TOPPING TAPPER

KEY TIPS TO KEEP THOSE BAYING CUSTOMERS HAPPY

FIZZ BOMB

■ Occurring after two cowboy levels, three sports levels and four space/ punk levels, this bonus screen gets progressively trickier as the cans move faster and faster. First, keep an eye on which can the villain doesn’t shake; then watch closely as they juggle around. Get it right and there’s a 3,000 point bonus. Get it wrong and it’s a face-full of Bud.

RUNNING THE BAR

■ There are a couple of useful little tricks to manoeuvring this barman around his place of work. Both tips and returning glasses can be preemptively collected by dashing down the bar to seize them. Should you need to rapidly start serving again, a quick tap of the fire button will place the bartender at the end of the bar again, poised to pull another mug.

BRING ON THE DANCING GIRLS

■ Some customers leave a tip – collect it and a trio of dancers appears at the top of the screen, distracting a portion of your clientele. While this can help in tricky situations, it’s a double-edged sword – the watching customers will ignore any mugs of beer that fly past them, meaning the barkeep has to carefully watch who needs serving and who’s otherwise occupied.

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM… AND BACK

■ There’s also a useful warp move in Tapper, and as the glasses and customers begin to fly, it’s essential to take advantage of this technique. When occupying the bottom bar, tapping down instantly warps the bartender all the way to the top bar. Once you’ve served those customers, one push upwards and you’re back down at the bottom.

MILK THE BEER

■ The first level in Tapper is the calmest and it can be milked for a good score by canny players. While each customer served only scores 50 points on this level, collecting the empties attains double that while there’s still the occasional tip to be snagged. Keep one customer pinging back and forth while quickly sating the others to keep things under control.

ONE MUG TOO MANY

■ Watching how many customers appear at the end of the bar is key. Should they be close enough to the entrance, they’ll be pushed back out until none are left and the level is complete. But with the later levels becoming increasingly hectic, it pays to keep an eye on the number of incoming patrons; one mug too many and it’ll go crashing to the floor.