In your childhood, or perhaps adolescence, you might’ve pretended the floor was lava with friends or family, and started climbing and leaping from various pieces of furniture to save yourself from an imaginary demise. If you look back at these memories fondly or feel left out, Indie game Chained Together is here to help with its hardest difficulty: Lava Mode.
Except this time, the consequences are rather tangible; regardless of where you are, or how high you’ve climbed, all it takes is a single fall to send you back to the very beginning of the course. On top of all that, you’re under a time limit; the lava won’t stop rising. If you’re struggling, give these tips a try.
7 Learn Preferred Or Optimal Routes
Focus On Learning The Map First
You don’t really have a choice unless you’ve researched the course’s layout beforehand, but in your first few hours of attempts, it’s best to keep your mind focused on gradually learning the map. Also, remember to take note of the pathways you prefer to navigate.
As you get farther, you’ll get more attempts at confusing or challenging sections, and over time, you’ll memorize exactly what you need to do. Ironically, the best way to improve your speed is to embrace the journey, rather than obsess about the ultimate goal or outcome.
6 Take Your Time
It Only Takes One Mistake To Lose It All
Trying to complete the course as fast as possible is a common, typically reflexive response to the fact that lava is slowly but surely rising below you. The problem with this approach is that regardless of your short-term progress, one mistake could ruin it all.
While you don’t need to take it slow on everything, give respect to sections of the course that deserve it, like the early bone area with thin platforms, or the wooden log found just after the water maze that has multiple, spiked walls that you have to jump around.
5 Play Solo
Maximizing Variables You Can Control
While playing with others is a big part of what makes the game fun and exciting, it also makes it harder. By playing on your own, you’ll have nothing to lose but your chains, eliminating the chance of getting caught on various objects.
Additionally, you won’t have to worry about timing and coordinating jumps with others, giving you as much control as possible over your character’s movement. This is especially important when you’re attempting difficult shortcuts, or trying to go as fast as you can to race the lava.
4 Expect To Get Frustrated
You’re Going To Fall, And That’s Okay
Look, this is a long course, and there are plenty of sections that require near-perfect timing, or fine motor skills. The point is, that the more time it takes to complete a course, the more chances there are for you to make mistakes, which will inevitably happen.
Even if you keep these expectations in mind, you may nonetheless find yourself getting increasingly frustrated. If that’s the case, you should probably take a break, even if it’s only for five minutes; do you think a calm demeanor or a hasty rage will bring you victory?
3 Use Wings
Minimizing Unfortunate Setbacks
Using the wings will prevent you from appearing on the leaderboards.
Believe it or not, you can get your very own pair of angelic wings in this game, called the Wings of Freedom, which allow gliding, and can slow your fall if you happen to slip or mess up a jump, thus minimizing the impact of your mistakes.
The problem is, that you’ll have to gather ten different wing pieces before the wings become unlocked. Once you’ve found all the pieces, you can activate the wings through the main menu.
2 Practice In Training Mode
It Can’t Hurt
Similar to Soulslike games, the interesting thing about this course and other challenging platformers is that one person can be good at one section, and have a terrible time with another section, while the inverse can be true for a completely different person.
In other words, you’re going to have unique struggles and adversity in this game, and instead of comparing yourself to others, you could be focusing on yourself, and practicing what gives you the most trouble in training mode, until it becomes second nature.
1 Think Creatively
Taking The Less Traveled Path
There’s nothing inherently wrong with developing a consistent routine or pathway in this course, but you could be missing opportunities to save time or skip parts of sections altogether by analyzing when and where you can vault or climb up certain objects.
This creative mindset can be applied solo, or with other players; the chain that binds you doesn’t exist solely as a hindrance, it can sometimes be used to beat or more quickly complete sections in ways that solo players can’t. Makeshift, duo zipline, anyone?
