On starting CHAIN, you will get the option of using three different modes called EASY, MEDIUM and HARD. Start easy and go for more challenging stuff once you are familiar with the basics.
The start screen
If you want your high scores to appear on the leaderboards (trophies), you need to play through Facebook.
In EASY there will be one color only – orange, so that part is EASY. All you need to do is to tap on the right box at the bottom on the screen for each object, “right” in this case being the length of the chain.
Main window
In the above window you should see chains of length 3, 4 and 4 (from top to bottom). Notice the preview window in the upper right corner. Not only do you see what is to come, but if you manage to check the right box while the object is still in this window, you get five times the normal score (5x). When the object appears on the main screen, the maximum score is 4x, and then 3x, 2x and 1x as it falls down to the bottom. The life indicator on the top shows your current status. It will start half full and will grow on every right choice of box (up to a maximum, indicated by rapid flashing). Making erroneous choices or failing to click on a box before the object reaches the bottom will gradually eat up you life.
As you move on to higher levels, objects will tend to get bigger with more complicated shapes, including one or more branches. The boxes at the bottom of the screen will also change, starting with [3][4][5], going through [4][5][6] and [5][6][7] and ultimately ending up with [6][7][8]. Your job is still to find the longest consecutive chain, not counting the branches.
In MEDIUM new colors are introduced, balls and sticks will now show up in green and pink in addition to the familiar orange. You NEVER count anything in pink and green, but you need to make sure that upon counting CHAIN length, you shall pass by everything in color. Consider these examples:
The objects to the top right and bottom left go in the 4-box, although the longest CHAIN overall in each case has a length of five. In the object to the bottom right the longest chain in fact has eight balls, but it should nevertheless go in the 5-box as the longest chain touching red and green balls has a length of five.
In the HARD mode you will still see known objects from EASY and MEDIUM, but also some new ones that should really have you thinking: it is sometimes not possible to draw a chain that will catch all colored balls! This means that you have to leave one or more out. How do you choose which one(s)? The answer is that you need to apply knowledge about priorities. Green + pink, has the highest rank, then comes green and finally pink. The impact this rule has for the way you count in CHAIN will be apparent from these examples.
