Those of you who had a chance to live in the 80’s and the 90’s know how cool they were! Flashy tracksuits, boomboxes playing ‘round every corner, cringy sitcoms and… arcade games! Who wouldn’t like to turn back the time and spend entire days mashing your fingers in Mortal Kombat, Metal Slug and Soulcalibur? I’m sure there’s plenty of you who would. Today, it would probably hurt your wallet a lot to make such a commitment, but back then it wasn’t something that people cared for. All that mattered was you against the machine and a dozen of colleagues watching you getting the score (or utterly losing and losing the rep).
It wasn’t long, however, before the popularity of the arcade games declined in the face of the new, upcoming PC and console games which awed the audience with much better graphics, thoroughly crafted levels and multidimensional storylines. These were the new times and the arcade games slowly began to disappear between the pages of the video games’ history.
Arcade games, however, have something that today’s games don’t – the simplicity and the spirit of the old times. A sheer thrill of competition and racing against the clock. Are you ready to feel that thrill again? The folks at Playgendary have created a game you definitely want to check out. Behold, Tomb of the Mask.
In Tomb of the Mask you become a little explorer whose goal is to venture through the Aztec-like labyrinths filled with deadly traps, and get as many dots and coins as he can carry. The visual design of the game is maintained in a minimalistic and pixelated style known to the early arcades, which gives a retro feeling to the game. The tempo of Tomb of the Mask is fast-paced and you have little time to plan your moves. You have to react quickly and learn to respond accordingly to the changing situation in the game. At the first glance, Tomb of the Mask may seem like a piece of cake, even for those who never had a chance to play arcade games, however, its quick tempo and gradually increasing level of difficulty may cause some trouble even to the true veterans of the genre.
While we have shared some tips and tricks for the game in the past, now we are back with a brand new Tomb of the Mask guide. So go ahead and check out our latest Tomb of the Mask tips, cheats and strategies to master this exciting game.
1. Master The Game Mechanics
In Tomb of the Mask you can forget about the process of careful exploration of the long-forgotten dungeons, since your pixel hero moves through the labyrinth by darting between one wall and the other. This is why it is easy for you to fall into a trap, since everytime you move, you have to assess the place of landing of your hero. As said before, sometimes you won’t have a chance to carefully plan your “bounces”, since the game doesn’t forgive your mistakes and there are traps that force you to speed up, and that increases your chances to fail.
The mechanics of Tomb of the Mask is far from random and actually it’s all about the logic. Losing is a natural way of learning to play this game. In Tomb of the Mask you will fail a lot, and since the game lacks checkpoints, usually you will have to start from the beginning, but don’t get discouraged too quickly. At the beginning of the game you will probably fall into traps, once, twice, a dozen, a hundred, but the longer you play it, the more you will get acquainted with its mechanics and there will be a moment when you will go through the levels spontaneously, knowing how to avoid all the dangers on the way.
However, if you don’t have a diamond account, every defeat, may be twice as painful for you, since the free version of the game is heavily packed with ads of all sorts. Watching ads has its merits, however, since it provides you with additional coins and chests.
Once you learn the general pattern of playing the game, the next thing you want to do is to learn how to avoid traps and enemies on your way. In Tomb of the Mask there are plenty of them and every encounter may be deadly for your explorer. At the early stages of the game, you will face two types of traps: permanent and hidden.
Permanent traps, as the name may suggest, are those that are easy to spot. The example here are blades sticking out from the wall. You shouldn’t have much problems with avoiding them, however, in order to feel perfectly safe, you need to learn what each of them does. Amongst the permanent traps are rolling balls that mercilessly follow your steps, bloating traps that increase their size once in a while, and patrolling enemies that move across a particular route of the dungeon.
Hidden traps, however, are more difficult to spot, since they remain hidden until your explorer steps on them. Getting in contact with the hidden traps usually doesn’t kill you instantly, but you have approximately one second to escape before the trap activates. Whenever you see a flickering part of the wall, you know that it contains a hidden trap.
Every trap has a certain pattern that can be learnt through experience. It’s nothing more to that, however, in the heat of darting from one place to another and having a constantly increasing level of water on your back it’s very easy to make a mistake and pay for it a huge price.
2. Choose From Two Game Modes
Tomb of the Mask features two game modes: the Level Mode and the Arcade Mode; each of them offering you a different kind of fun and challenge. It’s good to know what each of them does, so you won’t be surprised by the increased level of difficulty and end up rage quitting the game.
The Level Mode should be played in the first place by those new to the game. The level of difficulty there is much lower than in the Arcade Mode, and it rises up slowly and accordingly to your progress. The Level Mode is good for those who want to learn the base mechanics of Tomb of the Mask and memorise the patterns of particular traps. Also, in oppose to the Arcade Mode, you don’t really have the time limit in which you must finish the level, but you can carefully plan your movements.
The Arcade Mode, on the other hand, can be a real challenge, even for those well-acquainted with the game’s mechanics. Its level of difficulty is much higher and demanding, not to mention that your character is constantly followed by the body of water that rises from the bottom of the screen. In this mode you have a limited time to plan your moves, hence you have to act really quickly not to drown in the water or be killed eventually by the trap.
3. Get More Rewards, Here’s How
Once you complete a stage in the Level Mode or finish a mission, you gain a reward. Sometimes it is a certain amount of coins or a chest that contains a random reward.
The coins are your base currency that can be spent in the in-game Shop for a number of features, including Masks, Power-ups and special packs containing chests and… even more coins! The latter, however, can be bought only by the real money.
In the chest, however, you can find a random reward that you can draw by turning the Wheel of Fortune. You can win a variety of stuff, including coins of different amount, special skins for your character, such as the Robot Mask, but also Power-up charges.
As you explore dungeons in the Level Mode, make sure to collect as many coins as possible, since the time for you doesn’t matter there. In the Arcade Mode, however, it is likely that you will have to omit some of the coins in order to survive, or by choosing one of the two or more available paths.
You can also get free coins and chests by watching ad videos of other Android games. I guess you won’t do that too often, but once in a while, especially if you are short on the coins, it’s definitely worth it.
Remember that everything you gain during your adventures can significantly help you in the game, so it’s good to spend the coins you have instead of stacking them up in your inventory.
4. What To Buy In The Shop?
The in-game shop plays an important role in your adventures. This is where you can buy a wide variety of features, such as Masks, Power-ups and coin packs.
The Masks can be best described as “skins” that provide your hero with a variety of different improvements. There are Masks that increase the maximum amount of coins available in the stage, such as a Knight Mask, and those that make your Power-ups more effective. Some of the end-game Masks, including Skull or Voodoo Masks provide you with improvements to both of these aspects. There are also masks available only for the premium players who purchased a diamond account of the game. Remember, however, that premium Masks can be bought only for the real money.
Apart from the Masks, the shop features a set of Power-ups that can significantly improve your chances of survival and the coin gain during the game. There are Power-ups that freeze your traps and enemies, shields that make you invulnerable, magnets that attract nearby dots and much more.
Before you plan your spendings in the shop, make sure to read descriptions of the items that interest you, and choose the option that you find most useful.
5. Upgrade And Refill Your Power-ups
Power-ups are utilities that can help you go through the dungeons in a number of ways. Some of them need to be activated by double “tapping” on the screen of your phone, other you will find on your path through the labyrinth. They can be upgraded or refilled in the in-game Shop by spending on that some of your coins. Obviously, you can successfully play the game without wasting your in-game funds on Power-ups’ upgrades, but, nevertheless, it’s advised to do so because it makes your game easier and much more effective in the process.
In Tomb of the Mask there are two different types of Power-ups: Active and Collectible. Amongst the Active Power-ups is the utility called the Shield, which, as the name says, protects you from harm dealt by the traps and enemies you stumble upon. Once you double tap on the screen, your hero gets a temporary defence bubble that can withstand any physical damage. This utility has a limited number of uses, but they can be recharged in the in-game Shop by 200 coins. During the early game, it’s quite a sum, especially when you are not eager to refill your coins by continuously watching 30-min long ad videos. This is why you don’t want to waste your Shield charges in the Level Mode, but rather save it for the much more challenging Arcade Mode, where the time flows really fast and at some point you will make a mistake.
The Collectible Power-ups, are those utilities that can be found in the labyrinth, mostly in the Arcade Mode. These are temporary boosts to your coin and score gain, but some of them have a more tactical meaning and can freeze your opponents and traps. They can be upgraded up to the 10th tier and each new tier increases the capability of the particular Power-up. Every new tier, the cost of the each new upgrade is doubled, so you should treat it as a long-term spending plan.
There is no best pattern saying which utility you should upgrade in the first place, since the Collectible Power-ups appear randomly in the Arcade Mode, hence you can’t predict which one of them you will get in the run. You can, however, distinguish generally the most useful utilities. That’s the Shield, Freeze and Magnet. As said before, you can’t upgrade the Shield utility, but you can refill its charges, so if you’re planning to play the Arcade Mode, it’s good to have 2 or 3 Shield charges at your disposal. Freeze is extremely useful when there’s a whole line of enemies and traps around you and you have no time to carefully plan your dashes. It’s good to upgrade that Power-up regularly. And there is a Magnet Power-up which is super effective (again) in the Arcade Mode. There is no physical way you can collect every dot during the Arcade run, since there are many different routes around you. The Magnet utility is the best remedy for that situation, since it pulls towards you all the dots that are in your proximity.
6. Master Your Effectiveness
The mechanics of Tomb of the Mask is extremely intuitive and basically all you have to do, in order to be successful in this game, is to play. The more you play Tomb of the Mask, the more experienced you will become, and in time, you will eventually learn how to avoid enemies and obstacles almost automatically.
The pace of Tomb of the Mask is quick and most of the beginners will stumble upon traps and enemies and will have to start over. It may not be the level of Dark Souls series, but it surely can be frustrating to fall into random traps over and over again (and having to watch boring ad videos once in a while). Don’t get irritated, treat it as a lesson and if you want, help yourself by purchasing stuff in the in-game shop. The key to success is to play and learn, fail if you must, but at the end of the day you will always learn something new and become better.
There you have it! This wraps up our Tomb of the Mask ultimate guide. If you need more guidance or just want to share your thoughts about the game, be sure to leave us a message in the comment area!
Make sure to manage your total coins and plan your spendings, so you can purchase Masks and Power-ups’ upgrades regularly. Also, don’t hesitate to watch some ad videos from time to time in order to get a reasonably huge amount of the in-game funds and chests containing secret rewards. It’s a good source of income and it costs you mere 30 seconds of your life.
Remember also to regularly upgrade and refill your Power-ups and purchase new Masks that will grant you boosts to your coin gain and the Power-up effectivity. Make use of the Shield utility whenever you need, especially in the challenging Arcade Mode.
Levelling up is the natural process of advancing in the game. In order to rank up, you will need to get a certain amount of experience, but once you manage to reach that threshold, there will be always a nice reward waiting for you. During the Level Mode you also have a chance to collect 3 out of 3 stars to maximize the experience gain in the stage. You want to go for that bonus, especially when the Level Mode is not about time, but more about learning.
And that would be all for our Tomb of the Mask guide! The retro, minimalistic graphic design of the game, the simplicity of controls and the super challenging Arcade Mode make it a true gem of the past video gaming era. Hopefully our Tomb of the Mask tips and tricks will help you during the early stages of the game, and if you have any hints yourself and you want to share them, please put them in the comment section below!