Chime Game Guide

The basics of the game and achievement help.

What is Chime?

Chime is a tetris-like game with musical notes where you have to make quads (squares that are the least 3x3) on grids. The goal of each stage is to cover the grid 100% and make multiple quads for higher scores.

The Basics

The control you have is only your mouse, or assigning the two controls to your controller.

Right-handed Mouse:
Right-click to rotate shape.
Left-click to place shape.

Left-handed Mouse:
Left-click to rotate shape.
Right-click to place shape.

Think of this game as tetris in a way, only that you choose where to place the shapes. However, you must make a quad (square or rectangle shape) which is at least 3x3. Here is an example, which is the smallest quad you can make:

Game Modes

There are two types of modes on this game: Free Mode and Time Mode.

Free Mode is a mode where there is no scoring, no multiplers, and time limit, suitable for those who want to get used to the game or just play a relaxing game.

Time Mode is a mode where you have to cover the grid and get the highest score you can within the time limit. There are three time limit types: 9 minutes(Easy), 6 minutes(Medium), and 3 minutes(hard). The difficulty is classified on how much time you have to score and fill the grid.

Scoring

There are two factors for scoring: one is being how big the quad is, and the other is the multiplier on the current quad. The bigger the quad and the bigger the multiplier on it, the bigger score you get. If you manage to cover the grid 100%, you will get an additional 100,000 points and move onto another board of the stage.

To gain multipliers, you have to create different quads. The more quads produced, the more the multiplier increases.

Timing:

In Time Mode, depending on the coverage of your grid, you can gain a Coverage Bonus AKA Time Bonus. Every 10% you fill, you'll gain a time bonus. Once the timer runs out and you have current quads on the board, the quads are removed. If you managed to get enough coverage for the next 10% with those quads, you will gain a time bonus regardless. The seconds added depends on the stage you play (per 10%):

Stage 1: Philip Glass -Brazil-: 20 seconds
Stage 2: Paul Hartnoll (Orbital) -For Silence-: 20 seconds.
Stage 3: Moby -Ooh Yeah-: 30 seconds
Stage 4: Markus Schulz -Spilled Cranberries-: 30 seconds.
Stage 5: Fred Deakin (Lemon Jelly) -Disco Ghosts-: 30 seconds.
Stage EX: Jonathan Coulton -Still Alive-: 20 seconds.

Once you complete the grid, the 20 seconds are reduced to 18 seconds, and the 30 seconds are reduced to 25 seconds.

Legend

Legend	Description
	Unfilled Cell
	Shape on the cell
	Fragment (Colors vary on each stage. The lighter they get, the quicker they will disappear.)
	Samples of filled cells
	Cell that is yet to filled
	Active Quad

Stage 1: Philip Glass -Brazil-

The Stage:



The Shapes:

Summary:
This will be your first stage of the entire game. It is a good place to practice and master the basics of the game. For coverage, your biggest concerns are the edges of the stage, so don't leave room for error.

Stage 2: Paul Hartnoll (Orbital) -For Silence-

The Stage:



The Shapes:

Summary: This is where things get a bit harder. The stage now has some edges and new shapes. Luckily, you can easily work with these new shapes. If you mastered the first stage, then this should be no problem.

Stage 3: Moby -Ooh Yeah-

The Stage:



The Shapes:

Summary: Suddenly, it's all hard mode. Bigger stage, more edges to be concerned about, and a complicated shape: the 'plus' shape. I recommend putting the 'plus' shapes in the corner whenever you come across one. If you find a place where a plus can fit and make a quad or a bigger quad, place that shape within it. At the beginning of the stage, focus on making the biggest quad you can for more coverage. Put the line shapes in the corner areas so you can fill them easier. If you have too many gaps, then this stage can become even more complicated.

Stage 4: Markus Schulz -Spilled Cranberries-

The Stage:



The Shapes:

Summary: Not as hard as the previous stage. However, you have to be concerned with the 'T' shape, as it can be annoying or a life saver. Same as always, place shapes in the corner and try not to leave any gaps. If you manage to complete the bottom before the top or the other way around, put your trash shapes in the other area.

Stage 5: Fred Deakin (Lemon Jelly) -Disco Ghosts-

The Stage:



The Shapes:

Summary: This is almost worse than the Moby stage, and it is going to take a lot of practice. Not only you have to worry about the edges, but you have to make two quads to get to those two corners in the near-middle. The shapes make it even harder to work with. Try not to leave any gaps and make a quad bigger whenever possible. If you cannot complete the quad, just go make another quad as big as possible. The beatline is much quicker, so it can either be a saving point or make the stage much harder depending on what you want to do.

Stage EX: Jonathan Coulton -Still Alive-

The Stage:



The Shapes:

Summary: This stage, and the companion cube achievements, are Steam exclusive. This stage is somewhat a smaller and easier version of Stage 4. By now, after playing through the five stages, you should have the skill to go through this easily. No complicated shapes to worry about here.

Achievements

A Piece of Cake

Difficulty: Medium
Achievement Description: Receive one companion cube piece.
How to get: It's not as hard as it looks, but takes some planning and a little luck. You need to get a 17x multiplier on the Still Alive stage. Build as many near-quads (areas that require only a few cells to make a quad) as possible. After a 17x multiplier, you will receive a shape that is in a form of a (companion) cube. Place it anywhere on the board and the achievement is unlocked. Start keeping count of the companion cubes throughout your playtime, as the game won't count it for you.

Big Bucks

Difficulty: Easy
Achievement Description: Score a total of 50 million points.
How to get: Accumulate 50 million points while playing the game. At the end of each stage, there is a total overall points. Reach 50 million and the achievement will unlock.

Composer

Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Achievement Description: Completely fill the grid in Free Mode.
How to get: Since Free Mode has unlimited time, you can take your time in doing this. However, for newbie players who are still practicing or those with lack of planning, this can have some challenge. Just fill the grid on any stage in Free Mode once and the achievement will unlock.

Explorer

Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Achievement Description: Play the original 5 levels in both Time Mode and Free Mode.
How to get: Play through all original 5 levels in 9 minute, 6 minute, and 3 minute mode. Then play all the Free Mode levels (create a quad in each Free Mode level to be on the safe side). It should unlock once your final stage starts.

Fairy Godmother

Difficulty: None
Achievement Description: You get this just because you're such a nice person.
How to get: Just launch the game and you get the achievement. Basically, a 'Thank you' achievement for purchasing Chime.

Fast Mover:

Difficulty: Medium
Achievement Description: Create 7 quads on the grid in one pass of the beatline.
How to get: The description is vague. A pass of the beatline is when the beatline reaches from start to end. Once it starts again, it is a pass. Create a couple of near-quad shapes (8 or 9 is recommended). Once the beatline starts again, quickly complete the near-quad shapes for a total of 7. After that, the achievement should unlock. For an easier way to see how it's done, check out this video.

Juggle Master

Difficulty: Hard
Achievement Description: Build up a score multiplier of 25 or more.
How to get: The difficulty can depend on the type of stage. If you are good at a certain stage, then pick that stage and build up near-quads (areas that require only a few cells to make a quad). Keep building your multiplier up using the leftover pieces as much as possible to 25 and the achievement will unlock.

Quick Off the Blocks

Difficulty: Easy
Achievement Description: Create a quad before the beatline has made its first pass of the level.
How to get: Even for beginners, this is easy. Once the stage starts, just create a quad before the beatline reaches the end and starts again.

The Beast

Difficulty: Medium
Achievement Description: Create a quad containing 80 cells or more.
How to get: This can be easily done on the first two stages. Just build the biggest quad you can and if it totals to 80 cells or more, the achievement will unlock.

The Juggler

Difficulty: Easy
Achievement Description: Have 3 active quads onscreen at once.
How to get: Another easy achievement. Just create three quads and make sure they are active at the same time.

The Musician

Difficulty: Medium
Achievement Description: Find 6 different quad sounds on a level. Quads can be square, wide or tall, and either small or big.
How to get: I recommend doing this in free mode if you're only after this achievement. Each stage has 6 unique sounds when the beatline passes a completed quad. Just make different shapes(as the description says) and the achievement will unlock.

The Snake

Difficulty: Very hard
Achievement Description: Create a single quad that covers the entire width of the grid on the original 5 levels.
How to get: Make a single quad (no, it can't be two different quads combined into one) that covers the entire(maximum) width of all stages, excluding the Still Alive stage(thank goodness). On the last stage, I recommend only using the single line shapes and fill the gaps with others, so start making a row that covers an entire two rows, that way it can be easier for you to fit the shapes and build a bridge. The achievement will unlock once you created the quad in your final stage. The first two stages should be a bit easy. The problem with this achievement, however, is the planning and luck involved.

The Whole Cake

Difficulty: Medium
Achievement Description: Receive 50 companion cube pieces.
How to get: Luckily you don't have to get it all in one play. The companion cubes you make carry over each time you play. Simply make 50 companion cubes. Once you reach the number, the achievement will unlock automatically.

Ultimate Champion

Difficulty: Nearly Impossible
Achievement Description: Get 100% coverage or more on the original 5 levels in 3 minute mode.
How to get: This will take a lot of practice, and the amount of practice I meant is mastering the game. The stage walkthroughs I made were based on 3 minute mode. You need to get at least 100% coverage on all levels(excluding Still Alive) in 3 minute mode. There are no special instructions for this achievement-it's all about practicing and finding what you need to improve on in each stage.

With a Little Cherry on Top

Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Achievement Description:Receive 100 companion cube pieces.
How to get: Same as "The Whole Cake" Achievement. Just collect 50 more companion cube pieces after that.

Tip Jar

https://www.ko-fi.com/jilloftrades

[SAM✚MAN]

What a great guide!

[=Snappy=]

"[free mode for those who just want to get used to the game or have a relaxing game]"

which is why u have to unlock it.

[Jill of Trades]

@Potap: Grinding mode lol

[Potap]

If you do install game on different computer, you have to start with cubes once more again.
What I heard, also counting of cubes is counting again from 0, so you have to collect 151 cubes total, is it still the same?

btw, how you did Ultimate Champion in only 4.3 hours played?

[Jill of Trades]

@bigh The difficulty depends on how I experienced it. Stats have nothing to do with it.

[bigh XCX]

If Ultimate Champion would be "nearly impossible" why there are 126 ppl on Astats which completed this game 100%?