Ruby Blast Walkthrough

Game Introduction – Ruby Blast

Ruby Blastdeveloped by Zynga is a fast action twist on a match-three game,a where you can use multiple power ups and help from neighbors to dig for large rubies and other magical gems. Click on groups of three or more magic gems to earn points. The faster you click, the deeper you dig and the more bonuses you unearth. Play against your friends for even more digging fun! Gamezebo’s quick start strategy guide will provide you with detailed images, tips, information, and hints on how to play your best game.

Quick Start Guide

Getting Started

• Ruby Blast is a free game and can be found by clicking on the “Play Now!” button at the top of this page.
• Currently, you will be asked to give the game permission to access your Facebook account, post messages on your profile page with your permission and send you periodic emails.
• Game settings – At the bottom left corner of the game screen you can click on buttons to turn the game music and sounds on or off.

Game Currencies

• There are several types of currency used in the game which can be used to purchase power ups, energy, and extra seconds of game time.
• Gold Coins – These are the basic game currency used to purchase the first two power ups that you will use during the game. You will start the game with 1000 coins and will earn more after each session you play.
• Emeralds – These arethe secondary, high-end currency in the game. You can use emeralds to purchase power ups that give you huge advantages such as the “power shuffle”. Once you use this power up you will also dig for emeralds when you play the game. You are given a few emeralds when you start the game and must be at level six before you can use them. You can also purchase them with blast bucks.
• Sapphires – This is the next hig- end currency in the game. Once you use the final power up in the game you will be able to dig for sapphires.

• Blast Bucks – This is the virtual currency that allows you to purchase all other virtual cash such as gold coins, emeralds, sapphires as well as energy to allow you to play longer, and the option to purchase more time after each turn, which will allow you to dig a little further for a few seconds.
• How to purchase additional currencies – Blast bucks are purchased with real currency and charged via Facebook with a major credit card, PayPal account, or several other options. Click on “Add funds” at the top of the game screen to purchase blast bucks in denominations ranging from 2 to 100 dollars. The more you purchase the better deal you will get, according to the rates at which the game charges.

Game Elements

• Gold Coins – These are dug up during each dig session and are used to purchase the first two available power-ups
• Rubies – You need rubies in order to level up in the game. Your ruby meter and level indicator is shown at the top right of the game screen with a red star. As the meter fills up, you are closer to the next level. Every game you complete awards you with a certain number of rubies depending on how many you reached during your drilling session.
• Emeralds – Once you use the power up “Shuffle Magic,” you will unlock emeralds on the dig board and you will notice you dig them up along with rubies. These are used to purchase more emeralds and power ups later on in the game.
• Sapphires – Once you reach the fifth power up you will be able to dig for sapphires, as well as rubies and coins (once you reach the depth of at least 100 feet); these are used to pay for future dig sessions with the sapphire power-up.

Energy

• Energy is what is used to start a dig session; each dig session will cost you four energy points.
• You have an energy meter at the top of the screen marked with a lightning bolt symbol.
• You are given a maximum of 25 energy points and if you are awarded with more while you are at your maximum, you may see it go higher than 25.
• Energy regenerates slowly over time at a rate of one energy point every four minutes.
• You can also purchase large bundles of energy at different rates using your blast bucks. This will keep you playing for a longer period of time without the need to replenish.
• Asking Neighbors – You can also click on the “Ask Neighbors” button to ask your neighbors for energy. These are collected when you join the game session and opt to collect any gifts you’ve been given. Be sure to send energy to your neighbors as well so that exchange on a daily basis.

Power-Ups

• Power-ups can be used at a maximum of three at a time.
• You must first unlock a power-up by reaching the designated level.
• Once you reach the level necessary to unlock a power-up, you must pay to use it each time you dig. You will need to pay gold coins for the first two powe-ups, then emeralds for the next two, and finally sapphires for the final power-up.
• There are currently five power-ups available to choose from once they are all unlocked. You will be able to choose three slots to fill each time you play if you can afford it.
• You can always play with no power-ups, or all available, depending on what you can afford.
• If you run out of money you can purchase more or wait until you generate more by playing a dig session.
• The power-ups are (in order of unlocking):
• Nova Flare – (Uses 150 coins) Instantly destroy one row and column of gems and dirt.
• Starfall – (Uses 350 gold coins) Blazing meteors come down and destroy three columns of gems and dirt.
• Shuffle Magic – (Uses 20 Emeralds) This power-up causes the gems to shuffle in large clusters so that you can click on very large groups toward the bottom of the grid. When this is used, click on the groups quickly, as you could run out of time.
• Cherry Bomb – Unlocks at level 10. Blasts down on the gem board with a triple explosion.
• ? – The final power-up is not named but appears to unlock at level 20. Discover the mystery by playing!
• More power-ups are likely to be added so be sure to check back frequently for these updates.

How to Play Ruby Blast

• The object of the game is to dig for money and gems as fast as possible to beat the scores of your neighbors, and land in one of the top three positions on the leaderboard, which also shows the scores of your Facebook neighbors playing the game.
• You will at first be asked to choose a power-up to use during your session.
• You can use up to three powe- ups, each of which cost money to deply. You will see the power-ups unlock once you reach certain levels.
• Some power-ups will require a payment in gold, some in emeralds, the final power up in sapphires – which you can acquire while digging.
• You are given a minimum of 40 seconds on the clock with the opportunity to earn time bonuses as you play. The timer is located along the top left of the screen.
• You are taken to a board filled with gems and you must click on any grouping of three or more. If you click on anything less than three you will hear a tone telling you the click failed.

• You must try to click on as many groups of three or more as possible, with the larger the group helping to better your score. The goal is not to foul up by clicking on any groups of two, as this will mess up your chaining bonus.
• Each time you click on a large group of colored gems they will disappear and more will fall in from the top.
• As you clear more gems, you will find you are digging down into the mine, and you will be rewarded at certain checkpoints with time bonuses which can add 10 to 20 seconds on to the clock at various intervals.
• At the bottom of the game screen (the dirt level), you will see the bonuses you can earn and obstacles you can run into by digging and releasing them.

• Power-up meters – Along the right side of the mine you will see the power-up meters. These fill up as you click on matches of three, and once the meters are full, a power-up icon will be placed randomly on the board. When you see these, quickly click on them and you will earn many bonus points and possible gems. These are usually shown as being multi-colored with symbols on them, which are different based on the type of power-up.

Bonus items to dig from Dirt Line

• Cherry bombs – These are bright glowing circles you will see in the dirt, and once the gems touch them they will activate above the dig line. You can now click on these bombs and they will blast away a section of gems, causing those that replace them to be more likely to match.
• Coins – You will see coins in the dirt and when the gems touch them they are added to your score.
• Rubies – Any rubies touched by the gems will add a ruby to your score. These are added to your level meter and help you to level up faster. Most people average 10 to 12 rubies per turn.
• Emeralds – These are available once you reach level six and unlock the third power-up which is “Shuffle Magic.”
• Sapphires – These are available once you reach level twenty and unlock the fifth power-up.
• 2x Bonus – When the gems reach a blue “2x,” your score will be multiplied x 2.
• Super Rubies – When you come across a super ruby, five rubies will be instantly placed on the gem grid above for you to release during your digging session. You will see this happen when you hit a super ruby.

Obstacles

• Obstacles – After a while you will start to see obstacles in the dirt, as well as the power-ups and money. Once you release an obstacle, it will stay there and block your path, though you may be able to knock it out of the way with a power-up. A few of these are listed here.
• Lava Rocks – When these appear in the mine, they will block a space and can only be knocked out by a power-up
• Iron Node – Once an iron node is released it will stay in the spot of a gem and block the area from any matches.
• Several other obstacles will be revealed as you travel further down the mine, all of which require higher level power-ups to destroy.

Digging Down Time Bonuses

• Digging Down Time Bonus – As you click on gem groupings very fast you will earn time bonuses in 10 to 20 second increments based on how well you are doing. These are announced and shown to you on the grid as they occur and you will see fireworks appear on the grid during this time. Use these intervals to focus on the bottom of the screen to release as many items as you can. Gems count for double during these bonus times.

Friend Gems

• Drilling Bonus or Friend Gem – You will, from time to time, see a drill appear at the bottom right of the screen and a picture of one of your neighbors that has sent you this help. This is also known as the “Friend Gem.”
• When you see the drill gem with the picture of your neighbor, click on it and a drill will remove two layers of dirt and any bonus items along with it, adding all benefits to your score.
• These can be very helpful occurences when you are stuck, encouraging you to engage friends in the play experience.
• Be sure to send help to your neighbors daily so they will return the favor!

Scoring

• You score points by clicking on groups of three or more, with the larger the group you click earning you the most points; speed is also a factor, as clicking faster nets you a higher score.
• As you dig down and release coins they are added to your score.
• As you dig down and release rubies they are added to your score.
• As you dig down and release emeralds or sapphires they are added to your score.
• When your turn is over you will see a summary of your point total, rubies, emeralds, or sapphires collected, as well as how many coins you earned. The rubies will go to your level indicator to help you level up. The sapphires and emeralds are added to your total and used to pay for high end power-ups each time you dig.
• If you have beat your previous high scores the game will notify you, including special notifications for placing amongst the top three players, or unseating any friends from their high scores.

Leaderboard

• Note along the right side of the game screen the scores of your neighbors listed in order of the highest score to the lowest.
• The highest score each person has ever earned will be shown in this menu and will last for one week.
• The top three scorers on this board will win special “cash” prizes, and if you can pass any of the people in the top three spots you will earn prizes for doing so as seen in image above.

• Each time you pass a player’s score or land in the top three spots, you will be notified and will be able to post this on your Facebook profile page if you choose.
• Gem Tournament – Note the tab along the top of the scoring box. If you click on the gem tab it will show you the total number of gems each person has earned while playing in a given week. These scores are also used and usually whoever has the highest point score will also have the highest gem score. You can set this to whichever you prefer.
• Weekly Tournament – The leaderboard is reset with everyone’s scores going back to zero every Friday at midnight.

Challenging Neighbors

• At this time challenging your neighbors is not enabled but it will be “very soon.”
• Here you will be able to play a session and challenge your score against a specific neighbor for bonus points and money.
• Be sure to watch for this feature coming to the game soon.

Congratulations!

• You have completed the basic game play guide for Ruby Blast by Zynga. Be sure to check back often for game updates, staff and user reviews, user tips, forum comments and much more here at Gamezebo!

Kellie Cardwell-Winters