Cantera — Algorithmic Generation

⛏️ How to Play

Extract all artifacts before your fuel runs out.

Key Rules

Objective: Extract all artifacts before your fuel runs out. Every artifact crushed is a mission failure — you can't win with a lost artifact.

Gravity: After any clear, blocks fall down to fill empty space. Empty columns remain as permanent shafts — the rock doesn't slide sideways. Plan carefully: clearing an entire column splits the board in two.

Crush Rule: A block that falls 2+ tiles and lands next to an exposed artifact destroys it instantly — immediate mission failure. Clear gently around exposed artifacts.

Fuel: Cluster clear = 1 · Sandstone hit = 1 · Blast = 3. Hit zero before extracting all artifacts = mission failed.

Tools (limited uses)

🖌️

Brush — 1 fuel

Remove any single clearable block — including Sandstone in one hit instead of two. Great for breaking isolated tiles that block a cluster.

🏗️

Beam — free

Freeze a column so blocks in it won't fall for the rest of the level. Use to protect a delicate layout above an exposed artifact.

💥

Blast — 3 fuel

Instantly wipes all blocks of one chosen color from the entire board. Target the most abundant color to trigger the biggest cascade.

Block Types

Color Blocks

Dirt, Clay, Sand, Moss & Slate. Click a cluster of 2+ touching same-color blocks to clear them all at once. Bigger cluster = more points. Costs 1 fuel.

Sandstone (badge: 2 or 1)

A two-hit block. Click once to crack (2→1). Click again to remove. Each click costs 1 fuel. Not part of color clusters — must be clicked on its own. Brush removes it in a single use.

🪨

Granite

Indestructible. No tool or action removes it. Also blocks falling blocks and column shifts. Route your path around it.

🔥

Lava

Permanent hazard. Cannot be removed or moved — it never falls. Be careful: blocks falling nearby can still endanger exposed artifacts.

💎

Artifact — your goal

Cannot be clicked directly. Extracted when it reaches the bottom row via gravity (+100 pts) or when all 4 adjacent cells are empty (+150 pts). Pulses when exposed.