Our friend and guru Match 3 player Kathy Lew (SynthpopAddict) wrote this guide for our game Spooky Dwellers 4. Enjoy!
General tips:
Some general customization options are available in the gears button on the opening screen, but the Menu button within any M3 level is the treasure trove for setting the game up however you’d like.
I’m assuming you’ve played some of the games in this series before, but if you haven’t, the goal in most levels is to get the light beams to shine on all the Spooky Dwellers so they are driven away. A few levels are traditional M3 levels, in which you must remove all the colored squares. The in-game Help button at the top right of any M3 level is a great resource for explaining game mechanics and contains all the popup texts which otherwise appear as you’re going along. The pumpkins are optional unless they’re blocking the light, but the more of them removed, the better the color of trophy you’ll win for finishing the level.
The “scene building” element in this Spooky Dwellers has gone back to the simple “build a scene” from the original game instead of the “sim” building-game-in-itself SD2 and SD3 featured. There is no benefit to be had from constructing the scene other than getting a creepy room built. Also, several items are really expensive. If you want to fully build the scene, you’ll need to play all the minigames as there aren’t enough coins to be had from just the M3 levels alone.
Chains, despite having holes in them, block light beams.
Most levels can be figured out if you mess with them long enough, but I’m including brief tips for the trickier levels and the ones which can be locked if you do things in the wrong order.
Pain in the Hat:
The mechanics are the same as in the 3 previous games, except for the addition of the Hatted Mischief in some levels. (The worm and bedbug Spooky Dwellers have been removed.) The Help book doesn’t quite explain the Hatted Mischief enough IMO, so hopefully this helps:
-A Hatted Mischief is a Spooky Dweller haunting the inside of some of the levels instead of hanging out on the edges. It’s a cute purple hat with eyes. The pointed end of the hat shows what direction the Hatted Mischief will move. Click on a Hatted Mischief to aim the hat in the direction you want it to go, then make matches adjacent to the Hatted Mischief to move it one space at a time. The matches do NOT need to be in the direction you want the Hatted Mischief to move. They only need to touch the Hatted Mischief to move it.
-Hatted Mischiefs must be removed with the light beams just like the rest of the Spooky Dwellers, but they won’t “walk” into a light beam on their own. The trick to getting rid of them is to move them into a row or column where a light beam can reach, but leave the light blocked by obstacles or directed elsewhere in the beginning. Then move the light beam by clearing obstacles and rotating the pipes until the light shines on the Hatted Mischiefs. To keep the Hatted Mischiefs from moving out of a target area, aim them so they can’t leave that column or row.
Hidden Object Scenes: Some of the items in the list will be silhouettes of the actual objects.
Nocturne Gallery Minigame: This game confused me, until I realized the square on the right side works like an assembly area. You need to pick a pair of the correct “halves” to build an image in the square, and keep doing it until all the “halves” are used up. The boxes with question marks are locked until enough “halves” are matched.
Tips for harder/lockable levels: Some of the last few levels are challenging, so I did a walkthrough for them.
Level 13: The hatted mischiefs need to be walked into one of the following: the center row, the top row, or the bottom half of the center column for the light to reach them. To keep them from moving away once they’re in the correct location, aim them so they can only move in that row or column once they’re in the right place. If the light is in the way, spin the pink pipe to direct the light elsewhere before walking the hatted mischiefs into that row or column.
Level 14: The Hatted Mischiefs must’ve been cats when they were alive, because they won’t walk through water. Lead them into the center column, and try to avoid breaking the black rocks blocking the light to make getting all the hats into place easier. Then remove the black rocks and spin the pipe to hand those guys their hats.
Level 31: Align the Hatted Mischiefs with one of the holes in the center column, as the witch lanterns will get them, not the main lamp. Then remove all the pumpkins and other obstacles on the left.
Level 32: The Hatted Mischiefs need to go in one of the following: 3rd row from the top, or 5th row from the bottom. Note that one Hatted Mischief is hiding under the fog in the far right column, and another is hiding under fog in the top row.
Level 52: Don’t move the arrow blocks until the Spooky Dweller in the middle of the far right column has gone away AND the lamp at the top left corner is lit.
Level 53: Don’t move the arrow block until the lamp in the top right corner has lighted. You’ll have to clear out nearly all the pumpkins and obstacles before that happens.
Level 54: Several Hatted Mischiefs are hiding in the fog. Move the Hatted Mischiefs into one of the following: the 5th row from the top, the 7th column from the left, or the 7th column from the right. Try not to remove the pumpkins blocking the light for as long as possible, as that makes getting rid of several of the Hatted Mischiefs with one pass of the light easier. Spin the pink pipes as needed to either remove the Hatted Mischiefs, or to move the light away so a Mischief can be moved into the appropriate row or column.
Level 55: Move the Hatted Mischiefs into the 5th row from the top and aim them so they can’t get out of that row. Then remove all the pumpkins and obstacles in the left side before spinning the pink pipe.
Level 69: Make sure you’ve removed the pumpkin below the arrow block before moving the arrow block down.
Level 74: The Hatted Mischiefs need to be in the bottom half of the column with the pink pipe. I did this one by moving the one Hatted Mischief on the right to below the pink pipe, then cleared all the pumpkins and black rocks. Shine the light on the key to get rid of the Hatted Mischief; this also removes the locks blocking the other 2 Hatted Mischiefs. Then move the 2 Hatted Mischiefs past the highlighted squares until they reach the light (don’t spin the pink pipe while doing this or the Hatted Mischiefs will be stuck again). Spin the pink pipe to move the light so you can get those Hatted Mischiefs under the pink pipe before spinning the pipe back.
Level 75: Move the key all the way to the end of the conveyor belt – it will be in the 2nd row from the top – and clear out everything blocking the light to free the Hatted Mischiefs. They only need to go up 2 more spaces to be aligned with a pink pipe.
Level 81: Don’t move the arrow block until all the Spooky Dwellers are gone except for the one in the bottom left corner.
Level 83: Leave the arrow blocks alone until the light reaches them. Only then can you move the arrow blocks safely.
Level 91: Move the keys to the end of the belt in the far left column and remove the majority of pumpkins and black rocks. Shine the light on the highest key. Then light the fire in the cup by matching next to the cup and move the keys to the other end of the belt. Shine the light on the other key.
Level 93: The 2 Hatted Mischiefs close to the bottom should be moved 2 spaces to be in the closest column with a pipe, but the middle Hatted Mischief needs to be walked 7 spaces to reach either a column on the side with a pipe, or the topmost row. You’ll have to remove most, if not all, the pumpkins.
Level 98: The Hatted Mischiefs have to go on quite the hike all the way to the far left column.
Level 99: Move the Hatted Mischiefs in the far left column down 3 (upper one) and up 3 (lower one) – this will take two passes of the light to accomplish because you have to get rid of one of the Mischiefs before the other one will go that many spaces. Or move one of those Mischiefs one column right so they are both aligned with the pink pipe and then it doesn’t take multiple light passes. The Hatted Mischief near the bottom needs to go only 1 space left. The Hatted Mischief in the top right needs to hike halfway across the board to be in the column with the pink pipe.
Level 107: All the Hatted Mischiefs need to be in the 5th row from the bottom.
Level 108: The thing that’ll make this one impossible is if you don’t clear out the colored square in the far left before moving the lower arrow block.
Level 109: Put all the Hatted Mischiefs in some row with a pipe before removing the pumpkins. It’s actually not that much moving for most.
Level 118: All the Hatted Mischiefs must be in the 5th column from the right, which is quite the hike for several of them.
Level 119: Don’t move the arrow blocks until the lamp in the bottom right corner has lighted.
Level 127: Water blocks light, unfortunately, so the Hatted Mischiefs on the left side need to be in the 4th row from the bottom and the ones on the right need to be in the 4th row from the top.
Level 129: Move the arrow block in the top row first. Clear out all the colored squares in the top half of the far left column before moving any of the other arrow blocks, otherwise you may get a block covering a colored square and won’t be able to finish.
Level 137: Remove at least the pumpkins around the arrow block and slide the block. The arrow block must be moved without breaking the black rock so the light is cut off temporarily. If you remove the black rock before sliding the arrow block or before both Hatted Mischiefs are in the 4th column from the left, you’ll have to restart. After the Mischiefs are in place, remove the black rock and slide the arrow block again.
Level 139: The Hatted Mischiefs in the left side of the playfield need to be in the 4th column from the left, and the Hatted Mischiefs in the right side of the playfield must be in the 4th column from the right.
Level 146: This one took me a while to figure out.
1) Remove all the pumpkins, but leave the black rocks by the cup alone.
2) As long as the fire isn’t lit in the cup, the Witch Lanterns will end up in the center of the playfield with the orange one lined up with the light.
3) Break the chains blocking the light so it shines on the orange Witch Lantern.
4) Spin the pink pipes to get rid of most of the Spooky Dwellers.
5) The unlit lamp in the center will light when the top pink pipe is facing to the left. If you spent some time rotating both pink pipes in step 4, there will only be 1 Spooky Dweller remaining in the bottom left corner.
6) Break the black rocks by the cup and light the fire by matching next to the cup so the conveyor belt reverses direction.
7) Move the Witch Lanterns back to the other end of the conveyor belt by making matches involving spaces on the belt. This shines the light on the green lantern.
8) Break any chains still blocking the light from the lamp which lighted in the far right column to remove the last Spooky Dweller.
Level 147:
1) Remove the pumpkins on the left side, but don’t light the fire in the cup (if it does light, extinguish it by matching next to the cup again).
2) Move the rock all the way to the end of the conveyor belt by making matches on the upper part of the belt until the rock blocks the light from shining on the Witch Lantern.
3) Remove all the pumpkins on the right side, and move all the Hatted Mischiefs into the 2nd row from the top. This is quite the trip and will require them to walk around all the water in the way. Move a few of them leftwards once they’re in the 2nd row from the top so it’s easier to get the rest into that row.
4) Light the fire in the cup and move the rock down on the conveyor belt.
Level 148:
1) Remove all the pumpkins which are reachable. There are 2 in the bottom left which you can’t get to for now.
2) Get rid of all the black rocks and chains.
3) If the arrow block hasn’t moved up yet, slide it up.
4) Spin the pink pipe so the light goes right, then spin the pipe again so the light goes left.
5) The bottom area is freed, so remove those last pumpkins and clear out the colored squares.
Level 149: The 2 Hatted Mischiefs must walk all the way across the board to the 3rd column from the right. There will be lots of pumpkins and water in the way, but the top right is more open once the pumpkins are gone, so I move the Mischiefs into the top section of the playfield to get them to the target column.