird, too.

You can make bridges and inclines by speaking to Tom Nook in the Resident Services building and discussing the island's infrastructure with him. You can only build one of these per day, and they're expensive, so make adding a sufficient amount of them to your island a long-term project.

Design yards for houses

An excellent way you can give some character to the area around houses on your island is to design yards for them. The various types of DIY fences and hedges you can make are great for setting the boundaries, and there's plenty of awesome DIY projects like tables, chairs, birdhouses, clotheslines, and more that you can use to give a house's exterior some flavor. Flowers look awesome in yards, too!

Give your plaza a makeover

Your island's plaza is quite bland all on its own, so why not spruce it up? Surrounding it with greenery, a fence, and some cool items like a popcorn machine or watering fountain help give it some much-needed personality, and this also helps make the plaza feel like the gathering place it is. Villagers frequently hang out around the plaza, so you may as well make the area look nice!

Create paths

Once you reach a three-star rating on your island, you'll unlock the Island Designer app on your NookPhone. This app allows you to reshape the terrain and add pathing to your island. Adding paths gives the environment a more developed feel, and they also provide a foundation to design scenic routes around. These don't impact your island's rating at all, but they look fantastic.

Lastly, don't be afraid to get creative

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Finally, our last tip of the day is that you shouldn't hesitate to experiment or try new ideas. Sticking solely to what we suggested in this guide will get you a good island rating and will make your island beautiful, but with some imagination, you can create some impressive, unique scenes.

For example, you could combine custom designs from the Able Sisters and pieces of furniture to create a cafe, or you could place down two soccer nets and then shape a field out of the terrain with the Island Designer app. The sky is the limit thanks to Animal Crossing: New Horizon's extensive freedom, so get creative and see if you can come up with something cool!

Creating your very own fishing or bug-catching tourneys is one of the most fun things you can do with your friends in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but without some sort of timer, you'll have a hard time coordinating when to start and when to stop. Thankfully, though, there's a Timer tool that you can get in-game that allows you to easily do this. Here's our guide to using it, as well as where you can buy it.

How to get the Timer

Before we can explain how to use the Timer, you'll need to know how you can get one in the first place. Thankfully, doing so isn't too difficult, although it does take a fair amount of time. You buy the Timer from Timmy and Tommy at their Nook's Cranny shop, but it won't be for sale until they perform their very first shop upgrade. To get the shop to expand, you'll need to do the following:

• Buy or sell 200,000 Bells worth of items (both types of transaction count)
• Wait 30 days after Nook's Cranny was initially built

Any days passed prior to you hitting your 200,000 Bell total still count towards the waiting period, so don't feel rushed to buy or sell items. Once both of these requirements have been met, the shop will be closed for a day as Timmy and Tommy upgrade it. After that, they will re-open and you'll be able to buy a Timer for 840 Bells. Here's how to do that:

• After entering the shop, walk to and open the green cabinet.
• Scroll through the item selection until you find the Timer.
• Press the A button to select it.
• When prompted if you're sure, select the I'm sure! speech option.

The Timer will appear in your inventory once you hand Timmy and Tommy your Bells.

How to start the Timer in multiplayer

Now that you've got a Timer, using it is simple and easy. Here's what you'll need to do once you're in a multiplayer game with friends:

• Open your inventory.
• Scroll to the Timer.
• Press the A button to select it.
• Select Start Timer.
• Select your desired length of time.

Once you do this, the Timer will activate and begin to count down. A fish and bug catch tracker similar to the ones that appear during official fishing and bug-catching tourneys will appear at the top of each player's screen, and when the Timer runs out each player's total catch count will be tallied up, making it easy to see who the winner is.

How to stop the Timer early

If you want to stop the Timer prematurely for whatever reason, you can do so just as easily as you started it up. Here's what you have to do:

• Open your inventory.
• Scroll to the Timer.
• Press the A button to select it.
• Select Stop.

After you do this, the active Timer will immediately shut off and player fish and bug catches will cease being tracked. A large blue banner will also go across the top of the screen informing all players of the Timer cancellation.

We hope this guide has helped you learn the ins-and-outs of using the Timer in Animal Crossing: New Horizons multiplayer!

Related: Animal Crossing: New Horizons — The best activities to do with friends

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on Nintendo Switch for $60.

One of the most useful types of items in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are fossils that you can find in your village. Not only are these fossils important for filling your museum with stunning exhibits, but they can also be sold for serious Bells at the town shop, too! Here's our full overview of all there is to know about fossils, including where and how to find them, what to do with them, a complete list of every fossil in the game, and how many Bells you can get for them.

Where to find fossils

While you may think trying to find ancient bones buried underneath the ground will be difficult, it's actually pretty easy and straightforward in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. As you walk around your village, you may come across star-shaped depressions in the ground. If you take your shovel tool and dig in this spot, you'll come across a fossil. In some rare cases, it may be another object. During the Bunny Day holiday, for example, you might find Earth eggs; however, the vast majority of the time, these spots contain fossils in them.

You can find up to four fossils per day in your village, so we recommend thoroughly searching every bit of land on the island. You can also come across these valuable pieces of history when you take Mystery Island Tours. Fossils can be buried anywhere, including tricky spots like on the edges of small cliffs, so keep a sharp eye out.

Getting your fossils assessed

Now that you have some fossils, you'll need to have Blathers, the owl that operates the town museum, assess them. If you don't have them assessed, they won't sell for much at Nook's Cranny, and Blathers won't be able to accept them as donations either. You need to have them assessed. Who would want to buy some unknown lump of questionable dirt anyway?

Related: Animal Crossing: New Horizons — How to unlock multiplayer, the museum, shops, and island trips

Thankfully, getting the fossils assessed is a quick and straightforward process. Here's what you need to do:

• Enter the museum.
• Speak to Blathers.
• Select Assess fossils.
• Select all of the fossils in your inventory.
• Press the + Button to confirm.

Once you do this, Blathers will identify what each fossil is. You can easily tell the difference between assessed fossils and unassessed ones in your inventory by the skull-and-bones icon. Hovering over an assessed fossil in your inventory will show you what specific type it is.

What to do with fossils

Now that you've gotten your fossils identified, there are three main things that you can do with them. Firstly, you can donate them to your museum by speaking to Blathers and telling him that you want to donate, just as you would with bugs or fish. If Blathers notices a fossil the museum doesn't have yet, he'll ask if you want to donate it after his assessment. We recommend doing this since the exhibit looks really cool once you fill it with fossils, and you'll be rewarded with Nook Miles for your donation efforts. Once you donate a fossil type once, though, Blathers won't take any duplicates in the future.

Your second option is to sell them for Bells, which can be surprisingly lucrative. Each fossil in the game sells for at least 1,000 Bells, and most of them will sell for more than that. Duplicate fossils can get you anywhere between 10,000-15,000 Bells daily. Not bad for digging some holes!

Lastly, you have the option of using assessed fossils as furniture, which is a cool way to add some unique flair to a room in your house. Since you can place furniture outside, too, you could also get creative and design a custom outdoor fossil exhibit if you want to. Just be aware that many fossils are massive and take up a lot of space.

A complete list of fossils and their selling prices

There are a whopping 73 unique fossils to find in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and each one comes with its own selling price. Some pieces are standalone, while others are part of a set. Here's a full list of every fossil in the game.

Have you found all your fossils?

Fossil hunting is simple, easy, and if you fill up your museum fast, you can make a lot of Bells to pay off those pesky home loans. A little digging is worth it sometimes, so happy fossil hunting!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available for $60 on Nintendo Switch.

Among the many different ways to make lots of Bells in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, catching rare bugs is one of the most lucrative and rewarding. In addition to this, rare bugs are also incredibly important creatures for museum completionists to catch as they're important for finishing exhibits. That being said, rare bugs are named that way for a reason. They're difficult to come by, and often times they're easy to scare off, too. Thankfully, we're here to help improve your odds at finding and catching these elusive critters. Here's our list of tips and tricks to help you catch rare bugs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Curate mystery islands

If there's a specific type of bug that you want to try and catch in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the best way you can try and get them to spawn is to curate the island you're on to increase their spawn chance as much as you possibly can. Since this will require chopping trees down and more, you should do this on a mystery island. These can be visited by redeeming 2,000 Nook Miles for a Nook Miles Ticket from the kiosk in Resident Services and then using it to fly with Dodo Airlines.

First, look up where (and when) the bug you're after spawns (you can do so using our handy guide!). As an example, tarantulas and scorpions will only spawn on the ground. Armed with this information, you will then need to eliminate the chances of any other bug spawning on the island by removing the other types of scenery that bugs can spawn on. This means chopping down every tree, digging up every stump, destroying every rock, and picking the flowers off of every flower plant. You don't have to pick up weeds, but you can if you want to.

This won't guarantee that your desired bug will spawn — certain critters like wharf roaches or giant water bugs spawn in places that you can't get rid of with tools — but it will drastically increase the chances of them appearing. This is currently the best method for farming a specific type of rare bug in the game. With all of the added ways to collect insects, you can see why this is one of the best Nintendo Switch games out there. 

Scare away common bugs

If you want to hunt for rare bugs without tearing apart the island you're on to boost your chances, the next best thing you can do is scare away common bugs that you don't want to find. This is because in New Horizon, an island can only have about four or five bugs on it at any given point. If those slots are being filled by common and generic bugs, there won't be any opportunities for rare critters to spawn in. Therefore, we recommend scaring away these bugs by sprinting near them. If they're a bug that doesn't respond to sprinting, such as butterflies, you can alternatively catch and then release them to get rid of them.

Hunt bugs during different times of day

If you want to find a variety of different rare bugs, you'll need to go bug-hunting at different times of day. The aforementioned tarantula and scorpion can only spawn between 7 PM and 5 AM, for instance, while other bugs can only appear in the morning or in the afternoon. We recommend looking up when the critter you want spawns beforehand, but if you're just trying to catch rare bugs in general, make sure to search throughout the day.

Keep a close eye (and ear) out

In general, a great way that you can increase your chances of snagging rare bugs is to make sure you're playing very close attention to your surroundings, as quite a few of the bugs can be hard to spot if you're not focused. For example, the wharf roach (found on beach rocks), pillbug (pops out of rocks when you hit them), and flea (may be found on another villager) can all be tough to spot if you're not looking around much. Bugs like this don't tend to sell for a lot of Bells, but they're fairly rare nonetheless and catching them for your museum is a good idea.

While walking around, you should also be actively listening to sounds around you as well. This is because some uncommon bugs, such as crickets and beetles, can be heard before they can be seen.

Always have a spare net on hand

This seems like a no-brainer, but nevertheless it's extremely important. The last thing any bug hunter wants to do is run into one of the rarest bugs in the entirety of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but be forced to give the catch up because their one and only net broke after catching a grasshopper beforehand. Having an extra net or two in your inventory can be a catch-saver.

Know when to use which movement style

Lastly, a critical general tip to know is that you can use your net in two ways. You can use it quickly by walking or running up to a bug and hitting the A button to swing it speedily, or you can choose a slower and more cautious approach by holding down A and preparing your net and creeping toward the bug you're trying to catch. When you let go of the A button, you'll swing your net instantaneously.

Both types of movement have their place in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The quick and aggressive method is ideal for bugs that don't scare easily and move constantly such as butterflies, bees, and grasshoppers. The slow and methodical approach will be required for bugs that scare easily and stay in one place without moving much, such as the atlas moth or ladybug. The wait-and-release mechanic of the slow method is also ideal for catching bugs that try to chase you down and attack you, like tarantulas, scorpions, and wasps. While using the slow method, we recommend practicing for awhile so that you get used to how far you're able to swing.

Master bug hunter

Different species of bugs appear at different times of the year in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. If you plan accordingly and play strategically, you'll be able to capture tons of bugs in no time. Rare bugs are harder to come across, but if you go on the hunt for long periods you might find some valuable insects. 

As with all the other Animal Crossing games, Animal Crossing: New Horizons allows you to decorate both the interior and the exterior of your house quite extensively. The game gives you the freedom to do this however you want; however, there are concrete ways to make sure that you'll get a high score from the Happy Home Academy (HHA), which is the in-game group that awards your home points based on how well you furnish your living space. You could get free bonus furniture, as well as some special pennants to hang on your wall if you get high scores from the HHA. Plus, with proper feng shui, you could increase your luck at finding presents and bells. Here are our tips and tricks to ensuring your house looks great and receives a high HHA score.

Use furniture sets

By decorating your house using furniture from the same set, you can quickly increase your HHA score. Specialty furnitures like toilets, refrigerators, and stoves don't belong to any kind of set, but "general" ones such as chairs, sofas, beds, dressers, and mirrors almost always do. You can tell if a piece of furniture belongs to a set, as well as what set that is, by checking what kind of item it is. For example, the Imperial chair belongs to the Imperial set, which also contains a chest, bed, low table, partition, and shelf. The first set most players will be able to own is the Wooden-block set, since they can be made using DIY. Most sets of furniture, though, will need to be purchased from Nook's Cranny. Pieces from sets can also randomly be found from shaking trees or recieved as a gift from a villager.

It's a good idea to use furniture sets. They tend to have matching colors and design aesthetics, which is a style plus. Sets also contain diverse furniture types which ties into our second tip.

Have a diverse layout

Make sure your rooms aren't filled with too many of the same type of furniture if you want to elevatae your HHA rating. Sure, a bunch of nice chairs or sofas make your house look cozy, but if you don't have tables or shelves to set items on, or a bed you can sleep in, the house won't really feel like a space someone would be comfortable living in. As a result of this, it will look weird, and your score will be reduced to reflect that.

You can have multiple pieces of the same furniture type in one room, but just try and think about your interior design logically when planning everything out. If you want to have lots of tables, for example, then you should make sure there's at least a seat or two at each one. This is easier to accomplish if you use furniture sets since they come with a large range of types to begin with, but you don't have to use them in order to benefit from a diverse layout. In fact, for special rooms like bathrooms or kitchens, you can create a unique and rewarding style by mixing a range of different specialty futnitures together.

Give every room a unique purpose

Once you upgrade your house to the point where you have multiple different rooms, you can up your decor ante by dedicating each room in the house to serving a logical purpose. We recommend keeping the main room standard for your general living space, but let your imagination run wild for the left and right rooms, as well as the room on the second floor of the house. You can do this for your basement, too, though be aware of the fact that the HHA doesn't score what you place in it.

Try turning a room into a bathroom, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, holiday-themed room, or something even more unique. Don't be afraid to get a little unorthodox, either, since you can create something awesome like a science room with some of the weirder furniture objects available in New Horizons.

Use feng shui

A hidden designing mechanic present in all of the Animal Crossing games is the art of feng shui, which is based off of a traditional Chinese decor philosophy. The real-world variant of it is complex, but in Animal Crossing, it has been simplified. To reap the benefits of feng shui, you'll need to place any red pieces of furniture you have onto the right side of your room, yellow pieces onto the left, and green pieces at the bottom.

Doing this will boost not only your HHA score, but also your in-game luck as well. Putting red items to the right will increase the number of items you'll find randomly, putting yellow items to the left will boost your chance of finding Bells in trees and will increase the amount of money you get from money rocks, and putting green items at the bottom will slightly improve your luck with both items and Bells.

The more items you place in the correct spots, the more benefits you'll get. However, you'll still gain a decent amount of good luck and HHA points by just having one or two items placed, so you don't need to design your home around the concept of feng shui entirely. An easy way to use feng shui without sacrificing the furniture you already have is to hang up colored items on the walls behind your furniture. These can include clothing items as well as wall furnitures from Nook's Cranny, so you have plenty of different options to pick from.

What about the exterior?

While decorating the outside of your house requires less overall thought and strategy, it's still an excellent way to wrap up your home's overall style. The HHA doesn't judge your exterior, but having a nice yard will add more charm to the house — and it's not even that hard to do. A simple and easy way you can make your yard look nice is to surround the sides of the house with flowers and then surround the flowers with a fence, essentially creating a miniature flower garden. Yard and garden-related furniture pieces like gnomes or flamingoes look excellent, too, if you happen to come across them.

If you're not into the flowers-and-fence style, you can also opt to go for something more like a pattio. Try putting a table and chairs next to the house, and maybe even place down a clothesline or a birdhouse. Just make sure that, like with the interior, your design is a logical one.

If you want to customize the siding, roof, door, and mailbox of your house, you can do so. However, it's a complicated and expensive endeavor that will take some time, so be prepared to be patient. Check out our full guide to how to do that here.

What do you think of our tips? Have you found success with the HHA in other ways? Let us know.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on Nintendo Switch for $60.

Neko Atsume is a cat collector game. But, you don't get to pet or play with these little fur balls. All you can do is put out toys and food, and hope they grace your yard with their presence. So, what's the point in playing? I... don't really know. There is something addictive about figuring out which cats like which toys — and its always a wonderful surprise when you open the game and new cats are hanging out in your yard.

If you are new to Neko Atsume, or you're stuck trying to get one last rare cat or one last Momento, we've got a game guide that may help you out.

Expand your yard ASAP

This is not an intensive iOS game, but your experience with it will be better if you have a good iPhone or iPad for gaming. At the minimum, your device needs to have iOS or iPadOS 9.0 or higher. Make sure you have a compatible device like the iPhone 13 or iPad Air 5. 

When you first start playing Neko Atsume, there are only five spots you can access. It is important to unlock the yard expansion so that you can increase that number to 10. The more spots you have, the more toys you can place. The more toys you place, the more cats you will attract. 

To earn the 140 gold fish needed for your yard expansion, you'll need to build up your goodies with as many gold-yielding toys as possible. There is no official list of toys that bring the most gold, but I've noticed that the following low-cost toys tend to yield higher silver and gold returns, depending on the cat (500 silver fish can be traded for 10 gold):

• Zebra Grass Gadget (90 silver fish)
• Green Cushion (100 silver fish)
• Yellow Cushion (100 silver fish)
• Thick Cooling pad (130 silver fish)
• Nature Tent (170 silver fish)

Try to purchase these items early on in order to quickly generate as much gold as possible.

Different cats prefer different goodies, but with a well-rounded yard, you'll draw in the regulars without effort. Take a picture of them as you see them, so they are easier to identify in the future. Plus, your Catbook looks much better when each feline has a face.

Don't waste gold on expensive food, especially not at first. Frisky Bits, which costs 30 silver fish for a three-pack, generates more gold over time than the others. Stick with Frisky Bits and replenish your bowl every six hours.

Once you start focusing on collecting rare cats, you can experiment with fancier foods, but rare cats aren't picky eaters either, so don't squander expensive meals on them. It can sometimes be a way to entice them faster, but it's not a necessity.

Remodeling is key

Expanding your yard is only part of the process. You'll also want to spend the big bucks remodeling your landscape. Different landscapes seem to draw cats in more often. I found that the Zen Garden is the most lucrative for attracting cats to every possible spot in the yard. I recommend spending your next 140 gold fish on the Zen Garden.

Cats are also inquisitive by nature. So, it is beneficial to have a couple of remodels in your pocket. You may start seeing a common cat that hadn't come around in a while if you change the landscape.

Wait until there are no cats in your yard before you set a remodel. Otherwise, everyone in the yard will disappear and you'll only receive one silver fish from each of them.

Your first remodel will only cost 180 gold fish, but after that, remodeling goes up to 280, so choose wisely.

Note: The remodeling store is held in a different spot than the Goodies. Tap Menu, Other, and then Remodel.

Maximize your space

As your coffers grow with more silver and gold fish, be sure to have a few multi-cat Goodies lying around. For example, the Cat Metropolis can hold up to six cats across two spaces (Large items take up two spaces in the yard). The Stump House and all of the Cubes can house two cats in one spot. More cats mean more fishy gifts.

Find those rare cats (spoiler alert)

Once your yard is set up, you can start spending your gold and silver fish on items that will attract rare cats. You'll quickly notice that the first two dozen or so cats are ready and willing to visit your yard. But, there are semi-rare cats and rare cats that take a little extra coaxing to bring around.

Here is a list of some of the goodies (but not all) that each rare cat prefers:

Semi rare

• Peaches - Cat Metropolis
• Apricot - Green Cushion
• Ganache - Toy Capsule
• Macchiato - Mister Dragonfly
• Melange - Cardboard Cafe
• Maple - Egg Bed (night view)

Rare

• Joe DiMeowgio - Baseball
• Senior Don Gato - Mister Mouse
• Xerxes IX - Zanzibar Cushion
• Chairman Meow - Earthenware Pot
• Saint Purrtrick - Silk Crepe Pillow
• Ms. Fortune - Cardboard House
• Bob the Cat - Cat Metropolis
• Conductor Whiskers - Cardboard Choo-choo
• Tubs - all food except Thrifty Bits
• Mr. Meowgi - Scratching Log
• Lady Meow-Meow - Luxurious Hammock
• Guy Furry - Glass Vase
• Kathmandu - Temari Ball
• Ramses the Great - Pyramid Tent
• Sassy Fran - Cardboard Cafe
• Billy the Kitten - Cowboy Hat
• Frosty - Snowy Pillow
• Jeeves - Fairy-tale Parasol
• Sapphire - Fairy-tale Parasol
• Bengal Jack - Luxury Treasure Box
• Whiteshadow - Bonito Bitz
• Hermeowne - Egg Bed (Night View)
• Kitty Hawks - Baseball

All of the semi-rare and rare cats approve of Frisky bits. You can attract some of them faster with fancier food, though. For example, Lady Meow-Meow enjoys Sashimi, while Sapphire, Jeeves, and Bengal Jack prefer Deluxe Tuna Bits. Note that Whiteshadow is the only rare cat that is attracted specifically by food. He doesn't care for toys, and appears in the background, like a ninja cat.

Get those Daily Rewards

It may not be much, but you can earn a few silver and gold fish each week if you submit the daily password. After you submit five passwords, you'll earn a can of Ritzy Bits and the password collection starts over.

Tap Menu, News, the Daily Password, and then Input Password.

Mementos show they care

Each cat will bring you a special little gift at some point, maybe it will be a freshly laundered handkerchief or a Cicada skin. It is each cat's way of saying thank you.

The way to get a cat to bring you a Memento is to get it to visit a lot. They will need to visit anywhere from 10 to 15 times before they will bring you something (though I've heard that Sapphire has been known to bring a memento after her first visit and Rascal takes at least 20 visits). If you notice any cats that haven't brought you a Memento yet, look at their page in the Catbook and place one or more of the Goodies on their top three list in your yard to ensure they appear more often.

To see which Mementos you already have, tap Menu, Cats, and then Mementos.

Buying wallpapers in the Gallery

In Neko Atsume, you are rewarded by more than just mementos left by cats. You can also buy high-resolution wallpapers of your favorite cats. Each wallpaper costs 20 gold fish. Not all wallpapers are available right away. You can unlock the ability to buy them "as you meet certain conditions."

For example, you might unlock a wallpaper by having Snowball visit your yard 100 times, or have Speckles visit 50 times. Some wallpapers unlock when you receive mementos from cats like Frosty or Bengal Jack. If you buy a lot of goodies (21 pages worth), you'll be more likely to unlock wallpapers that have specific cats in them.

You can find wallpapers by tapping Menu, Shop, and then Gallery.

Note: You must have a minimum number of cats before the Gallery is available.

What are power levels anyway?

Power levels determine which cats have playtime priority. If one cat has a higher power level than another, it will take over using a Goodie. If you can't seem to attract a lower power level cat, it's probably because a higher level one keeps taking up all the space.

Bonus tips!

• You can kick a cat off of a Goodie if you want to free it up to possibly welcome a different cat with a lower power level. Tap the item in your Goodies storage to remove it from the yard. Then tap it again to place it. The previous cat will disappear (gifting you a single silver fish).
• Tubbs is too lazy to go inside to eat the food, so if you don't want him to finish off your expensive food too fast, put it indoors.
• Tubbs will go inside under one circumstance: the Giant Cushion. If you place the Giant Cushion indoors, put Frisky Bits (or something more expensive) in the indoor bowl and leave the outdoor bowl empty, or only fill it with Thrifty Bits, he will climb inside and make himself at home on his favorite cushion.
• Frosty has a straw coat. When she comes to visit you outside, she will wear her coat. When she visits inside, she will take it off.
• Pickles has the lowest power level of all the cats at 0. He's a "scaredy-cat" to the bones. He'll rarely appear and usually runs off before you get a chance to snap his picture. He's been known to come around more often with the Toy Capsule and Zebra Grass Gadget. If you're trying to see him, check back often or you might miss him.
• Snow on the ground has nothing to do with Frosty. It also has nothing to do with real-life weather patterns. It is simply a feature that the developers at Hit Point decided to add in a game update.
• Whiteshadow will stay in your yard, even after a remodel. So, when he appears, you can switch yards and grab a picture of him with all of your remodel backgrounds.
• Even though the Nightview Egg Bed is meant for a single cat, Hermeowne, Maple, and Caramel will join another cat on top of the bed. They really like that cozy nook.

Any secrets?

Neko Atsume has a wealth of secrets to discover and there is no official way to play it. Feel free to share your best practices for enticing rare cats and getting the most gold fish.

Octopath Traveler has one of the most rewarding and deep battle systems I've had the pleasure of using in a JRPG in quite a while. While it certainly seems simple enough on the surface, there's a lot of quirks and small details about the battle system that game tutorials don't explain.

Don't worry though, I'm here to help. Here's my guide to making the battle system work for you and not against you!

Find enemy vulnerabilities quickly

This may sound like a no-brainer, but it can be a little hard to remember when you're in the middle of a battle. When you attack an opponent with a weapon or magic type that it's vulnerable too, you will weaken its shield. Weaken its shield to zero and you will "break" an enemy causing them to fall out of the turn order of their current turn, lose their next turn, and during that time, become more susceptible to damage from all sources.

When you're first starting out in Octopath Traveler and you only have one or two characters, finding vulnerabilities might be difficult because you have a limited number of attacks and elements at your disposal; however, as your party grows, this becomes easier.

Attack enemies with have many different weapons or magic as you need to until you find at least one weakness (if not two or three) because once you do, you can exploit that weakness and break enemies much faster.

Plan when to use your Boost Points (BP)

When you're using BP, it's important to find out the best course of action. For every boost point you use (up to a max of three at one) you'll get an extra physical attack, or your skills and element attack become more powerful.

Using BP is a great way to eat through enemies shields and cause them to break. It's also awesome to use a charged up elemental attack to an enemy that's already broken.

Turn order matters

Every time you get into a battle, whether it's a random encounter or a boss battle, there's a very important set of images along the top of your screen. These images give you the turn order, meaning you can know exactly which heroes will get to attack when, and which enemies will strike back.

You need to be looking at this turn order constantly if you want to have success in Octopath Traveler.

Defend to manipulate turn order

Speaking of keeping an eye on turn order, when a character uses the Defend action, they move to the top of the turn order for their next turn. Not to mention they will also take less damage from incoming attacks.

Use this to your advantage when planning your attacks, if you know a character can do a ton of damage to an enemy, but they won't go before them, consider defending to go first.

Have another good tip?

Is there a piece of advice we missed? Sound off in the comments below.

2048 is a matching game where your job is to combine matching tiles to create larger numbered tiles. When there are no more moves left and the board is full, the game is over. If you want to get to the mythical 2048 tile, you'll have to think of the best 2038 strategy and plan your moves carefully. Here are some tips and tricks on how to work your way up to a better score every time in 2048 on iPhone or iPad!

Six tips for the best 2048 Strategy

1. Understand how the board moves

In 2048 you only have four main gestures: up, down, left, and right. Every time you swipe, every tile on the board moves in that position as far as it possibly can. If multiple cards can combine at once, they will do so. Keep this in mind and understand how moves work before swiping a tile that may or may not end up where you thought it would.

2. Don't chase large tiles

Sometimes it's tough to resist temptation and chase larger numbered tiles across the board to combine them. This almost always puts you in a worse position than a better one. Instead, focus on combining smaller tiles and worry less about a specific set of tiles. They'll almost always meet up at some point, or you end up making a tile that ends up right next to it.

3. Work your way towards the corners

Staying in the corners assures you have more of the main game board to bring in new tiles. I've found that keeping tiles grouped into the corners works the best. Bring new tiles into the middle area when you can, and then you can swipe them to the corners to combine. Sometimes I start off in the upper left corner but see an opportunity to make larger combos by moving the entire board to the bottom left or diagonal. Working in the corners makes a shift in strategy a lot easier.

4. Plan ahead

This somewhat goes along with my first tip, but seriously, plan ahead - it's the best 2048 strategy. Look at everything you have on the board and what a 2 or 4 card will do to change it. Perhaps you see a match right now but bringing a 2 down on the other side would create multiple matches in one move. That's what you want to do.

5. Slow down and think

Sometimes it's hard to tell what the absolute best move is, so it's okay if you don't make it. 2048 gives you a lot of opportunities to recover from a bad move as long as you have empty spaces on the board. If you aren't sure what the best move is, re-evaluate where cards are on the board and whether or not you need to change their position before worrying about new cards.

6. Always make moves where multiple tiles merge first

If you come across an instance where you can merge multiple stacks of cards at once, take it. The more spaces you keep open on the board, the better flexibility you have when bringing in new cards. With single moves you're replacing a card you stacked with a new one. When multiple cards can be combined, you're not only bringing one new card onto the board, but you're getting rid of more than one. That's always a good thing.

Check out our tips for Threes!

If you like 2048, why not check out the game that "inspired" it, Threes! While Threes! and 2048 aren't played in the same way, they are very similar when it comes to gameplay strategy. We put together a killer guide on Threes! a while back and a lot of those tips apply to 2048 as well, so be sure to check it out!

Do you have any tips?

If you play 2048 regularly on your iPhone or iPad, what tips or tricks can you share for the best 2048 strategy? Be sure to let us know in the comments! And if you want, let us know what your high score is so far!

While you're waiting for Fallout 76 to make all of your MMO dreams come true, relive the joys of Fallout Shelter all over again, but this time on your Nintendo Switch. If you like witty writing, building management, post-apocalyptic wastelands, and watching your entire female population waddle around in giant yellow pregnancy sweaters, this is the game for you.

I've got plenty of experience with Fallout Shelter from when it first launched on iPhone (I may have played it way too much), and as such, have perfected its many devious arts: dweller management; sending adventurers to the wasteland; rushing rooms with impunity; and impregnating your female dwellers—for the good of the species!—when the time comes.

It's a very silly game. But an addicting one. And if you, like I, have fallen deep into its vault, here are some of my very best tips for making the most of your time there. The Overseer is watching!

1. Plan ahead

This was always one of my primo tricks in Sim Tower, and it carries over to just about any other building strategy game: Even if you don't have rooms you can build yet, start planning where you'll place rooms and floors early on.

First, each floor has room for two elevator shafts, with one already pre-built for you; though you can add more, I recommend against it.

You build rooms in the game in one-room segments, but don't let those tiny rooms fool you — you can build up to two more copies of that room next to it to combine that section of the floor into one giant area. This is highly recommended, and one of the best ways to get a balanced, bustling population early.

You won't have the CAPS—in-game money—to build these three-room areas off the bat, so here's where the planning comes in: You start the game with two elevators—on floor zero and floor -1, respectively: On floor zero, you have a one-room living area; and a completely empty lower floor.

Accounting for an elevator at the very end of the -1 floor, you can build one three-room area, the elevator, a three-room area, two-room area, and another elevator.

I like to start by putting a one-room power plant on the left side of the pre-built elevator at floor -1, and one water-treatment plant on the right side. This way, when I build out, I can build a full three-room power plant and three-room water treatment plant.

On the top floor, you'll be stuck with a one-room living area next to a one-room cafeteria at first; I recommending building as-is, then demolishing that first floor and rebuilding once you have a bit more depth to your tower.

Unlike some other sims, Fallout Shelter doesn't punish you for putting your power next to your water or food, so feel free to line up rooms next to each other however you like. I will say, however, that I find it easiest to group all the asset-collection rooms (water, food, power, medical supplies), because it makes tapping-to-collect that much simpler.

As a cheat-sheet, here's my ideal starter setup from 5 dwellers to about 30:

• 1 3-room water treatment plant
• 1 3-room power generator
• 1 3-room diner
• 1 3-room living quarters

After you've established these, build a medical center for Stimpaks and a science lab for Radaways when you have the money/appropriate number of dwellers. It'll help you better assign your people to their post-apocalyptic vault jobs, and allow your adventuring dwellers to take the edge off Wasteland radiation.

2. Know your dwellers

Speaking of attuning your dwellers to their perfect vault jobs, let's talk a little bit about what makes your sims tick. In Fallout Shelter, your dwellers' skills are divided up into a rubric called SPECIAL: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, and Intelligence.

When you first meet your dwellers, most of their SPECIAL skills will be non-existent (though you'll have opportunities to train those up later). But chances are, most every dweller will have a skill that's slightly advantageous. Here's where you can put people to keep their happiness high, get those daily happiness bonuses, and best run your vault.

Strength: Power plants (and later, nuclear facilities)

Perception: Water plants (and later, the filtration plants)

Endurance: Hardier dwellers make for great explorers and Nuka Cola bottlers.

Charisma: Want to make babies quickly and host radio shows? You need charisma.

Intelligence: The smart ones are the ones making your RadAways and Stimpaks. Because no one wants a vacantly-brained dweller administering a health injection.

Agility: These dwellers are awesome at making good, quick food. (And later, gardens.)

Luck: If you want a higher chance of success when rushing a room, better items while wandering the Wasteland, and a chance to get bonus CAPS in the process of normal room production, you want your dwellers to have excellent Luck skills.

You may also want to know how your dwellers are feeling: Their happiness contributes to the overall health of your post-apocalyptic sanctuary, and unhappy dwellers mean an overall decrease in your vault's production.

When it comes to your dweller's health, you want to try and keep it at full whenever possible. Dwellers will (slowly) heal on their own, but treating their injuries with stimpacks is a great way to boost their (and your vault's) overall happiness.

If you see red creeping into your dweller's health bars, they've been exposed to some nasty post-apocalyptic radiation! Get them a Radaway, stat—and if you don't have any, start making some in the Science Lab or open up a Lunchbox or two.

3. Combine and upgrade rooms to your advantage

As I mentioned in tip #1, you can chain up to three copies of the same room to create a bigger, better workspace for your dwellers. To make that room even more efficient, you can select the room and tap the upgrade arrow in the upper right corner: For a CAPS fee, you can add both production and storage.

This means that you make more of that room's output with every work cycle, and you can store more of it, too (The energy, food, and water bars all have a hashmark that indicates how much production you need to sustain the vault; anything in excess of that line is storage. Increase your storage, and it's less likely you'll run out of food, water, or power!).

I highly recommend building (and upgrading) single, three-room instances of your necessities over building a single-room power station here and there every time you start running low—not only will it save you CAPS and give you a place to group your dwellers, but it also makes it easy to collect your resources if all those rooms are built in the same basic region. Plus, you can add themes to three-room instances!

4. Don't expand until you upgrade (no early baby-making!)

It's tempting to have your dwellers immediately start making babies after you get your basic resource centers up online—after all, you need workers, and new dwellers don't just wander up to the vault (at least, not without a radio station to entice them). But I advise holding off until you've built at least one fully-upgraded three-room copy of each resource center.

Here's why. First, pregnant women can work, but they can't defend the vault—they'll flee from raiders to protect their baby. This process lasts about three hours. Children, once born, also take about three hours to hatch into full-blown adults; they can't work, be placed in rooms, or be anything resembling productive until they grow up.

If you suddenly have an influx of babies and no means to support them with food or water, your dwellers will quickly lose health (from lack of food) and get radiation poisoning (from crummy water).

5. Use the clipboard to best fill out your rooms

Your dwellers are happier when they're doing the job they're attuned to—if you match a dweller's SPECIAL stats to their life's work, you'll have a vault full of happy dwellers.

This is pretty easy to do in the initial stages of the game, but once you get more than 15 dwellers, it's hard to remember who does what or is working where.

That's where the room's work clipboards come into play: When you select a resource room, you'll see a small clipboard icon in the lower left corner; tap it, and you can see who's working in the room—and their SPECIAL stats. Tap on a dweller (or an empty dweller slot on the room's clipboard) to directly compare them with every other dweller in your vault. You can even tap any of the headers—"DWELLER," "LVL," or "SPECIAL"—to organize your vault's dwellers alphabetically, by level, or by individual SPECIAL stats.

If you want to swap dwellers old-school and drag your sim from one room into another, you'll see a number when you hover them over that room. A straight number means that you have space in that room, and your dweller contributes that much to the room's primary stat.

If you see a plus or minus before the number, it means that your room is full, and the dweller you're moving in will swap places with the lowest-level dweller currently in that room; the plus or minus indicates how much extra (or less) your new dweller will contribute to that room.

6. Use high-level outfits to supplement your dwellers' skills

Later on in the game, you'll have the opportunity to build rooms that help train your dwellers' SPECIAL stats; until then, your dwellers are stuck with the SPECIAL stats they were born with. Well, unless they put on some fancy clothing.

Yes, clothing makes the man (or woman) in Fallout Shelter—you just have to find it first. You can get fancy outfits from Lunchboxes or from exploring in the Wasteland; occasionally, incoming dwellers will wear something fancy that you can then repurpose, as well.

As in today's non-post-apocalyptic society, men and women have different outfits available to them. There are quite a few unisex options, but there are also certain male- or female-specific clothes floating about.

To equip a dweller with a new outfit, just select them, then tap on the outfit icon in the info pane; you'll then be able to see every outfit that they can wear.

Outfits can increase your stats by +1 to +5; extra-special and rare outfits will increase multiple stats.

7. Upgrade your Vault Door to prevent raider attacks

Raiders are the worst: Always barging in with knives and guns, stealing your resources, killing your dwellers. Until you get adequate weapons to properly fight against them, you can upgrade your vault door—just like any other room—to make it less susceptible to invading raiders. They'll make it in eventually, but it gives you time to move dwellers into the vault entryway to properly fight them, and you'll be better off.

I've found that raiders also come less frequently after they have to deal with an upgraded vault door and angry gun-toting dwellers a few times; invest early, and you won't have to take care of raiders later in the game.

8. Equip all your workers on the top level with your best guns

Though you can technically station two dwellers on "guard duty" in the vault entrance room, this is a waste of dweller manpower. Instead, take the weapons you've gotten from Lunchboxes or fact-finding expeditions in the wasteland and give them to your dwellers working on the top level of your vault.

When raiders attack, all you have to do is move two of those gun-toting dwellers into the vault entrance; chances are, they'll take out the raiders before they even make it to the next room. And if they do, equipping the rest of your top-level dwellers with weapons ensures that they'll be gone soon after that.

9. Don't be afraid to borrow dwellers from other rooms in an emergency

Living in the post-apocalyptic future has its downsides: Even in the safety of your Vault, you'll have to deal with invading raiders, frequent fires, and pesky Radbugs. Well-placed dwellers with weapons can handle raiders and radbugs, while anyone (save for pregnant women and children) can take care of a vault fire.

If you find yourself with a fire in a room with no dwellers, or a Radbug infestation when none of your dwellers have guns, don't panic: Just borrow dwellers from other rooms by dragging them and dropping them onto the room in question. They'll come in, fix the problem, and once it's solved, return to their original assignment.

10. Explore the Wasteland

The Wasteland may be a vicious place, but you can find fabulous items, CAPS, and lots of level experience for dwellers brave enough to make the trek. Here's the best way to go about it.

Dwellers with high levels and SPECIAL stats—specifically endurance and luck—will do better than level 1 dwellers with no particular knacks. You can augment this, too, by sending your anointed dweller(s) out with your best weapons and outfits.

You'll also want to make sure you equip your dwellers with stimpacks and Radaways — this allows them to stay out in the wilderness longer without succumbing to radiation or evil attackers and dying. (You can resuscitate dwellers, but at a CAPS cost.)

This is also important because the longer your dweller explores the wilderness, the better loot they bring home at the end of their journey. My best dweller stayed out a full 18 hours collecting outfits, guns, CAPS, and experience—but he was only able to do this because I sent him out with 5 Radaways and stimpaks a piece. (Remember, if you don't have radaways or stimpaks, you can have your dwellers make them in the science lab and medical center.)

While your dweller is out there, they'll write an abbreviated adventure log so that you can follow along with their travels. These are hilarious and definitely worth reading; you can view your dwellers' notes by tapping anywhere outside the vault, or by selecting them from your master dweller list in the upper left corner of the screen.

Your dweller will take half as long to return to the vault as they did to explore; if you send them out for ten hours, for example, they'll take an additional five hours to return. On their return journey, they won't be attacked, irradiated, or injured.

When your dweller returns, you can collect their loot by tapping the Collect button; make sure you heal them up with stimpaks and Radaways before letting them back into the vault. Especially any radiation damage—if you let an irradiated person walk around your vault, they will quickly infect the entire population.

It's definitely smart to send an exploring dweller into the Wasteland well-equipped. If you've got any outfits that help with Strength, Luck, or Agility, give it to your explorer. A Husky pet is ideal in the Wasteland because it increases your explorer's return speed by 1.25%!

11. Get more dwellers in your vault

So you want to hit the 200 dweller max in your vault, huh? You'll need three things to do it: dwellers with high Charisma, ladies, and a radio station.

If your dwellers have a high Charisma stat, they'll be well-equipped to quickly turn a budding romance into a full-blown pregnancy; they'll also be great on your Vault's local radio station.

Pregnancy and child-rearing, as I covered before, takes about six hours in total—three hours pregnant, three hours for the kid to grow up. To make pregnancies happen, all you have to do is place two dwellers in a living quarters area together; depending on their respective charisma stats, you'll get a pregnancy in the next 5-30 minutes.

It's possible to chain pregnancies and have lots of your women pregnant at once—my record is 14—but remember: When they turn into children, those are many new mouths to feed while you wait for them to turn into adults.

Radio stations, in contrast, will only pull in one dweller every few hours—and only consistently if those working at the station are high in charisma—but those dwellers are fully-grown and ready to work. They're usually level 1 sims with minimal (if any) belongings, but hey—work is work, right?

There is one paid option for getting new dwellers: Lunchboxes. These will often contain some of the rarest, highest-level, and fanciest SPECIAL dwellers in the game; not only does opening a Lunchbox get you more dwellers, but they're often really good at one or several particular skills.

12. Train your dwellers up together

Once you hit 50 dwellers, you'll be able to start building training rooms, which let your dwellers upgrade their SPECIAL skills. The time it takes your dweller to upgrade a skill varies depending on their level, the room, and how many other dwellers are working on the same skill.

Put more dwellers in a room together to work on a skill (2, 4, or 6, depending on the size of your training room), and they'll all learn faster. You can also spend (outrageous amounts of) CAPS to upgrade the room and shave off some of that training time.

13. Pay attention to your objectives

If you tap your Pip-Boy computer icon in the lower right corner, then tap the award icon, you can see your Vault's objectives. At any given time, you'll have three goals to complete; you can refresh one of these every 24 hours by tapping on the X if you really don't think you can do it.

Goals, when completed, get you extra CAPS—and on occasion, Lunchboxes—which makes them a nice bonus and something to keep in mind when working on your Vault.

14. How to make extra CAPS

There are five basic free ways to make extra CAPS, and one paid option.

The easiest way to get some extra in-game currency is to rush your resource rooms; upon success, you'll get a few extra CAPS thrown toward your account. Put some high-Luck-stat dwellers in your resource rooms, and you may even get 500-1000 CAPS upon a standard room resource completion.

Sell any guns or outfits you don't want to make CAPS on the side, those these sadly don't net you much—10-100 CAPS per item, depending on rarity.

Leveling up dwellers also nets you a few CAPS, so make sure they're working hard in the room they belong in to get the most out that bonus award.

Send your dwellers to the Wasteland to find even more CAPS, though this method takes a tad longer than the other three.

Finally, you can buy Lunchboxes with real money, which often contain 10-500 CAPS; this is a good last-ditch CAPS strategy, but largely not worth the cost if you have rooms you can rush.

15. Build and upgrade the Overseer's Office for even more fun!

Once you've populated your vault with 18 dwellers, you'll be able to build the Overseer's Office, which unlocks practically an entirely new game for you to play. You can send dwellers on quests, which you can then control said dwellers once they reach the quest location. You'll explore the area do what's necessary to complete the quests. Your rewards will be great upon return. We're talking weapons, clothing, caps, and more. When you upgrade the Overseer's office to level 2 you'll be able to run multiple quests at once.

16. Leave your vault alone

Fallout Shelter is one of those games that's easy to tweak forever—getting more CAPS by rushing rooms, reconfiguring your vault, making babies happen—but it's also helpful to play it for a few minutes and walk away.

Lots of events in the game happen in real-time, including pregnancy, child-rearing, Wasteland exploring, skill training, and more; it's much more satisfying to come back to the game after a few hours to find out what's happened while you've been gone.

You won't be at risk for disasters or raider invasions while you're away, but your resource storage reserves will get depleted. As such, make sure you check in with your vault at least once a day. I left my vault alone for 24 hours and came back to find most of my population irradiated because my water supply had fallen below my storage capacity; if you don't check it every so often, your dwellers might not be in great shape when you return.

Your tips?

Those are my favorite Fallout Shelter tips and tricks; have some of your own? Have questions? Shout out in the comments!

Following its worldwide success on console and PC, Fortnite has made to move over to iPhone. Epic Games' Fortnite didn't originally play this way, but its free-to-play battle royale mode has seen the game skyrocketing in popularity.

Over millions of people have played Fortnite Battle Royale and the number continues to rise. It's a unique game in a number of ways and plays out a lot differently to competing titles such as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

So, if you're looking to get started, here are some tips to help you along the way.

1. Loot hard, loot fast

The action in Fortnite Battle Royale is fast and if you want to survive the early part of the game you need to loot up as fast as you can. The easiest way to do this is to jump out of the bus at the first chance, skydive straight down at maximum speed and land in the first spot you can with signs of buildings.

The first priority is always to get a weapon in your hands. After that, you'll want either a shield or a healing item in case things go south. Don't skip anything in the early stages, any weapon is better than nothing. A pistol will still execute a kill faster than hacking at someone with your default pickaxe (which only deals 10 points of damage per hit).

You'll really want the weapons with the colored hazes (green, purple, blue or gold), but only swap into these, never hold out thinking you'll find one soon. You may not get the chance.

2. Consider a 'long drop'

The map on Fortnite Battle Royale is pretty small considering there are 100 players on it at a time. Recent updates have added plenty more built-up areas to loot in, but these are also the hotspots. You'll find the best loot but also more players in the early stages, increasing your chances of elimination. Especially if they're under the flight path of the Battle Bus.

Your glider gives you the ability to reach almost anywhere on the map. You might consider floating over to the other side of the island before dropping down to loot up, especially while you're still learning the game. The only way to practice combat is to get involved in fights, but it can be disheartening to lose within seconds of landing time after time while you're a newcomer.

3. Always land on a roof

When you're looting your first building always start on the roof. Some buildings will have weapons up there, but in the case of houses, you'll often find chests hidden beneath the tiles. Drop onto the roof and use your pickaxe to break through.

Then break through to the next level down, loot and work your way to the ground floor. When you loot future buildings you can still reach the roof by building a ramp and repeating the process. When a chest is nearby you'll hear it, so always be listening. You want them, and a lot of the time they're in the attic.

4. Never. Stop. Moving.

Camping might work in PUBG, it rarely does in Fortnite. If you stand still for even a second too long, you're dead. No exaggeration.

Whether you're reloading, healing or attacking someone, move as much as you can. Small movements on the spot while you're healing make you more difficult for snipers to hit. Jumping while you're in a gunfight will increase your chances of survival. A moving target is more difficult to hit than a stationary one.

Always be aware of your surroundings, including what's above you. Because Fortnite Battle Royale includes building mechanics, a popular tactic to get the edge on opponents is to build up above them, attacking from above.

It gives the element of surprise and often leaves you completely helpless. You also don't have a free-look in Fortnite as you do in PUBG, so you can't keep running forwards while looking all around you.

5. Build to win

One of Fortnite's most unique aspects is its building. And to master the game you have to get to grips with it. Harvesting materials is the first step, using your pickaxe on wood, stone, and metal. Be smart and go for larger trees or pallets of wood (found in the buildings in Tilted Towers) as these give you the most yield. Larger vehicles will do the same for metal.

Not only can building help you reach new heights and those hard to reach places, in the endgame, it's essential to try and get the edge. As you get down to the last few players in the late circles, you'll see structures start to fly up. You should do the same.

If someone is on the ground, you want to have the aerial advantage. You don't want the reverse of that. Towards the end the players left will likely have the best weapons, usually, a sniper included, and building yourself a little fort is an added line of defense. Bullets will hit that first giving you time to react.

If you need to practice, try a long drop to a quieter part of the map so you can harvest resources and practice your building with less risk of being annihilated.

6. Balance your inventory

You only have five slots to fill with combined weapons and healing items such as medkits, bandages, shield potions, the Chug Jug and Slurp Juice. When looting, do everything you can to keep a balance.

When you pick up your first couple of shield potions, consume it and free up the inventory slot. It means you can carry another one then for when it gets depleted. Prioritise medkits over bandages, and the Chug Jug is the holy grail since it will refill all your health and your shield at once.

Try to carry a range of weapons, too. You ideally need something for short-range engagements, such as a tactical shotgun. For mid-range engagements, an assault rifle is best, while for long-range try and get hold of a sniper or an assault rifle with a scope. Only these two types of weapon allow you to scope in, all others remain in third-person view at all times.

7. Timing your circle runs

The map isn't that massive but nevertheless, you can still get caught out when the storm circle shrinks. The map is broken up into a grid system, and each square will take you 45-seconds to run across as the crow flies. But that doesn't account for changes in terrain.

As soon as you're in the storm your health will drop. Shields don't protect you. Do a rough calculation as soon as the first circle drops on the map to figure out how long you think you need to get there.

Not only do you get a countdown of the time until the storm circle starts moving in, you then get a timer telling you how long before it has completely shrunk. Use both to make sure you don't get caught short.

8. Try playing with some friends

The solo queue is hard, and brutal. Playing by yourself against 99 other players is tough, so if you're learning the game you might benefit from playing with some friends in either duo or squad mode.

In these modes you get knocked down before being killed, giving your friends chance to revive you for another go. It's also nice to have more eyes on the surroundings and more guns in the battles.

You can play squads without friends by selecting the auto-fill option. This will pair you with three strangers, so you might not have as much success, but you may also not die so quickly.

If you have any tips of your own to share be sure to drop them into the comments below. Fortnite Battle Royale is free to play on iOS via early access sign-ups, as well as Xbox One, PC, and PS4.

Sign up for the beta at Epic Games

Fortnite has dominated the video game world since its release for PC and console, and now with the iOS version slowing rolling out to more and more people, its primed to take over the mobile market. Whether you've been lucky enough to have the game, or are still waiting for your invite to the mobile version, you may be wondering what it's all about.

News and updates

As Fornite on mobile is relatively new and still on an invite-only game, there is lots of news and updates coming down the pipe. If you want to stay up-to-date on all the latest developments with the game, we've got you covered!

Read: Fornite: Everything you need to know!

Invite codes

To get in on the action for Fortnite on iPhone and iPad, you'll need an invite code to access the game. Invite codes can come from two different places; Epic Games themselves, or a friend who has Fornite on their iOS device already.

• Read: How to send invite codes to Fortnite for iPhone and iPad
• Read: How to sign up for an invite to Fortnite for iPhone and iPad

Mobile controls

Since Fortnite was originally a PC and console game, many people have wondered how the controls would work on the mobile version. While Fornite on iOs isn't currently compatible with MFI Controllers, the on-screen controls handle pretty well and offer a solid experience.

Read: How to sign up for an invite to Fortnite for iPhone and iPad

Tips and tricks

Mastering the 100-player free-for-all style of Fortnite can be tricky, and since the game has been out for a while on console and PC, some players will be a little better prepared for the task.

If you're looking to get started in Fortnite, we've compiled some very handy tips and tricks that you can use to survive as long as you can!

Read: Fortnite for iPhone and iPad: 8 essential beginner's tips

Cross-platform multiplayer

Though Fortnite is now an up-and-coming mobile game on iOS, it began as a brawl mode for Fortnite's console and desktop versions (PS4, Xbox, Mac, and PC). And thanks to Epic's underlying account system, you'll be able to play with friends on (almost) any other platform.

Read: How to play Fortnite cross-platform with iOS, Android, PS4, Mac, PC, and Xbox

Hands on!

So far, I have been extremely impressed with Fortnite, and it's hooked me far more than I initially thought.

A big reason for why I love it so much is just how well it's produced. It looks and feels like an AAA console game — and that's hard to do on mobile. In addition, Epic Games took its time to really think about how mobile gamers play games, then built the game with on-the-go experiences in mind. I love that.

Read: Hands-on with Fortnite for iPhone and iPad

The massively popular batte royale game PUBG has made its way over to the iPhone. The 100-man free-for-all style of the game is exciting, but requires a ton of practice to get really good. That doesn't mean that there aren't some tips and tricks you should know headed in to the fray.

So, if you're looking to get started, here are some tips and tricks to help you stay alive in PUBG Mobile!

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Drop by buildings and alone (if you can)

In PUBG Mobile, the strategy starts right away by choosing where to you want to drop. The two most important things to remember while your dropping from the sky at the beginning of the match are buildings hold the loot, and everyone else is trying to kill you.

Always try to head for buildings when you're falling from the sky because that's where you will find loot, but also, if you can try to pick a place where other people aren't going. If you can manage to drop by buildings with little to none other players around you, you'll be off to a good start.

Loot First

Once you are done falling from the sky, the action in PUBG Mobile can be fast, and if you want to survive, you'll need to loot up.

The first priority is always to get a weapon in your hands. After that, you'll want either body armor or a healing item for when things get tough. Don't skip anything at first; any weapon is better than nothing. A pistol will still execute a kill faster than punching someone.

Once you have a couple of weapons and other items, you can start making decisions on which weapons you want to keep and manage your inventory a little more.

Try to limit running around in the open

The goal of PUBG Mobile is to be the last man standing, and by that measure, hiding can be a pretty useful tactic. Of course, as the map shrinks, you will eventually need to make a break for the safe zone to stay alive, but you should never run out in the open unless you have no other choice.

When you do need to run out in the open, make sure you are doing it as fast as possible. That means planning your dashes for the safe zone a little more carefully, and trying to stay in cover as much as you can.

Supply crates are rarely worth it

You hear the plane flying overhead, you see the crate falling with parachute overhead, and you realize it's going to drop close to your position. Unless you're absolutely certain there are no other players around, don't rush for the red smoke once the crate lands..

Instead of running for the crate and standing in the open next to it, watch what happens, plan out an attack on whoever ended up with the gear, and take it by force for yourself, away from the action. If you're sitting around and no one arrives, continue to tread carefully; someone else might have the same strategy in mind.

Don't shoot enemies out of range

I have made this mistake FAR too often, and it gets me killed about 8/10 times. When you aim at an enemies that's too far away and try to kill them with a gun they a short range all your doing is making them — and everyone else in the are — aware of your location.

If you see an enemy that hasn't spotted you yet and you want to take them out, be smart about it. Track where they go, try to sneak up on them, and when they are in range, fire away!

Play with your friends

Playing by yourself against 99 other players is tough, so if you're learning the game you might benefit from playing with some friends in either duo or squad mode.

In these modes you get knocked down before being killed, giving your friends chance to revive you for another go. It's also nice to have more eyes on the surroundings and more guns in the battles.

You can play squads without friends by selecting the auto-fill option. This will pair you with three strangers, so you might not have as much success, but you may also not die so quickly.

Read: How to play PUBG Mobile with your friends

Get lucky

There's no doubt about it, in PUBG Mobile there's a bit of luck. If you happen to land in a spot that has good equipment, and/or always end up being in the safe zone, you will inheritly have an advantage.

In the late game, it's critical that you focus on the minimap when the circle is about to move and adjust yourself accordingly. It's easy to get caught off guard and there are going to be those times when you need to move in on someone else who was lucky enough to be within the next circle. If this is the case, have a look around, see how you can advance and utilize grenades (especially smokes and flashbangs).

If you happen to be the lucky one and have a solid position within the next circle, keep scanning around for movement. Knowing your enemies position is paramount.

Do you have any great tips?

Share them with everyone and join in the fun! Leave a comment down below!

Kirby Star Allies for Nintendo Switch is all about teaming up with friends to beat the bosses. That doesn't mean you have to play with real-life friends to complete the game (though that's super fun, too). It means Kirby makes friends with former enemies and tackles even the biggest baddies with a group. Here are the tips and tricks you need to complete the game and find all the hidden stuff in Kirby Star Allies!

Look for stars on the level map

Stars don't only appear within the playable levels. You can also find them scattered around the level map. If you grab these before you even start playing the first level, you're way ahead of the game in terms of collecting extra lives.

Use those multi-friend ability combos!

There are some secrets hidden throughout the levels, like special Illustration Pieces and hidden rooms that unlock new stages. Many of them aren't accessible unless you're using combo abilities. For example, combining the stone ability with the water ability will turn you into a sliding rock and send you whizzing into walls that will break and reveal a secret room. Make sure to take advantage of power combos whenever you can.

You can also enable combo powers between your party members. For example, Burning Leo can light up the yo-yo so he can do extra damage.

Use the Dream Palace to make new adventuring friends

The Dream Palace is a special land you can visit between each stage you clear. When you use the Dream Palace, you've got a chance to add or replace one of the friends in your party with another character. You don't have to wait until they appear on a level.

When you grab the Dream Rod, the friend wheel starts spinning. Whatever friend it stops on will be added to your party (or you can replace him with someone currently in your party).

Remember, you can only use the Dream Palace once until you clear a new stage.

Cut that grass!

Lots of things are hidden in those patches of grass, like health boosts, stars, and even special Illustration Pieces. Use a sword, yo-yo, or fire to cut away those patches as you pass them to reveal the items hidden inside.

Lose the ally baggage

If you don't want to have three additional allies running round with you, killing baddies before you've even had a chance to suck them in, you can drop them without having to copy their powers to eliminate them from the group. Press the L, R, and Y buttons at the same time to prepare the drop and then select which party member you want to remove. Drop them all if you really want to work on your Kirby game.

How to unlock the Dream Palace in Dream Land

In the fifth section of Donut Dome use the combo ability of stone and water to turn yourself into a slider and crash your way down the pathway. You'll hit some rock buttons that will break away a wall that will reveal a secret round-trip room, identified with a red star.

Enter that room and jump on the Big Switch to unlock the Dream Palace.

How to unlock Extra Eclair (extra stage)

In the fourth section of Honey Hill, use the yo-yo and fire combination to light the long rope on fire that sits below the cannon. Run up jump into the cannon. This will shoot you into the air and reveal a secret round-trip room, identified with a red star.

When you enter the room, quickly get to the wall release switch, which raises up and stops the giant ball of Waddle Dees from rolling down and breaking the bridge. You don't want the bridge broken because a Dream Rod is sitting on top of it.

Cross the bridge and grab the Dream Rod. Use it to open the locked door in front of you. Run in and jump on the Big Switch to unlock the Extra Eclair extra stage.

How to get the hidden Illustration Piece in Extra Eclair

In the third section, there is a very tall tree just after the area with a lot of grass patches. Hover up to the top of the tree and knock down the dangling acorn. There is a special key inside that you'll use to unlock the door up ahead.

Unlock the door, collect the Picture Pieces and head through the round-trip door, marked by the red star.

Make sure you have four party members total before entering this room.

Switch over to the fire ability if you're not already using it and light the fuse right near the entrance. Hover your way to the top and then drop down the other side. Jump into one of the cannons (your party members will follow).

The cannon will shoot you up through multiple blocks and drop you next to a hidden chest. The Illustration Piece is inside.

How to unlock the Dream Palace in Planet Popstar

Toward the end of the third section in Friendly Field, there's an exit door on the ground level. Don't leave through that door.

Instead, hover upward, following the flying Waddle Dees. You'll see a platform, slightly to the left high above everything else. Land on this platform and perform the wind and cutter abilities to send a cyclone up to the platform above, which is covered with leaves. The cyclone will sweep away the leaves so Kirby and his pals can fly through and land on the platform.

Sweeping away the leaves also reveals a round-trip door, identified by a red star. Enter this room.

Once inside, jump on the Big Switch to unlock the Dream Palace in Planet Popstar, which just makes it so you don't have to travel back to Dream Land in order to access the Dream Palace again (which you can do if you want).

How to unlock Inside Island (extra stage)

In the second section, when you come across two waterfalls, you'll need to use your friends and your combo abilities to reveal the hidden round-trip door.

If no one in your party has a weapon on fire, Copy the fire ability from a nearby fire Waddle Dee. Then, light someone's weapon on fire and copy the Parasol ability by grabbing it from the switch. Push up on your joystick to trigger the power up on the Parasol, turning it into a Chumasol. Wait a few seconds. The party member that has a flaming weapon will light the wick. Then, stand over the closest waterfall from the wick until it passes. Then, run to the next waterfall and stand there until the wick passes. It will light a stack of dynamite on fire, breaking a stone wall and revealing the round-trip door, identified by the red star.

Enter the round-trip room and head over to the Big Switch to unlock the extra stage, Inside Island.

This guide is being updated in real time as we discover new tips and tricks. Keep it bookmarked and check back often!

Your tips?

Do you have any tips or tricks for beating Kirby Star Allies and finding all of the hidden items? Put them in the comments and we'll add them to the list!

Nintendo has been slowly, but surely, introduced its massive franchise characters to the Nintendo Switch and Kirby is the latest beloved character to make his way over.

Though Kirby Star Allies is brand new to the Kirby franchise, it's the perfect mix of old and new mechanics — enjoyable for experienced players and those who are new to the rotund, pink protagonist.

If you're wondering how the game plays or curious about how all the important mechanics work, here's a rundown of everything you need to get started.

Suck up enemies and absorb their power

Like in most Kirby games, you'll need to absorb the power of your enemies to get through each level.

You'll press and hold the B button to suck up enemies, and once they are in your mouth, flick the joystick down to swallow them and assume their power.

There are a multitude of different creatures, enemies, and objects that Kirby can suck up and lots of different powers you can absorb; however, not everything you put in Kirby's mouth will grant you abilities. Plus, you can also hit the B button without swallowing and launch the enemies back out at other baddies!

Power guides

With a plethora of different powers available in the game, it can be hard to keep track of which each one does; however, Nintendo included a handy guide in the menu.

When Kirby has absorbed an ability, you can head into the game's menu by hitting the + button. This will give you a quick rundown of the current power Kirby is holding as well as a list of moves you can use!

Make friends

Kirby Star Allies really focuses on the "allies" part of its name, giving you the ability to charm various enemies and creatures into helping you!

Press and hold the X button to hold out a heart, then release the button and throw the heart at the enemy you want on your team. Boom! Now you have a new ally with a power that will help you take on the world.

You can only have a max of three allies, but if you come across an enemy that you want on your team, you can always charm them as usual and choose to kick a member of your squad out.

Not only are allies important to progress in the game, this is also how you can play Kirby Star Allies with up to three other players!

Power combos

Probably one of the coolest parts of Kirby Star Allies is the ability to team up with your allies and perform combos.

If you and one of your allies have compatible powers, you can hold up on the joystick to initiate a power combo. This can be a lasting effect — like putting fire on a sword — or a one-shot ability that does a special attack.

Pro tip: While there isn't a list of all the combo powers in the game, if you look in the game menu, you'll get some hint on what types of powers can mix with the one Kirby currently has.

Friend platforms

Throughout the game, you may come across these giant golden platforms, known as friend platforms. They trigger fun and neat special events or abilities that require you have three allies.

Gather your team of buddies on the platform, flick your joystick up, and watch the magic happen. You just might find that the power of friendship can be a powerful thing!

Puzzle pieces

Throughout the game, you'll come across blue puzzle pieces that you can collect. These puzzle pieces combine to make pictures that are just that — photos you can collect.

Food

In tall grass, inside flowers, or in chests, you may come across food and lots of it. All food — whether it's a cherry, banana, or a hot dog — will heal you a little bit! If you're hurting for health, watch out for tasty snacks!

Stars

Another collectible in the game is stars, which are typically yellow, green, or red. These stars allow you to get extra lives pretty easily. Collect a 100 stars and you'll be rewarded with an extra life!

The yellow stars count as one star, the green stars count as five, and the red count as ten stars.

Any questions?

Let me know in the comments below!

Stack is one of those simple, silly, addictive games that you can lose an entire afternoon to if you're not careful. We speak from experience, we really do.

The goal of the game is to stack the moving blocks over each other as high as you can. Sounds simple, right? While this is true, actually doing it can get a little complicated.

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We've played this game for hours and have come up with a few tips to help you build the tallest tower that you can in Stack. Here we go:

1. Time your moves
2. Keep your finger close to the screen
3. Keep your eye focused on one corner of the stack
4. Tap lightly
5. Accuracy counts for a lot
6. Use blocks with a pattern
7. Turn off the sound

1. Time your moves

You need to get the timing down, especially in the beginning. Carefully watch the block move back and forth a few times so that you can get an idea of its speed. Then, when you think the moment is right, tap the screen to drop the block atop the stack.

2. Keep your finger close to the screen

Seconds count in Stack. To minimize tapping delays, try to hover your finger close to the screen. Not too close, though, or you might accidentally tap on the screen too early. You might have to go through some trial and error to find the distance that works for you.

3. Keep your eye focused on one corner of the stack

It's easier to line up the blocks if you focus on one corner at a time. Try to keep your eye on the same corner as you play. If you're right-handed, the upper left corner works the best because your fingers and hand aren't in the way. If you're left-handed, try the top right corner instead.

4. Tap lightly

Keep your taps light. There are a couple of reasons for this: one is that your finger will tire faster the harder you tap. The second reason is that the game might interpret a hard tap as double tap and drop the next block before you're ready to place it.

5. Accuracy counts for a lot

Every time you center a block correctly, the screen will flash. As you continue to accurately place blocks, the flashes will get brighter and more prominent. This is what you want because, after some successive large flashes, you'll get rewarded with a larger block that will act as the base for your ever-growing tower. A bigger base means that you have a little bit more room for error, which makes it a little easier to continue racking points.

6. Use blocks with a pattern

As you play Stack, you'll earn crystals which allows you to purchase patterns and colors for your blocks. While they are purely cosmetic, I have found them extremely useful.

For example, I use the "check" block a lot. I find the lines provided by the plaid-like pattern allow me to better line up my blocks, which has in turn improved my accuracy.

Now they are dozens of different patterns, and some are a little more busy than others, so I encourage you to try out different designs and see which gives you the most success.

7. Turn off the sound

Usually, I wouldn't recommend turning off the sound for a game because the soundtrack is part of the experience; however, Stack doesn't have a soundtrack and the noises it does produce are annoying.

The only sound Stack makes is when you accurately tap the screen, and if you do it multiple times in a row, the chimes get louder, faster, and more annoying. Your mileage may vary with this one, but I found turning off the sound helped me focus on the game.

What's your high score?

Let us know how you're doing in the comments!

Updated March 2018: Added two more tips to help you get the highest stack you can!

Tired of winter? So is Team Alto: The development team behind Alto's Adventure has traded the snow and ice of its original endless runner for sand, canyons, waterfalls, birds of paradise, and more.

But Alto's Odyssey isn't only about beautiful, summery landscapes: The first game's characters have all-new terrain types to learn, and goals to accomplish. That includes running away from angry lemurs, soaring through the sky with birds of paradise, grinding on vines that snap away if you stay on them too long, flying into the sky on a balloon bounce, and getting caught up in a tornado.

I've played the entire game through, and the goals are just as challenging as the original Alto — and twice as fun. If you're struggling to land a combo or curious how to best ride walls with your sandboard to escape chasms, let me help you on your own journey.

Beware: Spoilers abound for the game below. Don't read this unless you don't mind getting spoiled on a few of the new aspects of the game!

Backflips are (still) your bread and butter for gaining speed

As with Alto's Adventure, the backflip — where you tap to jump and hold that tap to pull your characters legs in for a flip — is the easiest trick you can do in the game: You need only a bit of speed and elevation.

Each character handles backflips a bit differently: Alto has an all-purpose jump, while Maya needs a little more speed to get elevation; Maya rotates much more quickly while in the flip, however, while characters like Paz have great land speed but poor rotation.

Whether you're trying to escape a lemur or build up a trick score to activate your wingsuit, you can use backflips to get yourself started before encountering chain-based tricks like grinding, walls, balloons, and tornadoes.

You can also do backflips close to the ground to gain even more trick points and a better speed boost, or continue holding to rotate into a double, triple, or even quadruple backflip.

Every trick you do adds to your multiplier

Any trick you do between leaving the ground and returning to it adds points to your trick score: For instance, doing a single backflip will net you 10 points. But when you do multiple tricks in a single jump, each trick not only has its own separate point value — every trick you do adds to a multiplier.

To give you an example, if you did a double backflip followed by a chasm jump, your counter would look as follows:

• 10 points for a single backflip
• 60 points for making it a double backflip
• 50 points for successfully not falling into the chasm

Your point total from tricks alone is 120, but in addition, you'll add a multiplier for every trick you've done — in this case, 3 — to make your total point total for the run 360.

Balloons, tornadoes, ponds, and rocks are a trick-chaining paradise

Alto's Odyssey qualifies "the ground" as the sand slopes themselves: Other objects just count toward your trick score. You can use these objects — which include hot air balloons, water ponds, tornadoes, rocks, ramps, vine grinds, rope grinds, ship grinds, ruin grinds, and rock walls — to help chain tricks and up your trick score.

When you land on a grind-, ramp-, or wall-based item, you may have ended your initial jump or backflip rotation, but you continue grinding and rack up additional points for your current combo. When you finish the grind, you can flip off it again to continue racking up points.

TIP: When you buy the wingsuit, you can also use it to chain tricks by avoiding the ground, or sending your character back up into the sky to do more jump rotations.

For instance, if I did a backflip into a wall grind, wall jumped onto a balloon grind, then backflipped off of that, my score would look like this:

• 10 points for a single backflip
• 5 points per meter of wall grind (let's say 35 points total)
• 20 points for a wall jump
• 5 points per meter of balloon grind (40 points total)
• 10 points for a single backflip

That'd give me 115 points for the raw tricks before adding a 5x multiplier, bringing me to 575.

But the best trick-chaining items in the game are arguably Odyssey's balloons, tornadoes, rocks, and water ponds. Unlike grinds, you don't have to land on them with your board — you can bounce off their surface (or, in the case of ponds, slingshot through the water) facing any way you choose.

Bouncing off these items won't end your backflip or jump chain, even if you briefly let go of your tap-and-hold — you can re-hold to continue whatever rotation you were on. For instance, if I did a double backflip off a cliff, landed on a balloon, and rotated two more times before landing back on the sand, it would look like this:

• 10 points for a single backflip
• 60 points for making it a double
• 60 points for bouncing on a balloon
• 200 points for a triple backflip
• 600 points for a quadruple backflip

That's 930 points raw, and the 5x multiplier makes it a total 4650 trick score. Not too shabby for what otherwise would have been two double backflips!

Though Alto caps its score for backflips at quadruples, you can continue to rack up individual backflip scores after that initial burst — I've racked up 20x multipliers from a well-chained series of balloons and backflips before.

Use the day and environment to your advantage

Alto's Odyssey, like its predecessor, has time pass as you sandboard through the desert. In addition to special achievements for sandboarding through a whole day and night, you'll get a one-off addition of 1000 points to your trick score every time you witness a sunrise. If you're trying to go for a high score, timing your runs with the rising of the sun can be a big advantage.

Odyssey also gives points at the end of the game for how many landscapes (or, as the game calls them, "biomes") you've witnessed, as well as how many chasms you've jumped during your run.

Learn your characters

All the characters from Alto's Adventure are back to sandboard their way through Odyssey, along with a new desert friend, Sumara, whom you'll meet after reaching level 51. Each of them has specific strengths and weaknesses, and you can achieve certain goals more easily by targeting your runs with specific characters.

Because both Maya and Sumara have quick rotation on their flips, you can use them to get the coveted "backflipping close to the ground" goal early on in the game: On the first few hills, tap to jump about 5m before peak of the dune; these jumps will let your character's head come within 8 meters of the ground, netting you a nice 300 points and getting the goal, to boot. Maya (and Alto, too) is also a great pick for goals that require precision: Because of her slower sandboarding speed, you may be able to spot items (like super coins) in advance and line up your tricks accordingly to grab that goal.

What Paz lacks in rotational speed, the bigger boarder makes up in pure ground speed. Once you get him grinding — especially on rock walls and balloons — he'll fly down the map, making him a great candidate for destroying multiple rocks quickly (or bouncing on them).

Izel, introduced at level 31, is responsible for all the gadgets you can buy (with virtual money only, thankfully — no in-app purchases to be found here) in the Workshop. She's also one of the most versatile characters in the game: She can flip faster than Alto and Paz, outspeed Maya with her rocket sandboard, and she has the best wingsuit control of any character in the game. (No surprise: She invented it.)

Before rotating for a flip, both Felipe and Sumara can extend their air at any time with a second tap to double jump. It's a great way to time a rock bounce or kiss the rail on a grind — as well as save yourself from almost certain annihilation falling into a chasm.

The newest member of Alto's cadre, Sumara unlocks at Level 51 and combines the quick flip skills of Maya with Izel's versatility and Felipe's double-jump. In addition, while Sumara's tricks will irritate the lemurs who live in the desert, they won't actually attack her board, giving you the freedom to take your time amongst the desert wildlife.

Jump baby jump (to avoid lemurs)

Speaking of lemurs: The Elders of Alto's mountain village may not have made the trek to the desert, but in their place you'll find some wildlife not too thrilled to have sandboarders dropping into their environs.

Like the Elders before them, lemurs pop up every few thousand meters you snowboard. Unlike Elders, lemurs can jump and run on grinds: You can't rest on your laurels (or balloon lines) when one's chasing you.

The best way to quickly build speed to flee a lemur is with quick backflips, but you can chain tricks to get an even bigger boost. Just be careful of grinding too long if a lemur is in close pursuit — they'll jump on your board to put an immediate stop your run.

One of the ways you can dodge lemurs even if your backflipping ability isn't great is to out-jump them — if it's starting to get too close for comfort, wait until the lemur starts to leap in the air, then jump yourself. If you get the timing right, the lemur will barely miss out on grabbing your board; from there, you can hopefully pull off a trick to regain your speed.

Drop the vine grind before it drops you

One of the new additions to Odyssey is Vine grinds. Like the flag grinds of Alto's Adventure, vines are hoisted in the air on various types of poles and trees; unlike those flag grinds, the vines can break once you're riding on them for a certain period of time. Alto's haptic feedback and sound effects are both key here — you can feel and hear the vine start to give way, and if you want to save your combo, you can quickly jump to the next grind or flip off before you get dumped into the sand.

Wall grinds are all about those taps

Wall grinding is the biggest gameplay change in Odyssey, allowing players to flip their boards and vertically ride canyons straight up, over chasms, and at angles. It's a bit trickier to master than straight backflips, but the combo possibilities make these new tricks completely worth it.

To start, you'll need to pick up a sandboard from Izel's workshop — it'll cost you 750 coins, which you should be able to earn fairly quickly on your opening runs.

Grinding against a wall or canyon is pretty easy: Once you jump onto it, hold your finger down (like you might during a backflip) until you reach the end of the wall.

But to truly master canyon grinding, you'll want to get control of the wall jump — an additional 20-point trick awarded when you preemptively remove your finger off the screen to end a wall grind before the wall is done. Wall jumping will give you a small boost of momentum upward that you can either turn into a backflip or use to grab the wall again and ride even higher.

Wall jumping can be particularly effective because it's one of the fastest ways to get a quick combo score: You can jump and grab onto a wall multiple times with a tap-hold-tap-hold-tap-hold combination of your fingers, racking up crazy multipliers in the process.

My best advice for wall grinding? Play the tutorial level multiple times after purchasing your sandboard. You can access the tutorial levels at any time without resetting your progress by doing the following:

1. Tap the Menu button from the main screen.
2. Select the Settings tab.
3. Scroll down to the Replay Tutorials section and tap on Sandboard.

You won't be able to progress in the tutorial until you've completed the trick, but after your initial run, you can use this game mode to practice multiple wall jumps until you feel comfortable with the skill.

Like wingsuiting, wall grinds have an arc to them: If you start low, you'll ride up the wall, then slowly arc downward. You can preempt this arc by continuing to wall jump and re-grind, but if you find yourself on the downslope, you can also use wall jumping to gain just a little bit more air.

This trick is especially effective when crossing chasms that start you low and end high: The angle often isn't right for you to simply ride a wall from the start of a chasm to its end. Instead, use wall jumps mid-ride to keep your momentum and arc above the chasm's edge to land on the sand dunes instead of a rocky bottom.

Buy the wingsuit to save your skin from tricky rock walls and chasms

The wingsuit is your best secret weapon in the game: Available for 7500 in-game coins from Izel's Workshop, you can activate a glider mode that lets you swoop and loop-de-loop your way through the desert skies. Each player has a slightly different wingsuit, with Izel's — a freakin' rocket pack — as the undeniable best.

After you earn the wingsuit by pulling off a set number of tricks in a period of time, you can tap or 3D Touch to activate it at any time. How long that wingsuit lasts depends on its fuel level — you'll start at Level 0, but you can buy five more upgrades to extend its time for 1000-15,000 in-game coins, respectively.

By default, the wingsuit will activate after you pull off a set number of tricks in a certain period of time, but you can speed up that process by pulling off a trick combo with an 8x or more multiplier.

Additionally, you can refresh the fuel on a used wingsuit by landing combos with 1-7x multipliers before the wingsuit runs completely out. (If you can't land an 8x combo, make sure to end your trick chain before your wingsuit timer ends, or you'll have to earn it all over again.)

3D Touch allows you to easily switch between wingsuiting and regular gameplay with just one hand, but while it's great to get into the suit, additional 3D Touch actions to end it can sometimes be tricky. Instead, I prefer disabling the feature if I know I want fine control over the wingsuit. You can do that by visiting the Menu button, then unchecking the 3D Touch box from the Settings screen.

Want to rack up your overall trick points score? Proximity flying, or flying within 8 meters of the sand, will give you ongoing points. It's not unlike grinding, and you'll see sand effects, hear specific sounds, and feel certain haptics if you've triggered it.

During your run, you may disturb some other wildlife, though they won't be quite so testy as the lemurs. Your average vine-dwelling birds will simply fly away, but a few desert-native Birds of Paradise will follow and fly with you during your run. You can even fly through the sky with them if you activate your wingsuit while you have a bird companion.

Buy the Compass to focus your tricks in a specific biome

New to Odyssey is the 4000-coin Compass, which lets you switch between the game's various biomes after paying a 1000-coin fee. (Think of it like your own personal short-haul hot air balloon.)

Because each biome has specific features to it, certain goals may only be achievable in that area. For instance, you'll find wall-grinding primarily in The Canyons, while the Temples are full of balloons and ruin grinds; the Dunes have a mix of waterfalls, ponds, and vine grinds.

I rarely use the Compass because the biomes automatically cycle through each other every 4000-6000 meters or so, but it has come in handy for a few goals (like wall riding five canyons in a row).

Check out the workshop's other toys

In addition to the Compass, Sandboard, and Wingsuit, Izel offers a variety of other useful gadgets for the sandboarding explorer:

• The Magnet Timer: A holdover from the first game, the magnet automatically pulls coins on the sand your way. You can upgrade it six levels starting with a 250-coin purchase; the total upgrade will cost you 16,750.
• The Lotus Timer: This glowing purple item is a rethink of the Feather from Alto's Adventure — it lets you hover slightly above the ground and keeps you immune to falls; it also automatically explodes any rocks in your path. Like the Magnet, you can upgrade the Lotus starting at 250 coins, with a total upgrade cost of 16,750.
• The Mysterious Radio and Signal Amplifier: If loot is your idea of a good time, check out the 5000-coin Mysterious Radio. When you pick it up on a run, it sends out a beacon that calls down a number of strange green crates. Smash them open, and you'll find coins, Magnet Timers, and more. You can use the Signal Amplifier to score even more crates on your runs; one level will cost you 500 coins, while the full upgrade will cost 9000.
• The Helmet: Worried about wrecking an all-time best scoring run with an unwieldy crash? Pick up a one-use helmet to save yourself from a single screw-up on the sand for 1500 in-game coins.
• Chasm Rescue: Like the helmet, you can save yourself one time from inadvertently falling down a chasm with this one-use 3000-coin tool.

Leave the menu screen open for a beautiful ambient screensaver

Okay, so this isn't really an in-game trick, but it's still lovely: If you leave the main menu screen open on Alto's Adventure for a few moments, the on-screen items will fade away, leaving the art of Alto's main screen to shift through day and night, storms and sunrises, all with Monument Valley II composer Todd Baker's beautiful ambient soundscape.

Other questions?

Want advice on landing a specific goal? I've played the entire game and am more than happy to assist.

Have you ever dreamed of winning the lottery or the big jackpot at the casino? Did you know every day, hundreds of thousands of people across the world, play trivia on their phones and tablets and win money? It's called HQ Trivia, and it's one of the most fun and exciting apps I have ever downloaded.

It almost sounds too good to be true, but HQ Trivia is a free live trivia game show where you can actually win real money. Whether you're brand new to HQ Trivia or you have been playing from the beginning, here's everything you need to know in order to play and win some cold hard cash!

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How to play

HQ Trivia goes live twice a day on weekdays (3 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET) and usually just once each day on the weekend (9 p.m. ET). When it's time to play, you just have to launch the HQ Trivia app and you'll be greeted by some text and music as you wait in the lobby for the game to start.

Once the game starts, the host of that game (they change hosts pretty often) will come on your screen and start talking. Usually, they crack a few jokes, explain the rules very briefly, and then start asking you (and the hundreds of thousands other people) questions.

The question along with the three potential answers will pop up on your screen, tap on the answer you want to choose, and if you get it right you move on to the next question. If you answer all of the questions correctly you will win money!

12 questions

Over the course of about 15 minutes, the host will ask 12 different questions. Of course, the first question is usually quite easy, but as you progress through each round, the trivia will become more difficult.

HQ is typically general trivia, meaning the questions will touch on a plethora of different subjects like entertainment, world news, sports, history, geography, and more. On occasion, HQ will choose a theme. For example, on New Year's Eve, they asked a lot of questions about the history of New Year's Eve traditions.

You must be quick

You have to answer the questions pretty quickly to not be eliminated from the round. You only have 10 seconds from the time the host starts reading the questions to tap the answer you want to choose. Usually, by the time the question is written out on your screen and all three answers are in front of you, you will only have about four or five seconds to tap your answer — be quick on your feet!

If you don't know an answer — take a guess! With only three options to every question, you have a 33% chance of getting it right and moving on to the next question. Just like an exam, it's never in your best interest to leave a question blank!

One strike and you're out

As soon as you get one question wrong or don't answer within the time limit, you are out of the game. You can keep watching the rest of the game if you wish but will be unable to answer any more questions.

Extra Lives

Although HQ Trivia can be ruthless, there is a little saving grace with extra lives. If you have an extra life and you get a question wrong, you can still continue in the game.

As of right now, you can't choose when to use the extra life; it will happen automatically. Plus, even if you have multiple extra lives, you can only use one per game.

You gain extra lives by inviting people to play the app. When they sign up, all they have to do is put in your HQ Trivia username. The first time they log on to play HQ, an extra life will be awarded to you.

When you win

If you're smart or lucky enough to win HQ Trivia, congratulations, you will be awarded some cash! Each game will have a pot of money that is up for grabs, and all players who answer all twelve question correctly split the pot evenly.

Some games can get over a million active players, meaning you will almost always be splitting the pot with multiple people.

When you win, the money is put in your HQ account, and once you have $20 or more, you can transfer it to a PayPal account. This does mean to collect money you do need to have a PayPal account, so keep that in mind.

Have questions?

Head over to our HQ Trivia: FAQ page for answers to a lot of popular questions!

Read: HQ Trivia: FAQ

Have you won HQ Trivia yet?

I managed to get to the final question, question 12, once. I was so close to victory, but I failed when the moment of truth came. How have you been doing? What's the further you have made it in HQ Trivia? I want to know!

If you're not familiar with Clash of Clans, it's a game where you build forts with gold and elixir resources. Buildings are dragged and dropped, however, players like, and resources are collected and stored periodically throughout the day as they check in. Over time, players build an army of various troop types. They can be taken on single player missions to raze the villages of nearby goblins, or on raiding parties of neighboring villages. Similarly, other players can raid your town. Don't worry, nothing is permanently destroyed, though adversaries can snatch some of your gold and elixir. Players earn and lose trophies through their multiplayer raids to determine rank, and band together in clans in order to earn even more loot in sprawling group battles.

It sounds simple, but there's a lot more to it, and we're here to help!

Be patient, save your gems

The biggest caveat with any casual free-to-play game is the premium currency system. Just about everything is on some kind of timer, and as you progress, those timers get longer. Don't cave and spend your precious gems on speeding up production. Save them for something important that you get to keep. Make a point to complete achievements and clear natural obstacles to build your gem count. Above all else, gems should be spent on builders huts. After that, there's a wide range of discretion on gem spending. Typically, buying resources outright with gems is a poor use of resources; you're better off boosting your own production buildings.

When you do have enough gems, think long and hard about what's important to you in the game, since if you want to get through this without paying a dime, it'll take awhile before you make another major purchase. On the flip side, you'll have a hard time getting through the competitive end-game content without spending some cash.

If timers have got you down, play a few other games and cycle through them. Candy Crush Saga and Simpson Tapped Out are both solid options. A top-ranked Clash player actually went out and made his own similar game, Samurai Siege, and Gameloft has a Rome-themed knock-off called Total Conquest. There's also Supercell's Clash Royale, which puts a card battler spin on the Clash of Clans universe.

Offense is the best defense (and vice versa!)

Your upgrade and build order will vary significantly based on if you want to sit back and collect resources or take the fight to other players. Odds are you'll regularly be bouncing between these two stances. If defense is your primary interest, your first upgrade should be your town hall, then walls, then defensive structures - first mortar, then archer tower, then cannons. Mortar and air defense are your most important towers, so make sure they're close to the middle and have lots of protection. After that, start working on your various resource production buildings, and make sure they're fully upgraded. Some players intentionally leave a few elixir gatherers and mines outside the walls so other players can farm them without destroying everything they have, though it's often practical to leave lower-priority buildings like those outside your walls so you can make sure the important stuff is better-protected with overlapping fields of fire rather than covering a wider area.

Also, remember that players with higher level town halls earn less from raiding lower-level players - don't be in a rush to upgrade your town hall if you're playing defensively. Just because you're playing defensively doesn't mean you should neglect your barracks - in fact, you can queue up troops to train there, and then get a refund on those in the queue, later on, turning your barracks into a kind of temporary, unraidable elixir storage.

If you're getting aggressive, the order is similar. First build up your town hall, then get your elixir production up and running so you can start stockpiling resources right away. Then get your barracks and camps upgraded so you can get started on building an army. Neither of those structures provide resources to raiders, so feel free to plant them outside your walls. After that, flesh out your defenses with walls and cannons.

The only things left would be the laboratory for upgrading troops, spell factory for added offensive power, and gold mines for upgrading structures. Since matchmaking is based on trophy count, some players intentionally keep theirs low so they can clean up against lower-level players, so be careful about which fights you pick early on. If you want to farm players that are lower level than you, intentionally lose trophies by raiding with a single unit.

Shields up!

Getting attacked can suck, but luckily if 30% of your town is destroyed or your Town Hall comes crumbling down, you'll have a 12-hour shield. If 90% of your base is wiped out, you'll get an extra four hours. How do you best make use of this time? Well, don't go out and start attacking right away, that's for sure. That will cancel out your shield immediately.

The safety time is valuable, so use it to your advantage - take some time to figure out how you can improve your economy, build up your army, upgrade towers (since they don't fire when upgrading) or simply stockpile and spend resources before the pain train comes rolling around again. Shields are useful enough that you may even want to voluntarily move your town hall out into the open. You'll lose trophies and some resources, but often the amount of safety time you get out of it is worth it. If you get really itchy for battle, remember that Clan Wars don't affect your shield timers at all.

Make sure to keep tabs on your shield timer. Once it expires, you'll get some extra time where you can attack, but others can't attack you. The duration for this Village Guard varies based on which league you're in. It's a sweet spot that is worth capitalizing on whenever the opportunity comes up.

Finally, you can't be attacked while you're online and playing. If you can keep your iPhone or iPad running the game all day, it's an easy way to stay secure.

Learn the lay of the land

The core strategic mechanic of Clash of Clans combat is to have as many walls between your resources and the outside as possible. To do this, you'll want to make sure there are no gaps in your perimeter, and definitely, make sure that there are no spawnable tiles within your base. You'll want to make sure that structures are tight together, so cannons and other defensive structures can cover as many of them as possible.

Putting your buildings into small compartments formed by upgraded walls is vital to slowing an enemy's advance. Piling up multiple layers of walls makes them more susceptible from the splash damage of Wall breakers, so be sure to fill cells with buildings. You'll also want to have your most powerful defenses positioned more closely to the center of your base; provide as much of a buffer zone with other buildings and walls as possible, so attacking troops have to take longer chewing on other stuff to get to the guns. This maximizes the amount of time your defenses are working, and increases your odds of successfully repelling an attack.

Pick your targets

When finding opponents, there are a few things you want to take into account before you start dropping troops. First, look at their Town Hall level - if it's far lower than yours, you'll be getting a smaller cut of the spoils. You'll get to see exactly how many resources are available for plundering. At the very least, you want to be able to earn back the resources you spend on troops. If resources are all you're after, it's often more profitable to send in a handful of goblins and ultimately lose the battle than winning a full-blown assault that costs a lot of resources.

Before you deploy your first troop, be aware of which resources you're going for. If you're going for trophies to climb the ranks, you'll need to be investing a lot of troops to get two or three stars on your raid. You'll also want to hit elixir reserves if you want to replenish (or earn back) resources for troops. Once you've done that, it's simply a matter of targeting the most powerful defenses for those resources. Use giants to draw fire from towers initially, then wall breakers to breach, then more giants to mop up defenses. Barbarians, wizards, and archers can chew on structures once areas have been cleared of cannon and mortar fire, while goblins can bee-line for resources. Be mindful of how many troops you drop in, though. You want to be able to pull off a win while burning through as few as possible.

Remember that you have no direct control over your troops. Know what the unit's favorite targets are and deploy accordingly. Barbarians will run head-first at the nearest building, which isn't great news if there's a well-defended mortar just a little further in. Send the wall breakers and giants in to open new avenues of attack. Smart players will create bases that funnel troops right into areas with a ton of traps, which can blunt your offensive very quickly.

Get raiding buddies

Once you've maxed-out your Town Hall level, gone through the single-player levels, and rebuilt your castle, you're probably pretty hardcore about the game and ready to start getting into organized clan play. Not only are these great ways to socialize in the game, but coordinated attacks can help you bring in some pretty good loot hauls, too.

Keep in mind that although you can use clans to call in back-up both for attacks and defense, you'll be expected to contribute troops too - it's a team effort, after all. Communicate regularly about what you're up to, get advice from senior members when you're trying to figure out what to do next, and have fun! Your clan may have aspirations for competitive league play, which can get pretty intense.

Punch your weight in Clan Wars

Attack unstarred villages first, since you and your clan have the most to gain from attacking them. When picking targets for the first time in Clan Wars, let the game's matchmaking figure out a good opponent for you. If you end up succeeding against tougher opponents, your lower level allies may have a hard time dealing with an equivalent increase in challenge. If you go for easy ones, then you're taking away good opponents for those lower-level allies, forcing them into battles they can't win. Punch your weight, and the whole clan wins.

Tailor your armies in Clan Wars

You've got a whole day to prepare before war kicks off. Use the scout function for your target enemy encampment to get a lay of the land, and build your army around defeating it. If the walls are low level, go land. If the air defense isn't upgraded, get balloons. Make specific requests in your clan chat for the types of troops you want to send in. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of who you are attacking will help you build the best army to take it on.

Your top Clash of Clans tips, tricks, and cheats!

For a casual game, Clash of Clans has a surprising amount of depth. If you've got any personal strategies for winning bigger, faster, and better, leave them in the comments, or sing out for help with particularly tricky situations.

Updated July 2017: These are still all solid tips to help you succeed in Clash of Clans!

Update April 2017: These are still solid tips for improving your chances in Clash Royale!

Clash Royale is a real-time multiplayer game featuring all your favorite characters from Clash of Clans. Jump into intense three-minute battles against human opponents, where the goal is to destroy your opponent's three Crown Towers.

Lead your troops to victory and win trophies, war chests, and the fallen crowns of your opponents — all of which helps you to upgrade your cards and progress up the global standings ladder. Success requires way more skill than you might expect from a free-to-play Supercell game. Sure, you're still left waiting for chests to open, but the core gameplay will test your card knowledge and strategic timing.

Collect and level up your cards, build your battle decks, and devise strategies to take on the world one opponent at a time.

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1. The importance of joining a Clan

Once you reach King Level 3, you unlock the ability to join a clan. Joining a clan is a good idea for a multitude of reasons. For starters, you're able to request cards from your fellow clan members which helps you to level up your favourite cards a bit quicker than randomly waiting for them to appear in your Victory Chests. You're also able to gain gold and King level points faster by donating extra cards to your other clan mates. Leveling up your King Level increases your tower's HP, and you need gold to upgrade your cards (which also helps increase your King level), so it's quite advantageous to join up early and be an active member in your clan.

Then there's the social aspect of joining a clan. You can chat and trade strategies with your clanmates, and play friendly matches for free which can again help you better strategize your attacks and become a smarter player. Whether you're starting your own clan with some friends, or simply joining a random clan, the benefits you get from joining a clan are totally worth it. Just keep in mind that Clan leaders are looking for active members who donate cards as often as they request them. Don't be a selfish jerk and get yourself kicked out of a clan, as that's no fun for anyone.

2. Attacking in pairs

As you continue to play through Clash Royale, you'll quickly learn that it's a poor strategy to send one troop type in all alone on a rush. Your best bet is to wait for your elixir to charge up so that you're able to drop at least two troops at one time to maximize your effectiveness. For example, say you want to send in a Giant. If you pair him with a flying troop (Minions or a Baby Dragon), your opponent's troops will lock on and attack the Giant, allowing your air troops to offer support and pick off the ground troops.

Another great strategy for playing cards is to drop your troop at the back of the arena, and wait for them to work their way through your half of the arena. This is effective for a couple of reasons: firstly, it allows you to recharge your Elixir while your troop remains (mostly) safe from your opponent's attacks, it'll let you see how they react to the troop you drop, and as your first troop begins to cross the bridge, you'll want to drop your second troop (or more) to to join them on the rush.

3. Figure out your opponent's battle deck

This one is kind of a no-brainer, but in the opening minute of the battle, try to make a note of the cards in your opponent's battle deck, and especially make note if any patterns emerge.

For example, if you see them use a Fireball and arrow attack early on, you should note the risk to amass a large group of ground melee troops (Skeleton Army, Goblins etc.), and especially if you haven't seen one of those cards played in a while. Sound strategy would be to sit on those swarm cards until your opponent plays that long-ranged card with the massive area damage. Time it right, and you'll drop your troops at the perfect moment when your opponent is least-prepared to defend against them.

Same goes for defending. If you've got the perfect card to counter a Giant, Prince or other major damaging troop, you'll want hold off on using them until the timing is right.

Knowing this, it's important to really use those valuable counter cards at the right time. There's no worse feeling than dropping a Skeleton Army to rush on the right lane and then have your opponent drop a Giant on the left. Or to mistime an Arrows attack and then be unable to defend a low hitpoint surge from your opponent.

4. Learn from the best… and from your previous matches.

A cool but probably overlooked feature built into Clash Royale is TV Royale. You can watch replays of matches between the best players in the world. What makes this really valuable is that you get to see how to use and counter cards you may not encountered yet, and card combinations that you may have never considered.

There's also a number of prominent YouTubers creating some fantastic content around Clash Royale. This includes gluttonous videos of them unlocking thousands of dollars worth of Chests, as well as strategy videos that includes valuable gameplay footage and commentary. Here are three of the best YouTube channels to check out

Long-time YouTuber who used to focus almost exclusively on Clash of Clans, but has now expanded to cover Clash Royale as well.

Great channel for Clash Royale strategies and learning how to build — and defend against — specialized decks.

One of the best players on the Global Ladder. An absolute must-watch if you're pretty serious about Clash Royale.

5. Building your decks

Once you've played through the game for a while, unlocking and levelling up cards as you go, you'll likely start finding your own strategies and card combinations you prefer to work with. As a general rule, you'll want every deck to include:

(Skeletons, Knight, Goblins, Spear Goblins)

These can be used to throw down quick support for other troops, or used defensively to draw high-damaging troops (Mini P.E.K.K.A, Prince, Baby Dragon) off their lane. Given their low Elixir cost, they're also helpful for quickly cycling through your deck,

(Archers, Spear Goblins, Musketeer, Princess)

Beyond giving you the ability to inflict damage from a distance, ranged troops are able to target air troops, so they can be an important troop for defending against Minions, Baby Dragons, and Balloons. If your opponent clues into the fact that you lack proper defenses through the air, they'll certainly capitalize on that.

(Giant, Giant Skeleton, Golem, Royal Giant)

Sometimes you'll use them as a meat shield for your other troops during a rush, or defensively to draw troops away from attacking your Crown Tower. Either way you use them, they're great for absorbing attacks and if you're able to escort them to your opponents Crown Tower, they will deal major damage. Whereas the Giant only attacks buildings, troops like the Giant Skeleton and

(Baby Dragon, Minions, Minion Horde, Balloons)

You'll quickly find how important it is to use flying troops, if only to draw out and counter your opponent's flying troops. Early on, you'll probably want to roll with both the Baby Dragon and Minions given how effective they are against all types of ground troops, as well as buildings. Once you unlock Minion Horde and Balloon, that'll be another effective pairing, with the Minions able to swarm against ground and air troops, and the Balloon dealing massive damage to buildings. You don't necessarily need two, but it's typically good strategy to have air support for rushes/defense, and especially when you start using the Balloon.

(Fireball, Arrows, Rocket, Zap, Poison, Lightning, Goblin Barrel)

It's a big risk battling without a damage-causing spell. It leaves you wide-open to an opponent that likes to rush with low-hitpoint troops. Early on, you'll definitely want to roll with Arrows or Fireball, but as your card collection grows, you might be more inclined to use Zap, Goblin Barrel or Rocket instead. Either way, you'll want to be prepared in case your opponent tries to overrun you with hordes, or to slow a counter-attack. It's also important to have a way to consistently deal damage to the opponent's Crown Tower. If you've rushes have weakened their Crown Tower, and you just need to get in one more blow, you're able to cycle through your cards, get that spell and, potentially, clinch the match.

(Valkyrie, Bomber, Wizard, Skeleton Army)

Depending on what cards you got, it's important to have a troop that's good at clearing out multiple troops, fast. Perhaps the best card for this is Valkyrie, which is the perfect troop for countering against the Skeleton Army or other low-hitpoint troops. Simply drop her right in the middle of the action and she'll clear things out quick. Bomber can also be used as an effective counter, but you'll want to spawn him a bit away from the action due to his low-hitpoint. The Wizard can also be a useful counter troop, as his splash damage is effective against multiple troops. Skeleton Army can also be a good card to have for countering against Giants and the like, but keep in mind that Arrows, Fireball or a Valkyrie could easily clear them out.

This strategy gives you two extra card slots for cards of your choice, which could be a faster or hard-hitting troop, such as a Prince, Mini P.E.K.K.A, Dark Prince or Hog Rider, or another card that falls under the categories above. It's entirely dependant on whatever strategy you want to try out, or which cards you prefer to play with.

6. Play it slow, or go for broke from the start.

When the battle first starts, and you're dealt your first four cards, you're immediately need to decide whether to go on the offensive right away, or wait for your opponent to make their first move.

Generally speaking, it's a good strategy to wait for full Elixir before making that first move. Then it all depends on which cards you have in your deck, and whether you're in a position to attack or if you're better off defending.

One basic deck that I've been using to great effect is: Minions, Spear Goblins, Goblins, Arrows, Valkyrie, Giant, Musketeer, and Skeleton Army. When the match starts, if I have a Giant, Goblins and either my Spear Goblins or Musketeer in my starting deal, I'm fairly confident in attacking early, and can usually take down a crown tower in the opening minute. The strategy I've found is to play your Giant, let him walk across the bridge (taking the focus of the Arena Tower and any troops my opponent drops to defend) then immediately dropping my Goblins behind him. They'll stay behind the Giant, protected, until the Giant stops at a building, and then sprint around him to jump in on the attack. Right after dropping the Goblins, I'll throw in my ranged troop, which will remain far back enough to clear out any defending troops, and then push forward to attack the Tower, which should be greatly weakened by the Giant/Goblins combo.

The benefit of this deck and strategy is that while you're playing your Giant, Goblins and ranged troop cards, you'll be rotating through the second half of your deck, which includes your defensive/counter cards (Arrows, Valkyrie, Skeleton Army). So not only have you brought the pain to your opponent right off the top and have them scrambling, you're also in a position to counter if they try to go after your crown tower on the other side.

7. Using Chest Tracker apps

If you want to play through the game without spending a dime but also want to plan out when you're going to receive Gold, Giant, Magical and Super Magical Chests — there's an app for that!

While it might seem random, there's actually an algorithm which determines the order of the chests you receive. Every 240 Chests, you get three Giant Chests, three Magical Chests, 54 Gold Chests and the remaining 190 in Silver Chests.

The Chest Tracker app helps you determine which Chests are coming up next. All you have to do is download the app and then sync up your chests with the chest tracker. This is best done by waiting until you receive a Giant or Magical Chest and then syncing the count to that chest. Depending on how long you've been playing the game, it might be difficult to find out EXACTLY where you are in the cycle, so your tracking of gold chests might be a bit off — but those aren't especially rare, and we're more interested in tracking those Giant and Magical Chests!

You can find Chest Tracker apps for both iOS and Android.

8. The best card in the game is Mastercard

The ability to pay your way to victory is just the sad reality about any of these freemium games. You can totally hold your own as you work your way through the early arenas, but if you want to be one of the very best in the world and battle in the Legendary arena, odds are you're going to need to drop some MAJOR cash to do so. We're talking thousands of dollars in the shop spent on gems to buy Super Magical Chests. Because believe it or not, there are people who have legitimately spent tens of thousands of dollars on this game to pay their way to the top. To even come close to their level playing for free would take months — if not years — of focused gameplay to even stand a snowflake's chance in hell against a wallet warrior.

Don't have thousands of dollars to drop on a mobile game? Few do. Fortunately, you can still get some enjoyment out of those who do by checking out the TV Royale tab and watching some matches from the very elite Clash Royale players. Watching these matches can provide you some insight into new strategies, and help you to better understand how to effectively use and defend against Epic and Legendary cards.

Slayaway Camp is a morbidly funny take on the puzzle genre that tasks you with going on a killing spree, and no one you meet is safe! Unfortunately, at Slayaway Camp it's not quite a free-for-all when it comes to the maiming; there are cops, telephones, bookshelves, and other obstacles that get in the way of your homicidal tendencies.

If you're having trouble getting through the scenes, I'm here to help. I'll give you a breakdown of everything you need to know to get you back to your murdering ways.

Warning: Slayaway Camp is rated 17+ on the App Store, and the content below depicts scenes from the game, which could be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.

• How the mechanics work in Slayaway Camp
• How to kill characters
• How to scare characters
• Extra kills for cash
• Obstacles

How the mechanics work in Slayaway Camp

If you've played any other puzzle games similar to Slayaway Camp — like Red's Kingdom — the basic mechanics are pretty straightforward. Swipe in the direction you want your killer to travel, and they will slide in that direction until something gets in the way.

As you slide around the room, you'll need to dispose of all the people (except cops) in the level before the portal to the next scene appears.

How to kill characters

It's a little too terrifyingly easy to finish off an unsuspecting victim in Slayaway Camp. As you slide around each scene, any person you slide into will be promptly disposed of; of course, if you don't dismember your victims in the right order, you may find yourself rewinding the level a few times until you get it right.

How to scare characters

Sometimes you need your soon-to-be victims to move to a different location before you can turn them into worm food, and you can accomplish this by scaring characters.

If you slide beside a person, they will take the opportunity to run away from you in the opposite direction. Not only can this create a correct path for your killer to complete the scene, but it can also cause the fleeing victim to kill themselves by accident.

Extra kills for cash

At the end of each scene, your murderer will have the opportunity to remove another poor soul from existence by way of a mini-game.

There will be a skull icon that slides along a bar located along the bottom of your screen; tap the screen when the skull is in the red area to complete the gruesome deed and earn in-game cash. You can use this cash to buy other gore packs, which allow you to cause carnage in various funny ways.

Obstacles

There are quite a few obstacles that can help or hinder your quest to maim everyone in sight, and to become a true murder master you'll need to know how they all work!

Cops are always on the lookout for psycho killers like yourself, so you need to make sure to stay out of their line of sight. If you finish your movement directly in front of a cop, it will be game over for you and your killer.

Cops cannot be scared like other characters in the game, but you can still force them into the afterlife by sliding into them from the sides or the back where they can't see you coming.

Nobody at Sleepaway camp, including rampaging murderers, can swim. You'll want to avoid water at all costs. If you fall into any water, you'll be sleeping with the fishes.

If you scare characters into water, they will also die, so keep that in mind as you are moving about!

Like any good summer camp, Slayaway Camp has fire pits strewn about just begging to be used as marshmallow toasters; however, Skullface and your other killers use them to roast people.

You can scare campers into the fire pits, but Skullface and his group of killers will also be killed by firepits if you slide into them.

As you slice and dice your way through victims in Slayaway Camp, you'll come across some Holes that can be helpful or hurtful.

Just like fire and water, these holes will cause anyone who runs over them to end up 6 feet under. Sometimes you'll need to scare characters into these holes — just make sure you don't end up in one yourself.

Throughout the game, you'll encounter objects that you can push over. You'll interact with bookcases first, but soon you'll notice other items such as refrigerators and dressers, which act the same way.

Hit these objects in the front or back, and they will tip over in that direction, which can squish any characters standing on the other side. You'll also notice that pushing over bookcases (and the other items) will unlock new paths for you to take on occasion.

Old school blue rotary phones must have been popular in the 80s because they are everywhere in Slayaway Camp, but they aren't just for show!

Telephones always come in pairs, and each one is a direct line to the other in the level. If you slide into a phone, you'll make a call to the other one, causing the nearest person to answer the phone. This changes the layout of the puzzle and presumably give your killer time to say something creepy like "seven days".

Are you enjoying Slayaway Camp?

The terrible story, the horribly fake gore, all the homages to 80s horror films — are you enjoying Slayaway Camp as much as I am? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter

If you've been paying attention to the internet lately, you may have noticed an increase in 8-bit GIFs sending characters to a variety of bizarre deaths: This is Stagehand, Matt Comi and Neven Mrgan's new endless runner, and it's delightful.

But unlike your garden-variety endless runner, Stagehand doesn't put you in control of the character; instead, you're controlling the very scenery itself as your buddy runs, jumps, and — yes — occasionally falls feet-first into lava.

These mechanics can throw even seasoned gamers for a loop as they get used to the controls, but lucky for you, dear reader, we've got a few tips on how to conquer Stagehand and work your way through its pixelated days, nights, and weeks to beat your friends.

Stagehand - Download now!

The basics

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of making Stagehand your personal endless runner playground, we've got a few starter tips to keep in mind:

Unlike Mario, Stagehand's terrain is procedurally generated for every new game, which means every run will have its own unique problems and platform shapes. Don't try memorizing the terrain — instead, make like a Jedi and trust your instincts.

Frank (and his compatriots) will automatically run forward and jump across short distances, as well as jump up (1-2 levels) or jump down (until reaching a platform, lava lake, or bottomless pit). Don't worry about them; instead, pay attention to the terrain and the platforms to help them get to where they're going.

Though Frank (and others) can be thrown into bottomless pits and lava lakes or smashed into spike bricks, your primary charge is to keep him centered and running in the middle of the screen — too far to the left, and they risk getting smushed between a stray platform and the left margin of your iOS device. And while they do make various hilarious faces when this happens, it also ends your run.

To keep Frank happy and moving, you'll want to move platforms and banners to keep him running forward. As mentioned above, he can jump over minor obstacles, but every time he jumps up, he'll slow down ever-so-slightly. Keep the platforms level (or better yet, keep him falling downward onto platforms), and you'll keep running at maximum speed.

Stagehand may let you take command of its environs, but physics is still (sort of) in play; as such, there are certain objects you can (and cannot) move.

You can move:

• Wavy-pattern platforms, which will slide up and down to an extreme degree
• Dotted platforms, which have limited up and down movement (usually 3-7 levels up or down)
• Banners, which hang down from the sky, can be dragged up or down (though you generally want to throw them skyward)

You can't move:

• Bricks: Like their real-world counterpart, they're stuck in place
• Treadmills: These speed boosts may keep your character from getting smashed against the side of the screen, but they come at an immovable cost — move platforms next to them to get their full effect
• Spikes: These floating torture bricks provide your character with instant death, and as such, should be avoided at all costs — even by you, the stagehand
• Coins: If you want all that glitters, you're going to have to move a platform to get to it
• Gaps, bottomless pits, and lava lakes: They're just there, waiting to greet you.

This tip may be obvious, but it took me awhile to actually utilize: You don't just have to move platforms up to give your character a place to run; instead, you can move platforms down to their jumping path.

Preemptively fixing the terrain for your character is fun and all, but sometimes you just don't have that luxury. (Alternatively, you might want to move a platform to capture some sweet sweet bonus coins.) Whatever the case, you can always move a platform, even if your character happens to be on it at the time. Better still, you can "bounce" platforms up or down to give your character an extra jump boost. (More on that later.)

Once you get a bit of initial control over Stagehand's platform mania, you can get a little trigger-happy, flinging Frank and co every which way to get them across the map faster. But remember: though your character will automatically jump from platform to platform, when they're falling, they have no control on where they land.

Throw them up too high on a platform or fling them forward towards the edge of the screen, and you may send them straight into a lake of lava or an angry spike brick.

Stagehand takes place over the days of the week, and as time is wont to do, it passes as you run from place to place. This is represented in game by the colors of the sky, background, platforms, treadmills, bricks, and spikes.

Keep this in mind when you're moving your character through the world, especially at night — floating spike bricks are identically colored to the night sky, and will punish you if you're not paying attention.

Why pick up coins on your runs? Contrary to many iOS games, these shiny trinkets won't unlock special in-app purchase characters or power-ups; instead, they're used purely to bribe the game to add more distance to your score. The more coins you pick up on a run before you die, the higher your final top score.

Advanced tips, tricks, and cheats

Okay, got the basics? Let's move on to the good stuff.

Keeping Frank and co from jumping upward will only get you so far in terms of saving your speed; eventually, the ever-encroaching day will sap your running power and bring the left margin of the screen ever-closer. To keep your character away from that dreaded edge, keep an eye out for speed treadmills: The longer the treadmill, the bigger the boost to your running ability.

You'll also want to try and level the platforms before and after the treadmill to get the maximum benefit; landing on a treadmill from a jump or having to jump up after a treadmill will almost negate the benefit.

Remember how I said earlier that you can move a platform while your character is occupying it? It gets better: If you move that platform with any sort of speed, your character will get flung upwards, increasing their jump height and width.

I use this tip all the time to avoid getting trapped behind vertical brick walls, or to skip over scary spike brick-filled sections of the map. Just be wary of flinging your character too high, lest they get dumped in a lava lake.

If you've accidentally flung Frank toward a pit or lava lake, you can save him by dropping the following platform as low as possible to try and catch him, then flinging it upward. Doesn't always work, but I've managed to save my character on more than one occasion from certain bottomless death.

Stagehand is a multi-touch iOS game, which means that, yes, you can move multiple platforms (and banners) at once. Not only does this mean you can multitask to level multiple platforms at once, but it's also helpful to remember that your right hand can work just as well as your left in moving obstacles.

If you're playing on the iPhone, be wary of trying to grab and move extra-skinny platforms — unless you have very good mobility control, you may end up grabbing the wrong platform and creating a wall for Frank and co to smash up against.

As your character runs through Stagehand's environs, you may notice little directional arrows on some of the movable platforms: While more of a visual distraction than anything else, these can often hint at the build of upcoming platforms, or impending treadmills/coin caches.

Sure, Stagehand's terrain changes every game — but there are some recognizable elements you can memorize to get a leg up on the game:

• There will almost always be a dotted platform before a vertical brick wall
• A dotted platform with a directional up arrow will often follow a horizontal brick path with coins
• My least favorite pattern in the game is the banner followed by a floating platform and a lower platform — move the floating platform up to keep from being crushed in between

If you're starting to get the jitters from endless running, remember that you can always hit the Pause button in the upper right corner to take a second, recenter yourself, and head back into the platform-moving fray.

For fun and whimsy

These aren't necessarily tips to beat your friends, but they're still delightful aspects to the game.

When you share your death-gifs in iMessage or other text-based services, you'll get a bevy of customized phrases for your death and high score. They're all hilarious, and discovering each one is almost as fun as dying.

As you unlock Stagehand's various characters (Frank is your default, but you can also play as Spaceman, Brianna, and Doc), you'll find that each have their own animations for jumping, being on the verge of being squashed, being attacked by spikes, and the like.

Other Stagehand tips?

Found any great Stagehand tips you love? Let me know in the comments!

Fire Emblem Heroes has a fun and complex battle system that relies on numerous different stats (some obvious, others not so much) of the heroes you have deployed onto the battlefield. Leveling up, equipping skills, and increasing potential are all important aspects of the game.

Lucky for you, I have been fearlessly playing the game (hard work, I know) and am passing all of my knowledge onto you, so you can create the best team of heroes and save the Kingdom of Askr from Veronica!

• Game Modes
• Character Stats
• Increasing Stats
• How to Level up your heroes
• Potential
• How to increase potential
• Skill Points
• Merging Allies

Game Modes

There are currently four different game modes in Fire Emblem Heroes, and each one functions a little bit differently, I'll break them all down for you one at a time.

Story Maps is the main storyline of Fire Emblem Heroes. It's broken up into nine chapters, and each chapter has five parts, for a total of 45 battles you need to complete to finish the game's campaign.

To enter into a battle in Story Maps, you need to have the appropriate amount of stamina points, which regenerates one point every five minutes. You can also use Orbs to pay for stamina if you run out.

Special Maps give you the chance to collect heroes — both new and duplicates. They function the same as the Story Maps, except for one main difference, none of your heroes can die, or you'll lose the battle.

The Special Maps come in two difficulties — normal and hard — and depending on which one you complete, the hero you receive will be stronger. Plus, the hero available to grab by claiming victory on a special map will change each day, so be sure you're always on the lookout!

It's a great way to get new heroes you have yet to unlock, or duplicates of heroes you already have, which you can always send home for Hero Feathers.

Arena Duels are where you go to battle other players, but instead of stamina, the Arena Duels cost you dueling swords. You only get three dueling swords a day, but you can refresh them with dueling crests, which you can get by completing missions.

The Training Tower functions as a place to train — go figure. There are nine different training Stratums that offer increasingly harder challenges. It's the only place you can pick up Badges and Great Badges in the game, so you'll need to visit it often if you plan on raising the potential of your heroes.

Character Stats

Each character in the game has five main stats that will affect the outcome of any given attack. As your characters increase in level — whether by defeating enemies or using items — some stats will increase (I'll go more in-depth on this a little later) and some stats won't.

The five primary stats are as follows:

• Hit Points (HP): The amount of damage a character can suffer before they leave the battlefield.
• Attack (Atk): Attack is the measure of a unit's strength. The higher the attack, the higher amount of damage the character can inflict.
• Speed (Spd): If your character's speed is five or more points higher than the enemy unit you will be able to attack twice in one turn. This extra attack is called a follow-up attack.
• Defense (Def): Determines how much physical damage will be deducted when struck with a weapon.
• Resistance (Res): Determines how much magical damage will be deducted when struck with a magical tome or dragon attack.

These stats can be altered on the battlefield by various skills and by the Weapon Triangle. The game will calculate all the outcome of every battle (barring any special attacks) in the top information bar during a fight, while you don't need to memorize this information, it's good to know to understand how characters level up.

Increasing Stats

A hero's stats will increase randomly each time they level up, meaning some levels a hero will only get a boost to one stats, while other levels they'll get a boost to multiple stats. This random leveling has been a staple in the Fire Emblem series since its creation, and it can be frustrating when your favorite hero gets many crappy stats bonuses in a row.

How to level up your heroes

You can level up your heroes using two different methods in Fire Emblem Heroes, and you'll likely need to use a little bit of both to have success in the harder Story Maps.

Anytime a hero of on your team damages an enemy, heals an ally, or defeats a unit your character will receive experience points (EXP). Each level your hero gains will increase the amount of experience points needed to progress to the next.

You can receive EXP in practically every game mode; however, if your hero is five levels or higher than the character you're attacking, you will receive no EXP. Plus, healers will stop receiving EXP after they have healed five times in a single battle.

You can also increase the amount of EXP you earn, by spending Orbs to upgrade your castle. Something I recommend you do to be successful in battle and spend fewer resources in the long run.

You can level up your heroes outside of the battlefield by spending different types of resources — known as Shards and Crystals — you obtain through completing the Story Maps and battling in the Training Tower, and completing missions. By leveling your characters this way, you can even increase a hero by multiple levels at a time, as long as you have enough resources.

I wish I could leave it there. Unfortunately, Fire Emblem Heroes has ten different resources you need to collect to level up heroes. It sounds daunting but isn't quite as complicated as it sounds once you understand how it works.

Shards

Shards are used to level up heroes under level 20. There are five different types of Shards. You obtain shards by completing chapters in the Story Maps mode or by battling in the Training Tower.

• Universal Shards: These yellow shards can be used to level up any hero under level 20. You can use universal shard in conjunction with other shards listed below to help spread your resources around.
• Verdant Shards: These green shards can be used to level up any character with a green weapon wielding hero under level 20.
• Azure Shard: These blue shards can be used to level up any blue weapon wielding hero under level 20.
• Scarlet Shard: These red shards can be used to level up any red weapon wielding hero under level 20.
• Transparent Shard: These gray shards can be used to level up any colorless weapon wielding hero under level 20.

Crystals

Crystals are more powerful versions of shards and are used to level up heroes level 20 and over.

• Universal Crystals: These yellow crystals can be used to level up any hero level 20 and over. You can use universal crystals in conjunction with other crystals listed below to help spread your resources around.
• Verdant Crystals: These green crystals can be used to level up any green weapon wielding hero level 20 or over.
• Azure Crystals: These blue crystals can be used to level up any blue weapon wielding hero under level 20.
• Scarlet Crystals: These red crystals can be used to level up any red weapon wielding hero level 20 or over.
• Transparent Crystals: These gray crystals can be used to level up any colorless weapon wielding hero level 20 or over.

Potential

Leveling up your characters is only half the battle, to beat the most challenging battles in Fire Emblem Heroes you'll need heroes with high potential.

Potential is represented by a star rating — five stars being the highest — and it affects the chances of getting better stat increases when leveling up. Furthermore, the higher a hero's potential, the higher their base stats will be, meaning a level one hero with three stars will be less powerful than the same hero that has four stars.

Potential isn't all about stats either; some heroes will be unable to unlock their most powerful skills until they have a certain number of stars.

Technically, the easiest way to acquire heroes with a 5-star potential rating is to summon them by spending Orbs; however, depending on the day, you only have about a 3% chance of getting that lucky. Instead of spending Orbs to summon heroes and relying on luck you can increase the potential of your heroes by spending other resources you collect.

How to increase potential

You can only increase the potential of a hero that's level 20 or higher, and only by one star at a time. Once you increase the potential of a hero, they will be put back to level one, but start with the base stats of their new potential level, which means you will have to put in some time and effort to level them up again. When you do get them to the level they were at before, they will be stronger than the were previously.

To increase the potential of a 3-star hero to four stars, you'll need 2,000 Hero Feathers and 20 badges that match their color either Verdant Badge, Azure Badge, Scarlet Badge, or Transparent Badge.

To increase the potential of the a 4-star hero to five stars, you'll need 20,000 Hero Feathers and 20 Great Badges that match their color either Great Verdant Badge, Great Azure Badge, Great Scarlet Badge, or Great Transparent Badge.

You can collect a few Hero Feathers by tapping on the heroes hanging around your castle in the Home tab of Fire Emblem Heroes' main menu, but the way to get the most Hero Feathers at once is by sending heroes home.

As you summon heroes, you are bound to get many duplicates, and while you can merge them together (more on that later), you can also send them home. When you do, you'll be awarded Hero Feathers. The more powerful the hero you send home — both in level and potential — the more Hero Feather you'll get in return.

The only way to earn Badges and Great Badges is by winning battles in the Training Tower. Claiming victory in the 1st - 5th Stratums will earn you Badges, and any of the harder Stratums will award you with Great Badges.

Each day Nintendo switches the color of Badges you can earn in the Training Tower so if you're saving up to increase the potential of a certain hero, make sure you take advantage when that color is available.

Skill Points

As your heroes level up, or you merge allies (see below), they will be awarded skill points (SP) that you can use to teach them skills. Each hero has six skill slots, but not every hero will have access to a skill for each slot. Skills can cost as low as 50 SP or as high as 500 SP, and usually the more expensive the skill, the more powerful the skill.

The right mix of skills — offense, defense, and support — between the four heroes in your party can turn the tide of battle, so make sure you diversify to ensure the best results.

Merging Allies

As you summon more and more heroes, you will undoubtedly acquire many duplicates, and instead of sending them home you can always merge them.

Merging two of the same heroes together will grant that hero SP and sometimes even increasing their level. The more powerful the hero you merge, the more SP you will be awarded.

What else do you need to know?

There's a lot going on in Fire Emblem Heroes, and if you're new to the game, it can be a little overwhelming. Was there anything I missed in this guide? Do you have a question about the game? Let me know in the comments or even hit me up on Twitter and I'll be happy to help!

Although it's still early in 2017, Red's Kingdom already has my vote for iOS game of the year — I did give it a glowing review. If you're considering buying the game, or have already been playing the game, you may be surprised at the depth of Red's Kingdom.

I'll break down everything you need to know to play through Red's Kingdom and enjoy the nutty adventure!

• How the mechanics work in Red's Kingdom
• Room Exits
• How to defeat enemies
• How to increase your health
• Obstacles of Red's Kingdom

How the mechanics work in Red's Kingdom

The basic mechanics of the Red's Kingdom are pretty simple. Swipe in the direction you want Red to travel, and he will roll in that direction until something gets in his way. By rolling Red around like this, you need to make it to the next room to progress through the game.

The nuts you find on the screen help act as a guideline on where to roll, so if you ever get stuck and there is still nuts left in the room, think about which way you need to roll to collect the nuts, and you'll probably find your way to the exit.

Room Exits

Exits are marked with a colored "X", so you know where you want to roll Red to progress to the next room. Some rooms have more than one exit giving you multiple options to progress and opportunities to find treasure chests, so make sure you explore!

There are three different colors of exits. Green exits are always reachable, while yellow and pink exits need special abilities you pick up along the way.

How to defeat enemies

Enemies in Red's Kingdom are the gray squirrels (who work for Mad King Mac) you'll come across in various room throughout the game. Usually, you'll have to defeat them before progressing forward.

When you first run into one of these goons, you won't be able to defeat it. Instead, you'll just pass by the gray squirrel completely ignoring him like an ex-lover at a mutual friend's birthday party; however, once you receive the Medallion (shortly after passing that first enemy) you can start bashing into the gray squirrels and do some damage.

Over each enemy, you'll see some hearts, usually two or three, that's the health meter of the enemy. Red also has a health meter (represented by hearts) in the top left corner of your screen. You attack an enemy by rolling into them and each time you do both you and the enemy will lose one heart, and Red will roll backward. Make sure to be mindful of your health when you see gray squirrels on the screen.

Pro tip: If you tap on the screen just before Red makes contact with a baddie, you'll perform a critical hit. A critical hit will deplete two hearts of your enemy's health meter, and Red will avoid taking any damage, it's a real win-win!

How to increase your health

Red will start the game with four hearts in his health meter; however, you're not stuck with four hearts for the entire game. As you journey throughout Red's Kingdom you will find items called "heart in a bottle"; collect three of them to increase your health meter by one heart.

These bottles are typically found in optional rooms in the game, meaning you'll have to go looking for them. Don't forget to explore everywhere to find them all!

Obstacles of Red's Kingdom

Red's Kingdom throws plenty of obstacles in your way as you journey through the game. You'll need to know how they all work to get past all the rooms effectively; I'll break each one down for you.

Note: I'm only about ⅔ of the way through Red's Kingdom, so as I find different obstacles I'll be sure to update this list for your reading pleasure.

Once you go over a ramp, you can roll back against it cause Red to stop in his tracks — just like hitting a wall or barrel. This will allow you to roll places you couldn't before and help you get to where you need to go.

Later in the game when you've acquired the Wingsuit, ramps will cause you to fly across a few squares. This is the power you need to access yellow exits.

When you roll over or stand on a pressure block, the block will raise up out of the ground. This will give you the ability to reach new higher paths or give you a new place for Red to stop.

Rolling over or standing on a button will activate certain objects, such as raising a portcullis, giving you access to new places you couldn't reach before.

Doors with keyholes need keys to open. You'll find keys in chests throughout Red's Kingdom, though they are often not in the same room as the locked door, be sure to look around.

Red or blue pots that have a green target on them can be broken by rolling into them. You'll need the medallion first, which is the same item you need to fight enemies.

Activate switch blocks by standing on a red button.

Color-coded levers control the red and blue blocks found in Red's Kingdom. When the knob on the lever blue, the blue boxes will be raised, and when the knob on the lever is red, the red boxes will be raised. You activate the lever by rolling towards it when Red is standing beside the lever.

There's a lot of instances where you'll find more than one color-coded lever like this in a room, forcing you to go through a maze of red and blue boxes and activating the different levers at different points.

These little black pools of tar will stop Red in his tracks when he rolls over them, giving you the ability to access different paths.

When you activate a lever (roll towards it while standing beside the lever), it will trigger different object to move. Typically, you'll find that levers will cause pillars to rise or fall.

Keep in mind that some levers are timed, meaning you only have so long before the lever automatically resets itself. You'll know a lever is timed because you'll hear a ticking sound — like a timer —when you throw the switch.

Red can move push block by rolling into them in the direction you want to move the block. Block can only be moved in the black and white squares on the floor. Sometimes you can push blocks onto buttons, which will open new paths for Red.

When you roll over or stand on a reset button, any pressure blocks you raised will go back down. These red buttons will have a circular arrow on them, so you don't mistake them for normal red buttons.

If you roll into a spiked barrel, Red will lose a heart from his health meter and be flung backward. Ouch! Avoid spiked barrels at all costs!

Rolling into a bouncy tire will cause Red to bounce off in a different direction.

When Red rolls into a gopher hole, he will travel underground and pop up on the other side rolling in the same direction he went in.

Are you enjoying Red's Kingdom?

Are you enjoying Red's Kingdom? Did you find this guide helpful? Let me know in the comments below!

Who says you always have to play by the rules? In Fire Emblem Heroes, you can bend the rules to your advantage and nab some of the best heroes in the game before you even get started.

If you don't mind spending some time and putting in a little work to give yourself a competitive edge, read on: I'll show you how it's done!

• How it works
• How to start the game with the best characters!

How it works

In Fire Emblem Heroes, the easiest and fastest way to get more powerful heroes is by summoning them; however, summoning heroes costs Orbs and Orbs are the game's premium currency, which means they cost real dollars.

It costs five orbs to summon one hero; continue summoning heroes in succession, however, and that number goes down to four. After a few more summons, it goes down to three. To summon the maximum amount of heroes in one session — five — you'll need a total of 20 Orbs.

That said, right now with all Nintendo's launch promotions, you can get 27 Orbs without spending a dime. Do you see where I'm going with this?

If you haven't installed the game yet, you can nab all the best characters simply by spending your orbs wisely; if you've already started the game, you can delete the app and its data from your phone to give yourself a better shot at a top-tier hero team.

How to start the game with the best characters!

If you've already started playing Fire Emblem Heroes, but want to try this hack, you need to start by deleting your account.

Note: If you haven't started the game yet, you can skip to step 2.

1. Launch Fire Emblem Heroes.
2. Tap Menu.
3. Tap Account Management.

4. Tap Delete All Data.
5. Tap Yes.

6. Delete the Fire Emblem Heroes app on your phone.

Go to the App Store and redownload (or download, if it's your first time) Fire Emblem Heroes and install it on your phone.

You have to play through the tutorial battles before you can collect any bonus goodies from Nintendo. It shouldn't take too long; the enemies don't put up much of a challenge.

After the tutorial, you'll be offered a chance to link Fire Emblem Heroes to your My Nintendo account. Sign into an old account (or create a new one) to snag an extra 10 Orbs.

After the game downloads the rest of its data, you'll receive various pop-up notifications from Nintendo awarding you various items. Claim these gifts from the Owl in your castle.

1. Tap on the Home tab in the bottom left corner of your screen.
2. Tap on the Owl near the top right corner.
3. Tap Accept All.

At this point, you should have up to 27 Orbs: Get readty to summon some sweet heroes, and pray you get some five-star ones in the mix!

1. Tap the Summon tab.
2. Tap the arrow to switch the focus to Deep Devotion. This focus has a slightly better chance of producing 5-star heroes.
3. Tap Summon.

4. Tap Redeem.
5. Tap each summoning stone, one at a time, until you've used them all. You'll need to confirm that each stone will cost you Orbs.
6. Tap Close when all the summoning is done.

If you don't like the assortment of heroes you summon, it's not the end of the world: Go back to step one and do this as many times as you want!

Honestly, if you get a 5-star hero like I did in the picture above, it's probably worth starting the game from there, as they are exceedingly rare and super-powerful.

Did you use this technique?

What heroes were you able to summon? Let me know in the comments below!

As anyone who follows me on Twitter can attest, I became a teensy bit obsessed with Alto's Adventure. The endlessly-charming endless runner for iOS and Apple TV combines llamas, snowboarding tricks, beautiful landscapes, and devilishly hard goals to keep you coming back time and time again. I've spent awhile with Alto's twisting slopes and precipitous chasms, but news of upcoming sequel Alto's Odyssey had me pulling the game back out for more fun on the slopes. Here are a few of my top tips for acing each one of those 60 levels and beating your friends' high scores.

• Just the basics
• Master tricky combos
• Advanced combos and wingsuit tricks
• Alto's Odyssey game guide

Just the basics

When you start out on the slopes with Alto, you can score points by performing a number of tricks, including backflips (by tapping and holding anywhere on the screen), jumping on rocks or campfires, and grinding on flag lines or rooftops.

Single backflips, though fun to do, score a paltry 10 points per flip; rock bounces are a bit better, offering 80 points. Grinds, though, stack depending on how long you stay on the line or roof: They start at 10 points, then add 5 points every 2 meters.

As such, grinds are your best bet for initial point values. Even better, you can combine grinds with other tricks to multiply your score. Every trick you do adds a multiplier value: For example, a backflip onto a grind with a backflip in-between or at the end of the grind will net you 3x your initial point value collection. There are even sections of the game where you can jump from line grind to roof grind to increase both your initial point value and your multiplier.

You'll only get those points if you land your trick, however, so make sure to stick the landing and avoid crashing into the snow.

The game may be called Alto's Adventure, but Alto isn't the only playable character in your arsenal. As you play through the game, you'll unlock a total of six mountain-dwellers, each with their own unique abilities.

Alto is the protagonist, and as such sports all-around decent snowboarding abilities.

Maya (one of my three favorites) is spry and light and can make quick work of backflips, but has trouble with speed and chasms if she's not coming off a trick boost. She's great fun for doing long runs and scoring crazy combos, however.

Paz is a smasher: He's big and not really a backflip kind of guy, but will pick up some serious speed on downhill runs, ice slides, and grinds. And when he's riding a speed boost off a trick, he can demolish all manner of items for a much longer period of time than Alto or Maya.

Izel is reputedly responsible for all the fancy gadgets you can pick up in the workshop. She's a faster backflipper than Alto or Paz, and gets extra speed boosts off tricks thanks to some fancy rocket-powered snowboard technology. I love using Izel to travel many meters quickly, though that speed sometimes means she can run into unpredictable chasms and snowbanks.

Felipe is my secret favorite character: a llama who snuck out of Alto's home and has learned how to snowboard. Being a llama, Felipe has a bit more jumping ability than his human friends, and can double-jump to get some extra airtime. You can time Felipe's jumps by either double-tapping instantly to get some initial big air, or tapping once and then tapping a second time to stall Felipe's snowboard and give him a little extra time to land his jump.

Tupa is the eldest and wisest of Alto's cast of characters, and by virtue of being the level 50 character unlock, he has skills stolen from each prior character. He has Maya's quick flipping, Paz's extra speed boost time, Izel's rocket snowboard, and Felipe's double-jump capability. Moreover, he has an extra-special power as it relates to chasms, which I won't spoil for those who haven't yet unlocked him.

In true endless runner fashion, Alto's maps are randomized, so you'll take a slightly different snowboarding run each time you head down the mountain. That said, there are a few features that routinely and regularly appear, and if you pay attention, you can plan for them.

You'll always have two minor hills at the top of each run, which I like to use to calibrate how quickly it takes your character to do a backflip. From there, you can expect to see one to two chasm jumps before your first elder (who usually appears around 2500m), then one to three chasm jumps in-between each subsequent elder.

Each elder you encounter will be slightly faster at chasing you than the last, and do expect to see more rocks pop up in your terrain as time goes on.

Chasms can be the bane of an otherwise awesome Alto run, in part because they feel so unpredictable and have a variety of different designs and styles. There are easy chasms that offer a ramp up to a flag line you can grind; there are multiple tiny chasm jumps; and there are downright scary chasms that require you to jump 15m upwards to land on the other side.

In general, the easiest way to get over a chasm is to ensure you're riding on a speed boost from a recent trick, though if you have Alto's Wingsuit, you can occasionally cheat and fly over a chasm rather than having to jump it.

There are two ways you can stay vigilant for chasm jumps: look out for the chasm signs, and pay attention to the map ceiling. The signs are fairly easy to spot: little triangle hazard wedges planted anywhere from 10 to 100 meters before a jump, depending on the chasm's severity.

The latter is for speed runs: When you're going speedily down the mountains in Alto's Adventure, the map zooms out to let you see more of your run.

Chasms, however, have a fixed zoom, and as a result, if you're going fast and suddenly the map starts to zoom in, you'll probably want to start doing a backflip or activate the wingsuit to avoid accidentally dropping into a gap within the mountain, never to be seen or heard from again.

On Alto's mountain snore many a tired elder, and they don't particularly like enterprising young snowboarders, llamas, or fellow elders doing backflips above their head. If you wake an elder, you want to stay ahead of him at all times, lest he fell you with a whack from his riding stick.

The easiest way to do this? Backflips and grinds. Lots and lots of backflips and grinds, and if you have the wingsuit, combo those up for even more speed. Every little boost helps. Even if it looks like an elder is catching up with you while you're in the air, the speed boost you'll get from landing your combo will help you run far off down the mountain while he and his llama remain behind.

(Just make sure you don't accidentally land on a rock after executing your combo—the slow bounce off the rock let the elder whack me with his riding crop, ending a particularly long run.)

You can finally ditch an elder by escaping over a chasm, as pet llamas turn out not to be very good about chasm-jumping (unless they're on a snowboard).

Each of Alto's characters sport a bright red scarf, which grows as they perform tricks and combos while speeding down the mountain. Stop doing tricks, and the scarf shortens.

You can use the scarf as a benchmark for your speed boosts, as well as measuring how close you are to activating the wingsuit (after you've purchased it from the Workshop).

The easiest way to quickly lengthen your scarf is to try for proximity backflips—these are backflips you do close to the ground. I mention later in the guide on best places to do these, most of which are early-on in your run; chain these with a few grinds, and you'll get your wingsuit before the first chasm.

One of Alto's charms is that the game has ever-changing weather, time, and scenery, but that can also be frustrating when you're, say, trying to backflip through a dark, stormy night.

My solution: Pump up the brightness on your iPhone or iPad screen.

There are three items in the Workshop: The Magnet timer, Hover timer, and Wingsuit, all of which can be purchased with the in-game coins you pick up along your runs. Though it may be tempting to buy the Wingsuit off the bat, I suggest investing in the five Magnet timer levels first: The Magnet automatically picks up coins for you, and the longer it runs, the more coins you can pick up without having to manually backflip or snowboard through them.

More automatic coin pickup means more money quickly, which gives you a faster path to buying the Wingsuit and the extended Hover timer.

Master tricky combos

You can score bonus points (and avoid tripping over rocks) by smashing rocks and campfires using a post-combo speed burst: Any time your character has what looks like a force shield in front of them, they can break rocks and explode campfires.

Just be careful — that force shield only lasts for so long, and you don't want to accidentally trip over a rock you wanted to destroy.

There are a couple of devilishly evil level goals within the game, one of which is "land two triple backflips in one run." Though undoubtably hard, this goal is definitely achievable with Maya and some careful timing. Getting the top speed boost from a trick and jumping off one of the giant hill dropoffs is the best way I found to accomplish this, though you can also do a double backflip off a ramp or grind and use a rock bounce to achieve that third flip. (If you do a double backflip and hit the top of a rock, you're still considered to be "mid-flip" and can complete an additional rotation to count as your third.)

I also suggest practicing your flips with a Hover feather: If you see a blue feather in the course, you can pick it up and flip to your heart's content — if you land on your head, the hover timer will reorient you upwards and continue your route.

I spent an ungodly amount of time trying to master rock bounces after running up against the goal "Rock bounce to grind twice in one run." And, spoiler: Even with a lot of time and practice, this is a hard goal to achieve. In part, this is because rock bounces are tricky beasts: Most characters have high horizontal jump speed, so timing your jumps to land on a rock — especially a rock before a grind — is a difficult proposition.

I found a few different ways to finally achieve this goal: repeatedly jump with Maya to slow myself down before a field of rocks; activate Felipe's double jump to jump early and use the second jump to stall over the rock; and use the wingsuit to fly over a rock, then deactivate it to drop right on top of the rock.

The 250-point "kiss the rail" bonus happens when you land on the last two meters of a grind and then hop off again; it's also the subject of a few different goals. The easiest way to do this is to backflip off the second-to-last chain on a flag line, then let go of the backflip to clip the very end of the line. You can also accomplish this by having Felipe or Tupa jump, then tap again to stall over the end of the line.

Like kissing the rail, a proximity backflip — essentially, a backflip where your head rotates close to the ground — nets you some sweet bonus points. You'll also need to perform a few of them for goals throughout the game. Luckily, there's a great place to do a proximity backflip right at the start of the game using Maya: After the very first hill, jump right at the flat before the second bend.

If you miss out on a proximity backflip here, you might also try backflipping a lot with the Hover feather: If you land, you'll get the points and the goal; if you don't land it, you'll get to continue your run.

Generally, you should be able to backflip over a sleeping elder using Maya with little difficulty — the game's randomized hills are almost always designed in such a way to make it a landable trick.

If you keep waking the elder up, however, you can always use my cheaty-mc-cheaterson way: Time your wingsuit flights and fly over the elder, then backflip before you hit the ground.

The game's length goals are often the most frustrating, but can be achieved if you focus on a trick-conservative, play-it-safe run. Especially when it comes to collecting scared birds, I found using Felipe and his double jump saved me from a lot of precarious situations — like coming into a chasm with no speed. Whoops.

In the 1.1 update, Alto's Workshop gets a few awesome new items: namely, the chasm rescue pickaxe and the anti-crash helmet. Yes, helmets now protect you both in the real world and on Alto's icy slopes; purchase one for 1500 coins and you'll survive the next crash you encounter on a run. Like most real-world helmets, however, Alto's concoctions are one-and-done—you'll get through your first crash unscathed, but you won't be so lucky your second time around. Same goes for the pickaxe, which for a paltry 3000 coins, will save your snowboarder from a run-ending chasm fall.

Helmets are especially useful when you're practicing double- and triple-backflips, or when trying to best your current run length; pickaxes can save your snowboarder's bacon early-on when you're still collecting characters and need to get over especially tricky chasms; after you've gotten Tupa, you can also use it to have a third chance at chasm recovery.

Can't seem to collect the right number of llamas for a particular goal? Purchase the Llama Horn from the Workshop to have a chance at seeing it during a run; if you pick it up, you'll get a stampede of llamas coming your way, ready for the collecting. (Horns show up once about every 5000-7500 meters, so don't panic if you miss the first one on a run.) You can increase the horn's strength five times with more coins: Each level will call more and more llamas as you put more in-game currency into the strength meter.

Advanced combos and wingsuit tricks

Once you pay your in-game currency to unlock the wingsuit, you don't get it as an immediate option — because, really, would you really want to snowboard down the mountain when you could fly?

Instead, you activate the wingsuit's controls once you've performed a certain number of tricks in a row and grown your character's scarf accordingly. A white Wingsuit button appears along the left side of the screen; tap it, and your character sheds their skis and takes to the sky.

Tap to fly upwards with the Wingsuit, just as you would jump, and release to lower to the ground; if you tap and hold with enough speed, your character may even pull off a loop-de-loop. (Tip: Do this right after you've flown down a hill for maximum loopage.)

The wingsuit power lasts for approximately 10 seconds, though if you land a trick before the wingsuit timer runs out, you can reboost its power back to full. If you run the wingsuit all the way down and haven't paired together at least a 6x combo, however, you'll have to build everything back up.

That said, it's pretty easy to build crazy-long combo chains with the wingsuit: Flying from grind to grind can let you chain together two long grind combos; you can fly straight upwards and attempt a 40-point loop-de-loop or get the air needed for double, triple, and quadruple backflips; you can fly and drop out on a rock to bounce; and flying through an archway nets you a 240-point "thread the needle" bonus.

I particularly like using the wingsuit to try and rack up multipliers: Backflip to grind to wingsuit loop to grind to backflip to grind to wingsuit loop to rock bounce to grind may sound insane, but it's doable if you time your flights just right.

One of the level goals towards the end of your adventure has to do with proximity flying, or as I like to call it, "the bane of my snowboard-flying existence." Proximity flying essentially requires you to activate your wingsuit and fly low and parallel to the ground for a certain amount of time; you're doing it right if you kick up a cloud of snow dust.

Having played through most of the game's 60 levels, there were points where I felt irrevocably stuck, only to walk away for a few hours and come back to beat it with ease. If you're feeling like you can't achieve a goal, don't be afraid to take a break and come back to it, or try focusing on your energy solely on that goal for the run. I only managed my rock-bounce-to-grind-twice-in-one-run goal after about 300 failed runs; some goals will be similar. But each run lets you practice and get better at potential yet-to-be-discovered goals.

I also recommend pausing the game if you've completed one half of the goal, but feel too shaky to finish — you'll get a three-count to come back into the game, and it can help reset your frame of mind and get you a bigger overall score.

Your tips?

So there you have it — all my top tips, collected into one strategy guide for Alto's Adventure. Anything I missed? Anything you need help with or answered? Sound off in the comments.

Once you hit level five in Pokémon Go, you can pit your creatures against others at your neighborhood Pokémon Gym — for fame, glory, and some Pokécoins, of course.

But how do you go about getting to a gym, fighting, and winning? Here's the deal.

Update: It looks like Pokémon Go has once again changed the rules when it comes to both taking down and leveling up a Gym. This time, though, instead of making it easier to tear down and harder to build up, they've added some much-needed balance. According to Reddit, here's the new prestige math:

First: Find a Pokémon Gym

Gyms are pretty well-marked on the Pokémon Go map: They're the largest, tallest landmarks out there. Like Pokéstops, you can tap on one to find out where, exactly, it exists in the real world, but you can't actually battle until you're in the immediate vicinity.

Pre level 5, visiting a gym won't do too much: The Professor will pop up and let you know to come back once you're a bit more experienced. Once you hit that level cap, however, you can visit a gym and be asked to choose a team affiliation: Instinct (Yellow), Mystic (Blue), or Valor (Red). When you fight at gyms, you're fighting to maintain control for your team — as such, make sure you choose wisely.

How to play at Neutral, Friendly, or Enemy gyms

Once you've chosen a team, you can fight at gyms. They're marked in three ways: neutral, friendly, or enemy.

A neutral gym can be claimed by any of the three teams; to claim a gym, you assign one of your Pokémon to hang out and fight for you (and your team). You can only assign one of your Pokémon per gym — once a gym is claimed, it becomes a level 2 friendly or enemy gym, and has a spot for up to one other Pokémon from a member of that faction.

If a member of your faction holds the gym, you can spar amongst your teammates to raise your gym's prestige, and thus, its level — the higher the gym's level, the more Pokémon that your different team members can station there (and the harder it becomes to overthrow). Gyms range from level 2 (two Pokémon from different members of your faction) to level 10 (ten Pokémon from different members of your faction), and Pokémon are ordered from lowest CP (combat power) to highest.

• How to add one of your Pokémon to an established gym

Once you've added a Pokémon to a friendly gym — whether you've conquered it for your team or are joining an established gym — that Pokémon goes to live at the gym until it's been conquered. You're not responsible for "playing" those opposing fights, and won't have access to train your Pokémon until it's been returned after the conquering of that gym — so choose the Pokémon you'll leave wisely.

When training at a gym, you can choose just one Pokémon to spar with your teammates; as long as you win at least one fight, your gym's prestige and level improves. (Bonus tip: If you battle your teammates with a lower-CP Pokémon and win one fight, you'll gain more prestige points and personal XP than if you crush a couple Pokémon with a super-high CP pal.)

• How to power-level your gyms

Enemy gyms are, well — the enemy! As such, you fight at an opposing gym to reduce your opponent's prestige and eventually conquer it for your own team.

Unlike training at friendly gyms, you can use up to six of your Pokémon against the up to 10 gym leaders. Winning will net you personal experience points, subtract from your opponent's Gym prestige, and — with enough battling — remove your enemy's claim to that gym.

Okay, but how do I get good enough to win fights?

If you want to be the best Pokémon Trainer in all the land, you have to level up some Pokémon to do your dirty work. Unlike the original Nintendo games, you don't level up your creatures by fighting other ones in the wild; instead, you catch Pokémon to earn Stardust and Candy. Those two items can help either Power Up or Evolve your critters.

• Best Pokémon to level or evolve for gyms

Generally, I recommend avoiding using your Stardust until you reach level 20 and start catching higher-level base creatures; if you want to start battling early, however, spend it on just one or two Pokémon (ideally who are already at a relatively high CP) to start out, then expand your roster at level 20.

How to fight at a gym

Okay, so you've got your trained-up Pokémon and you're ready to fight — either by training at one of your own gyms, or smashing an opponent's. How do you actually, y'know... fight?

You might be woefully undermatched against an opposing Gym, but you can still do well and damage their Gym's Prestige if you know one simple trick: How to match up an opposing Pokémon's type and element. Each creature has a primary type, which usually matches up to some sort of element. And, as in the real world, some elements are more successful than others.

• How to beat high-level Pokémon by determining weaknesses

If you're playing at a friendly Gym, you'll just have one Pokémon to fight your entire gym's lineup; at enemy gyms, however, you can swap between your creatures at any time during a fight. If your primary Pokémon faints, you'll automatically swap to the next in the rotation, but you can also tap the Swap Pokémon button to choose a different creature mid-fight if your first one's running low on health or isn't being effective against your enemy.

The name of the game is tapping and swiping — with the occasional tap-and-hold to use your Pokémon's Special Power. When you enter a Gym battle, you'll be able to hit your opponent at any time after the "Go!" command has been given — and they'll be able to hit you, too.

To attack your opponent, just tap anywhere on the screen; you'll see a "Very effective!" or "Not very effective," followed by a drop in their HP — or a "Dodged!" if they avoided your attack. But this isn't your mom's Pokémon game: This fight is simultaneous, so there's no real wait-and-see to find out if you managed to hurt your opponent or not. You just have to go and be quick on the draw.

The best way to win a battle is the art of the Dodge. You can dodge any attack your opponent throws at you with the right timing — though you may not escape all their damage, your Pokémon will be a lot happier off than if it had to take it all at face value.

To dodge, look for the speed lines emanating from the attacking Pokémon: This is the cue that lets you know when to swipe left or right to get out of the way. Ignore the opposing creature's attack animations — in some cases, you'll see the "attack" hit your Pokémon long before the actual damage shows up. The damage is what matters, however, and by watching for the speed lines, you can dodge it.

Once you've dodged, you may be able to get in one or two basic attacks before your opponent's had a chance to reset — especially if you've just dodged one of their Special Attacks. Once you see those speed lines appear, however, dodge again to start this damage-dodge-damage chain all over again.

Once you've built up enough basic attack damage, you'll charge your Special Attack: When you see one of the blue bars underneath your HP light up and glow, you can tap and hold on the screen to unleash your top-tier battle move. Two black bars will sink down on either side to let you know the attack is occuring. While this is happening, you can't add any other fight moves, nor can you dodge an opponent's attack.

How to keep a gym for your team (and earn mad cash and Stardust)

Once you've conquered a gym for your team, it's time to leave a Pokémon there to defend it. You can choose any of your creatures, though once you do, they're stuck there until they get defeated, and you can't level them up in the meantime.

• How to power-level your gyms
• BubbleStrat

If you happen to stumble across a gym that's already owned by your team, you can train it up to add an extra slot for your Pokémon — or, if it's of a higher-level than there are Pokémon inside it, you can just add one of your creatures right away.

• How to train and add your Pokémon to a Gym

Once you conquer a gym, you can visit the Shop daily (once every 20 hours) to collect the fruits of your labor: free Pokécoins and some extra Stardust. It's a great way to circumvent the insanity of in-app purchases and generate some nice rep for your team.

• How to claim your Defender Bonus and get Coins and Stardust

Questions?

Have other questions about battling in Pokémon Gyms? Let us know below.

Pokémon Go has taken the world by storm, with more and more countries joining the fray every week. People everywhere are seemingly running around at random, looking at their phones for one express purpose: to catch 'em all.

I've been playing non-stop since Pokémon Go's debut in the U.S., and I've collected a pretty good list of tips and tricks to help you excel in Pokémon Go.

New: Latest Pokémon Go Updates | Next Pokémon Go Event

Hot: Best movesets | Best Power-Ups | Find rares | Catch bonuses

Guides: Pokémon Go tips + tricks | Pokémon Go cheats

Finding and catching Pokémon

While you can find Pokémon just about anywhere, if you want to find lots of Pokémon, you want to go to a populated area. Cities are a pretty good starting point, but we prefer parks — especially parks with a good body of water, or saltwater beach parks — for the ultimate Pokémon catching experience. Different terrain will help you find different types of Pokémon, while parks with multiple PokéStops ensure that you won't run out of Poké Balls while hunting.

If you can hit 10 unique PokéStops in a row, with less than 10 minutes between stops, you'll even get a bonus in the form of extra items and XP. And if you attach a lure to a PokéStop you'll attract even more Pokémon.

When Pokémon appear, they appear for everyone and can be caught by every person in your area. As such, hunting in pairs (or even groups) is encouraged:

Not only is it fun to banter with friends while wandering your neighborhood for Pokémon, but you can also cover more ground as you try to figure out just where that Kadabra might be hiding.

You can also light up multiple PokéStops with lures, attracting even more Pokémon. The more friends, the more lures, the more Pokémon, the more fun.

Pokémon Go will disable PokéStop spins and Sightings/Nearby when you're going over 25 mph — no one should be driving and playing! — which means even if you're a passenger or on public transport, your best bet is to head out on foot, even at night.

That means you need to be extra safe. It's clearly not safe to go by yourself to a Lure-enabled PokéStop in the middle of a city at night. That said, you can smartly hunt in pairs or small groups at night to find Pokémon you wouldn't ordinarily find during the daytime — just stick to well-lit areas and have a car nearby. (I've been able to find quite a number of awesome Fairy-type Pokémon either by sitting in my house or wandering close by on nighttime walks with my dogs.)

As you wander the world, your Trainer has a small pulsing ring that glows around them. This ring is your personal radar in the game: It's what determines whether you're close enough to a PokéStop or Gym to use it, and it's also what pulls nearby Pokémon out of hiding.

Once Pokémon appear in your Sightings screen, it should be within 700-1000 feet of your location: If you walk around sidewalks or streets in your area, your radar ring should bring it out of hiding. So no, you don't have to try and jump your neighbor's fence or run through graveyards to find wandering Pokémon — your radar should reveal them without any extra work on your part.

If you live in San Francisco or one of the other lucky few locations with Nearby screens enabled, you'll be able to track down exactly which PokêStop is sheltering the Pokémon you're looking for.

For whatever reason, Pokémon seem to love spawning in parking lots — especially if they're near PokéStops. I've had luck seeing four, five, and even six common Pokémon show up in the lot by our local Trader Joe's, as well as several gas stations.

It's pretty awesome to see that Pikachu spawn on your coffee machine, but AR (augmented reality) can often make it more difficult to catch your creatures — and drain your battery, too. To keep your device steady and ready for anything, flip AR off — you can always turn it back on if you find a Pokémon in a particularly hilarious location.

One exception: If a flying Pokémon is too far away for you to hit reliably with a Poké Ball, you can turn on AR and move the screen around until it's sitting closer. Then take the shot.

Throwing a regular Pokéball at a Pokémon is the very least you can do to catch it. As you level up, you'll get access to Razz Berries, Mega Balls, Ultra Balls, and catch bonuses based on medals. From the very beginning, though, you can greatly increase your odds by throwing curve balls and going for accuracy bonuses.

GamePress has done all the math and figured out all the bonuses for Poké Balls, Mega Balls, Ultra Balls, Razz Berrys, medal bonuses, and catch bonuses. The whole article is worth a read, but here's the take away:

1. Throwing a curve ball is super important. A curved pokeball is stronger than a straight Great ball and almost as strong as a straight Ultra ball. Learning how to throw the curveball consistently will make the biggest difference to your game.
2. Stack your bonuses. Ultra Ball is equal in catch probability to throwing two Poke Balls, but making an excellent curveball with Ultra Ball and Razz Berry is better than throwing ten Poke Ball in a row! Each bonus makes the previous bonuses worth more.
3. In order to get the throw bonus, you have to land inside the colored target ring! Time your throw for the smallest target ring you can make consistently. The bonus for the circle size varies continuously with radius, so not all Great! throws give the same bonus to catch rate.
4. Razz Berries don't affect flee rate, only catch rate.
5. Catch probability doesn't depend on throw attempt. So if the pokemon breaks out, you have the same chances on the next throw.
6. Higher level Pokemon are harder to catch. Pokemon with low CP gain are often deceptively high level. A 300 CP Metapod could be level 30, for example, and unexpectedly difficult to catch as result.
7. Your chances don't depend directly on your trainer level. So if two players with different levels encounter the same pokemon, they will have the same chances of catching it if it is at the same CP.

• How to catch Pokémon with bonuses
• How to throw a perfect curveball in Pokémon Go

Game developer Niantic's servers are frequently overloaded, and as such, sometimes your game can crash or severely hang after you catch a Pokémon, leaving it motionless in its Poké Ball. Don't panic: Force quit the game and re-open it. In the crash, you'll either have automatically caught the Pokémon (check your Pokédex), or it will still be spawned and waiting for you.

PokéStops and the world

As much fun as it is to play at lunchtime, the afternoon hours are often some of the busiest times for the game. If you can play later in the evening or early in the morning, you'll have a much more enjoyable time exploring the world.

If you're new to playing Pokémon Go, or you simply haven't had time explore much yet, take a look at the PokéStore and Gyms in your area before you head out.

You can find maps online that will show you where exactly the PokéStops and Gyms are, and then you can plan your daily walks, runs, cycling, even lunch or evening activities around the prime locations.

That way, you'll have a better change at getting PokéStop bonuses, like spinning 10 unique stops in a row with no more than 10 minutes between them, or the daily and weekly PokéStop bonuses for consistent play (spinning at least one stop a day, and spinning at least one stop a day for seven days.)

Because Gyms are easier to take down now and harder to build up, you can also plan routes that take you past the most Gyms. That way you can make sure you have as many as possible — up to the maximum of 10 — Pokémon planted for when you claim your Defenders Bonus.

Some Pokémon have "nests" or frequent places around town where they spawn consistently. The type of Pokémon that spawns there changes every two weeks, at least recently, but the points themselves are fairly consistent.

Many people file reports on these points to make them easier for others to find — like you! If you discover a nest or spawn point, you can also share it with others.

The Silph Road Atlas is a great place to start finding your local nests, or nests in places you're about to visit.

If it's lazy Pokémon-catching tips you seek, you can find quite a few Pokémon by attaching Lures to your local coffee shop or bar and just sitting back and waiting. You'll usually get a new Pokémon spawning inside the Lure every 3-5 minutes, with a chance of a rare Pokémon appearing. You can stack this with Incense, as well, but Incense will spawn many more Pokémon if you're actually walking through the world (up to 1 a minute) as opposed to staying stationary (more like one every 5 minutes).

And, of course, you can spin the PokéStop once every 5 minutes to stock up on Pokéballs, revives, potions, and eggs.

When you first start Pokémon Go, it's tempting to want to boost and evolve your first Pokémon, but I'd encourage waiting: As you level up, you'll find lots of higher-level creatures — which will often become much more powerful when evolved.

You want to get the highest CP (Combat Point) Pokémon possible. You can tell by the level ring around their portrait: The amount filled in the ring indicates their level in comparison to your own max level (the far right side of the ring). If they're close to your level to begin with, the result will be a much-higher evolved creature.

You also want to evolve the best appraisals possible. That's when you tap the menu button and then tap appraise, and your team leader tells you all about your Pokémon.

So, wait for that 900+ CP Eevee or Growlith that draws wonder (Mystic), amazing (Valor), or best of them (Instinct) before hitting the evolve button, and hit the evolve button before you power up.

• What Pokémon should I evolve?

Lucky Eggs, which you can get as level rewards and buy from the Shop, will double your personal Trainer XP you collect for 30 minutes. You can use these pretty effectively to grind up your level while catching multiple Pokémon, but the best time to use these eggs is when you're evolving Pokémon.

Normally, you get 500XP for evolving Pokémon; with a Lucky Egg enabled, that jumps to 1000XP every time. If you have a ton of Pidgeys, for example, you can evolve them into Pigeottos with just 12 Pidgey Candy — and net a ton of experience, in the meantime.

You can also have a lucky egg ready before getting big XP awards, like for hatching a 10K egg or when you're about to get you 7-day streak PokéStop spin award or catch award. Ideally, start that Lucky Egg, get those streak awards, then go straight into your mass evolution cycle to really rack up the XP!

If you don't have time to take a walk to get your 9.8km/10km egg to hatch, try moving your phone back and forth on your desk or around your office — if your trainer moves, you're in a place where the GPS signal is unsteady enough that you can trick the game into thinking you're walking. Keep moving your phone back and forth, and eventually your egg will hatch!

Pokémon Go stops counting your distance when you go faster than 10.5 km/h, though. That an average based on pings, so stop/start traffic, multiple traffic lights or stop signs, etc. all count towards the final speed, but if you're rocketing down a highway, you get zero credit.

Gym battles and teams

You might be woefully undermatched against an opposing Gym, but you can still do well and damage their Gym's Prestige if you know one simple trick: How to match up an opposing Pokémon's type and element. Each creature has a primary type, which usually matches up to some sort of element. And, as in the real world, some elements are more successful than others.

• How to beat high-level Pokémon at gyms

Here's a quick list of each element type, and what opposing types of Pokémon are best-suited to take them down:

• Normal: Fighting
• Fire: Water, Ground, Rock
• Water: Electric, Grass
• Electric: Ground
• Grass: Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, Bug
• Ice: Fire, Fighting, Rock, Steel
• Fighting: Flying, Psychic, Fairy
• Poison: Ground, Psychic
• Ground: Water, Grass, Ice
• Flying: Electric, Ice, Rock
• Psychic: Bug, Ghost
• Bug: Fire, Flying, Rock
• Rock: Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Steel
• Ghost: Ghost
• Dragon: Ice, Dragon, Fairy
• Steel: Fire, Fighting, Ground
• Fairy: Poison, Steel

GamePress's Pokémon Go page also has a roster of the most powerful Pokémon you can currently evolve for each type.

Opponents will always attack twice in a row at the beginning of a Gym Battle. So, to save yourself some early damage, dodge a couple times right away.

The way Gym battles work has been drastically changed. Now it's three times easier to tear down an opposing Gym and three times harder to train up a friendly Gym. Also, you can no longer snipe a Gym — wait for someone else to take it down and then quickly grab it before they can. Now, the person who clears a Gym gets first chance to fill it.

But, with new rules come new opportunities. Since Gyms are easier to take down, more people are taking them down. Even Level 10 Gyms are falling all the time. Even a single higher-level player can take down a Gym now in not much time at all. Since Gyms give three slots when they change teams, and a single high-level player will only take one of those slots, that leaves two more open for others.

So, when you're getting near the time to claim your Defenders Bonus, take a trip around your local Gyms and look for those empty slots. You can quickly go from 0 to 4 or more without any extra effort.

You can even try taking down a few low-level Gyms on your own — it's so easy now.

Your tips and tricks?

Any I've missed that you find invaluable to playing? Let us know below!

More Pokemon Go guides

○ Pokémon Pokédex ○ Pokémon Go Events ○ Pokémon Go Alolan Forms ○ Pokémon Go Shiny Forms ○ Pokémon Go Legendaries ○ Pokémon Go Best Cheats ○ Pokémon Go Tips and Tricks ○ Pokémon Go Best Movesets ○ How to find and catch Ditto ○ How to find and catch Unown ○

In true Nintendo tradition, Niantic Labs has provided intrepid Pokémon fans with a fun little hack at the beginning of the game: Instead of starting out with Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle, you can choose Pikachu — if you're willing to walk.

First discovered by Polygon, you can pick everyone's favorite starter electric Pokémon by repeatedly ignoring the trio of starter Pokémon in front of you. Here's how to go about doing it.

How to get Pikachu as your starter Pokémon

1. Sign up for a Pokémon Go account.
2. Make your avatar.
3. When the Professor prompts you to "Catch a Pokémon," walk away from Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander.
4. If you walk far enough away, the trio will respawn and your phone will vibrate. (We recommend walking along a sidewalk in your neighborhood to trigger this.)

5. Repeat step 4 3-5 more times, and a fourth Pokémon will appear: Pikachu!

NOTE: Polygon managed to make Pikachu appear after just 4 respawns, but it took me 5 to make this happen. Your mileage may vary.

Even if you already have an active Pokémon Go account and missed out on this hack, you're not out of luck on catching Pikachu — all of the starter Pokémon, even the hidden ones, are available for capture around the world.

Questions?

Which Pokémon did you start with? Any other questions about getting Pikachu? Let us know below.

Panda Pop is essentially a Bust-A-Move or Puzzle Bobble clone starring a cute mother panda and her little ones. Earn points by reuniting mama and her babies, and travel through the Bamboo Forest as you level up. Are you ready for your next game addiction?

Free + IAP - Download now

• Match the colors
• Watch the basket
• Keep throwing
• Bank shots
• Lanterns and fire
• Lanterns and vines
• Dual lanterns

Match the colors

If you're familiar with games like Puzzle Bobble, you should know exactly what you need to do to score major points in Panda Pop. The bubble that the mother panda is holding needs to connect with corresponding colored bubbles above her.

The more bubbles you can take out in one shot, the more likely you are to free a baby panda. Watch for block colors of bubbles where more than one baby is trapped so you can double your points in a single toss.

If you don't aim properly, the bubble will stick to the lowest level and create an obstacle instead of removing any bubbles, so make sure you take the time to line up the shot for the perfect match.

Watch the basket

The basket next to the mother panda is your cue as to what bubble color is coming next. At any given moment you'll want to make note of the bubble the mother is holding and the one that is coming next at the top of the basket.

If you see an opportunity to break up a section with the bubble in the basket, simply tap the throw counter to switch the basket bubble with the bubble in Mama Panda's hands. The counter will also tell you how many bubbles remain for the level, so watch that number as you progress to know whether or not you need to strategically swap out the bubbles.

Throw strategically

Even if you don't have a clear shot to clear bubbles, you have to keep throwing. If it doesn't seem like there's a shot to pop bubbles, try to aim your throw off to a side that won't obstruct a future shot to clear out a bunch of bubbles or free a baby.

In fact, if you've got to throw away a bubble, a good strategy would be to find a spot where you can place the bubble onto a big group of bubbles of the same color. That way, when the right colored bubble comes up, you can clear out the whole lot — including the throw-away bubble you stashed.

As always, swap colors if it will help you make a shot sooner than later so things don't start backing up on you.

Bank shots

As you progress through the game, the bubble formations will become much more complex. In order to take out color sections, you will have to get good at making bank shots off the side of the screen. You'll find that the number of babies might be very low at a higher level, but they are much harder to reach, requiring accurate trick shots and more strategic thinking.

Lanterns and fire

Once you pass level three, new power-ups become available to you. A red lantern will appear on the left of the screen and increase in power as you destroy clusters. When you tap it, your next bubble becomes explosive. When launched, it causes an explosion that will clear out entire sections of multi-colored bubbles.

You'll also start noticing bubbles already alight in the section above Mama Panda . When the lantern connects to one of these tiny fires, the explosion results in a minimum of 1,000 points. If your lantern is empty and you need it to free some bear cubs, it's worth spending some coins between levels to buy lantern fuel as you never know if you'll need it.

Lanterns and vines

When the green lantern appears on the left side of the screen, power it up by taking out sections of bubbles. Once it's reached capacity and it's glowing, tap it to power up the bubble the mother panda is holding. When the balloon is launched, vines will snake up and and take out a vertical row of bubbles wherever you launch the bubble.

This is helpful when you're trying to reach a baby that is stuck a few rows out of reach or if you're trying to get access to a grouping of colored bubbles that are blocked. Use this power up strategically, since three vines are released to take out three vertical rows when it's connected to same-colored bubbles.

Dual lanterns

When both the red and green lanterns appear, every section of balloons that you take out gives them power. Tap both of them once they're glowing to turn the launch bubble into a ball of fire that takes out giant circular sections of bubbles. Use this power-up to aim at stubborn multi-colored sections that would otherwise take too long to clear with regular bubbles — plus, you'll earn up to 1,000 points while you're at it!

Journey through the forest

These tips should help you get through 10 levels, but the rest is up to you. There are over 1000 levels in Panda Pop, with the bubble formations becoming increasingly complex as you go along. Share your journey in the comments below and add your favorite strategies for rescuing these little bears!

Angry Birds Action! is Rovio Entertainment's answer to the classic pinball machine. Pull back, let go, and watch your bird bounce around the board. These top five tips, hints, and tricks for Angry Birds Action! will help you beat your friends' high scores.

Free - Download now

• Carefully choose your route
• Break stuff
• Save your gems
• Choose the right bird
• Return to stages that have less than three stars
• How do you play?

Carefully choose your route

Sometimes the stage will open with an arrow made of coins or a line of coins running through obstacles. Your first instinct might be to line your bird up and let it go, but taking a few seconds to see what else is around will often reveal a better route for your bird. As you can see in the screenshots above, Red was left with no option but to collect the last two candies after running straight up the middle.

Break stuff

Sometimes the best strategy is to aim your bird into a packed corner and see how much damage it can do. Breaking obstacles on the board results in a higher score and, most important, more coins for you, meaning you will receive treasure chests faster. If you have an easy board and think you can spare some moves, see how big of a score you can rack up before completing the main objective. As you can see above, most of the obstacles have been broken and the coins collected, and Red still has two moves remaining.

Save your gems

Although using gems to buy keys can be enticing, it is better to save gems to revive your birds when you run out of lives. You will often find yourself in a position where you could finish the stage if you had one more move. Good thing you saved up, right? The number of gems required to revive your birds increases each time you run out of lives on the same board. The number resets when you complete a stage.

Choose the right bird

• Red: The standard, starter bird with no special powers.
• Bomb: Blows up the first object he hits. Use Bomb when you have a large obstacle in the way of an egg.
• Chuck: Stops time as he runs, meaning you can bypass fans and weave your way through moving obstacles.
• Terence: When Terence gets on a roll, he's hard to stop. Use him to bowl through groups of obstacles, potentially clearing a path for your other birds.

Return to stages that have fewer than three stars

Retracing your steps is never a bad idea. Although you will not receive a second key for the one or two stars you've already received, you will receive a key for extra stars you bring in. Returning to stages without three stars also gives you an opportunity to use special powers received in later stages. You can attempt to achieve three stars on a stage as many times as you want, as long as you have enough energy.

How do you play?

Let us know in the comments section below if you have any tips, tricks, or cheats we missed. Don't forget to include the stage you're currently working on!

Round Balls is popular but poorly rated. Everything is subjective and we don't judge. All that matters to us is that Round Balls matters to a lot of you. Probably because, like bird flapping games past, it's simple in concept and hard to put down. Tap to move your ball from one side of the lane to the other while avoiding the spikes. You rage. But you play! So, use these tips to get as far as you can, as fast as you can.

Free - Download now

• One-sided tapping
• Keep your finger(s) out of the way
• Look here
• Keep calm
• Gems can be your enemy
• Remove outside distractions

One-sided tapping

You can tap anywhere on the screen and the ball will change sides. You do not have to tap on the specific side of the lane to get it to change to that side. This one took me awhile to figure out. I was getting quite frustrated tapping on alternating sides of the lane to move the ball. Once I started using one finger, the game became much easier.

Keep your finger(s) out of the way

The track is a continuous circle. No matter how many rotations you make, the lane will not change shape, making it easier to plan your tapping fingers accordingly. Staying out of your own way is essential, especially as the ball picks up speed.

Look here

Focus on the side of the lane your ball is currently on. This might take some getting used to, but I find it is easier to process one side's spikes rather than both sides' spikes. In some instances you have to plan ahead — like when there is a series of closely spaced spikes — but for the most part trying to plan ahead will simply get you a Game Over screen.

Keep calm

Although you have to tap quickly and consecutively, letting your fingers get ahead of your brain will be your downfall. My game ended many times because my finger tapped when I didn't want it to. If you've played several consecutive games (cough hundreds cough) try taking a quick break. Breathe and reset your tapper before restarting. You'll likely get a bit further than last time.

Gems can be your enemy

You don't have to collect the red gems. They are a bonus that let you unlock a different colored ball. If collecting a red gem means hitting a spike, forget about the gem. You will also want to get used to the different look of gems and spikes. Tapping to avoid a gem has ended many of my games (see the first screenshot above).

Remove outside distractions

Concentration is key. Noise and action around you will divert attention from the game. Lock yourself in a dark room and ignore your family and friends. Just kidding. But turning off the game's music helped me get a higher score. For the real pros out there: consider turning on your phone's Do Not Disturb mode. Nothing worse than receiving a call or text message while you're on your way to the global high score.

Bonus tip

Tap as much as you can, whenever you can. If there's a noticeable break between spikes, tap away. Your score will climb a lot faster.

Your hints, tips, and tricks

Please let us know below how you play Round Balls. And don't forget to include your high score!

What do Iron Man, Groot, Venom, Kamala Khan, and Black Bolt have in common? Well, besides the fact they're all Marvel universe characters, they're also some of the options you have to play with as you battle your way through Marvel: Contest of Champions, for your mobile device.

While the game's story is somewhat loosely based off of Marvel's 1982 comic of the same name, it also pulls from other more recent Marvel movies, like "The Avengers" and "Guardians of the Galaxy."

If you haven't quite figured out how to become the ultimate champion in the Contest of Champions, never fear – this list is here!

• Free + IAP - Download now
• May the odds be ever in your favor
• Don't forget about your heavy attack!
• Keep your eye on the crystals
• Repeat quests to beef up your Champions
• Play on your iPad!

May the odds be ever in your favor

Every time your Marvel character goes to fight their opponent, you get to see how the odds are shifted depending on your character's abilities. The middle of the 'Select Your Champion' box has a big, cartoonish VS with a dial indicator on top showing if you have better — or worse — chances of winning in your epic battle.

Don't forget about your heavy attack!

Throughout your battle, your character will charge their special attack in the lower right-hand portion of the screen. Once it is full, you can unleash a killer attack on your opponent that deals a ton of damage, far more than a basic tapping attack.

… But, did you forget about your heavy attack?

By pressing and holding the right half of the screen, your character takes time to charge their heavy attack which doles out a quite a bit of damage. Though it's not as powerful as your special attack, it's the next best thing for taking down your enemy — keep in mind that charging this attack can leave your character vulnerable.

Keep your eye on the crystals

Throughout the game, you gather crystals for different upgrades and resources. With them, you can get new Champions to join your team, collect battle chips, and more!

There are dozens of rare crystals throughout the game that you can fight to collect, but completing quests will grant you purple crystals, which yield a variety of rewards.

Other crystals appear depending on how long you've been playing; for every four hours you battle, you'll get access to crystals that can heal your characters, and, for every 24 hours of play, you'll get the type of crystals that will give you the options of stronger Champions.

Repeat quests to beef up your Champions

Sometimes your team is too weak to take on bigger challenges as you progress in the game. This can be frustrating, but there's a simple solution! By going back and replaying earlier quests, you can beef up your characters for bigger, more intense battles so they're not as big of a challenge.

Play on your iPad!

For better control and a wider view of the game, try playing Contest of Champions on your iPad. You'll be able to get a better feel for the fighting style on a larger screen, and you'll have better control as you smash your opponent into the ground.

Now you're playing like a real Marvel hero! Have fun kicking butt with Spiderman, slicing through enemies with Wolverine, and Hulk smashing with... Well, that one's kind of obvious.*

Cut the Rope: Time Travel takes you through twelve ages of human—er, nomkind: Middle Ages, the Renaissance, a Pirate Ship, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Stone Age, the Disco Era,the Wild West, Asian Dynasty, the Industrial Age, the Future, and a Parallel Universe. In each of them, you'll need to feed Om Nom's ancestors if you want to succeed. Here's how!

Free – Download now

• Don't just go in, swipes ablazin'
• Don't stop trying!
• Use that freeze button!
• Watch out for bombs!
• Conserve your hints
• Conserve Om Nom's superpowers, but don't forget about 'em

Don't just go in, swipes ablazin'

The key to Cut the Rope: Time Travel—or any Cut the Rope game, for that matter—is to take stock of the entire stage before you go cutting ropes. Don't just start swiping and hope for the best, especially in stages where there are pains in the butt, like blades, bombs, rockets, and more.

Get in, look around, take a breath, then fire away.

That being said, don't stop trying

Cut the Rope: Time Travel lets you try as many times as you want, no life-limited wanted or needed. You might have to watch an ad in between tries, but you'll never have to wait more than 30 seconds to try again.

That means you shouldn't be afraid to try. And try. And try. You'll get better each time.

Use that freeze button!

The freeze button is gonna be one of Om Nom's and your biggest friends during your time travels. So use it. When you first encounter the freeze button, the game forces you to use it so you learn how. Later, when it pops up again, you'll be under no such pressure. But that doesn't mean you should forget about it.

Any time you need to take a moment and really take stock of the whole stage, use the freeze button. It'll make it much, much easier to collect all three stars.

Watch out for bombs!

A new feature in Cut the Rope: Time Travel is the bomb. It explodes when it comes into contact with ANYTHING in the level. Take full stock of your surroundings because you're going to need to know where to cut and you're gonna need to know quickly!

Bombs also push any swinging object outward instead of inward, so keep that in mind when you've gotta time things out just right and direction is playing an important factor.

Conserve your hints

You may be tempted to use your hints right away. After all, levels can be frustrating. But you really want to wait as long as you can before burning a hint. Wait as long as you possibly can, because when you really need a hint, you'll really need a hint ready and waiting.

Don't blow through them. Don't run out. Use your hints not when you want them, but when you need them!

Conserve Om Nom's superpowers, but don't forget about 'em

Since the button is so tiny, it's easy to forget that Om Nom has telekinesis. Yes: Mind bullets!

Like the freeze button, telekinesis makes the stage infinitely easier, setting up an invisible boundary around the entire stage, which stops candies from falling, lets you control them, and makes them impervious to any features of the stage that might destroy them.

Super powers make it waaaay easier to collect all the stars and make sure the candies get safely to Om Nom and his ancestor.

How do you play?

These are the tricks I've been using to cut ropes and travel time. If you've got other tricks, better tricks, let me know!

Got any tips for Cut the Rope: Time Travel that might help other folks? Sound off in the comments below!

Pleasing graphics, jolly soundtrack, and RPG elements make Crossy Maze a ton of fun to play. Appearing straightforward at the beginning, the game increases in difficulty as you progress. To help your Pip along the way, you will gain items and hearts. How does it all fit together? Here's how to get a head-start on unlocks, pickups, and play-styles.

Free – Download now

• Don't get trigger happy
• Study and plan
• Know your enemies
• Lure your enemies
• Use your inventory to your advantage

Don't get trigger happy

Tapping directional arrows too fast can move your Pip too far. With the amount of traps littered around the maze you will likely wind up losing a heart. There will be times when you panic and have to tap fast, but try to keep count of your taps. As you can see above, I tapped one too many times and fell into the pit.

Study and plan

When you start a new maze there should be no immediate danger, so take a few moments to study the board. Plan your route using the least amount of moves, as less moves means less chance of losing hearts. In the first two screenshots above you can see how many blocks I've touched without getting too close to the enemy Pips (although, I did use a Rainbow—more on that below). You can see in the last screenshot above how intricate some boards can be.

Know your enemies

You may not be Sun Zi, but you can take the famous tactician's advice and know your opponents.

• Red Eyes Pip: Can only move in relation to your place on the maze. Cannot move diagonally.
• Green X Pip: Will take the quickest route toward you. Cannot move diagonally.
• Blue Eyes Ball Pip: Takes the quickest route to you. Can move diagonally and can jump over blank spaces.

Understand what they can do and you'll have a better chance of beating them.

Lure your enemies

Moving enemy Pips will attempt to follow you around the maze. They are not affected by rising spikes but cannot traverse spike pits. If these enemies are blocking a certain part of the maze, move close to attract their attention, then move away. These enemies can be removed from the maze by luring them onto a falling block square you have activated, as pictured above. Note that enemy Pips cannot activate falling blocks.

Use your inventory to your advantage

Coins collected while crossing the maze can be used to purchase several items: Hearts, weapons, save points, and reviving a dead character. Other than hearts and swords, items purchased or picked up will appear in your inventory (located beneath the maze and above the directional arrows, as pictured above). Hearts and swords are located above the maze. I try to keep enough coins in my inventory for a revive—accidents happen—which costs 30 coins. Inventory items cost 10 coins while marking a save point will cost you 20 coins. Inventory items include:

• Heart: Run out of these and you'll have the option to revive your character. Run out again and you'll have to completely restart.
• Sword: If you have a sword in your inventory you will automatically attack an enemy Pip who lands on your square. Swords are one use only.
• Shield: Tap to deploy. The shield will prevent any enemy Pips from landing on the square. You can use the shield to block enemies from a part of the map, or you can use it to create a safe space for your Pip.
• Bombs: Tap a bomb and place it near one or more enemies. Run! A timer on the bomb counts down to detonation. Don't get caught in the blast—you will lose a heart.
• Rainbow: Tapping the rainbow will color all adjacent squares. If there is a trap-filled area of the map you'd rather not deal with, get as close as you dare and deploy the rainbow. The squares will now appear colored and you can move on.
• Trap: My favorite item: tap, deploy your own trap, and lure enemies toward it. Enemy Pips who land on the trap are removed from the board. Your trap, once deployed, will remain active on the board until you pass through the end-door.
• Freeze: Tap to freeze time for five seconds. You are free to move around, but traps and enemies are frozen in place.

Have your say

Did I miss your favorite Crossy Maze tips? Let me know in the comments below!

Candy Crush Jelly Saga, the third installment of the very popular Candy Crush series, brings you more of the same, addictive, match-three mechanics. You advance through levels of increasing difficulty where you must "spread the jelly everywhere," free the shy Pufflers, or battle the Jelly Queen for control of the board.

Free + IAP - Download now

• Make special candies
• Crack the frosting in different spots over the board to begin
• Choose your moves wisely
• Keep an eye on the Pufflers
• Time cheat to get more moves

1. Make special candies

Matching a number of the same color candies lets you make special candies that help you clear the board more quickly.

This is especially important for Jelly Queen levels where you're going head-to-head against the sticky monarch herself.

• Striped candy - Match four in a row. Clears an entire row or column, depending on direction of the stripes.
• Candy fish - Match four in a 2x2 square. Fish attacks a random square and eats the candy on it.
• Color bomb - Match five in a row. Powerful spotted candy that clears all candies of the same color as the one it was matched with.
• Wrapped candy - Match five in a T-shape. It will explode when swapped, taking out any candies around it.
• Coloring candy - Match six or more. Changes the color of any candies that it's swapped with. Good for raising the your chances for making special candies.
• Coconut wheel - Randomly appears at later levels. Clears the first candy it's switched with, then converts the next three candies in that row or column to striped candies.

All of the special candies can be combined with each other to create other special candies that grant you different benefits.

• Striped candy and wrapped candy - Makes a giant striped candy that clears three rows and 3 columns in a cross shape.
• Striped candy and color bomb - Converts all candies — including special candies — to the color of the original striped candy and activates them.
• Striped candy and jelly fish - Makes three striped fish that convert any eaten candy into striped candies and activates them.
• Striped candy and coconut wheel - Changes a total of six candies into striped candies and activates them.
• Wrapped candy and wrapped candy - It makes the board go boom. It clears out 24 candies in a 5x5 grid surrounding each wrapped candy.
• Wrapped candy and color bomb - Changes every candy of the same color as the wrapped candy into wrapped candies and activates them.
• Wrapped candy and jelly fish - Makes three wrapped jelly fish that turn the candy they eat into wrapped candies.
• Wrapped candy and coconut wheel - Changes an entire row or column of candies into wrapped candies.
• Color bomb and color bomb - Want to clear the entire board, including most obstructions? Match two color bombs together and watch the whole board explode.
• Color bomb and jelly fish - Makes three color bomb jelly fish, which turn any eaten candy into jelly fish and activates them.
• Color bomb and coconut wheel - Turns a row/column of candies into striped candies and activates them.
• Coconut wheel and coconut wheel - Turns a row/column of candies into striped candies and activates them.