Guides

Write-ups on how the numbers in a few games actually work, with worked examples. The Brotato and Core Keeper ones use the same data as the tools on this site, so you can try every example yourself.

AllBrotatoCore KeeperRoyal MatchCandy Crush Saga

12 guides

• Brotato29 Oct 20263 min read

  Which Brotato character to start with, going by what their kits actually say

  The five characters you have from the start, what each one gives and takes away, and a sensible order to try them in. Plus the easy unlocks that come next.

• Brotato29 Oct 20264 min read

  Weapon scaling and DPS in Brotato, with real numbers

  How one weapon hit is worked out (base damage, scaling, % Damage, crits) and how that turns into damage per second. Includes why a weapon with 3 base damage can beat one with 12.

• Core Keeper29 Oct 20263 min read

  Core Keeper weapon damage: how I estimate DPS, and what the estimate leaves out

  Base damage, cooldown, damage percentages and attack speed are enough to compare weapons on paper. Here's the simple model Coreplan uses, worked through for a dagger, a sword and an axe, with the caveats.

• Core Keeper29 Oct 20263 min read

  Core Keeper skills and talent points: what you get, and how far 25 points go

  Twelve skills, 25 talent points each at level 100, and a tree where you can't take everything. Here's what the numbers are, how the tiers unlock, and how to think about spending them.

• Royal Match29 Oct 20263 min read

  Royal Match power-up combinations: what every pair does, and which boosters are free

  Rocket, TNT, Propeller and Light Ball on their own are fine. Put two together and it gets a lot better. Here's the full list of pairs, plus the four in-level boosters that don't cost a move.

• Brotato29 Oct 20264 min read

  How armor works in Brotato (and when HP is the better buy)

  The armor formula, why it looks like it's running out of steam but isn't, what negative armor does, and the point where a Max HP upgrade beats another armor point.

• Brotato29 Oct 20263 min read

  Harvesting in Brotato: how it grows, what the Crown really does, and the Endless penalty

  Harvesting pays out Materials and XP every wave and then grows. The growth rule has a rounding quirk that changes which items are worth buying, and it stops working in Endless Mode.

• Core Keeper29 Oct 20263 min read

  Core Keeper gear levels: why the level of your gear matters as much as which gear it is

  Gear in the Core Keeper data scales from its starting level up to level 20, and by level 20 a lot of swords end up with very similar base damage. A look at the numbers, plus how the planner adds everything up.

• Brotato29 Oct 20263 min read

  Dodge in Brotato: the caps, the characters that break them, and why the last 10% matters most

  Dodge is capped at 60% for most characters, and a few characters and items move that cap. Here's where dodge comes from, what it's worth, and why it gets much better close to the cap.

• Candy Crush Saga29 Oct 20263 min read

  Candy Crush Saga special candies: how each one is made, and what the combinations do

  Four in a row, an L or T, five in a row, and then what happens when you swap two specials together. A plain-English reference, with a note on which parts I could confirm and which I couldn't.

• Brotato29 Oct 20264 min read

  Brotato's stat caps: attack speed, crit, life steal and regeneration

  Where the hard limits are, which weapons actually run into them, and why life steal is a different stat on a Minigun than on a Pistol.

• Core Keeper29 Oct 20264 min read

  Core Keeper armor sets and set bonuses: how they count, which ones pay early, and the ring slot trap

  70 sets in the data, most of them three pieces. Here's how the piece count works, which sets give you something before the set is complete, and why two-ring sets cost you more than they look.

I'm one person and games get patched, so check anything important in the game itself. If something here is wrong, email [email protected] and I'll fix it.