Note: While identifying stages by number, this also states their (Row, Column) position and a visual keyword. Topics covered here:

• Preloading
• Tab Key Usage
• GIVE UP Chain

======= Preloading

Levels are loaded from the server only when they are needed. They are loaded when the game starts up. To get rid of any time waiting for stages to load, the player should load the webpage and enter each stage. This may require beating the game again if progress was previously reset. This only needs to be done once.

========== Tab Key Usage

The following stages can be beaten quickly or more easily by using the Tab key:

• Stage 76 ((1,6) Finger Tower) - not faster, just easier
• Stage 81 ((2,5) Paint Drops) - may or may not be faster

Not all browsers and website handle Tab the same way. The goal is to reduce the number of Tab elements. From my experience, playing on the hoshisaga.jp site using Chrome keeps Tab focus specifically within Flash.

========== GIVE UP Chain

It is possible to beat stages quickly enough that the GIVE UP button never disappears. When this happens, the player can return to the Stage Select and try to beat another level quickly. The player only gets three seconds after finding a star to beat another stage, as STAGE CLEAR is in effect. Completing additional stages while using this strategy results in a "GIVE UP Chain".

Each stage added to a chain, but not at the end, saves anywhere between 1 and 3 seconds. Useless glitches my occur if the player is fading between stages or loading data when the STAGE CLEAR ends.

STAGE CLEAR time-to-fade: 3 seconds GIVE UP time-to-appear: 1 second Stage Select fade-in/fade-out time: 0.5 seconds

A stage can extend the GIVE UP chain if it can be completed in less than one second. The following are known to extend the chain:

• Stage 72 ((1,2) Stack)
• Stage 74 ((1,4) Sun & Moon)
• Stage 75 ((1,5) Stamp)
• Stage 77 ((2,1) Weight)
• Stage 80 ((2,4) Light Blobs)
• Stage 83 ((3,1) Laser)
• Stage 84 ((3,2) Spin)
• Stage 86 ((3,4) Clamp)
• Stage 91 ((4,3) Hanging Men)
• Stage 93 ((4,5) Keyboard)
• Stage 98 ((5,4) Wall Catch)
• Stage 99 ((5,5) 3-D Points)

A stage can end the GIVE UP chain if it can be completed in less than two seconds. However, you must click the GIVE UP button and the next stage, so a target time of <1.5 seconds is desired. The following are known to end the chain:

• Stage 87 ((3,5) Cards)
• Stage 95 ((5,1) "Dame!")

Under ideal conditions, a player can complete a chain end stage on the same frame that STAGE CLEAR ends. When this happens, the star chime is heard, and the player is returned to Stage Select with the star awarded. This saves about three seconds. It is believed to be a frame-perfect trick. No consistent setups are known. It is not known if it can be achieved on every chain stage, but is has been verified in the following stages:

• (none so far -- these are present in other games)