Puzzle Arcade

NOTE - The method outlined below is designed to save you as much time as possible in this game. You can get most of these achievements in whatever order you want, but this way should be the quickest... though nothing can help make Kilopiece Colossus or Fractal Fanatic shorter...

1) The first thing we're going to do is Challenge Mode, as there's a good amount of puzzles in there that will also count towards Puzzle Picture Collector.

2) Once Challenge Mode is done, move on to Fractal Mode. You only need two puzzles here, and they will also count towards Puzzle Picture Collector, though your options are pretty limited for Fractal Fanatic as only 3 of the 10 puzzles can even be set large enough.

3) Next we'll be finishing off the Picture Puzzles, as well as clearing out the rest of the offline achievements.

4) Finally, the two online achievements, which would be a lot easier if this game had any sort of active community. Hint - use gaming sessions.

Puzzle Arcade is not a difficult game, but it can be quite tedious. A couple of the achievements (Kilopiece Collector and Fractal Fanatic) will take roughly 3 hours each, and that's doing them in the quickest way possible.

I will be referencing two methods of solving puzzles in the walkthrough. The first is the Golden Rule of Puzzles. The Golden Rule of Puzzles is "start with the corners and edges, and then move inward." This is a tried and true method cultivated over years of sitting hunched over a table pushing little pieces of cardboard together to make a picture of a barn.

The second method is the stack method. The stack method is unique to Puzzle Arcade (trust me, I've tried it with my barn puzzle, and it just doesn't work) and makes many previously-super-obnoxious puzzles into merely obnoxious puzzles. The stack method is simple: Make three stacks of pieces. One stack will be your four Corner pieces, aligned however makes you happy. The second stack will be your Edge pieces, aligned in such a way that the lone edge of each piece is aligned together, in as neat a stack as possible - you want one side to be nothing but edge, while the other three will end up a weird jumble of notches and prongs. The third pile will be the Middles. Their orientation is pretty unimportant; just make sure they're in as neat a stack as possible so you have less movement later on.

Once your three stacks are made, grab a corner piece, line up an edge with the edge on your Edge pile and drop it down. It'll connect with whichever piece it should connect with, regardless of where in the stack it is. Pick your now-two-piece up, line up the new piece with the edge, drop, collect pieces, repeat. Do this until you've build the entire outside frame, rotating the frame as necessary. Once you have the frame done, start dropping it on the Middles stack, working your way around the frame and adding pieces, regardless of where they are in the stack. You'll have to adjust the orientation of the frame a few times, but this method will shave twenty or thirty (or more) minutes off most puzzles, and an easy 10+ hours off Kilopiece Colossus.

Lastly, you can save puzzles for later (provided you've connected a couple of pieces,) so they don't have to be done in one sitting, which leads me to the single best overall tip I can give: take breaks. Seriously. This game has you staring at your screen, which will be covered in hundreds of tiny little puzzle pieces, for hours on end. Eye strain and headaches are a common occurrence, so don't hesitate to just stop every now and again and look at or do something else. You know all those "Take a break every 20 minutes" warnings that we all ignore on every other game ever? Don't ignore them for this game. Your head and eyes will thank you.

Now let's get started.

Round One: Challenge Mode

OK, let's get this show on the road. Select 'Single Player' from the main menu, then 'Challenge Puzzles.' You'll be presented with a list of 20 different puzzles, each with their own unique annoyance twist on standard puzzle completion. Most are simple enough with the right strategy, though you may have to repeat a couple of them as there can be unforgiving timers and total jerk bots.

The first challenge is called 'Quick Flip.' Each piece of the puzzle starts face down, and you can turn them right side up by moving the cursor over them and pressing RT. You do not have to actually select the piece to flip it over, which can save you some time. Each piece will flip back over after 20 seconds if you haven't connected it to another piece, even if you're currently moving that piece around. Use the Golden Rule of Puzzles (hereafter referred to as GRoP because I don't want to type all that every time) and you'll finish this puzzle in no time, earning your first achievement:

First Timer5 (5)

Complete your first puzzle.

• Unlocked by 5,677 tracked gamers (98% - TA Ratio = 1.01) 5,784

The second challenge is called 'Bad Bots.' This one foreshadows some of the fun you'll be having later, though it's not all that difficult. Just build the puzzle as you normally would (RT and LT will rotate the piece your cursor is on - this is important as many of the pieces are skewed) and try not to get too annoyed at the bot cursors grabbing random pieces and moving them around. If you see a bot going for a piece you don't want moved, pick it up before the bot does - it'll move on to a different piece after a couple of seconds. You may want to remember that tip, as you'll need it later on.

The third challenge, 'Puzzle Bomb,' may require a restart or two. You start with 40 seconds on the clock and have until the timer reaches zero to complete the puzzle. Each connected piece will reset the timer to 15 seconds, but only if the timer is already below 15 seconds. There is no benefit whatsoever to connecting pieces before the timer drops below 15. You may as well move the pieces near each other, then connect them after the timer drops below 15. Holding a piece for 10 seconds will cause each piece it can be connected to to glow and shake - useful in later puzzles, but not so much this one.

The fourth challenge is called 'Missing Pieces' and has, as you might have suspected, some pieces missing. As you complete the puzzle, the missing pieces will be added to the board until they're eventually all available to you.

Fifth is 'Mad Dash,' requires you to make a 15 piece puzzle in 60 seconds. Not as hard as it sounds, though you may have to restart if the pieces don't connect like they should when you put them together as it can be a little touchy sometimes.

Sixth is 'Turbo Speed,' an extended version of 'Mad Dash.' 48 pieces in 4 minutes. This will be your first introduction to Turbo Mode as well - instead of the pieces being strewn all over the place, they're collected in neat groups off to the side and you place them on top of the completed-yet-darkened final picture. Get used to this mode, as we'll be using it to fly through puzzles later on. The pieces are placed in groups based on their general location on the puzzle (upper left, upper right, middle, etc) so you don't have to waste time trying to figure out what piece goes where. They're also locked into the correct orientation, so no worries about rotating them either. Just grab a piece, hover it over where it should go, and the game will lock the piece in place for you if it's correct. You can still press A to lock the piece in, if you're the impatient type. If you're unsure of the boundaries of the location groupings, pay attention to the completed picture in the upper right corner - the selected area will have a faint glow to it (you may have to zoom in to see it properly.) Just plug the pieces in, and you're good to go as you have more than enough time to complete this one.

Next is 'Distortion Field,' in which they take some cute kitties and run them through a Photoshop filter. You're in Turbo Mode again, but this time the difficulty is set to Expert which removes a lot of the really good parts of Turbo Mode. No outlines on the picture, no grouping by location (the pieces are grouped into even piles,) and there's no autosnap if the piece is in the right spot. Fortunately, though, there's no real penalty (other than a point multiplier, and points are only important in two puzzles... unless you really care about the leaderboards for a dead game...) for putting a piece in the wrong spot. Line up a piece where it looks like it might go, and just keep rotating and pressing A until it fits in, moving as you have to. It's easier to grab the two-tone pieces at first, though the puzzle will get clearer with every 6th piece placed, and thus become less of a hassle to complete.

'Classic Art' is the 8th challenge and it's pretty much the exact opposite of 'Distortion Field.' It starts off clear, but as you connect more pieces, it gets more distorted and fuzzy. Use the stack method, or follow the GRoP, and you'll be fine.

Challenge #9 is called 'Mirror, Mirror'. They just fliped the completed image horizontally to make it a mirror image of itself. Not particularly difficult. Just GRoP this one as the stack method actually takes longer.

#10 is 'Upside Down.' Same as above, only flipped 180 vertically and easier as the pieces are all locked in the correct orientation. GRoP it. Halfway there!

#11 is 'One-on-One,' which tasks you with completing more pieces of the puzzle than the AI. It's in Turbo Mode again, and you're both working off the same pieces (even though it looks like there are two different sets.) You both can't use the same piece at the same time, but other than that this challenge isn't too difficult. The AI is pretty dumb here, will routinely try to set pieces in the wrong spot, fail, then just gives up on that piece and try another one. Provided you can match the picture at a slightly-faster-than-a-snail pace, you'll be fine.

12 is 'Bot Battle,' and is what 'Bad Bots' would be like if 'Bad Bots' were a big mean jerk. Here you're up against three bots who actually work towards completing the puzzle (instead of just moving pieces around like before.) This is one of the two puzzles in which the score actually matters - you only complete this challenge when you score more than the AI, and the AI is pretty good at putting pieces together. So how do you do it? Simple - you cheat. The AI will hover for a bit before dropping a piece in place. If you grab the piece that's about to be dropped on, the AI will just drop its own piece and move on, allowing you to make the connection and score the points. Try to rotate among the three bots, stealing as many of their connections as you can, until a sizable chunk of the puzzle is completed. Then just grab the large chunk and move it around, making connections and scoring points. The AI won't be able to do anything and you should pull out the victory. You may have to repeat this one, as the AI can move pretty quickly sometimes.

13 is called 'In Focus.' It's a really busy picture, but it starts off as a bunch of giant pixels for you that eventually become smaller and smaller until the full picture is revealed. Just use the stack method on it as it'll save you time in the end.

14 is 'Out of Focus' and is similar to 13, only it's blurry blotches of color that all run together instead of pixels. Stack method it.

15 brings us to 'Temporal Anomaly Turbo.' It's similar to 'Puzzle Bomb' with a couple of important changes. First, it's Turbo mode, so all the pieces are grouped by location. Second, you have 30 seconds to place 54 pieces. Each piece placed gives you an additional 5 seconds, and the order of the pieces is exactly the same in each grouping every time. Don't expect to finish this one the first time, as you have to rotate the pieces too. Take your time, memorize the order of the pieces, how to turn and place them, and keep trying. It'll take a few retries, but you'll get it done.

Challenge 16 is 'Temporal Anomaly Classic,' which, as you may have guessed, is the Classic mode version of the last challenge. You have 5 minutes to put together 34 pieces and you get no time bonus for completed pieces. If you're quick about it, you can use the stack method, though the puzzle given to you here is one of the easiest ones in terms of words and images so it may be just as easy to GRoP it.

#17 brings us 'Ultra-Violet.' It's just your standard Classic puzzle, only colored as though it were under a black light. Stack method is easier than GRoP just because everything is either black, purple, or blue.

Next up we have 'Shades of Gray,' a Turbo mode puzzle all in gray-scale. This should be old hat to you by now.

The penultimate challenge is called '2x2.' In theory, it's difficult as you're given one quarter of the image 4 times over, with each piece only fitting in one place despite being the same piece. In reality, you slap some stack method on it and you're done in five minutes.

Finally, we come to 'Checkerboard,' the last challenge and a wonderful eyesore to boot. You're tasked with making a checkerboard, so all you have is a bunch of little black and white squares that all blend together. Fortunately, there's only 80 pieces and the stack method makes this take a fraction of the time doing it normally would. And with that challenge in the books, it's time for your second Achievement!

Ultimate Challenger70 (35)

Complete all 20 Puzzle Challenges.

• Unlocked by 1,429 tracked gamers (25% - TA Ratio = 2.01) 5,784

Round 2: Fun With Fractals

Now on to the Fractals. Fractal puzzles task you with multiple layers of pieces - you have to build your puzzle pieces out of smaller puzzle pieces. It's fine with two levels, but the level 3 Fractal puzzle is one of the two "3 Hour" achievements, so plan ahead for that one. Select 'Fractal Puzzles' from the Single Player menu.

For the 2 level puzzle, you'll want to choose either Leadenhall Market (puzzle 4,) Sugarloaf Sunset (puzzle 7,) or The Colosseum in Rome, Italy (puzzle 9) as they have the least number of pieces on the first level which translates to the least amount of work on the second level. I would recommend Leadenhall, if only because it's the easiest to make sense of on the smaller levels.

Regardless of the puzzle you choose, you'll want to use the Puzzle Options:

- Construction Mode: Turbo
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Preset: Small

Once you have your options set, start the puzzle. It'll highlight one of the 12 pieces, then drill down and have you complete that piece out of smaller pieces. Turbo mode makes this a breeze, as you have your pieces sorted by position, and beginner mode means they're locked in the proper orientation and will snap into place on their own. Complete each of the the 12 smaller puzzles, then complete the last big puzzle, then enjoy that wonderful 'Achievement Unlocked' sound as you earn:

Fractal Fan21 (15)

Finish a Fractal Puzzle with 2 levels.

• Unlocked by 2,935 tracked gamers (51% - TA Ratio = 1.40) 5,784

Next up is one of the least enjoyable achievements I've ever done, and I've completed Sneak King . Only three of the ten puzzles can be used for this achievement, as they're the only ones that can actually have three levels: Playground (#5,) Regenerating (#6,) and Toledo, Spain (#10.) Of the three, Regenerating is probably the easiest as it's all simple colors and shapes, as opposed to Playground's abstract nightmare and Toledo's realistic details and huge empty sky.

Whichever of the three you choose, use the following Puzzle Options:

- Construction Mode: Turbo
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Preset: Big

You'll start with the first level, then drill down twice, and to the third. And have 400 puzzles to do. It's horrible. On the plus side, it seems as though the faster you place the pieces (and thus the more points scored) in each puzzle, makes the total puzzles remaining count go down by more than one puzzle. On occasion I would see it drop 7 or 8 puzzles, but even with this stroke of luck, it took me 3 hours to finish this puzzle. Take breaks, do something else for a bit, pause the game, go to Exit, and Save the puzzle for later - anything you can do to stave off the mind-numbing boredom of completing Turbo puzzles for 3 hours. Keep at it and eventually you'll work your way back up to the first level, see that glorious 100% Complete blare across the screen, and be rewarded with your next achievement:

Fractal Fanatic61 (30)

Finish a Fractal Puzzle with 3 levels.

• Unlocked by 1,404 tracked gamers (24% - TA Ratio = 2.03) 5,784

Huzzah! Now you never have to touch a Fractal puzzle again (unless you really want to... weirdo).

Round 3: FIGH.... er, Picture Puzzles!

Now we start working through the Picture Puzzles for the next 4 achievements. Select 'Picture Puzzles' from the Single Player menu. Yes, there are 39 puzzles to complete... but you got credit for several of them through the challenges and Fractal puzzles, which is why you did those first. Hooray for multi-tasking! The first achievement we're going to start working on requires us to solve 5 puzzles of 250 pieces or more. Scroll all the way over to the left and select puzzle 2, 'Amazing Stories - June 1940.' You may remember it from the Challenge puzzle earlier, but that time we did it in Classic mode. Select it again, and use the following settings:

- Construction Mode: Turbo
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Number of Pieces: 280 (don't worry, the 30 extra pieces won't kill you)
- Piece Shape: Whichever you prefer, though I'd stay away from squares as it's impossible to tell what's an edge/corner piece

Start the puzzle up and work your way through the various piece sets until you complete the puzzle. As you did this one earlier in Classic mode, and now again in Turbo mode, you'll unlock the following achievement:

Love That Puzzle6 (5)

Complete the same puzzle in Classic and Turbo modes.

• Unlocked by 4,317 tracked gamers (75% - TA Ratio = 1.16) 5,784

Now you need 4 more puzzles of 250 pieces or more. You can choose whichever puzzles you like; I suggest going for the ones with the lowest piece count past 250 just for quickness. The only thing you want to be aware of is to not redo the puzzles you already have credit for from Challenge and Fractal mode. Some puzzles count for this, some don't, but fortunately there's an easy way to tell. Highlight your chosen puzzle and press 'Y' - If you have stats, then skip the puzzle. If it says you haven't completed it yet, then go for it.

Whichever four puzzles you choose, make sure to use the following Puzzle Options:

- Construction Mode: Turbo
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Number of Pieces: The next lowest number past 250
- Piece Shape - Whichever you prefer

Complete four more puzzles with these settings and you'll unlock:

5*25019 (10)

Build 5 puzzles of 250 pieces or more.

• Unlocked by 1,523 tracked gamers (26% - TA Ratio = 1.95) 5,784

The next achievement is the other of the 3 Hour Tours and makes 200-pointing Yaris seem fun. I, and many others, chose the puzzle 'Flowers and Bugs' for this achievement. Yes, you do get credit for it through Challenge Mode as well, but of the 39 available puzzles, it seems to be the easiest as it has 9 distinct parts.

You can choose whichever puzzle you like, if you don't want to double up on 'Flowers and Bugs' ('Dream 7' seems to be the other popular choice, due to having the lowest number of pieces past 1000,) but make sure you set your Puzzle Options as follows:

- Construction Mode: Classic
- Experience Level: Expert
- Number of Pieces: The lowest amount possible over 1000
- Piece Shape: I've found the 4th one works the best for this, but use whichever you prefer as long as it isn't squares.

Start the puzzle and try not to weep openly as tiny little puzzle pieces fill your screen. Your cursor starts in the middle of the screen, and this is the best place to start using the stack method (described in the tips section, for those of you who skipped down to this pain in the bu- wonderful achievement). Keep your Edges lined up as straight as possible and try to keep your Middles pile as tidy as possible; It will make the end much easier. Once you clear out the middle area to give yourself some room, start working your way around the outside. I found it easiest to zoom all the way out, move a section of pieces into a large pile near my stacks, then zoom back in and separate the junk pile into the stacks. Yes, you're moving the pieces twice, but it saves time on scrolling around the screen as it's next to impossible to tell what the pieces are when you're zoomed all the way out. Keep working around the edge, making your stacks, until you finally have your three piles: Corners, Edges, and Middles. This took me a little over two hours of game time, not counting the extra time I took to browse the web, make some food, play with my cat... basically do anything other than stare at teeny tiny puzzle pieces for two straight hours. Once you have your stacks, build your frame then get to work on filling it in. If you zoom out as far as possible, the connections seem to be far more lenient, and it's possible to snag several pieces in one go. This part can take anywhere from half an hour to an hour or more, depending on your luck with how your Middles stack was arranged. Towards the end (like less than 50 pieces left) it may be easier just to grab the extra pieces and place them in the puzzle manually; the holes should be pretty easy to find by then. If you keep at it, you'll eventually lay claim to Best Achievement Ever In The History of Achievements:

Kilopiece Colossus45 (20)

Build a Classic mode puzzle with at least 1,000 pieces on Expert.

• Unlocked by 1,124 tracked gamers (19% - TA Ratio = 2.27) 5,784

Whew. Pat yourself on the back. You've done all the hard stuff. The rest of this is a cakewalk compared to that Kilopiece baloney. Go through the remaining Picture Puzzles that show as not completed, via the History screen, with the following settings:

- Construction Mode: Turbo
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Number of Pieces: Lowest possible (this will usually be between 16 and 24)
- Piece Shape: Whatever you want

You should be able to blaze through your remaining Picture Puzzles in about a minute or so each, and upon completing your last puzzle, you'll unlock:

Puzzle Picture Collector25 (15)

Complete all Picture Puzzles.

• Unlocked by 2,120 tracked gamers (37% - TA Ratio = 1.65) 5,784

Congrats! You're now done with the Single Player achievements. On to the Multiplayer!

Round Four: Local Multiplayer

For the next two achievements, select 'Multiplayer' from the Main Menu and 'Play Same Console in Classic Mode'. Sadly we cannot use Turbo mode here, as that only allows for two players, and we need 3 (or more, though why you'd use more is beyond me).

For the first achievement, press right on the controller twice to add in 2 AI players, then press A. Select Picture Puzzles and select whichever puzzle you're most comfortable with. I would recommend 'Amazing Stories - June 1940' due to the large amount of words and distinct imagery, 'Flowers and Bugs' with its 9 distinct areas, or 'Seasons' as you can set it 100 pieces exactly (the minimum needed for this achievement.)

Once you have select your puzzle, use the following Puzzle Options:

- Experience Level: Beginner
- Number of Pieces: Whatever's closest to 100 without going under (like The Price is Right, only backwards)
- Piece Shape: Whatever you like best

Now you may remember how big a jerk the AI was in the 'Bot Battle' challenge. Fortunately, this isn't bad here. You have one less bot to contend with and they seem slightly less intelligent that the bots in the challenge. Use the same method as the challenge (follow the bots, grab the pieces before they can make the connections, steal their connections, etc) and you should have the following in no time:

Beat the Bots20 (10)

Beat 2 or more AI players on a puzzle with 100 pieces or more.

• Unlocked by 1,433 tracked gamers (25% - TA Ratio = 2.01) 5,784

Now back out and reselect 'Play Same Console in Classic Mode' from the Multiplayer menu. Plug in two additional controllers (Rock Band instruments and/or fight sticks work just fine) and press A on them to bring your "friends" to the Puzzle Party. The additional "players" don't need Gamertags or anything, so there's no making fake profiles or any of that hullabaloo required. Once you've got the controllers ready to go, select Picture Puzzles, then whatever puzzle you want. Use the following Puzzle Options:

- Experience Level: Beginner
- Number of Pieces: Whatever's closest to 200 without going under (here's where I make another TPiR reference. I think Drew Carey does a fine job, by the way, though I do miss Bob Barker)
- Piece Shape: Whatever tickles your fancy

Now complete the puzzle with your main controller while the other two just sit there (or have actual friends play with you, your choice) and you'll unlock:

Puzzle Party19 (10)

Join 2 or more friends on the same console to build a puzzle with at least 200 pieces.

• Unlocked by 1,567 tracked gamers (27% - TA Ratio = 1.92) 5,784

And with that, the offline achievements are wrapped up. Time to make use of that yearly fee and Jump In^TM.

Final Round: Xbox Live (does anyone else even remember the 'Jump In' promos or am I showing off that I'm old here?)

The online community for this game is, like most games that don't involve shooting other people, pretty much non-existent. Fortunately, you're reading this walkthrough on a site that makes it very easy to join or create sessions with other gamers who want these same achievements. How convenient! So go ahead and do that, and feel free to come back once you're set up and ready. It's OK, I'll wait.

...

Whew, thought you forgot about me. Anyways, now that you've got your boosting buddies (or defied the odds and actually found someone playing this online), it's time to finish off this fine piece of digital entertainment.

From the main menu, select 'Multiplayer,' 'Play Xbox Live,' either Player or Ranked (it doesn't matter), then 'Start a New Match' (if you're hosting) or 'Join a Quick Match' (if you aren't). Don't worry about getting matched up with your partner - there is literally no one playing this game. Choose whichever puzzle you want (I used 'Amazing Stories - June 1940'), set the piece count as low as possible (12 if using 'Amazing'), and either trade wins with your partner, or do your five then have him/her do his/her five, or vice versa... however you want to get to 5 wins each is up to you. I'm not the boss of you. Once one of you wins, it puts you right back into the same lobby, so you can both just hit 'Ready' and start the next match up. This should take you roughly 2 minutes and, once you hit your fifth win, you'll unlock:

Puzzle Champ53 (25)

Win 5 Xbox LIVE Turbo Mode games.

• Unlocked by 1,270 tracked gamers (22% - TA Ratio = 2.13) 5,784

Now for the final achievement. Go back into 'Multiplayer' and 'Play Xbox Live', then choose 'Play Cooperatively in Classic Mode'. Get at least two people to join you on whichever puzzle you want. Set it to 300 pieces or more (without going under, get on that Showcase Showdown!) and complete the puzzle. A good choice for this one is 'Seasons' (also known as the snowboard puzzle) as it has 4 distinct areas, and you can each work on one, or you can sit about and let one person do all the work, it's entirely up to you. Once the final piece is placed, you'll unlock:

Xbox LIVE Puzzle Party41 (20)

Join 2 or more Xbox LIVE players to build a Classic Co-Op puzzle with 300 pieces or more.

• Unlocked by 1,393 tracked gamers (24% - TA Ratio = 2.04) 5,784

And that's it. You're done. No more puzzles. Enjoy your newly completed game. Bask in the glory, fame, and riches that will no doubt be bestowed upon you for adding 200 gamerscore to your already no-doubt lofty total. Stare at the pretty pastel Achievement tiles on the screen, or just delete the game and thank who or whatever you want to thank that you'll never have to build a 1000 piece puzzle with three fractal levels ever again.

The power is yours!