Dots & Co Tips, Cheats and Strategies

The third game in the Dots series (after Dots and Two Dots), Dots & Co’s minimalist style will endear it towards many, having you focus on matching up those all important dots in your path to victory.

While it might seem quite simple at first, you’re going to need some help to excel in this delightful puzzler. Gamezebo’s Dots & Co Tips, Cheats and Strategies are here to help you get to grips with things, easing you onto the path of becoming one with the dots. Or something like that.

The Basics

• Dots & Co has a few tricks up its sleeve. Namely, you can match up dots round corners, as well as in a straight line. You can’t match them diagonally, but being able to go round corners immediately boosts the options open to you.
• As soon as you clear some dots, the board drops all dots down accordingly. Remember this – it’s ideal for when you’re trying to line things up just so, in order to achieve a great move the next turn.
• Aim for forming squares or rectangles at all times. By creating a square, you clear all the other dots of the same color. It only counts if you join the square together though, so don’t forget to do that!
• Combine swirly dots as often as possible. These turn all surrounding dots into the same color as them, making it easy to form squares or rectangles.

Knowing the Currencies

• Dots & Co keeps it quite simple, but you need to be aware of the two numbered bars at the top of the level select screen.
• The one on the left is your energy meter. You need three doses of energy to play a level. Once you complete a level, you get some energy back. One star means one dose of energy, two stars mean two, and three means you get all three doses of energy returned to you. Obviously, you want to try to get three stars at all times then you’ll never run out of energy.
• The bar on the right involves cogs. It deals with special powers. You can use it to boost the abilities of your companions, ensuring they’re at maximum power right from the start.
• You can also use it when you run out of moves. It’ll add five extra moves, as well as boost your companions. Heads up though – this is a lot more expensive than simply boosting your companion before playing.

Power-Ups are Important

• Cogs can also be used to buy special power-ups. Three of them are available to you, with the game dishing out a few freebies when they’re first introduced. Try to resist using them until you absolutely have to.
• The eraser power-up is relatively cheap, because it has one simple but useful role. It allows you to remove one dot from the board. That might not sound like much, but it makes a huge difference when you use it to move a bunch of same colored dots together, setting you up for a square shape.
• The sure shot power-up removes all the dots in the same row and column as where you activate it. Again, careful placement is key in ensuring this is at its most effective. It’s twice as expensive as the eraser.
• The companion charge is the final power-up. It only costs 3 cogs for each use, boosting your companion’s abilities immediately.

Jennifer Allen

Jennifer is a UK-based freelance writer. Her work has featured at multiple outlets, including Gamasutra, 148apps, Paste, TechRadar, Wareable, and MyM magazine. In her spare time, she tries to teach her guinea pigs tricks, and enjoys losing hours to Netflix.