Turbo Pudding
Night 14 of Fluffenders is called Misty Hollow, and it’s the first night in the Whispering Woods with mist in it. A soft white mist rolls over the right side of the lawn, right where the Grumps come in, and they fade into it until only a faint outline is left. It’s Tuesday, so here are the level secrets: what the mist really does, where to put your Snails and which Fluffs to bring.
What’s coming
Misty Hollow has eleven waves, and two of them are huge: the seventh and the last. Each huge wave comes with a warning and a Flag Grump in front, a little faster than the rest. Behind the flags come Grumplets, Acorn Cap Grumps, Pogo Grumps and Pillow Grumps. You’ve met them all before. You just can’t see them now.
You start with 600 stardust, and the first wave arrives after 24 seconds. Like every night in the woods, the trees cover the sky, so stardust falls half as often as it does on the meadow. Granny Hoot’s advice from the first woods night still stands: “Fewer stars fall here. Plant Twinkle Mice early!” Lumi Fireflies are the cheap way to keep the stardust coming. One costs 25, starts glowing after a few seconds and glows more once she grows up, about a minute later.
The mist hides Grumps from you, not from your Fluffs
Here is the first secret: the mist doesn’t protect anyone. Your Fluffs don’t need to see a Grump to hit it. Bubbles, acorns and pinecones fly into the mist and land just the same, and the Grumps in there get sleepy just the same.
That gives you a free early warning. A Bubbun only blows bubbles when there’s a Grump ahead of it in its row. If one starts blowing bubbles into what looks like empty mist, something is in there.
What the mist really takes away is knowing what’s coming. A plain Grumplet, a Grump in an acorn cap and a Grump behind a pillow all look much alike as faint shapes, and each needs a different answer.
One Snail does most of the work
That’s where the Glowshell Snail comes in. You win it on Night 13, just in time, and the first misty night opens with a tip from Granny Hoot: “Grumps hide in the mist. Snails light it!”
A Snail’s glowing shell keeps the mist away in a round patch around it: two squares to each side in its own row and in the rows just above and below, and the three nearest squares two rows away. That’s 21 squares from one Snail.
The mist covers the four columns closest to where the Grumps come in. So here is the second secret: put one Snail in the middle row, in the third column from the right, and it lights almost all of it. Only the top and bottom corners on the far right stay misty.
A Snail out there will get nibbled, and that’s fine. It’s a cheap wall too: 25 stardust buys almost a third of Woolly’s toughness for half Woolly’s price. When a Grump starts nibbling, the Snail hides in its shell and holds on. Its glow dims a little, but the light stays on, so the mist doesn’t come back. A moment after the nibbling stops, it peeks out again.
There is one catch. After you plant a Snail, its card takes 30 seconds to recharge. Plant the first one before the first wave arrives, and you’ll have another ready long before the first huge wave.
Let the Snail take the jump
A Pogo Grump bounces right over the first Fluff in its way, and it’s fast until it lands. But it only gets one jump. After that, it walks as slowly as any other Grump.
A Snail out front is often that first Fluff, so for 25 stardust it takes the jump that would otherwise carry the Pogo Grump past a Bubbun or a Woolly. The Pogo Grump lands on the far side of the Snail, and from then on it has to walk the rest of the way through your bubbles.
What to bring
By Night 14 you have eleven Fluffs and seven slots, so something stays home. Bring Lumi or Twinkle Mice for stardust, Bubbuns for the bubbles and the Snail for the light. A Pinecone Owlet is worth a slot here: its pinecones fly high over the pillow and land on the Grump behind it. Woolly still makes the best wall in front of your shooters. And keep Achoo Kitty for the two huge waves, when the Grumps come in a crowd.
Win the night, and Prickles the hedgehog joins the team. Grumps walk right over Prickles and say “ouch”. The mist comes back on Nights 18 and 19, so keep your Snails handy.
Into the woods
The first two nights of Fluffenders are free to play in your browser at fluffenders.com. The full game, all twenty nights, is $4.99, paid once. More about the game is on its Fluffenders page.
