Level 182

Level 182 is the twelfth level in Cupcake Circus and the nineteenth timed level. To pass this level, you must score at least 30,000 points within 120 seconds. When you complete the level, Sugar Crush is activated.

It is an extremely hated level to earn three stars because the layout of the board prevents the creation of colour bombs and the sustaining of huge cascades which in turn makes it hard to spawn +5 second candies, plenty of blockers restricting available board space, continuous spawning of liquorice swirls and the high three star target score. It is available to be voted as the hardest level in Reality to earn three stars.

Difficulty

 * The board is made of four boxes which makes the creation of colour bombs and colour bomb + candy bomb combinations impossible.
 * If the chocolate is not dealt with early on, it will become nearly impossible to clear it later, probably causing you to lose out on points.
 * The candy bombs have to be destroyed within 10 moves.
 * Four-layered icing will block the flow of candies to the right-hand side of the board.
 * The liquorice swirls will continue to spawn as long as one liquorice swirl is not cleared, reducing available board space.
 * Despite having 5 colours, it is still difficult to find any moves.
 * The player is required to earn at least 260 points per second (30,000 points / 120 seconds = 250 points per second).

Strategy

 * The first task is to clear the chocolate as soon as possible. If there are no more possible matches at the lower right quadrant, clear the candy bombs instead.
 * From there, you can clear all 4 candy bombs, worth 12,000 points which means you only have to score 18,000 more points to clear the level. No additional candy bombs will appear, so there is no need to worry after destroying them. But that also means that you have to be quick and do lots of cascades.
 * The last thing is to get rid of the 4-layer icing. You do not want to play only on one side of the board, otherwise you will be unable to reach the score requirement, as you're missing half the board's potential.
 * Make sure you grab +5 candies on the way. They will really benefit you for this level.
 * If you are completely stressed by this level and cannot beat it, here is an easy way to pass it. If you have a colour bomb booster available, activate it and enter the level. Now, use the colour bomb on a colour that a candy bomb is, too. This will score you near if not over the required score.
 * This may be the only level in the game in which the player may wish there were more candy bombs (because of the amount of points they give).

Earning More Stars

 *  Difficulty: Very hard
 *  Difficulty: Very hard

Reason

 * The presence of five colours makes it easy to create special candies. However, it is not that useful as the board layout is rather restricted. Moreover, it is impossible to create colour bombs as the longest length is only four spaces (a colour bomb requires five horizontal or vertical spaces).
 * The player is required to earn at least 340 points per second (40,000 points / 120 seconds = 333.33 points per second) for two stars.
 * The player is required to earn at least 460 points per second (55,000 points / 120 seconds = 458.33 points per second) for three stars. While the requirement is lower than other timed levels, the board layout and the amount of blockers make it insanely hard to achieve.
 * Due to the first point, a colour bomb + candy bomb combination is impossible. Moreover, huge cascades are also insanely hard to achieve which in turn drastically reduces the spawning of +5 second candies.
 * Despite the presence of four candy bombs, there are no more candy bombs being spawned which means that only 12,000 points can be earned easily. This implies that only 26 seconds can be easily earned (12,000 points / 460 points per second = 26.09 seconds).
 * The chocolate and liquorice swirls will restrict the available board space to create special candies. Even if all the chocolates are cleared, the liquorice swirls are the biggest threat because they will keep spawning as long as one liquorice swirl is not destroyed. This also includes the situation where there are no liquorice swirls on the board.

Possible Strategy

 * Try to clear the chocolate first. If this is not possible, clear the candy bombs.
 * Once the above point is completed, destroy the icing to increase board space. If there is a match at the top right board, destroy the liquorice swirls if there is any.
 * Always keep the liquorice swirls away from the board where you want to make special candies or cascades.
 * Due to the second point in the reason section, special candies and huge cascades are a must to compensate the time lost due to the clearing of blockers. Note: Activation of special candies consume time and that the player cannot make a match till the effect of the special candies end. Hence, additional cascades are also required while the special candies are being used.
 * A striped candy gives 120 points per creation and 480 points per activation provided if no liquorice swirl is along the path of activation.
 * A wrapped candy gives 200 per creation and 1,080 points per activation even at the corners.
 * In addition to the above point, special candy combinations are just as helpful.

Trivia

 * This is the first timed quadrant level and the only timed level rated Very hard in the game, therefore it is the hardest one.
 * Both this level and its Dreamworld counterpart, a very hard candy order level requiring the collection of striped candies, may become much easier with a colour bomb booster, but for different reasons. This one can give many points due to colour bomb + candy bomb combination and its Dreamworld counterpart can cause many striped candies to be collected due to the colour bomb + striped candy combination.