Kanji’s Adventure – The Advanced Class

It’s been over six months since the guide to Kanji’s Adventure went live. In that time I’ve kept playing it on KadoKado, and have even made it up to Gold Level!

‘Scuse me while I toot my horn a little!

My current high score is now 153k 162k 197k 207k. (If you couldn’t tell, I played a LOT of Kanji’s Adventure while working on this guide!) But on average I score about 60k per game. And that got me thinking..

Learning is a process. ^_^ When the first guide came out I was still figuring out what everything was and how it all worked. The next step is learning how to use the items in the best possible way, and how to handle the various monsters.

This guide addresses that second step. If you’re still trying to figure out the difference between an apple and meat, stick to the first guide. (PLEASE!) There are plenty of tips to get you started! Once you can play without having to look everything up, come back to this page. And then you can learn all about:

• Changing Perspective – Playing with a different view.
• The Shopkeeper – What to buy!
• Pillows and Potions – Which is better?
• Shurikens – How to use shurikens effectively.
• The Rabbit Foot – Is it worth keeping?
• Pet Wrangling – How to make your pets behave.
• Monster Wrangling – How to make monsters behave. ^_~
• Level 1: Ghost
• Level 2: Goblins
• Level 3: Fire Imps
• Level 4: Skeletons
• Level 5: Shaman
• Level 6: Cyclops
• Level 7: Bat
• Level 8: Mage
• Final Words

 

Changing Perspective

One of the biggest things that improved my score was changing how I viewed the game. At first I played to kill every monster on each level. But honestly, there’s no need for that. There are no bonuses for killing every monster or for reaching a new level in the dungeon!

Now I have different goals. ^_^

1. Stay alive. Know what sucks worse than using a firebomb on level 2? Dying on level 2 with an unused firebomb in your inventory. >_< If death is knocking at the door, use whatever you can to make it go away! As long as you’re still alive you have a chance to find better items.
2. Conserve energy. The tiny single coins are a waste of energy to pick up, ESPECIALLY on the first levels! Don’t go out of your way to grab them. The same thing goes for ghosts. You can waste a lot of energy trying to chase those buggers down!
3. Search as much of the level as possible for loot. In the first 4-5 levels this is pretty easy, but after that you may have to skip a few rooms in order to preserve goal #1. Not knowing what you missed can be brutal, so just tell yourself those rooms were empty. ^_~
4. Conserve shurikens. They’re really useful, but you’ll score more points if you save them for bats and mages.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase, “He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.” Make that your motto for Kanji’s Adventure, and watch your scores improve! 

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The Shopkeeper

Finding the shopkeeper is AWESOME, but usually you have one of two problems to deal with.

1. You only have enough gold to get some of the things you want.
2. He isn’t carrying your favorite items.

Because of this, I find it helpful to prioritize items. Here’s a list of all of the items the shopkeeper can carry, ordered from most useful (in my opinion) to least useful. Your own list may vary, but this should give you something to start with.

Item	Price	Notes
	15g	Always try to keep at least 15g in your pocket in case the next shopkeeper has a bag for sale.
	25g	You can never have too much meat. Stock up, even if you don’t have a pillow yet! If you go over 1000 energy it will cut off the 1, so don’t freak out.
	15g for 3	This is your best (and cheapest) weapon against bats and mages. Stock up!
	35g	Buy only if you currently don’t have a potion, OR you have 5 inventory spaces and there’s nothing else you want to buy.
	30g	The fire scroll is the best scroll, IMHO.
	30g	Ice scroll is the 2nd best scroll. ^_^ Great against shaman and cyclops that are in your way!
	150g	If you can afford it, get armor. Generally I can get further in a dungeon with armor alone vs just a knife. Also, armor tends to be rarer as far as floor loot goes.
	80g	Good item, but whenever I buy it I find one (or three) on the next level. *Facepalm* Edit: Just played a game where I bought a knife. The next level had a katana on the ground.
	30g	I’m not an expert with chaos scrolls yet. If you are, buy one! Just remember that nearby chaotic monsters can and WILL kill the shopkeeper!
	180g	I really love the katana, but you’re better off buying shurikens if they’re available. However, if you have the bracelet, I say splurge and have fun! It’s not often that you can hit 10 damage on monsters!
	40g	If you’re limping along and the shopkeeper isn’t selling potions or scrolls, get this. Think of it as a shield with teeth.
	30g	I never buy this. Seriously.
	400g	I rarely have enough gold to buy this one! If you can afford it and you’re full of meat, shurikens, and scrolls, then go for it. Otherwise you can probably find a better use for the 400g.

Honestly, meat and shurikens are my favorite things to see in a shop. ^_^ If it has both, buy enough meat to reach 600 energy, and spend the rest on shurikens. Only meat? Buy like you’ll never find another shop with meat in it. (You might not.) Only shurikens? Buy a bunch, but save gold in case the next shop has meat.

So far I’ve never regretted spending everything on meat, but I have regretted spending everything on shurikens.

In my highest scoring games I’ll return to shuriken/meat shops over and over. Draw maps if you need to!

Tip: Although it’s possible to kill the shopkeeper with shurikens and pick up some extra money, you’re better off saving the shurikens for mages. Which sounds better to you: Getting 50g (if you’re extremely lucky) from a dead shopkeeper, or getting 2000 points from a dead mage?

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Pillows and Potions

Ahh, the pillow! I didn’t realize how awesome this thing was until I watched a few videos of players reaching high scores. Almost all of them use the pillow.

 

Why is it so awesome? As long as you have energy it will provide an unlimited supply of hitpoints. And it only takes up one inventory space!

 

When it comes to the shopkeeper it’s still a great bargain. One piece of meat is 25g and will heal 10 hp. One potion is 35g and heals only 8 hp.

 

Of course, the pillow has downsides too.

1. You can only use it in an area (not level) cleared of monsters, which means it’s useless for those “Oh shit!” moments.
2. If you run out of energy you’re equally dead, so you have to learn how to balance the healing aspect of the pillow with the staying-alive aspect of energy.

Here are a few scenarios to give you an idea of when to use a pillow or a potion. Each scene is divided into three parts, where you either have a pillow or a potion, or you have both items.

 

Situation	Pillow Only	Potion(s) Only	Both
5 or less HP 300+ energy	Heal to full.	Drink only if facing a monster that could kill you in 1 hit.	Use pillow.
5 or less HP 200 or less energy	Heal to 6-10 HP. Target goblins.	Same as above.	Use pillow to partly heal.
3 HP, facing a goblin or worse.	Pray for mercy.	For the love of milkshakes, drink!!	Drink!

You might be wondering, “If I have a potion and nothing else, why wouldn’t I use it whenever I hit 4hp?” The main reason is that you never know when you’re going to find a pillow, so play as if there might be one just around the corner.

Now if you have a pillow and gobs of energy (400+) heal to full whenever you can. Once you reach the bats you’ll want to stay at full health as much as possible, but try not to drop below 200 energy!

Tip: You don’t have to clear an entire level in order to use the pillow. There can’t be any monsters on the screen and any that are nearby (but out of sight) have to be a few paces away. If you don’t see any monsters but can’t heal, take a few steps back and forth to let the monsters wander away. That usually does the trick!

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Shurikens

These are your best weapons. Better than a knife and (dare I say it) better than a katana!

Noooo!! I love my katana!!

Why are shurikens awesome? Let me count the ways…

1. Shurikens never miss. (Always hit at least 1 damage!)
2. They’re cheap. Get 6 for the same price as one scroll.
3. You can kill enemies without getting close enough for them to hurt you!

It takes practice to learn how to use shurikens effectively, but once you’ve got it down, you’ll love them as much as I do. ^_^

In order to use a shuriken there has to be at least one space between you and the monster. (The exception to this is the shopkeeper. You can be standing right next to him and you’ll hit him with a shuriken. Great. >_<) If a monster is chasing you, you’ll probably have to sidestep in order to create room to throw a shuriken. Like so!

Don’t eat me!

Hah! You fell right into my trap! *Throws shuriken*

It might take a few tries to create a throwing space, but at most you’ll waste 5-8 energy. In my opinion, the tradeoff of saving hitpoints is well worth those energy points!

Shurikens are also great for softening up monsters. If you’re looking for a quick kill, throw one shuriken at a goblin or skeleton before you engage in hand-to-hand combat. With any luck you can kill them with the next hit! (And sometimes skellies die from just one shuriken too.)

As previously mentioned in the Shopkeeper section, you should stock up on shurikens whenever you can. They are fantastic against bats & mages! But as a general rule, don’t use shurikens on shamans or cyclopes unless you’re cornered and low on health. Those two monsters have high hp and you’ll waste a ton of shurikens on them.

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The Rabbit Foot

Remember this thing?

It’s creepy.

This is supposed to increase the loot from monsters, but I couldn’t decide whether to recommend taking the foot or leaving it on the floor. Then one day I realized I’d found a shop on every single floor of the game I was on,  and I had the rabbit foot.

So I decided to do some research. Every time I found a rabbit foot I marked when I found a shop and what my final score was when I died. Since the rabbit foot is a rare and totally random find, this means that my sample size is small. (Sorry!) But in 5 of the 8 games I had a rabbit foot, I found a shop on the very next level. And in 7 of the 8 games, I found a shop within the next 3 levels. It’s entirely possible that this is a coincidence, but it’s still interesting. ^_^

Aside from the shops, the better loot may really make a difference! Check out my scores for the 8 games.

1. (Didn’t record)
2. 74k
3. 74k
4. 197k
5. 27k
6. 183k
7. 40k
8. 26k

That’s an average of 88.7k per game! And two of my highest scores happened while I had a rabbit foot. Again, it might be a coincidence, but it’s still interesting!

So is it worth hanging on to? I say yes. Make room for fuzzy feet!

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Pet Wrangling

What is pet wrangling? Basically it’s learning to manipulate your pets into blocking halls and attacking monsters. Dogs aren’t quite as good as following as the bear, but they can still be quite useful.

Whenever you have multiple pets summoned, one will stick with you while the others wander away and attack monsters.

For an example of pet wrangling, take a look at the picture below.

Nice doggy!

As you can see, I’m dangerously low on hitpoints and have nothing to heal myself with. (I really hate it when that happens.) I have shurikens, but there’s no guarantee that I can kill the fire imp in one hit, and I definitely want to avoid melee combat!

But if I take a step back, the dog will switch places with me and can fight the imp for me.

You get a biscuit!

If I wanted to support my dog I could chip in and throw a shuriken over hir head. Zie won’t get hurt and the fire imp can’t walk through hir to reach me. ^_^

Dogs can easily handle ghosts, imps, goblins, and occasionally higher. But they only have about 3 hitpoints, so they won’t last forever!

On the other hand, bears stay closer, hit harder, and have around 6 hitpoints. In other words, bears are AWESOME. ^_^ I’ve seen them take on bats and win!

In one game I had four bears following me around, but usually they’re pretty rare. If you find a bear mask on levels 1-3 and you’re not pressed for inventory space, save the mask for later. You can’t heal pets, and even fire imps can chip away their hitpoints quickly. Save the bear for deeper dungeon levels when you need a stronger shield.

Tip: If you’re in need of healing and the shopkeeper has magic bones but no potions or meat, get a dog. It can take a few blows and hopefully get you to a potion. This has actually saved my game on more than one occasion!

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Monster Wrangling

You’ve probably noticed that Kanji doesn’t have the thickest skin, or a fabulous dodging skill. It’s up to you to minimize how much damage he takes. There are two ways to do this! ^_^ The first method is really easy. Attack from halls, or get a monster to follow you and then retreat to a hall.

Take a look.

Red dots = DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!

This is a fairly empty room, but two goblins having a good day can hit me for 6 damage in one turn. (Which would make my day equally BAD.)

Instead, I’ll walk in just enough to get one goblin’s attention, and then I’ll step back into the hall.

Much better!

Now there are only two ways that monsters can attack me. Fighting in hallways is your safest bet!

The second monster wrangling method is a little trickier to explain, even with pictures, but it’s based on the following principle: Two monsters cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

So, when a chasing monster (like the cyclops) sees a path blocked by another monster or a pet, it will try to go around.

Here we have a cyclops coming after me, and my trusty bear is at my back.

Hello there!

Right now the cyclops has a clear path. But if I take a step back, the bear will switch places with me and block the hallway. The cyclops will then move to find a different route.

Bye-bye!

This example utilized pet wrangling, but if you get a little monster (like an imp) to chase you, it can also block the hallway and keep stronger monsters away. Taking 2-3 damage from an imp isn’t great, but it’s better than the 5-10 that the heavy hitters deal out.

Lastly, if you’re fighting a specific monster for its loot drop, make sure that it isn’t standing on any loot already. Just as two monsters can’t be in the same place at the same time, two loot items can’t be in the same place at the same time, even if they’re coins!

Most of the time this isn’t a big deal, but if you’re running out of energy and fighting goblins to (hopefully) get meat, check where they’re standing! Take a step back if you need to.

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Level 1: Ghost

Ready to start? First off, select “Zoom” so you can play a larger board. It makes everything MUCH easier to see! (I have no idea why I didn’t do that when I was cropping all of those teeny tiny icons. *Facepalm*)

Now before you take a single step, see if you can spot the stairs to go down. If you see it, head to a room right next to it and clear the level in a circle. This makes the final room your exit, so you’ll conserve energy.

Don’t see the exit? Look for any weapons or loot within sight and make a beeline for it.

Ghost	Hitpoints	Max Hit	Loot
	2-3	2	Coins

Ghosts like to wander around, so don’t try to chase them down. If one is right next to you, then yeah, smack it! ^_^ Although it has the lowest max damage, that 2 is still 1/6th of your total hp.

DO NOT use shurikens here!

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Level 2: Goblin

Once again, take a moment to look before you move. Try to avoid doubling back whenever possible, but be sure to check every room.

And of course, here we have the green meanies!

Goblin	Hitpoints	Max Hit	Loot
	4-5	3	Coins Meat Apple

Odds are that you only have fists at this point, so it will take a minimum of 2-3 punches to kill one goblin. If you have better gear already or a few potions, go for a melee attack. But if you’re potionless, pillowless, and already at half health, throw a shuriken at the goblin before you engage in hand-to-hand combat.

I know you don’t get many shurikens to start with, but if you don’t have any healing items then you need to be careful. It really sucks to die on the 2nd level. >_<

Also, in a survey of 200 goblins, 23 said that they’d give meat to whoever killed them. This means you have an 11.5% chance of getting meat whenever you kill a goblin!

Of course, if you’re brimming with energy then you may want to avoid the goblins altogether and focus on floor loot. But if you haven’t found meat yet, kill every goblin that doesn’t run away and then move on to the next level. Don’t waste energy trying to chase one down!

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Level 3: Fire Imp

Fire Imp	Hitpoints	Max Hit	Loot
	2-3	2	Coins

What’s interesting (and annoying) about fire imps is that they have the exact same amount of hitpoints and max damage as ghosts, but they’re so much tougher!!

For one, they hone in on you and follow. Secondly they seem to have a much higher melee defense. I’ve lost upwards of 8 hp just trying to kill ONE freakin’ fire imp. >_<

Since they only drop coins, I don’t suggest hunting them down for loot. But if one is in your way and you’re low on hp, throw a shuriken before you go hand-to-hand. With any luck you’ll kill it in one hit!

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Level 4: Skeleton

Skeleton	Hitpoints	Max Hit	Loot
	3-4	5	Coins Magic Bone

The skeleton and the goblin are roughly the same difficulty level, and if you’re lucky you might get a magic bone from the skeleton. ^_^ Pets are VERY useful, so if you’re hankering for a dog, go punch a skeleton.

Something to consider: Skeletons give half the points that mages do, but they’re a lot easier to kill. I haven’t experimented with this just yet, but it might be worthwhile to hunt skeletons.

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Level 5: Shaman

Shaman	Hitpoints	Max Hit	Loot
	8-10	5	Coins Teleport Scroll Meat

These guys are evil. They have high hitpoints and seemingly high defense combined with high accuracy. In melee combat you can expect to get hit for 5’s repeatedly. Shurikens aren’t much better, with usually 5+ going to waste and the shaman still unflinchingly alive.

How do you handle a monster like this? In one of two ways:

1. Use a fire or ice scroll to take it out.
2. Run!

Whenever possible I run or dodge around the shaman. If it’s blocking the stairs down I’ll use a scroll if I have it. But honestly, you can usually just avoid this one. They don’t chase unless you get really close!

Tip: If you’re blessed enough to have a katana or damage bracelet + knife, the shaman is a lot easier to kill. Attack with caution.

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Level 6: Cyclops

Cyclops	Hitpoints	Max Hit	Loot
	9-13	5	Coins

This is another annoying one, but for some reason his accuracy seems lower than the shaman’s. So while he’ll chase you around (a lot), you won’t take quite as much damage.

However, cyclopes can easily smoosh you flat if you’re unprepared. Generally I try to avoid them, but when all else fails…

1. Run away! Yes, they’ll chase you, but they can’t pass through other monsters or your pets. The dogs can be stupid, but one simply blocking a hallway will force a cyclops to find another way around. (See the Monster Wrangling section for more details.)
2. Use a fire or Ice scroll. <3
3. Use a charm. This is your BEST defense as it will send all cyclopes scurrying away. However, since you can’t buy it and they’re often hard to find, use this only in an absolute emergency!

Tip: As with the shaman, if you have a katana or damage bracelet + knife, the cyclops becomes a fairly easy kill. Honestly, it’s even better than the shaman because of its lower accuracy!

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Level 7: Bat

Bat	Hitpoints	Max Hit	Loot
	5-8	6	Coins Meat Katana

Bats have average defense, but they like to hit 6 damage whenever they can. They’re basically like a slightly-stronger shaman. And if you’re running out of energy, they also have a decently good drop rate for meat.

If you use shurikens (recommended) it’ll take an average of 3 per bat. Low on shurikens? Use at least one before you attempt melee combat with a bat!

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Level 8: Mage

Mage	Hitpoints	Max Hit	Loot
	2-8	10	Coins

This is the most powerful monster in the dungeon. It hits hard, has a high accuracy, and has very high defense against melee attacks. One memorable time I had a katana, ruby necklace, and the damage bracelet. (That was frikkin’ awesome!!) My max damage was 12, but I still hit zeros over and over again on the mage!

Repeat after me: I will not engage the mage in melee combat. It rhymes so it should be easy to remember. ^_^

However, the mage isn’t invincible! Here are two tricks to help you knock them out safely.

1. Those charms that make skeletons and cyclopes run away? Yeah, it works on the mage too! Use this for crowd control only, as it’s really hard to kill them when they keep running away from you.
2. Although the mage has high melee defense, their range defense is low! You can easily kill them with 2-3 shurikens. But try to create four spaces between you two before you throw the first shuriken, just in case that mage needs four shurikens.

in the past, whenever I reached level 8 I knew the end was near because the mages are so strong. Everything got a lot easier once I discovered how easily they go down with shurikens!!

The dungeon levels beyond 8 start to get pretty packed with monsters. Usually there are a lot of ghosts and imps, but it seems the deeper you go, the more mages you’ll find. This is prime hunting ground and with practice, you’ll learn to love the mages instead of dreading them. ^_^

Tip: If you’ve thrown 2-3 shurikens and the mage is alive, and now angrily toe-to-toe with you, take a step back so you can throw another shuriken. You’ll take damage, but you have a much better chance of hurting it back if you use a shuriken!

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Final Words

I think that covers everything! If you have any questions or further tips of your own, please share! This is one of my favorite games and I hope you’ve picked up a few new tricks from this Advanced Class guide. Now go have fun! ^_^

Click here to play Kanji’s Adventure!

Battle Tank – Ah, happy days!

When I was 12 years old my Dad networked his two home office computers together and installed a game called NetWars. The graphics were simple, but the game was awesome. Each player picked a ship and then zoomed around in space picking up shields and weapons. Oh, and you tried to kill each other. There was that too. ^_^

We’d play it on Sunday afternoons with the den lights turned off, both of us focused intently on our monitors. Sweat dripped down my sides as I slowly got his ship in my sights and held down the “fire” key. I routinely beat the tar outta’ him. He still brings it up at family events. ^_^

So when I settled down to try Battle Tank at iWon, a delicious chill went down my spine when I saw this:

WOOHOOO!!!

Battle Tank uses simple graphics and a clear mission: Destroy all of the tanks before they destroy you!

Controls are easy. You can use a mouse or the arrow keys to move around. (I prefer the arrow keys.) To fire you just hit the space bar.

 Ka-pow!!!

Of course, the other tanks aren’t just sitting around twiddling their thumbs. They’re constantly firing too. Luckily, you only need one shot to kill them, but they have to hit you three times to take you out. After hit #2 you lose your radar. ~_~

We lost radar!!

The wonky lines stay on your screen, which kinda sucks. I rarely used the radar anyway though. *^_^* I just kept zooming around until I saw red “missiles” fly past me or until I found a tank to squash.

 Yes, you’ll do nicely. *Evil laugh*

There are a few “buildings” in the board, so don’t fire at every single thing you see. Also, the game is divided into levels. I couldn’t figure out whether each level was completed by making a certain number of kills or by surviving until some invisible clock ran out. In truth, I only made it to level 2 a few times and level 3 only once. But I had a lot of fun in the process. ^_^

 

Tips & Tricks

Just one tip for this one. A moving target is much harder to hit, so don’t stay still! Keep moving and the other tanks will have a hard time pinning you down.

 

Final Rating

I know that Battle Tank’s main appeal to me is that it reminds me of playing NetWars with my Dad. Of course I like a game that evokes such happy memories! Can you blame me?

To me this game is a 5, because I feel so gosh darn happy playing it. But this is where you get to share your opinion too! Go play Battle Tank and come back here to give your own rating. It won’t take long. ^_^

 

Similar Games

If you like Battle Tank, you might like some of these games too.

• Kanji’s Adventure at KadoKado – Help a little ninja work his way through a dungeon!
• The Duck Hunter at iWon – More nostalgia for you. This is almost exactly like the NES game, Duck Hunt.
• A Glorious World at Playtopia – A very modern (and beautiful) interpretation of a pinball game. Quite addictive!

Kanji’s Adventure – Two kitchen sinks included.

This guide contains a ton of tiny pictures and some videos. Please be patient while it loads!

Update 2/15/11: If you’re already familiar with the items and monsters in Kanji’s Adventure, you may want to check out the brand new Kanji’s Adventure - The Advanced Class guide for more detailed tips.

Contents

• The Game
• Scoring & Kado Points
• Table Time
• Equipment
• Monsters
• Instantly Used Items
• 1-Time Use Items
• Carried Items
• Tips & Tricks
• Videos
• Final Rating

 

The Game

Kanji’s Adventure is available only at KadoKado, where you play to earn prizes! Your goal is to guide a ninja, Kanji, through a dungeon. Use the arrow keys to guide him around and attack monsters. Use the spacebar to throw shurikens (throwing stars). It’s easy!

Hello!

But uh, there’s one downside. All of the text is completely in French. *^_^*

Parlez vous what??

Wait! Come back! You don’t need to speak French in order to play. Really! I grabbed pictures of every item and monster in the game and have all of the information available in English! Yes, it took an extremely long time to put together. You can thank me later. ^_^

But first, before you can play Kanji’s Adventure you have to unlock it. All you need to do is pay a one-time fee of 20 Kado points. (You earn Kado points by playing games. 20 points is extremely cheap!) Each time you play, Kanji starts out with 12 life points, 250 energy points, 3 shurikens, and 3 empty inventory slots.

  Oooooh!

Life points and energy points are VERY important. Whenever Kanji attacks a monster he has a chance of taking damage. This shows up as a little red number above his head. That number is subtracted from his life points. When he has 0 life points the game is over.

Ow! 

Energy points keeps him moving. Every step Kanji takes uses 1 energy, and every action (like attacking a monster) uses 1 energy. If he hits 0 energy he’ll start losing life points with each step. And of course, if he reaches 0 life points it’s game over.

Note: The monsters only move when Kanji moves! There is no rush with Kanji’s Adventure. You’re free to step away if you need to take care of something else! I love having that option. ^_^

As you move Kanji around you’ll find items to restore energy and health points. However, he can’t tromp around the dungeon willy nilly. You need to be strategic and avoid pointless backtracking since it wastes precious energy. Luckily the dungeons are incredibly simple! Each level is essentially one big square divided into nine parts. (A 3x3 grid.) Most of the time 1 part = 1 room in the level.

 

I see stairs!

Sometimes sections combine to create big rooms.

Oh! I get it!

If you can remember that each level is a big square, you (hopefully) won’t get lost too often. Oh! And you ALWAYS start in the middle room on the first floor.

Now the shopkeeper is someone you may (or may not) encounter on your travels.

Hi there!

He appears randomly and always has 4 items for sale. Once you find him he will always be at that spot and sell those items. At least until the next game, that is. ^_^

I see why a translation guide is helpful.

The shopkeeper has a pool of 13 different items to choose from. The next shopkeeper you meet might have completely different items for sale!

Or maybe just 3 different items. 

You can kill the shopkeeper. (Use either shurikens or get a monster under a chaos spell to do it.) He’ll drop some money, but the amount varies. Some people report getting over 100g while others got less than 10g. Personally, I’d rather use my shurikens on monsters.

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Scoring & Kado Points

Each time you play Kanji’s Adventure you’ll be given a challenge. (KadoKado calls it a “contract,” but I think that sounds scary.) The challenge is a random score, and if you beat it you’ll get Kado points. The amount of Kado points changes from game to game, and it’s just as random as the challenge score.

How do you score points? Well, in Kanji’s Adventure you score points in 3 ways.

1. Kill monsters
2. Coins x 20 (counted at death)
3. Energy x 5 (counted at death)

That’s it!

In addition to earning Kado points through challenges, you can also get KP by earning stars. Just think of them as trophies. ^_^

• Score 18,700+ points for a Green star, worth 10 Kado points
• Score 56,100+ points for an Orange star, worth 50 Kado points
• Score 74,800+ points for a Red star, worth 100 Kado points!

You can only have one star per game per Kalendar period (2 weeks), so aim for the top! When the period ends your star will convert into Kado points.

Another way to earn Kado points involves ranking, and that’s a bit complicated to explain. If you want to learn about it you can read more in the KadoKado site review.

Don’t forget, Kado points can be turned in to buy game tokens or Amazon.com certificates!

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Table Time

The next few sections contain several tables. Everything should be easy to understand, but here are a few terms that might be fuzzy for new players.

• Dungeon – the item may be found laying on the floor
• Monsters – the item may be a reward from killing a monster
• #g in shop – item may be purchased from the shopkeeper
• Max damage – how much damage Kanji can do
• Hitpoints – how many life points a monster has
• Max hit – how much damage a monster can do
• Loot – what you might get from killing a monster

Most (but not all) of this information can be found on the Twinpedia guide to Kanji’s Adventure. ALL of the information is in French, so you can compare if you wish. (I wish I’d seen this link before I spent hours working on teeny tiny icons. *Headdesk*)

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Equipment

Kanji starts out geared in cloth and a few shurikens. The shurikens can hit up to 3 damage on a monster, but he must be at least one square away from the target! He can’t throw a shuriken at something that’s right next to him. (Unless it’s the shopkeeper. I’ve accidentally hit him many, many times. *^_^*)

Kanji’s fists count as weapons, and he can hit up to 2 damage with fists alone. If you’re lucky you might find other weapons or armor on the dungeon floor. These items are immediately equipped and don’t take up any inventory space!

Alternatively, you can buy these items in a shop, provided it’s in stock and you have enough gold!

Equipment	Found	Effect
Knife	Dungeon 80g in shop	Max damage of 3
Katana	Dungeon (rare) 180g in shop Bat (very rare)	Max damage of 5
Shurikens (group)	Dungeon 15g in shop	Three shurikens Max damage of 3
Shuriken (large)	Dungeon	Ten shurikens Max damage of 3
Leather Armor	Dungeon 150g in shop	Reduces damage taken by 1
Metal Armor	400g in shop	Reduces damage taken by 2 (maybe more)

Note: Equipment automatically changes if Kanji walks across it. For example, if he had a katana equipped and walked across a knife, the katana would drop on the floor and he’d now have a knife. Just walk him across the knife again to switch things back.

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Monsters

Any proper dungeon has monsters, and Kanji’s Adventure is no exception! On each level you’ll encounter a new monster plus all of the other monsters you’ve met.

This is where you’ll score most of your points. Harder monsters are worth more points, but they can cause more damage too. Use this information to decide when to fight and when to retreat!

Monster	First Seen	Hitpoints	Max Hit	Loot	Points
Ghost	Level 1	2-3	2	Coins	250
Goblin	Level 2	4-5	3	Coins Meat Apple	500
Fire Imp	Level 3	2-3	2	Coins	750
Skeleton	Level 4	3-4	5	Coins Magic Bone	1000
Shaman	Level 5	8-10	5	Coins Teleport Scroll Meat	1250
Cyclops	Level 6	9-13	5	Coins	1500
Bat	Level 7	5-8	6	Coins Meat Katana	1750
Mage	Level 8	2-8	10	Coins	2000

That’s it! After level 8 there are no more new monsters. You keep going, of course!

Also, most monsters just wander around, but the Fire Imp and Cyclops are chasers. If they’re anywhere nearby they’ll chase after Kanji.

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Instantly Used Items

These items are used as soon as you pick them up. They take zero inventory space and there’s no limit to how many you can get. Very fun. ^_^

Almost everything here is found solely on the dungeon floor or in monster drops. The two exceptions are the bag and meat, and you can buy those at a shop if it’s in stock. The bag is a great item but so far I’ve never seen it on the floor. Buy it if you see it!

Item	Found	Effect
Bag	15g in shop	Adds 2 inventory spaces
Gold (small coin)	Dungeon Monsters	1g
Gold (group of coins)	Dungeon Monsters	2-9g
Gold (big coin)	Dungeon Monsters	10-25g
Treasure Chest	Dungeon Monsters	50g+
Apple	Dungeon Goblins	50 energy
Meat	Dungeon 25g in shop Goblins Shaman Bat	100 energy
Emerald	Dungeon	1000 score points
Sapphire	Dungeon	3000 score points
Ruby	Dungeon	8000 score points

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1-Time Use Items

These items take up space in your inventory. Click on them to activate!

Item	Found	Effect
Awesome Bomb	Dungeon	Kills ALL enemies on the level.
Grappling Hook	Dungeon	Instant teleport to the next level.
Lighter	Dungeon	Adds +1 damage to all shurikens. Affects future shurikens!
Magic Bearskin	Dungeon	Summons a bear to fight with Kanji when he goes up or down a level. Bear hits up to 5 damage and has around 6 life points.
Magic Bone	Dungeon 40g in shop Dropped by Skeletons	Summons a dog to fight with Kanji when he goes up or down a level. Dog hits up to 3 damage and has around 3 life points.
Potion (Round)	Dungeon 35g in shop	Heals 8 life points
Potion (Square)	Dungeon	Heals to full health and adds +2 to Kanji’s max life. Multiple potions have a stacking effect.
Scroll (Chaos)	Dungeon 30g in shop	Affects all monsters currently on the screen. Chaotic monsters have a purple aura and attack whatever touches them.
Scroll (Fire)	Dungeon 30g in shop	Incinerates ALL monsters directly touching Kanji.
Scroll (Ice)	Dungeon 30g in shop	Freezes ONE monster close to Kanji.
Scroll (Teleport)	Dungeon 30g in shop Dropped by Shaman	Teleports Kanji to a random spot on the current level. New spot is at least 1 step away from monsters.
Spirit Charm	Dungeon	Makes skeletons, cyclopes, and MAGES run away from Kanji. Useable only on levels 4+.

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Carried Items

These items can be found only on the dungeon floor. They will not “go away” unless Kanji picks up a new item that pushes it out of his inventory.

You do not need to click these items to activate them. Once they’re in your inventory they’re “active.” (Exception: Pillow.)

Perm Use Items	Found	Effect
Lucky Rabbit’s Foot	Dungeon	Increases chance to get better loot from monsters.
Pillow	Dungeon	Consumes 10 energy points to add 1 life point. Unlimited use. Cannot use if there are monsters nearby.
Emerald Amulet	Dungeon	Improves your chance to avoid taking damage. (Dodge.)
Ruby Amulet	Dungeon	Adds +1 to your melee attacks. (Fists, knife, and katana.)
Sapphire Amulet	Dungeon	Improves chance to hit monsters.
Bracelet	Dungeon (extremely rare)	DOUBLES melee damage! (Fists, knife, and katana.)

In approximately 200 games, I found the bracelet only once. It’s amazing! If you had a katana and the bracelet, you’d have a max hit of ten. o_O Yipes!

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Tips & Tricks

1. The first few levels are the easiest, so you should explore the entire area before you head to the stairs. Sometimes you’ll find nothing, but most of the time you’ll find food, potions, scrolls, or weapons. It’s worth the effort!

2. If you’re running out of energy and you don’t see any food close by, attack the Goblins. They occasionally drop meat or an apple! The Shaman also drops meat, but he hits pretty hard. It’s usually not worth the risk unless you have a scroll to take care of him.

3. Teleport scrolls and grappling hooks are great for an emergency exit. However, teleport scrolls are a bit random, and aren’t guaranteed to take Kanji completely out of harms way. Keep that in mind!

4. Grappling hooks are also good for moving quickly to the next level. If you’ve cleared a level, aren’t anywhere near stairs, and are almost out of energy, a grappling hook can save Kanji’s buns. (This scenario happens more often than I’d like.)

5. Inventory space is precious! Click on Magic Bones and Magic Bearskins as soon as you get them. You’ll free up room and have buddies to help you for the next level!

6. If you’re lucky enough to find an Awesome Bomb, save it for lower levels! You’ll earn a LOT more points that way.

7. Don’t gamble with your life points. If you’re fighting a Goblin and have 3 life points left, DRINK A POTION. (Assuming you have one.) The Goblin has a max hit of 3 and can end your game right there. I suggest keeping the monsters section open until you learn the max hit for each one.

8. Spirit charms are great for the deeper levels because they keep the cyclopes and mages away. It adds a nice bit of breathing room since cyclopes are normally avid chasers.

For more detailed tips, check out the Kanji’s Adventure – The Advanced Class post!

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Videos

Watching someone else play is an excellent way to pick up some new ideas. Here are three videos of different players reaching 90k+ scores.  After each video are a few of my own thoughts.

1. Borknodrull’s score of 91,820 – Favored items: Potions, pillow, chaos scrolls

My jaw fell open when I saw zie got the uber-rare bracelet on freakin’ level 2!! Holy shmokes!! *Jealous*

It seems that zie doesn’t plan on backtracking. When hir inventory is full, zie uses whatever is “extra” right then and there. Watching hir drinking a potion when zie’s missing only 2hp made me wince, but I can’t argue with that high score.

Since there are a ton of potions, zie hangs on to the shurikens for lower levels. Pretty smart. And once zie has a bear, there’s some pretty fancy maneuvering to put the bear between Kanji and monsters, and then throw the shurikens through the bear.

The biggest thing to note is that zie never comes across any armor, weapons (other than shurikens), or shops. Yes, the kick-ass bracelet helped a TON, but there’s a lot of clever ingenuity at work too.

 

2. Borknodrull’s score of 97,675 – Favored items: Shurikens, pillow, meat

Zie had some decent finds to start with, which always helps. Finding the lighter on level 2 meant that zie could do up to 4 damage with the shurikens while hir fists could do only 2. I know I’d be throwing tons of shurikens. ^_^

Since zie purchased a bag I was a little surprised that zie didn’t buy more potions when there were 3 empty inventory spaces and plenty of money. I’m not saying that zie should have filled hir inventory with potions. I just think it wouldn’t have hurt to buy at least 2 potions. You never know when you’re going to be in a tight spot.

 

3. glederic’s score of 241,870 – Favored items: Shurikens, fire scrolls, pillow, dogs

kanji adventure 241 000 - kewego

This video is a long one, partly because there are several pauses during gameplay. I suspect that in these pauses he’s making a short-hand map of stair locations, missed items, shop locations and what they sell. Starting around 7:11 he begins to backtrack through the levels. He knows exactly which shops to stop at and where he missed items. It’s pretty brilliant. ^_^

He’s also very good at using the dogs to fight for him. It may look like some awkward twisting and turning, but by using the dogs he avoids taking damage.

Also, he was extremely lucky that he found a katana on level 5! Having a good weapon makes a huge difference! (The one time I found a katana, my end score was over 99k.)

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Final Rating

When I first starting playing Kanji’s Adventure I was really overwhelmed by the French. Then I started figuring things out, and it wasn’t so bad. Once I understood everything I realized how awesome this game is! ^_^

Each time you play it’s a unique experience, so you have to learn to adapt. If your plan is to use chaos scrolls to make the monsters fight each other and all you find are meat and shurikens, well, you’d better change your plan! Games that require you to change strategy are absolutely fascinating to me. My one complaint is that I wish Kanji had three lives each game instead of just one. Ah well.

5 out of 5 stars! What would you rate it?  Do you have any tips for new players?

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Credits to @mbif, for asking me to make a guide for Kanji’s Adventure. I hope she likes how it turned out. ^_^

Thanks also to the KadoKado games forum Kanji’s Adventure thread, where I started gathering some of the information; and to @JenniferKrumm for fetching me the star scores at 4 am! Thanks to Klebonas for sending me new info about Bat drops and the max hit for the Mage!

Also thanks to the video makers, Borknodrull, and glederic.

If you play Kanji’s Adventure and find that some part of my guide is incorrect, please tell me! My contact information is on the About Me page.