Lily Escape tips: clear the pond without losing a heart

Three stars in Lily Escape means no blocked taps at all. Since nothing is timed, that comes down to one habit: check before you tap. Here is how to check quickly. New to the game? Start with how to play Lily Escape.

1. Trace the lane, not the arrow

For any arrow, the only cells that matter are the ones in a straight line from its head to the edge of the board. Put your eye on the head and run it to the edge. If you pass over any part of another arrow, head or body, the lane is blocked.

It is easy to be fooled by an arrow that is nearly free. One cell of someone else's tail at the far end of the lane blocks it just as well as a wall right in front.

2. Start at the edges

Arrows whose heads already sit on the border, pointing outward, have no lane to block. They can always leave. Clearing them first opens the board from the outside in and often frees a second layer immediately.

3. Ask "who is blocking whom?"

When an arrow is blocked, find the arrow in its lane, then check that arrow's own lane. You are following a chain: A waits for B, B waits for C, and C is free. Tap them in reverse: C, then B, then A.

Every level can be cleared, so every chain ends in a free arrow. If you seem to be going around in a circle, you have misread one of the lanes. Look at the heads again.

4. Watch out for bends

A bent arrow leaves along the direction of its head, and its whole body follows the same path out. What it blocks, though, is every cell its body covers, including the part around the corner. On crowded boards a long bent arrow is often the blocker you did not notice.

5. Clear long arrows early when you can

A long arrow sits in several lanes at once. If it is free, sending it off tends to free more arrows than any other tap. If it is not free, working out what it needs is usually the key to the level.

6. Do not tap to test

A blocked tap costs a heart, and hearts are the stars. If you are not sure, trace the lane again. It takes a second and costs nothing.

7. Use hints as a pointer, not a crutch

You get three hints per attempt, and a hint shows one arrow that is free right now. On a big board the most useful moment for a hint is the very start, when finding the first free arrow is the slowest part. After that, the chain rule in tip 3 usually carries you.

8. Restart is free

If you have lost a heart and want three stars, use Restart. It puts every arrow back and refills hearts and hints. Stars count the blocked taps of the attempt that clears the level, so a clean second run earns the full three.

A routine for big boards

1. Sweep the four edges and send off every arrow pointing straight out.
2. Pick the longest arrow left and trace its lane.
3. Follow the chain of blockers to a free arrow and tap back up the chain.
4. Repeat from step 1. The board gets easier with every arrow that leaves.

Play Lily Escape now, or see more from One Thumb Games.