The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed is a new game from Electronic Arts and Illumination Entertainment based on the recent movie starring Louis C.K. as main character Max. In terms of its genre and mechanics, you’ve almost surely seen this one before – it’s a Match 3 game based on a popular franchise. As you’ll be exploring New York City with Max the terrier and his friends, you’ll be completing puzzles based on an ongoing storyline, making standard three-piece matches, or creating combos and super-combos to activate certain boosts. Like most big-name Match 3 titles, this game has more than its fair share of unique twists, and you might want to check these twists out for yourself by downloading and playing the game.
But before you think about doing that, you might need some help in solving the puzzles. Or you may already be playing the game, but stuck at a puzzle you just can’t solved, or you may be a complete Match 3 newbie who needs help getting started. Regardless of why you’re reading this, here’s a list of The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed tips and tricks that can help you solve more puzzles and get further through the story.
1. Take Your Time, But Remember Your Moves Per Level
Worried that more and more Match 3 games are adding a new twist in the form of time limits? You don’t need to worry, because The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed does not have such a twist! You can take your time analyzing the board and choosing your next move, while looking for potential combo or super-combo opportunities. The only thing you need to be worried about is your move limit; for some reason, the game doesn’t explicitly inform you about the number of moves you have in a level, but if you look at the top right corner of your screen, you’ll see your remaining move count; pay close attention to this, and don’t get too carried away!
2. Bigger Matches Are Better
Three-piece matches are the status quo in this game, but when making matches, you should always go for the biggest one possible. By making one of these combos or super-combos, you can get a boost that will allow you to clear more of the board and score more points. Better yet, they can create chains, which may include other special pieces within them, and if you make the right matches, you may be able to clear everything out with just one match creating a ripple effect across the board.
3. Earn Extra Currency By Playing Fetch
The game allows you to earn extra coins, as specified in the game’s description. You can do this by playing the fetch mini-game with your pet. You can do only do this once a day, so make the most out of this opportunity, as it’s a great way to earn additional in-game money for buffs, boosts, and other items that can help you in solving more puzzles.
4. Make The Most Out Of Your Buffs And Boosts
Speaking of buffs, you can buy them if you’ve got enough coins, but you can also get some for free, albeit rarely. That means you should save them for those hard-to-solve puzzles, or for crucial situations where you’ve only got a few moves remaining and not much hope with the current state of the board. Use them wisely, and be careful not to use them just because they’re there, or when there’s a big match hiding somewhere on the board. The same, of course, applies to your boosts, regardless whether you get them in the course of playing the game, or buy them with you coins.
5. How To Get More Lives Without Waiting
We know that it can be a pain to wait until your lives refresh; as usual, you lose one life each time you fail to complete a level within the required number of moves. But you can watch ad videos in order to get a couple of lives back, or connect your game to Facebook, so you can request for lives from friends who also play the game. When all else fails, there’s the option to wait it out for a couple of hours until your lives are fully replenished, or about 30 or so if all you need is a few more lives.
6. Open The Treat Bags
Once you’ve three-starred enough levels, the game will reward you with a gift from the treat bags. These gifts can be quite helpful, so go ahead and open them once they’re available. Just keep in mind, though, that stars don’t cross over from one section to another, and that you can always replay one- or two-star levels if you don’t have enough stars to open a treat bag.
That’s all for now, as far as our list of tips and tricks for The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed is concerned. In case you know additional hints for the game, don’t hesitate to let us know!