May 23, 2012: Sushi Cat 2 & World Class Solitaire Badge Challenges

Sushi Cat 2 Badge Challenge

Gone Fishin' Badge
Eat 850 Sushi this week! (Win the level to earn progress) 
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

I'm loving these 'saved by the bell' releases; Play Buddy just let loose Sushi Buddy in time for the badge and here's how it did:

Game Difficulty: N/A
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 2,000 tokens earned
Time: 31 minutes
NOTES: The Buddy only plays levels 1-5 right now which was fine since it's so fast and easy.

World Class Solitaire Badge Challenge

Helping Hand Badge
Win 5 games with 300 or more tokens this week! 
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

I actually choose to play WCS myself, but you can defer to Class World Buddy. I completed the badge challenge myself like so:

Game Difficulty: N/A
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 3,945 tokens earned
Time: 41 minutes
NOTES: Once again some of this challenge is 'luck of the draw' since not all solitaire games can be won so completion times will vary. I recommend starting a new game if there is not a lot of movement on the inital board (i.e. only black cards); move and clear as many of these starter cards as possible before flipping through the deck and always make your priority getting cards off of piles / eliminating piles.

May 16, 2012: High Stakes Poker & Hearts Badge Challenge

High Stakes Poker Badge Challenge

Badge
Win 5 hands with trips or better! 
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

Easy breezy thanks to HiStake Poker Buddy. Check it out:

Game Difficulty: Just for fun (play against Robots)
Buddy Settings: Turn on "Never fold starting hand" and "2's wild"
Tokens: 2,200 tokens earned
Time: 18 minutes
NOTES: If you want to win tokens and not lose them, play in the "Just for fun" tab (you still win jackpot spins); badge time will vary since it's luck of the draw (pun intended).

Hearts Badge Challenge

Badge
Shoot the moon 2 times this week! 
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!
Wowza am I THRILLED there's now an autoplaying Heart Buddy because not only do I NOT know how to play hearts, this challenge is by no means short as seen here:

Game Difficulty: Beginner (play against robots)
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 2,000 tokens earned
Time: 2 hours 48 minutes
NOTES: IMPORTANT settings here to make the game go by faster: go into a room lobby and sit at a table so you can set the "Game over score" to 25 AND "End round early..." so games end faster (default is 100!). From what I understand, 'shooting the moon' is near impossible so expect it to take a long time; guess that's why Pogo only wants us to get 2!

May 9, 2012: Monopoly World & Zuma's Revenge Badge Challenges

Monopoly WORLD 

Challenge

Global Domination Badge
Pass Go 15 times this week!
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

This is a game that one settles in for the long haul... unless ya
have Nopoly World Buddy like me. :-)
This gives plenty of time to fix breakfast while it gets the badge like so:

Game Difficulty: Speedy (play against Robots)
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 3,950 tokens earned
Time: 42 minutes
NOTES: Checkmark the 'speedy dialogs' option at the bottom
of the game itself.

Zuma's Revenge Badge 

Challenge

Best Served Cold Badge
Activate 85 powerups this week!
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

Another doozy but thanks to Zooma Buddy there's time for
cleaning breakfast dishes too!
Here's how it went:

Game Difficulty: n/a
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 2,000 tokens earned
Time: 48 minutes
NOTES: None

May 2, 2012: Chess & Fortune Bingo Badge Challenges

Chess Challenge

Best Defence Badge
Win 5 games this week! 
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

Can you say EASY?! And I say THANK YOU Chess Buddy!!! Take a gander at these results:

Game Difficulty: Beginner (play against Robots)
Buddy Settings: Set the timer on the Buddy to 1 minute instead of 5 and it will move much faster; also turn on the "start game w/ robots" option in the Buddy so it keeps playing against the computer.
Tokens: 2,954 tokens earned
Time: 9 minutes
NOTES: None

Fortune Bingo Badge Challenge

Bingo Reading Badge
Get 5 bingos this week! 
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!
So Fortune Buddy wrapped things up quickly like so:

Game Difficulty: n/a
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 2,032 tokens earned
Time: 7 minutes
NOTES: To make this badge fly by chose the "Six Cards" tab under "Speedy Games" and enter an empty room so you're guaranteed all the bingos, all at once! IMPORTANT: STOP the Buddy's autoplay when it is 1 number away from a bingo on ANY card and fill in the remaining numbers; otherwise it will call "BINGO" on the first bingo and you'll have to play again.

Apr 25, 2012: Casino Island Blackjack & Bejeweled 3 Badge Challenges

Casino Island Blackjack Challenge

Cowabunga King Badge
Use 'Up Your Sleeve' card 8 times this week! 
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

This challenge was a doozy but were it not for Casino Island Buddy I probably would have been there all week. Here's how it worked out:

Game Difficulty: N/A
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 4,280 tokens earned
Time: 1 hour 38 minutes
NOTES: Per the download notes, be sure to open a room from a lobby table in Internet Explorer and also make sure your "up your sleeve" option is selected in the Buddy. Other than that, it's all about luck and how quickly Pogo decides to deal you the "up your sleeve" card.

Bejeweled 3 Badge Challenge

Floating Castle Badge
Create 33 Flame gems this week! (Make sets of 4 gems to get them) 
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

Wait until you get a load of these impressive Bejeweled Buddy stats!!!!

Game Difficulty: n/a
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 2,650 tokens earned
Time: 8 minutes
NOTES: Can you say "WOWZA"?

April 18, 2012: Battleship & Hangman Hijinks Badge Challenge

BATTLESHIP Challenge

Pegs Away Badge
Use 40 power-ups this week!
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

Yay for Battleship Buddy! I don't see how this challenge could be completed as quickly as this:

Game Difficulty: N/A
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 4,552 tokens earned
Time: 32 minutes
NOTES: Choose the "Speedy" tab then you'll play against speedy robots.

Hangman Hijinks Badge Challenge

Rough Sketch Badge
Solve 20 bonus words this week! (Bonus words appear vertically)
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

So Play Buddy caused me to pull a hijinks this morning with the new release of Hangman Buddy. And check out these stats:

Game Difficulty: Easy
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 3,367 tokens earned
Time: 34 minutes
NOTES: If you're watching the bot play, sometimes you can speed things up on the bonus round by selecting a more obvious word (the Buddy seems to have a very extensive dictionary).

Apr 11, 2012: Euchre & Poppit Sprint Badge Challenges

Euchre Badge Challenge

Euchre Man Badge
Win 4 games by 2 points or more this week!
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

So Pogo's making up for last week's easy badges with a double hard one! I am so grateful to have Euchre Buddycomplete this looooooooong challenge like so:

Game Difficulty: N/A
Buddy Settings: Default
Tokens: 2,000 tokens earned
Time: 1 hour 36 minutes
NOTES: First, open your own room so you can change these table settings to make games go by faster: select 10 points to win and select TRAM. Now the rest is mostly luck since Jacks are the winning cards and if you get them is completely random.

Poppit Sprint Badge Challenge

Pop-a-lot Badge
Pop 8400 balloons this week! (Play in the Classic Sprint Mode)
Win this badge plus 2000 Tokens!

Yay! This badge was a breath of fresh air after Euchre. Check out the impressive Pop Sprint Buddy stats:

Game Difficulty: No difficulty
Buddy Settings: Default partial (but see notes)
Tokens: 7,903 tokens earned
Time: 23 minutes
NOTES: First, make sure you're on the regular Poppit Sprint with Spike; I started on the casual one (whoops). Also, by default the Buddy saves your coins which is sweet. But if you want the badge completed in HALF the time, select the 'Save' powerup option in the Buddy AND on the start screen choose the Triple Column and Chain Lightning powerups - they'll pop a gazillion balloons!