Castles Achievement Guide & Road Map

Castles
Castles Achievement Guide

Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 9/10 [Less with a second local player] [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 24 [1000]
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 8-10 hours [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 story, plus multiple Survival and VS mode games
- Missable achievements: No
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No difficulty settings
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None
- Extra equipment needed: Second controller

Introduction:
Castles is a 3D block matching puzzle game that is very easy to learn, but hard to master. You play on a 5x5 grid with puzzles of various colours falling from above. Each block also has a symbol on it. You use your character to push and pull the blocks around to form lines of 3, 4, or 5 to make them disappear. What makes this difficult in the later levels (or later minutes in Survival) is the rate that the blocks fall, causing major frustration at times due to being overwhelmed. The blocks fall randomly, so a huge element in luck is needed when getting past some levels and all of the bosses.

Step 1 - Story Mode
There are 50 levels in story mode, and these are broken down into four blocks of nine levels, followed by a boss fight. During the nine levels, you can’t save, so if you die you go back to the start of the block. You have tasks to do on the left hand side of the screen which will be to get a certain number of colour or pattern block clears; once you have completed the tasks you move up to the next level. Once you complete all nine, you go to the boss, who you can restart at if you fail. Beat the fifth boss (the Titan) to complete the story).

It would benefit you greatly if you have another local player that can help with the story mode, as you obviously have another guy to push and pull blocks, and double the amount of weapon storage. Of course, most of us will not, so there is a handy trick you can use. Pause the game; the pause screen will still give you full visibility of the board so you can stop and plan your moves. This is especially useful during the frantic boss fights, although you will still need a fair amount of luck with what blocks drop and where they land. The only other tip is to focus on clearing space by combining any blocks before going or the level goals - you will need space to get anything done so make that your priority. Finishing the story mode will get you at least six achievements for 295, but probably more.

Step 2 - Story Mode 2 player
With your second controller, start up 2 player story mode. You will need this mode to get “Area Of effects” and “Dangerous Liaisons.” These are easily done and should only take a few minutes.

Step 3 - VS Mode
There are four easy achievements and a more tough one in VS mode. Play 20 matches with any result for “Duel” and “Random Fighters,” and look to get “No chance” and “Take this!” while doing these. You will most likely need a second person to help you get “It’s Over 9000,” although this is possible on your own if you are looking after both controllers and get a lot of luck from block drops.

Step 4 - Survival Mode
There are three achievements tied to this mode. To get all three, you need to last for seven full minutes. Getting the first two on your own (two and five minutes) it is not too bad with some practice, but you will almost definitely need a second active player for moving blocks and storing an extra weapon. Again, you can do it if you control both players and just store a weapon with one and use if necessary. You will need a lot of skill and a massive amount of luck to get to seven minutes on your own.

Mop-Up:
Chances are you still need to mop up a few achievements. There are a few cumulative ones that you may or may not have got by this stage, but if you don’t then you can grind them on the early levels. Survival is also a good place to grind for weapons as the first two minutes are really easy.

Conclusion:
Castles is a fun to play, well made puzzler, but has the potential to break a few controllers. The random nature of the game can screw you out of what seems like a sure fire victory, but the short nature of the levels balances this out a bit and makes you want to try again. The achievements are tough, but with enough attempts are mostly attainable.

[XBA would like to thank Corrupt. for this Roadmap]

Repoker

20
Make a 5 blocks combination
This will most likely be your first achievement in the game. You can make a combination in either colours or symbols. Make two sets of two blocks on either edge, then slot a fifth block in the gap. You can get this easily on the first level of the story.
High Five

100
Make 100 repoker
A “repoker” is a 5 block combination (refer to “Repoker” for how to do this). You may get this while playing through the story or going for other achievements, but whichever way will likely need more as they aren’t the easiest to create during general play. The best way to grind this is on the first level of story mode as things are less frantic.
Big Bang

20
Break 9 blocks with the same dinamite
To spawn dynamite, you need to get a five in a row combo (refer to “Repoker” for how to do this). Once you have one, jump on top of any 3x3 block of blocks by pressing , then hit to plant the dynamite. As long as none of the blocks disappear, as soon as the dynamite goes bang, the achievement will unlock. This is easiest to get during the first section of the story mode. You can get dynamite within the first couple of moves, but need to wait until there is a bit more variety in the blocks until you can make a 3x3 grid without lining up 3 in a row.
Dangerous Liaisons

40
Kill your partner 20 times with the hammer
You will need to be playing two player story mode or survival for this achievement, needing two controllers; but can be done alone.

This is easiest done on the first level. To spawn a hammer, you need to create a combo of four blocks. Pick up the hammer, go over to your second player and hit to hit and kill him with it. Rinse and repeat, reloading the level where necessary until you have twenty.
Area of effects

20
Kill your buddy with dinamite
You will need to be playing two player story mode or survival for this achievement, needing two controllers; but can be done alone.

Load up the first level, and create a five block combo (refer to “Repoker”). This will spawn a dynamite. Then simply place the dynamite next to your partner with and wait for it to explode.
Work Accident

10
Kill yourself with dinamite
Load up the first level, and create a five block combo (refer to “Repoker”). This will spawn a dynamite. Then simply place the dynamite with , stand next to it and wait for it to explode, killing you.
Dynamiter

75
Set 50 dinamite barrels
Refer to “High Five” for more information. Just make sure you set at least 50 of the 100 barrels you will spawn for this achievement.
Stonecutter

30
Break 50 blocks with the hammer
This is cumulative across all game modes. You may get this while going for the other achievements in the game. To spawn a hammer, you need to make a row of four in a row. This is really easy to do in the first story level, or in survival mode. Once you spawn the hammer, collect it and use it with . Repeat this 50 times.
Whack-a-mole

20
Defeat the Moleman
Story related, cannot be missed.

You will encounter the Moleman on level 10. You need to stay alive levels 1-9, if you die you will go back to level 1 if you chose to retry. If you lose on Moleman, you can retry against him straight away.

To defeat him, you need to hit him with a hammer. He will appear and leave a block with a hammer. Spawn a hammer by either lining up three of them or getting any four blocks in a row then hit the Moleman with . Repeat this three times to defeat him. This is heavily luck dependant, you need the right blocks to fall in the right places. Remember to pause the game and plan your moves if needed.
Back to Hogwarts

75
Defeat the Twins
Story related, cannot be missed.

You will encounter the Twins on level 40. You need to stay alive levels 31-39, if you die you will go back to level 31 if you chose to retry. If you lose against the Twins, you can retry against them straight away.

Play as you normally would, until you see three panels that are highlighted yellow. An explosion will reveal three silver blocks; put them on the yellow panels. They will become gold and hit the twins. You need to do this three times to defeat them. This is heavily luck dependant, you need the right blocks to fall in the right places. Remember to pause the game and plan your moves if needed.
Titanfall

50
Defeat the Titan
Story related, cannot be missed.

You will encounter the Titan on level 50, the final level. You need to stay alive levels 41-49, if you die you will go back to level 41 if you chose to retry. If you lose against the Titan, you can retry against him straight away.

There are three metallic blocks that will be dropped, that are shooting lasers. You need to line them up and wait until the lasers shoot the titan to hit him. Do this three times to hit him. This is heavily luck dependant, you need the right blocks to fall in the right places. Another thing to watch is that the Titan can confuse your guy. This is signified by question marks over your head; if you are confused, controls are reversed. This makes things trickier again. Remember to pause the game and plan your moves if needed.
Arachnophobia

30
Defeat the Spider
Story related, cannot be missed.

You will encounter the Spider on level 30. You need to stay alive levels 21-29, if you die you will go back to level 21 if you chose to retry. If you lose against the Spider, you can retry against him straight away.

You need to align two electric blocks with the spider's leg to hit it. Do this three times to defeat him. Remember to pause the game and plan your moves if needed.

The video below shows this boss being defeated:
Black Hawk Down

20
Defeat the Gyrocopter
Story related, cannot be missed.

You will encounter the Gyrocopter on level 20. You need to stay alive levels 11-19, if you die you will go back to level 11 if you chose to retry. If you lose against the Gyrocopter, you can retry against him straight away.

To defeat the Gyrocopter, you will need to align missile crates when the it is above the board. Doing this when it isn’t will see your shots wasted, so make sure your timing is right. You can tell when it is range as you will see a little indicator above the grid showing where he is. There is a massive element of luck involved with this, you need the ‘copter to drop the missile crates in good places and you need to be lucky with the blocks that are dropped. Just keep on clearing blocks as quick as you can. Remember to pause the game and plan your moves if needed, this is actually a great tactic to defeat
Black Hawk Blown

40
Defeat the Girocopter with a Repoker
You can take out the Gyrocopter with one shot if it is a repoker (refer to "Repoker"). This will take a lot of luck with block placements, but can be done if you plan well. This can be seen in the video below:
Piece of Cake!

20
Get to 2 minutes on Survival Mode
Refer to “Damn I’m Good!” for more information.
Let's Rock

50
Get to 5 minutes on Survival Mode
Refer to “Damn I’m Good!” for more information.
Damn I'm Good!

100
Get to 7 minutes on Survival Mode
This is a tough achievement. The first few minutes in Survival mode aren’t too bad, but things get real crazy, real fast when more different blocks start appearing around the four minute mark. You can abuse the pause system to plan your moves ahead, and if you have a second controller use that so you have another character if your move needs to be done on the opposite side to where you are. If you manage to get explosive barrels or hammers, don’t use them until you really need them, as they are vital to get you out of sticky situations. This will likely take many tries, and will require a lot of skill and fast thinking.

Refer to the video below for some pointers:
To the Sky

100
Finish the Story Mode
Story related, cannot be missed.

Complete all 50 levels to finish the story.
Colors

20
Break a block of each with the hammer
There are seven different blocks you need to break with the hammer. A hammer is spawned when you combine four blocks in a row. Smash one of each colour for this to unlock. This doesn’t have to be in one game or one sitting. The easiest way to get this if you don’t have it from going from other achievements is to load up Survival mode, some of the later blocks from story mode show up earlier in survival.
No chance

20
End a match without completing any challenge
The easiest way to get this is to start a two player VS mode game. Just sit there and do nothing, this should pop when the round is complete.
Duel

10
Play a game on VS Mode
Simply play and finish a game on VS mode.
Random Fighters

50
Defeat 20 comrades on VS Mode
Complete twenty VS matches. You can do this offline, and it doesn’t matter who wins; this will pop on completion of match #20.
It's Over 9000

50
End a VS match with a Speed bar full and the other empty
This is a tricky achievement to get, and will almost definitely require two active players. You need to increase your speed bar by completing the challenges in the middle, and decrease your oppenents by completing the challenges at the bottom. If you do not have an active second player, chances are you will win the match way before you complete enough challenges to fill/empty the bars. The second player needs to clear blocks by not complete any challenges, which is actually tougher than it seems. It is possible to do on your own, but with a lot of the achievements in this game, a lot of luck is needed.
Take this!

30
Send a Repoker to your rival on VS Mode
When playing on VS mode, get a five block combo (refer to “Repoker”). As soon as you get one, this will unlock.