Colony Flow Level 501 Walkthrough Solution & Guides | How to solve Colony Flow 501

Colony Flow Level 501 presents you with a stunning pixel art picture of a massive ocean wave crashing across the screen. You get to command your swarm of ants to break down this beautiful piece of art one colored tile at a time. This specific puzzle tests your ability to juggle large numbers while dealing with tight space restrictions at the bottom of the screen. I found this level incredibly satisfying to beat once I figured out the right order to pull the blocks.

Colony Flow Level 501 Overview

What You Are Working With

The board features a large pixel art image of a rolling wave. The background sky takes up the entire right side and top right corner using dark purple tiles. The crest of the wave and the splashing water droplets are made entirely of white tiles. The main body of the water rolling across the center and bottom left consists of light cyan and medium blue tiles. Down at the bottom of your screen you will see the nest hole where your ants spawn. Below the nest hole you have five empty waiting slots. Below the waiting slots sits your tray full of numbered blocks in dark purple, white, light cyan, and medium blue.

This level heavily features connected boxes. These are blocks in your tray joined together by a visible line. When you tap one of them to move it into your waiting slots the attached block comes along with it. They move as a single unit and they require multiple empty waiting slots to function.

What It Takes to Clear Level 501 Board

To win this level you must clear every single colored tile from the wave picture and wait for your ants to walk off the board. You fail the puzzle if you fill all five waiting slots with blocks that have no clear path to their matching tiles on the board. The main challenge is managing your five waiting slots carefully so you never create a dead end. You must always ensure that at least one block in your waiting slots has an open path for the ants to travel.

Colony Flow Level 501 Step by Step Solution

Step 1: Pull the starting dark purple and light cyan blocks to open the outer edges.

The game begins with the massive wave picture blocking almost the entire top half of the screen. You need to carve out some walking space for your ants immediately. Look in your tray and tap the dark purple block showing a count of 35. Next you need to tap the light cyan block holding a count of 20. The ants will pour out of the nest hole and split into two groups. One swarm will march straight up the right side of the screen to eat the dark purple sky tiles. The other swarm will head out to the left to chew on the light cyan water tiles. This dual attack strategy is the best way to open paths on both sides of the board. You will watch the numbers on these blocks drop quickly as the ants carry the pieces away.

Step 2: Clear space for the first set of connected boxes to enter the waiting slots.

Your tray now reveals a pair of connected boxes that you must handle with extreme care. You will see a light cyan block with a count of 20 linked directly to a medium blue block with a count of 32. Because they are permanently attached they need two completely empty waiting slots to move up from the tray. Wait a moment for your first active blocks to drain their numbers. Once you are certain you have two vacant spots tap the connected boxes. A fresh wave of ants will rush out to attack the medium blue sections of the rolling water. The light cyan count will also continue dropping as ants eat the lighter parts of the wave. Keeping multiple colors active prevents the ants from getting stuck in a traffic jam.

Step 3: Bring up the heavy white blocks to attack the sea foam at the crest.

As the water and sky sections begin to thin out you will expose the white sea foam tiles at the top of the wave. Now is the time to introduce the white blocks into the mix. Tap the white block carrying a massive count of 35. You should also pull up the next dark purple block and the light cyan block with a count of 26. Your waiting slots will become very crowded during this phase. You might see a dark purple 15 next to a white 17 and a medium blue 19. Do not panic when your five slots look completely full. Because you opened paths on the left and right edges earlier the ants will easily find their way to the white foam at the top left and the remaining purple sky on the right.

Step 4: Manage the second pair of connected boxes carefully to avoid locking the board.

The numbers in your waiting slots will steadily decrease as the ants consume the wave. Eventually some of these blocks will hit zero and vanish from the slots. This opens up the breathing room you need for the second set of connected boxes waiting in your tray. Look for a light cyan block with a tiny count of 2 attached to a medium blue block with a count of 8. Do not rush to pull these up. You must verify that you have two empty slots available. Tapping them too early will jam your board and cost you the game. Once you have the necessary space bring them into the active area. These low numbers will disappear in a flash as a small group of ants cleans up the scattered water droplets on the left side of the screen.

Step 5: Flood the board with dark purple and white blocks to clear the remaining sky.

The wave picture is now missing huge chunks from its center and left edge. The biggest remaining obstacle is a thick cluster of dark purple sky taking up the top right corner along with some stubborn white foam pieces. Your tray provides huge numbers to handle this exact problem. Pull up the dark purple block showing 35 and the white block showing 32. You will also need to bring up another dark purple block holding a count of 30. Your waiting slots will now hold several dark purple blocks at the same time. A massive thick line of ants will stream toward the top right corner. They will rapidly eat away the thickest part of the sky. Just make sure the white block has a clear line to the foam so the white ants do not block the purple ants from doing their job.

Step 6: Cycle the final medium blue and dark purple blocks to break the main clusters.

The board is looking very bare at this point. The beautiful solid wave has broken down into scattered floating islands of pixels. You have a few heavy blocks remaining in the bottom tray. Tap the dark purple block holding 30 and the medium blue block holding 30. You will also pull up a white block with a count of 30 and a light cyan block holding 14. The ants now have completely open ground to walk across. They will travel in straight lines directly from the nest hole to the exact tiles they need. You will watch the numbers plummet rapidly as the swarm cleans up the final thick segments of water and sky.

Step 7: Clear the last scattered tiles and finish the puzzle.

You have reached the final stretch of the level. The tray is nearly empty and the board only has tiny dots of color left. Pull up the final blocks which hold very low numbers. You will see a white 12 and a light cyan 3 along with a dark purple 14 and a medium blue 4. Move them all into the waiting slots immediately. The ants will scramble all over the empty board to grab these final pieces. The counts in the waiting slots will drop to single digits very quickly. You will see numbers like white 8 and light cyan 1 sitting next to a dark purple 5 and a medium blue 2. Let the ants finish their meal in peace. Once they eat the very last tile the remaining blocks will vanish and you will beat the level.

Final Thought

Colony Flow Level 501 requires you to balance your patience with smart tray management. The connected boxes are the biggest trap in this puzzle but you can easily beat them by keeping your slots clear and anticipating the space they need. If you find yourself getting stuck or accidentally jamming your board I highly recommend you watch the video above this article to see exactly how I route the ants.