A simple guide for folks new to Clover Tale, the free to play match-3 game.

Come On In

Welcome fellow gamer to my Clover Tale guide. I guess I’m lucky that you to took the time to stop in! This one will bee difficult to sneak puns into, but I’ll give it a try. If you are not familiar with my guides, then you are not familiar with my penchant for puns. I’m not sure how many clover puns I will be able to come up with.

I like my guides to be as entertaining as they are helpful. I think I have done a fairly good job at that in each of my guides. If the guide is boring for me to create then it will most likely be boring for you to read, and that benefits no one.

So, I’m just getting started in Clover Tale myself, which is the best time to start a guide, as all the “noobie” questions I wanted answered are still fresh in my mind. On the other hand, I don’t have experience yet with some of the later phases of the game to offer you a full perspective. The guide will slowly evolve as I continue to delve in the game. If you don’t find what you are looking for now, then check back later.

Pay to Win?

Let’s be real for a moment. Creating a quality casual game may not costs as much as creating a triple-A title, but it still costs money. Game developers need to provide for their families just like you do (or your parents do), so if a game is free but has in-app purchases, then you know what to expect when you start playing. Admittedly, some games are more brazen and in your face about it than others.

There is going to be some level of money-making mechanisms or profit-providing process, but that in and of itself does not make a title pay to win. If you enjoy a quality match-3 game, you have probably paid $5 or $6 to purchase it, or maybe more. If you decide to spend a little money in game – it only serves to encourage more games like this – then limit yourself to what you might have spent anyway to buy a match-3.

I personally do not spend any real money on in-app purchases, no matter the game. I am too thrifty (or if your prefer “cheap”) to let myself do that. I can enjoy the game within the limits of what is free.

If the game is too constricting or isn’t fun because of the marketing features, then there are thousands of other games out there to play.

Here is an example in-game offer. Simply ignore it and keep playing. It a good lesson in saying “No” and learning self-control.

Granted, I have only spent a short amount of time in the game as of this writing, but I can tell you already that it is not pay to win. It is more pay to play for a little longer in each session before running out of energy, but I have enjoyed the game so far and have not found anything I have to pay for to keep advancing forward in the game.

Energy Management

Now, as far as Clover Tale goes, it uses the typical limited energy approach to frustrate you into spending money. I would suggest you simply have patience. You start off with a small amount of energy, and additional energy accumulates over time. I’m not sure if it changes during the game, but at my current progress it replaces 1 energy per 3 minutes. However, depending on your match-3 skill, it doesn’t take long to increase your energy pool by leveling up..

You start off with a small total energy capacity, but you only need 15 energy per play at Berry Meadow. (Mushroom Town is 20 per play so wait until a quest requires you to go there.)

Each time you advance to the next level, your total energy capacity increases and your energy completely refills. And at lower levels it takes very little XP (experience) to advance to the next level. Due to this you can enjoy a pretty good game session your first time playing, by playing carefully, leveling up, getting an energy refill, and repeating.

Of course, eventually you will reach a point where you do not have the energy required to play another match. You might be tempted to spend some of your hard-earned crystals on a Ripe Apple or Berry Pie, but resist. If the game has awarded you with a free apple, then feel free to use it, but save your crystals for what is on the next page of the Energizers.

For just a few crystals more, you can restore 100 points of energy and increase your total energy capacity by 10. Sure, it requires you level up a few times before you can afford it, but it is a better value. I would not spend crystals on any of the other choices, unless there is a limit to the amount of Desert Water you can buy (which I have not yet encountered).

Since energy uses and limitations are the main factor in the games attempt to get money from you, we’ll talk more about energy usage, increases and management later in the guide.

I’m a “Player”!

While it is not magically delicious, I was level 7 before I noticed this, so in case you missed it too, you can click on the red level indicator in the upper-left corner to change from “player” to your preferred avatar alias.

It does not seem to allow different profiles so you cannot share with a sibling or spouse, but you can still personalize it a bit. I don’t know if the player name is ever used during game play so this is simply cosmetic.

All About Areas

Clover Tale is divided into game play areas, with new areas being unlocked as you progress and increase levels, and acquire certain items via completing match-3 playing fields. Each area offers a different challenge by having different objectives.

As the levels progress in each area the difficulty is increased by constricting the playing fields with rocks and stones, “strapped” down items, growing vines, and so on.

Presented in the order you are most likely going to progress through the game areas.

Berry Meadow is the simplest game play mode and the cheapest in energy required per exploration. The objective in Berry Meadow is straight-up reaching increasing point thresholds. The initial energy cost to play a level is 15, making it the cheapest game area.

Mushroom Town, appears to be the local seat of governmental power. Levels here initially require

20 energy per attempt. Ice tiles are added to the objectives along with points for levels played in Mushroom Town.

The Laboratory is the third area you are introduced to. Levels here initially require 20 energy. Objectives for matches played in the Laboratory require collecting vials of varying chemical mixtures, as well as reaching certain point thresholds.

You won’t find Dewey (Decimal) in the Library, but you will encounter a new objective in the form of storage chests that need to be unlocked. One or more chests per level must be opened by maneuvering a key adjacent to the chest. Chest are not fixed on the play field and are impacted by matches just like the key. Additionally, the play field can be rotated to a*sist in accomplishing the goal.

** This section will be updated as I progress in the game. **

Seeing Stars

Most casual games feature gold stars, and specifically the objective to complete all levels to 3 gold stars. Clover Tale does not have a direct achievement for certain number of golden stars, or for completing each level to a 3 star level. However, if has indirect achievements based on achieving 3 gold star on each level.

Stick with me for a few minutes here as this ties into managing that limited energy that the game gives you at the start. Don’t worry… soon you will have enough energy to play until you get bored and move on until later.

(As an aside, I am playing Gems of War: The Sacred Hoard – [steampowered.com] , which is also free to play, and after hours of addictive game play I have found no advancement limiting pay wall. I don’t mess with the PVP portion so there no need to keep up with powerful weapons purchased by other players. When I run out of free energy in Clover Tale, I jump to Gems of War while my energy replenishes. That reduces the desire to waste money on virtual junk, which you should save for real needs like food, clothing and shelter! 😀 )

Each area levels up as you play, based on the number of gold stars you achieve. Listen carefully, as this is key to enjoying the limited energy you have at the start. You want to level yourself up faster than you level up an area! Read that again!

What do I mean? When an area levels up, referred to as mastery level in the image below, the energy required to play a match there increases, costing you more energy to gather items needed for quests, collections, etc.

As you complete a match, you must reach at least 1 gold star in order to collect the needed rewards. The stars you earn are applied to the mastery level of that area. Once the mastery level bar is filled, then the area levels up, increasing the energy cost to play.

It seems counter-intuitive, but you should not try to get 3 gold stars on a level early on. Get 1 star to allow for gathering items, completing quests, and so on, such that you are leveling up, but don’t worry about 3 stars until later, so the area is not leveling up as quickly. If you happen to reach 3 stars – and you will – don’t fret, but don’t replay levels at the start for the sole purpose of achieving 3 stars.

There are achievements based on increasing mastery levels of each area, so eventually you will need to get those 3 stars, but for now, resist the urge for perfection!

Bang For the Buck

OK, not talking about actual money here since there are in-app purchases, but rather how to score the most points when playing the match-3 portions of the game. Most matches account for a measly amount of points, which usually won’t reach the required points objective. We need to get some real bang from those limited moves that we are given.

These are not presented in any order, and I don’t really have a good mechanism for measuring the amount of points that each combination generates, but I can tell you they are required to get 3 stars on later matches. Keep in mind, the information from the “Seeing Stars” section when using these big point scoring moves.

I don’t remember what the game called the bottle of rainbow dye, so bear with me. I’ll call it the “Color Remover” for the sake of simplicity. When used in the least effective it merely removes all tokens of the same color as the one you swap it with.

However, if you can manage to swap the “Color Remover” with another power-up token (the blue power-up in this example), then that power-up token is replicated to each token of the color being removed, as can be seen below. Then each of those tokens explodes in a big bang adding up to some serious points!

The next combination of power-ups that will rake in the points faster than kissing the blarney stone will make you chatter. If you can manage to get an explosion power-up (the “G” like symbol) adjacent to a clear row/column power-up (vertical or horizontal wavy lines), swapping them results in an explosion that destroys a large swatch of tokens in both the vertical and horizontal directions.

That’ll do ya for some points! This works well for clearing ice tiles that are otherwise out of reach. You can, or course, combine two explosive power-ups, or two row/column power-ups, but that does not seem to have the same potency.

The last way to score more points that I will share is to complete the requirements before running out of moves. For each move remaining after you complete the level, you get 1,000 points and a random token is transformed into a power-up. That power-up is then activated to add even more points to the total.

Quintessential Questing

Quests are the main way Clover Tale moves forward. New characters, areas, items, etc. are introduced usually through a a quest. Quests will appear in the upper left of the map screen, under the Total Experience section. A yellow exclamation will display next to a new quest.

I recommend that you “accept” each quest by clicking on the icon, even if you are not going to immediately start it. Accepting a question normally adds a new item or critter to the game world, making it available for you to gather or encounter. The sooner you do that, the sooner you have a chance to start randomly collecting those needed items.

When you access an area you are shown what quest items you can find when you complete a level )see the yellow exclamations). As noted, those items usually don’t appear until after you accept the quest. Even though level 13 is the next available level, you can play any past level and still obtain the needed quest items, as long as you achieve at least one gold star.

Some quests are more in-depth, requiring the completion of a collection. Completing a collection requires several unique items and a number of generic items that will all be combined into a single item needed to complete the quest. Doing so results in some nice rewards, such as a Desert Water (the item that otherwise costs 22 crystals and increases your total available energy) and XP!

Critter Containment

** This section coming soon **

Check inv for items

Helps level up

Some quest require interaction

Endless supply of items as you play

Expanding Into New Areas

** This section is coming soon! **

Energizers, Chests and Tools… Oh, My!

As you play levels, read quest dialogues, interact with critters, complete collections and more, you will be gathering a large amount of items. It can happen pretty quick so that you might not even notice everything you are accumulating.

It is a good idea to check you inventory every so often. I had some Chests and Amulets and did not even know it. You can open the chests for more supplies, and activate amulets for temporary boosts. Thus far I have not used my amulets, and rarely use my tools to ensure I have them when I really need them. That is, I am so conservative with my tools and power-ups that I ended finishing the game with a huge collection of unspent items. Allow yourself to use some of them as you play!

What A Difference A Day Makes

Like the majority of the games with in-game purchases, they need you to keep coming back to be continually frustrated so you are more likely to spend your hard-earned cash on virtual nonsense. To lure you back day after day, they offer incentives for loyalty. Since they are offering, and since you can make use of more energy, tools, etc., you might as well take advantage of it.

Even if you are not going to spend time playing on a given day, at least jump in and claim the freebie. When you are in the mood to play you will have that energy replenishing apple or move extending boots. You can even reap some crystals for obtaining that Desert Water.

Thanks For Stopping By

Well, that’s all I have for now. I hope that you found something of value within this guide. My charms are all used up so it’s time to leaf 4 clover (boo, bad one)!

I have created a nice collection of guides at this point, from tips and tricks to jokes and stories across numerous games. You can check them out here if you so desire: Taskmaster’s Guides! – [steamcommunity.com]

While you may not have found a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, I welcome any feedback you may want to submit. If there is a tip I missed, or a trick you want to share, give me a holler down below. Please take a moment to give this guide a rating if you don’t mind.

Taskmaster

This is all we can share for General Tips and Tricks – Clover Tale for today. I hope you enjoy the guide! If you have anything to add to this guide or we forget something please let us know via comment! We check each comment! Don’t forget to check XIXGO.COM for MORE!